Silay City Hosts the Philippine Blog Awards - Visayas

It's official.  The Philippine Blog Awards - Visayas will be held in the heritage city of Silay, Negros Occidental on November 12, 2011.  Mayor Jose "Oti" Montelibano has graciously agreed to host the event in cooperation with the Negros Bloggers led by their president, H. James Toga of the Negros Daily Bulletin. The core group had their first of many weekly meetings last Thursday, October 6, 2011 to plan for the activities during the event.  It is interesting to note that the next day, November 13 is the parish fiesta of Silay - The Feast of San Diego de Alcala.  There is a planned walking tour around the city for those interested to know more about it's heritage, lifestyle, culture and food.For more information and updates, please visit the Negros Blogger and PBA website.  We will be putting up a registration page soon...we hope to see you in the event!  

From left: H. James Toga, Atty. Eli Gatanela, Elena Gatanela, Mayor Jose "Oti" Montelibano, Gil Severino, Maritel Ledesma (photo courtesy of H.James Toga/NDB)

First meeting - October 6, 2011  from left: Atty. Eli Gatanela, ELena Gatanela, Glady Tumolto, Maritel Ledesma, Marchel Espina, Eduardo Joven (photo courtesy of H.James Toga/NDB)

Silay's Food Heritage: Emma Lacson's Original Silay Lumpia...and then more

There are many versions today of the Silay lumpia but there is only one original...and that is Emma Lacson's lumpia ubod.  All others are poor imitations.  Tita Emma's lumpia use fresh ubod (young coconut trunk meat), no decorative lettuce (yuck) and the thinnest homemade egg wrapper ever. The secret sauce is included in the filling (which is distinctive of most Silay lumpia) and they used to put in a green onion stalk but did away with it when they learned that people just threw it before eating.  I should know...I grew up surrounded by food and yes, I was one of those who threw away the green onion.  There was no big commercial food establishment in Silay when I was growing up, except maybe for El Ideal. So that when people wanted to eat a particular food, we would call a particular family known for making the best version in the city and make an order.  These food made from family recipes have been handed down from generation to generation and were not available commercially.  In fact, when one makes an order, it comes out as a request and a favor at the same time. Of course, that was then. Today, Tita Emma's lumpia ubod is available daily and the family "hobby" has now grown into a successful food business but still small and manageable. The one taking care of business is her youngest daughter Nora, or Baby to family and friends.  They have been featured in magazines and other bloggers have written about them, but as I told Baby when I came over to take pictures, I want to put on record and for people to know that they make the best that Silay can offer.  Other old favorites aside from the lumpia, are the empanada...often copied but never equalled; the paño-paño are mini tarts, so called because the banana filling is placed in a crust that is shaped and folded like a napkin; the senorita is made of several crispy crusts layered with caramel in between; and last but not the least, the very popular pili squares which is a relatively new addition (although it is an old family favorite but due to low supply of pili nuts before, orders were very limited) having been available commercially for only about 20 years or so, compared to the others which have been Silay favorites for probably the last 100 years.  The crispy empanada is great for afternoon snacks or tea while the rest are yummy desserts.  I should warn you though that once you start eating the paño-paño and the pili squares, it is hard to stop...so one should just take a few of the tarts  and  2 or 3 pieces of the squares and then keep them in a place as far away from you as possible...at least well until the next meal.   

Lumpia Ubod (Fresh Spring Rolls)

Empananada

Paño-Paño

Pili Squares (small)

My memories of the Lacson house is not all about food...the patriarch of the house, Tito Rudy was my first dentist...see that door and stairs where the tricycle is parked?  That is where the most embarassing dental experience I have ever had in my entire childhood happened...but that is another story to tell for next time ;)

Retrieved from http://porkintheroad.blogspot.com/2011/10/silay-treasure-emma-lacsons-pili.html

The house is located at the corner of Rizal and Ledesma St (formerly Mckinley) right besides Bank of the Philippine Island-Silay Branch. Contact number is (02) 495-5047.  You can reserve orders from 6 AM to 6 PM.   Happy eating!!!

Colegio de Santa Teresita

The Missioneras Siervas de San Jose came to the Philippines in May 1932 and established themselves in San Jose, Antique. In 1933, they moved to Silay, where they established the only private, Catholic secondary school in the city to this day.  The name of the school was adopted from the original name of the parochial school in the city, calling itself Colegio de Sta. Teresita however this was later anglicized to St. Theresita's Academy, more popularly known by its acronym, STA.  Initially the school was established in a house rented from Don Jose "Pepe" R. Ledesma on June 13, 1933 with pioneer sisters Mother Amancia Bautista, Milagros Sarmiento, Anunciation Marco and Olivio Moreno as teachers. This area is now the Rural Bank of Silay City, owned by the descendants of Don Pepe. Part of the original wall of the building and the grills are still intact as you can see in the second picture below.

In 1950, the school transferred to it's present location in Rizal Street offering educational services for pre-school, primary and secondary pupils. The High School department was for female students only, until 1984 when they started accepting boys in the secondary level.
 

Seventy eight years after the sisters arrived, a lot has changed.  Once upon a time we called them Mothers (I was told that this was their title when they become professed nuns)...now-a-days they no longer use that title and are all referred to as Sisters regardless of rank. They used to have internas...usually children of well-off families from the southern and northern part of the province who found it difficult to travel to and from school everyday.  Spanish was a major subject taught daily from kindergarten to high school.  It was even one of the academic awards a student can get at the end of the year.  I can still sing the Spanish nursery rhyme Niña Bonita  taught by Mo. Magdalena Braganza, my pre-school teacher who is turning 90 in November, retired and yes, is on Facebook :)  Today Spanish is no longer taught. Work Education is now HELE and unlike before when we were required to make samplers of stitches, now-a-days it's all about computers. Yes, a lot has changed...even the name of the congregation has evolved...from MSSJ to SSJ.  But all these changes have not altered the school's mission of providing integral education to its students using the Holy Family as a model teaching the Nazareth values of austerity, humility, simplicity and charity. I would like to believe that majority of the graduates of STA continue to live these values in their lives.  I know I do.

The SSJ and STA have every reason to celebrate this year. Their foundress, Blessed Bonifacia Rodriguez Castro will be elevated to the register of Saints on October 23, 2011. Gracias a Dios por esta bendición!

Tsokolate and Silay's Bizcocho Principe

An afternoon merienda staple in my grandparent's house was tsokolate and bizcocho principe.  The tsokolate is made from cacao round tablets (tablea) and fresh carabao's milk, although now-a-days because it is hard to get this, we use Alpine full cream milk instead, which is a good substitute in terms of taste. About 6 years ago, a friend who regularly goes home to Iloilo brought us tableas sourced from her hometown (Passi) and they smelled exactly like the ones my grandparents used to have. From then on, we would buy our stocks from her. It is also cheaper than the commercial one we used to get in supermarkets, the brand Antonio Pueo.  I also noticed that while before they only had the pure cacao tablea...today, they have diversified into different products like the mixed kind of tablea which is more easily available here than the pure kind. But the taste of the Iloilo tablea in my opinion, is much better than this commercial one.

(Retrieved from http://flavoursofiloilo.blogspot.com/2009/01/tsokolate.html)

(Retrieved from http://photos.the-protagonist.net/sulong_negosyo/antonio_pueo_1)

T

To this day, we cook our tsokolate in the same way as my grandmother's cook, Culing did...pure unadulterated tsokolate! We would have it during breakfast, poring it over our rice, or afternoon merienda together with suman, toasted pinipig, but the best for me was bizcocho principe...the original Silay version...and it is not the sweet kind of biscocho with sugar and baked butter on top or the ones that taste like toasted sponge cake sold in Bacolod and Iloilo.  The bizcocho principe I grew up on was a crunchy, mildly flavored, breadlike slice that literally melts in your mouth. For the longest time I have been looking for the original...and failed.  The ones being sold in Silay are what they now call...Kinihad, thin slices of toasted bread much like biscochos without the butter and sugar.  SIGH...then one fateful day (exactly one day ago), my Mom attended a meeting and she came home with.....yes! the bizcocho principe of my youth!  She said it is available in Hda. Luguay, a farm near the northern border of Silay which operates a bakery that makes specialized bread. This is the family where the owners of the famous 21 Restaurant of Bacolod belongs to. The bakery, I believe is a joint enterprise between the owners and farm workers which helps augment income during off sugar season.  This afternoon we ordered 2 packs and it was delivered just before merienda time :)

my afternoon merienda-09/23/11 - Tsokolate and Bizcocho Principe

I might as well share my family's Tsokolate recipe. I can honestly say that none of the other commercial tsokolate I have tried tastes as well as ours...but of course, I'm biased.  It is very rich and probably (^_^) fattening...that's why we use the little cups :)

My Family Tsokolate

3 tablea

3 cups of Carabao's milk or 1 (one) 370 ml can Alpine Full Cream Milk

Melt 3 tablea in 1 cup of carabao’s milk in a deep sauce pan using medium heat. Once melted, pour the remaining 2 cups of milk.  Bring to a boil and start mixing using a batidor (see picture above).  How to use a batidor: Place it in the saucepan, then roll the handle quickly between both flattened hands until bubbles are formed in the tsokolate. Serve in small espresso cups.

Enjoy!

To order Hda Luguay's special breads (french baguette, bizcocho principe) either call: 4950536 anywhere in Negros where there is a PLDT phone. You can order their products and they deliver anywhere in Silay. Or you can pick it up in an agreed location. Or you can drop by their bakery...it is on the left side of the highway after the bridge before the road to Central Hawaiian, if you are coming from Silay City.

Forgotten Ruins - The Old Port of Silay

As a child growing up in Silay, I would listen to stories of the past told by my dad and later on as a young adult, by my grandmother who would be my off and on roommate when she was in Silay.  One of these stories was about the old port in Silay.  I have never been near the ruins but then there was no need to go near it because it was very visible from the distance at a time when the surrounding area was just tall grass and weeds. In the 60's and even up to mid-70's all we had to do was drive down to the Boulevard...the name we called the south road to Mambulac, a coastal barrio of  the city....and there it was....awesome!   Now-a-days, you won't see it unless you go near the area.  I remember the first time I saw it, I think I was 6 or 7 yrs old and I felt this great sense of fascination...perhaps an early sign of my interest in history.  I wonder now if  up close I would get that same feeling as when I saw it from afar back then?   Probably not, because  then nobody really paid much attention to it except that it was said to be the longest port in the country in the Spanish era with a distance of 2 kms or, you were a history buff like my dad.  Even today, there is not much information about the port said to have been built in the early 1800's, which seems logical because that was the time when Silay began to be called "Paris of Negros"...where arts, culture, music and good food were all part of the inhabitants' daily life.  I can imagine the ships that brought to the shores of Silay artists, singers, commercial goods and luxury items coming from Manila and abroad. I can just picture the hustle and bustle of the port and how exciting life must have been. When and why did the Silay port fall out of use...the most logical reason I believe is due to natural causes...as the years went by the coastline moved further so that the changed sea level no longer allowed the ships to dock, or...coastal erosion may also have happened.

I don't know if the city has any plans to develop the area of the old port, but I hope they will do something to preserve what is left of it.  After all these ruins have withstood the test of time on its own.

Photo courtesy of Mr. Bob Lacson

How to get there:

DIY via Barrio Mambulac.  Your friendly tricycle driver can bring you there.  Please be warned to wear boots or rain boots because it is quite muddy.

or visit the Tourism office in the Silay Civic Center to get a guide or directions

For those who just wants to see it from a short distance (not up close) the best place for viewing is Sunburst Bay Resort, where you can take a hike through their fishponds and see the old port in all it's glory. There is a small entrance fee to the resort (P30 to 40).

My Lolo's House

Silay City is known for it's ancestral houses, thirty one (31) of which have been listed and certified by the National Historical Institute and the National Commission for Culture and Arts as heritage houses, although to this date only 8 have been given markers mainly due to lack of funds.  What makes Silay's ancestral homes different from many others is the fact that all these are well preserved and livable.  Most in fact are still occupied by families of the original owners and are not open to public viewing or a few have been converted to offices, restaurants etc.  My Lolo's house is one such ancestral home.

  

The Angel Araneta Ledesma house was built in the 1930's (exact date was anytime between 1934-1937) using huge logs from my Lolo's lumber yard business, in the empty lot facing Plaridel St. behind my Lola's parental home (which faced 5 de Noviembre St).  It had a very good location being right beside the City Hall, Police and Fire Department, a very short walk to the town plaza, Silay North Elementary School, San Diego Church, the Puericulture Center and the commercial areas of the town. The inside of the house was not beautiful compared to other houses in Silay but it was big and had lots of places to hide in, which served us kids very well during our games of hide and seek. I remember that we would scare our household help witless by hiding in the big closets, powdering our faces and covering our heads with white blankets while putting a flashlight under our faces. We gave our Lola endless anxious moments as we ran around the house and jumped off the stairs and verandas. The front lawn had a bahay cubo which was also our playhouse and where I would spend many hours reading my Nancy Drew books.   The house was surrounded by starapple trees which gave hundreds of fruits every year and we had so much fun trying to hook one from the upstairs balcony using an improvised "singit". But while the starapple trees were so fruitful, the lone mango tree in the front yard would yield exactly one fruit a year...while the santol tree's produce were one of the most sour tasting fruits ever...which gave my Lolo much frustration, of course. In the afternoons we would drowsily sit in the rocking chairs in the second floor sala while my Lola would have her afternoon siesta in one of the rattan lounging chairs in the upstairs balcony.  This is also the place where we would have the daily Rosary before the Angelus.  I have a lot of good and unforgettable memories in this house.  My parents lived here for a while after they were married since my dad was still in his last year of law school. When he took the bar in Manila, they decided to stay there when he found work.  It was another 3 years before we eventually returned to Silay, because my dad unbeknownst to my mom was asked by his uncle to run for politics. For a little more than a year, we lived here before moving out to have our own home. Lolo's house then became "pihak balay".  "Pihak balay" was where we would spend our weekends, holidays, summer days...it is where we all converge for Sunday breakfast...it is where all the grandchildren played and caused much ruckus to both houses in Plaridel and Cinco de Noviembre.  

my brothers and cousin with our blue chevy at the back

But all good things come to an end...and in 1992, the family decided to sell the house. My Lola was staying in Manila with her daughter all the time now and the year before that, my father passed away.  There was no one among us who was interested to live in such a big house.  A few years back we had it rented out for a while but the tenants found it hard to maintain.  Eventually we closed it and hired a family to guard and clean the house allowing them to live in the servant's extension at the back. When we offered it up for sale, it seemed that it was going to be difficult to sell it because of its size and the fact that it was a heritage house.  Fortunately, one individual took interest and honestly, we sold it dirt cheap...a heritage house on a 750 square meters lot was a give-away at P375,000!  The new owner with a very good business sense sold it to the city after a few years of having it rented out to foundations and families. His price?  A million pesos. Be that as it may, I am happy and grateful to God's Divine Intervention, because the next buyer was the City of Silay. I was content with the fact that our ancestral home will be preserved for generations to come. None of us could have imagined that in the future my Lolo's house would become the Office of Culture, Arts and Tourism of the City of Silay as he was totally not into those things, or at least that's what it seemed to us, his grandchildren.  Then again, many of us today are into arts...one of my cousins is an accomplished painter, a few of us could hit the right notes, some great grandchildren plays good guitar, are dancers, actors, and even my late Dad was a very good piano player...so who knows?  Perhaps my Lolo in another life could have been an artist too.  To complete the story, soon after they bought my Lolo's house, the City also bought my late grand-aunt's dilapidated and structurally damaged wooden house at the back.  However that house in Cinco de Noviembre was later torn down and has since been replaced by a new one-story building. They have also repaired and painted the perimeter fence and I heard from the Tourism Office that there is already a budget for repair and repainting of my Lolo's house.


From "pihak balay" to "Balay Verde" (The Green House-Culture, Arts and Tourism Office, Silay City)...hey, not bad...I am sure Lolo, Lola, Daddy, Tito Monet must be smiling in heaven.

You might want to see this:

http://www.travelandsnaps.com/blog/2011/03/22/silay-the-heritage-photowalk/

Translations:

Lolo - grandpa
Lola - grandma
Tito - uncle
pihak balay - other house/ next house/ next door
balay verde - green house

The Silay City "Gabaldons"

The City of Silay has three certified Gabaldon school buildings, although I still have to check if the Gaston Elementary School (1936) is also a Gabaldon.  What are Gabaldons?  In 1907, the Philippine Assmbly passed Act No. 1801, authored by Assemblyman Isauro Gabaldon of Nueva Ecija, widely known as GABALDON ACT. This act appropriated a budget for the "construction of schoolhouses of strong materials in barrios with guaranteed daily attendance of not less than sixty pupils…"  These schools were known as "Gabaldon School Buildings" or simply "Gabaldon," long after the expiration of Act 1801. They followed standard plans designed by Architect William Parsons and were built between 1907 and 1946. The earlier ones were built of wood, while those that came later were partly made of cement. The North Elementary School was completed in 1907 while the South Elementary School was finished in 1919.

In 1960, our small family moved to a rented apartment right across Silay South Elementary School. I was not in school yet and so it was my daily routine to go and play in that wide expanse of grass across the street. I spent many happy, carefree days here playing with my childhood friends and neighbors, Daiding and Chona.  I remember that there was this really humongous well at the south side of the front yard of the school which we were not supposed to go near, but then curiosity got the better of us. My "yaya" (nanny) would come with us to look at it and tell all kinds of horror stories which scared us enough never to go near it unless "yaya" was there.  During weekends, this was our private playground and the 3 of us had the time of our young lives, running up and down the corridors, the quadrangle, rolling in the grass, playing hide and seek, and making my "yaya" a nervous wreck!  It never entered our young minds that this school had a lot of history and was a future heritage structure.  Later, as a voting teen (our polling place was located here) I revisited the area and that well did not seem to be that big anymore, but I  guess when you are 4 years old, it was pretty huge.

Retrieved from http://www.batch2006.com/negros/visit_silay_city.htm

Retrieved from http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2528821950055040920Diahln

The North Elementary School besides the public plaza was the school where my father spent part of his elementary grades.  Their ancestral house was just on the other side of the plaza, behind the city hall and less than a one minute run away. Although I never got to enter the premises, it was an imposing structure being located right at main street at the center of the town.  The main building was condemned a few years back and I thought, it will be gone one of these days...but last week, I was happily surprised to see that it was being repaired and restored. I heard that this was made through the efforts of the current DepEd Director for Region 6, Mrs. Mildred Garay who is an alumni of the school. Thank you, Ma'am!

Retrieved from http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2896943440055040920nSMQDi

http://heritageconservation.wordpress.com/2006/07/27/silay-north-elementary-school/

and so....I am happy to say...Finally, this Gabaldon will live again!

El Circulo Femenil de Silay and the Silay Puericulture Center

The Silay Puericulture Center was built in 1915 for P8,000 under the leadership of Dr. Jose Corteza Locsin, (later Senator and Secretary of Health), together with a group of women who called themselves El Circulo Femenil de Silay.  Their mission was to serve mothers and their babies. The center had a doctor, 2 nurses and 3 midwives offering medical services to the community during a time when infant mortality was high.  It was solely supported through the tireless efforts of these women raising money for its operations either by soliciting donations, government support, fund-raising activities like summer balls and bazaars, carnivals, concerts, food fairs, rummage sales, etc.  I remember fun summers as a teen when we would help in their activities since my mom was an active member and one of the last presidents of the club before it dissolved, mainly because government support for the puericulture center ended as well as the use of the building. Later, we learned that the building was used as an extension of the Silay City Health Office for rehabilitation and nutrition services.  Eventually, this too was transferred to another new location.

Looking at the old buildings and heritage houses in Silay brings back much memories and longing for things of the past. Life was so much simpler then. The puericulture center is where one of my brothers was delivered (an emergency one!), it was the place where Lola Miss (Miss Silva) spent all her years of dedicated nursing work, it was where we would ran for first aid every time we get hurt when playing in the plaza or in the surrounding neighborhood, and most importantly, it was the place where women could always come for free or low cost maternal health services. Behind the building used to be a large tennis court which also served as the venue for cultural shows and balls.  Today, the puericulture building is old and deteriorating.  It currently houses the different rescue groups of the city but I have a feeling that this building will be gone soon as it is not in the list of heritage structures.  It's a pity because it has a lot of important history in the growth and development of health services in Silay.  Maybe because I too am growing older that I feel that the present should always appreciate and learn from the past (yes, good and bad)... it is fact that the past has a lot to do with what we are now in the present.

Ang Manuglibod Sang Silay

Silay is not only known for it's heritage houses but also for its food.  I grew up enjoying gustatory delights such as lumpia ubod, dulce gatas, ibus mais, tortitas, masa podrida, pianono, señorita, piaya, bread pudding, butong-butong, salab, bañadas, butse, bichokoy, paño-paño, chicken empanada, chicken pie, panara, bitso-bitso, etc...brought daily by the friendly manuglibod (literally meaning, a person who goes around to sell aka a street hawker) for us to buy, of course!  One particular manuglibod whom I will never forget is Tya Sitang.  She was small and rotund with a really happy face, wearing a baro't saya and balances on her head this wide flat native basket (nigo in the vernacular) full of these food stuff but neatly and securely covered with white cloth.  She walks around the city with this on her head and I used to be fascinated with the fact that it never falls off.  The secret I later learned was in the white cloth that is rolled tightly and turned into a round circle to be placed between her head and the basket.  This little "cushion" was the thing that stabilized and balanced the basket.

(Picture retrieved from: http://bacolodtours.blogspot.com/2010/11/whats-to-see-at-bacolod-central-market.html

)

The manuglibog would balance the flat basket seen above on their heads similar to this woman with the jar (Retrieved from: http://aseanchat.com/default.aspx?g=posts&m=1896)

Every day at around 10 in the morning she would pass by my grandparent's house and we (both kids and adults) would eagerly watch as she would open her "nigo". Tya Sitang would always give me a rosy cheek smile and she would be very patient with us while we took our time looking over her "nigo" and choosing what we want to eat. The food items would always be placed in an orderly and circular manner so that it was very pleasing to the eye. It was always difficult to choose since, everything looked delicious. I would always reach out for the tortitas and pianono as we kids were allowed only 2 kinds each.  Sometimes, I would look at my Lola and she would allow me an extra ibus mais, or butse.  After the apos, my Lola would then buy merienda for her afternoon "pangingue", usually it's the panara or empanada.   In the past, the source of all these food were only two or three families who sold their "specialties" through the manuglibod.  Later on when other people started making similar food which they sold at a lesser cost, the manuglibod had alternative sources and a small industry developed.  Today, there is the so called "barter market" in Silay Public Market held every early morning where food items are displayed for sale or consignment to the manuglibod, most of whom now ply the Bacolod route, since Silay is no longer a lucrative market. The story I got from the traders was that initially it was an exchange system wherein each vendor would bring in only one kind of food and they would exchange products with each other however because of many problems encountered, the system is now generally COD.  The days of the flat basket are gone too and replaced by the regular native basket lugged around by the manuglibod, seen mostly in offices.  So what happened to the original flavors?  Since the manuglibod no longer source the food items from them, these families began taking direct orders, so that today the originals can still be bought directly from the homes either through phone orders or by just stopping by.  Of course, one has to pay a little more if they want the taste of the originals because even though how much people try to imitate, quality suffers because they scrimp on ingredients and of course, there are the mixes that the families have never shared with anyone, not even with their manugluto (cook), much more their manuglibod.  Emma Lacson's lumpia, señorita, chicken empanada, paño-paño and pili cake can never be equalled.  El Ideal's tortitas, chicken pie and bread pudding will always be one of a kind. The Legaspi sisters' piaya will always be the best.  I do not know who made my favorite pianonos but today's version can never match the taste of the past.  And Tya Sitang and those like her? They are a thing of the past...no longer do we see gently swaying middle aged women walking down the road with laughing children greeting her excitedly over what goodies she has to offer. I miss those days...I miss Tya Sitang.

More at A Taste of Silay

Semana Santa

In the past up to about the early 80's, Semana Santa or Holy Week was an important family affair during summers in Silay.  It would be that time of year when families or children based or studying in Manila and other places would come home for vacation and family reunions. The processions during Holy Thursday and Good Friday were en grande or big events as prominent families would be actively participating either as carosa owners or plain marchers.  It was always a big privilege when  a male member of the family would be asked to be one of the escorts of the Santo Entierro.  To be invited as part of the cortege was an affirmation that you are a respected member of Silay society, so you can imagine how some people would actually lobby to be included in the list.  Holy Week also meant new dresses and/or shoes to be used during the processions since marchers were expected to be wearing their Sunday's best.  The route would always pass by the big (now ancestral) houses in Cinco de Noviembre and Mckinley Streets where family members would sit and gather in their verandas or balconies with a lighted candle to watch and comment on the procession and the participants.  We would wave or give a little nod when we pass by these houses, a  practice not unlike to paying homage to royalty or heads of states.  What is ironic is that what used to be fun and exciting then, strikes me now as having really nothing to do with the essence of Holy Week.   Then everything changed in the late 70's...a new parish priest who also belonged to a prominent Negrense family was assigned to Silay. He "revolutionized" the parish, instituting many positive reforms and practices that have stayed to this very day. He broke down class barriers and for the first time, rich and poor came as one in all church-related events. When I came home in 1980 after studying in Manila for several years, gone was the pomp and pageantry of Holy Week processions...most of the carosas were replaced by actual people performing on moving platforms which I presume was his way of bringing Christ's sacrifice closer to the people.  Today, many of those antique carosas are back but because of this one priest's dynamic ways and quest to communicate what real Christian faith looks like to the people of Silay,  the Holy Week activities remains focused on its real essence, which is to reflect on the meaning of Jesus' death on the cross.

Monte, Mahjong, Panguingue Atbp...

When I recall my growing-up years in Silay, one thing stands out...gambling.  As a young child up to my early teen years, I was exposed to Monte, a Spanish gambling card game, Panguingue, a rummy variation using Spanish cards or Baraja Español and of course, Mahjong. This was at a time when gambling was not yet illegal and my grandfather saw that he could earn money from it since he never gambled himself. I was fascinated with the copas, bastos, oros and espadas and would eagerly help my grandmother put docu cement (this has long disappeared from the Philippine market) on the side of the barajas to preserve the edges. I remember seeing men sitting in the monte table who were identified as "personal"..although to this day, I do not know what their roles were. In this house and my grand-aunt's house next door, I saw properties exchanging owners and fortunes lost. I remember someone arriving in a car and leaving on foot since he put up his vehicle as collateral.  After a few years and some ruined lives, government put a stop to monte and that was that for my lolo.  Of course, my lolas continued their panguingues and mahjongs with close friends but limited only to afternoons and family gatherings.  Still other houses both in and outside our neighborhood continued to hold these monte sessions which by then have become more uncontrollable and contentious since it was opened to the public unlike ours which was by invitation only. One weekend, while my lola was having one of her recreational sessions with her amigas, rapid gunfire was heard!  We all ran into the bathroom and huddled together.  Later we learned that one of the gamblers (a policeman) was losing and in his rage walked out and started shooting his gun in the air. Since it was happening a few houses away from ours, it was scary to say the least. But in spite of this environment, neither our parents nor us learned how to play any of these games.  And we are all the better for it.  My one regret is that I should have asked my lola for those fascinating barajas...now-a-days these are rare finds and I could probably make money out of them today ;)

First Impression

There have been so many things written about Silay City, it's history and origins that I thought to myself...do I have a different perspective about my city? The Silay in my consciousness began in the early 60's.  We lived in Manila from 1956 until mid-1959 when my father was asked by his uncle, the late Jose "Pitong" Ledesma to come home to run for public office. I was just a toddler then and my mom was pregnant with their second child (my brother) and I do not remember anything about the move back, nor my father winning a seat as councilor (he was the only one among his party who won).  I have good memories of the many people coming to and from my grandfather's house and the many stories I would listen to, unbeknownst to the adults around me. I remember as a child up to my early teen years how aristocratic Silay society was...the gap between the haves and the have nots was not just palpable but accepted as the norm. Even the church seating was not spared from class distinction. The old rich, the landed, the buena familia sit from the right side of the altar during mass, while the working class, the common people and the nouveau riche took the left side with the middle aisle as the dividing line.  One personal experience of mine was when I saw someone, probably a visitor to Silay take a seat in one of the front aisle pews.  Soon after, a maiden aunt (several times removed) who regularly occupies that seat arrived and haughtily told the occupant to remove herself and transfer to another pew!  My young mind absorbed all these behavior prompting me to ask loudly enough if "Tita" owns the seat...of course, my mom shushed me and that was that.  Later on as a young adult, I went back to that seat just to check if there was a bottom imprint of my aristocratic relative for her to own it...hahaha.   Of course, now-a-days this is no longer true.  After the 70's and due to a reform-minded parish priest, these attitudes and behavior came crashing down to earth so that today, stories like this are unheard of and may even be unbelievable.

The Inspiration

Last week a link shared by Mr Lloyd Tronco in the Negros Bloggers' Facebook page gave me food for thought.  Here I am with 4 blogs talking about my life and interests but none about my heritage, my roots, my city that has helped shape who I am today.  This post by Mr. Gil Camporazo has further reinforced that idea that it is time for me to write about about my wonderful city, Silay.  Although I was born in Manila, I grew up in this city and it will always be home.  Wherever I find myself in...it is not long when my heart longs for Silay.  What exactly is it about Silay that I am so passionate about?  That is what I would like to find out too and hopefully writing this blog will tell me why.  For starters, Silay is where my home and my loved ones are.  The saying that home is where the heart is holds true for me. So, hold on tight and in the next posts, I will pick my brains and share with you my memories of Silay.