Shock and sorrow in Cavite City

The people of Cavite City are still in shock over the murder of Joan Felicilda and her 12-year-old daughter Lisha.

The latest reports say the police have managed to obtain cartographic sketches of the suspects, who stabbed Joan several times. Medical reports say Lisha was raped before she was killed.

Neighbors and the police found the bodies of Joan and Lisha in their home in the early morning hours of Friday, Nov. 5, after they heard the loud cries of Joan's two younger sisters who were locked up in another room.

The family ran an Internet shop on the ground floor of their home on Dra Salamanca St. and there are reports that the killers may be have been customers. Joan's husband is an overseas worker.

"Halos lahat dito nanlulumo sa pangyayari (Almost everyone here is in low spirits because of what happened)," one Cavite City resident told me in a message.

It is easy to imagine how people living in Cavite City now might be feeling. Cavite City is a small town where life is almost predictable, people are safe, and nothing much happens. Until last Friday.

Below is the news report on the killing.

Un cuento del pasado

Ung anyo ya desde ya escribi yo aqui na blog. Que mucho ya ya pasa. Tiene ya niso nuevo presidente y nuevo gobyerno.

Pero maski no ma yo ta hace post aqui, tiene pa rin ta le, y ta escribi conmigo.

Abajo el comment de Senior Gallo, porcasa fiesta ya naman, y tiempo ya tambien para culda el mga cuento de ayer:

Un cuento del pasado. Hola para los legitimos chabacanos del ciudad del Cavite. Fiesta ya naman. Celebaracion katakot takot. Mucho handa puro gastos hasta el ano nuevo.

Ta culda yo cuando diquel chiquito pa nisos mi mga hermano y hermana, ta desperta nisos temprano porcasa ta oi nisos con el mga banda del musico qui ta pasa na calle Lopez Jaena.

Y mi aguelo ta cumpra el potu y cochinta para con nisos. Ta manda muda con nisos bonito ropa para anda na iglesia para oi misa y cabando para pasia na calle P. Burgos para anda na mercado.

Que alegri nisos todo. El mga parientes y amigos ta visita y ta lleva pasalubong. Mucho comida que sabroso.

Y la nochi ta pasia nisos na carnaval cabando el procesion.

Un cuento chabacano de mi pasado..... Senor Gallo.

Diccionario Chabacano

Ya susta yo tiene ya pala diccionario el Chabacano de Cavite.

The Diccionario is a very useful tool for both speakers and learners of Chabacano. It is divided into three sections:

Part I - Chabacano-Ingles-Tagalog
Part II - Ingles-Chabacano
Part III - Tagalog-Chabacano

So, if you're looking for a word in Chabacano and know only the English or Tagalog equivalent, the Chabacano translation will be easy to look up. Very useful, indeed, and for those of us who grew up with Chabacano as an oral, rather than written, language, it guides us also on the proper spelling of words.

The Diccionario is a project of the Asosacion Chabacano del Ciudad de Cavite, and is available at the Cavite City Museum and Library. If you're Chabacano or Caviteno and are looking for a nice Christmas gift for family and friends, this would be a perfect aguinaldo. It's P300 only and you can get your copies at the CCML or email Ms Joy dela Rosa at joypdelarosa@yahoo.ca.

Cumpra ya!

Araw ng Kalayaan

Isang maalab na pagbati sa Araw ng Kalayaan mula sa siyudad ng Kabite, tahanan mga bayani, sa makasaysayang lalawigan ng Kabite.

Cavite City (then called Cavite Puerto) was the site of the 1872 Cavite mutiny that resulted in the martyrdom of Padres Mariano Gomez, Jose Burgos and Jacinto Zamora. Cavite City is also the birthplace of Ladislao Diwa, who founded the Katipunan with Andres Bonifacio, and of Julian Felipe who composed the Marcha Nacional Filipina that became the Philippine National Anthem.

Cavite City was also home to the 13 Martyrs who were executed for their involvement in the Katipunan. A Cavite landmark is the monument to these Trece Martires in Rosario district in San Roque, below.

Sa Kabite, may grupo ng mga Mason, at malakas din ang Iglesia Filipina Independiente o Aglipayan Church, na parehong tumututol sa mga pang-aabuso ng mga Kastila noong araw. (Ang ama ng aking lolo nga daw ay naging escribano o scribe sa Simbahang Aglipay noong kanyang kabataan.)

Maraming kalye at eskwelahan sa siyudad ng Kabite ang ipinangalan sa mga bayani nito. Kaya't bata pa ang mga Kabitenyo ay nakaukit na sa kanilang kamalayan ang mga pangalan ng mga bayani.

Some people might think it ironic that despite its place in the struggle for independence, it is in Cavite where we see the vestiges of Spanish colonial influence through the Chabacano language. But Chabacano is also an expression of the Caviteño identity, proof of how some Filipinos took from the colonizer's language and created one distinctly their own, un lenggwahe Creole de niso mismo.

Para Dios y Patria!

Cavite City's Baywalk

Long time no post. Here's a new one. A Chabacano conversation.


Chabacano 1 (C1): Ay, que bonito ya pala aqui. Como Baywalk na Roxas Boulevard. Mira tu quesi manga luz, el manga lamppost! Como na Manila!

Chabacano 2 (C2): E, cuanto pedaso lang esi. Cunta tu.



C2: Cuatro lang. O pero tiene pa aqui na park.

C1: Nuevo lang esi, nuay pa ung mes.

C2: Bueno naman, at least tiene dondi pwede pasya mga Caviteño. Y tiene pa como paseo.

C1: Hay naku, di quel Huwebes, bahang baha aqui. Akala yo baha del aguasero, aquel pala baha del aplaya. High tide kasi. Nuay ma ora. Secung seco ya.

(No time to translate. Anyone who wishes to translate, you're welcome to do so by posting a comment. Gracias!).

La Virgen

In late November to early December, the San Roque Church played host to a Marian exhibit. Actually the host (or hostess) was San Roque's patron saint, Nuestra Señora de la Soledad de Porta Vaga.

The images included the Mater Dolorosa, Nuestra Señora de la Turumba, Nuestra Señora de la Leche, Nuestra Señora del Rosario and many others.

I took these photos at a time when the exhibit was closed, and got shooed away by a caretaker, who mumbled that visitors weren't allowed when there was no one around to watch, because Las Virgenes' accessories and finery might get stolen. In the past and in other places, thieves have not spared these images. And so I hesitated to upload this post, fearful that bad people might get wind of Our Ladies' whereabouts. But now the Marian exhibit is long gone from Cavite City and I can safely post the pictures.

Here are the many faces of La Virgen, this blog's tribute to Her, who gave Holy Birth to the Man whose cumpleaño the world is celebrating this season.



In the backdrop is the yet unfinished ceiling of the San Roque Church, corrugated sheets still. Holding court among all was the image of La Soledad so familiar to Caviteños.

San Roque Church renovation update

Tiene egroup el mga Caviteño que ta ayuda na construction del San Roque Church, el casa de La Soledad. Ya habla ilo, mga dos o tres año pa raw bago caba el iglesia, pero cabao ya raw el physical structure. Ya umpisa el construction di quel 2001. El nombre y email address del egroup sanroquerenovationgroup@yahoogroups.ca.

I was in Cavite the past days, and I've been marvelling at the devotion of those supporting the church's construction. There was one particular supporter that caught my eye.

Primero, ya mira yo con ele cerca na palengke, pero ta maneha yo y no hay yo camera at that time kaya no yo ya pudi saca litrato. The next day, ya mira ya naman yo con ele, ta dale vuelta na kalye Rafael Palma. Ta maneha ya naman yo kaya no yo pudi saca picture. After that, no ma yo ya encuntra con ele.

And then, just as I was leaving Cavite, I saw him, her, it. Black Toyota Innova parked along Lapidario St in San Antonio, faith and support to Our Lady of Solitude written all over. Near the front is the line: "Help Build Our Church."