Cumpleaño ora de mi unico hermano. Junto de eli na letrato niso m
ommy. No se yo si kwanto año eli. Mira naman buso el kara, o! Como reganyao, como di muldi con el letratista. No ma yo di habla cosa edad ya di eli. Basta cerca ya quida kwarenta. Hace round-off ya lang niso. Kwarenta ya nga! Happy happy!
I think that's the name of the parish priest who came after Padre Pedro. Padre or Father Mojica. If I'm not mistaken.
At the boundary of Bacoor and Las Pinas along Coastal Road is (was) a sign that welcomes visitors to the "Makasaysayang Lalawigan ng Cavite" (Historic Province of Cavite). And within the province, there's probably no town or city more historic that Cavite City.
Sure, there's Kawit where Philippine Independence from Spain was declared but we'll always have Cavite City where naturally rebellious people were making trouble for authorities long before Aguinald
o grabbed center stage.
Cavite City is where Fort San Felipe is located and Fort San Felipe was where shipyard workers staged a mutiny in 1872, which was blamed on Fathers Gomez, Burgos and Zamora who were later executed.
Much later there were the 13 martyrs of Cavite, young men from well-to-do families who were also executed for anti-Spanish sentiments. A monument to them stands along the road going to Fort San Felipe near Garita Elementary School and their names are written in stone.
And even to 
this day, Fort San Felipe plays host to rebels because that's where they locked up the soldiers accused of attempting to overthrow you-know-who. Why am I writing about this? Nothing really except that in a few weeks, it will be the anniversary of two coup attempts and you get to wonder whether anyone is going to try anything again. But then it's election time so people's minds are probably elsewhere at the moment.
Ta culda ba buso con Nyora Monang? She's the famous Caviteña columnist who makes an appearance once a year in the pages of the Cavite City souvenir fiesta. It was a humorous column where she always makes fun of her husband.
Anyway, this entry isn't about Nyora Monang but I remembered her after reading a series of articles in a Chabacano website. One is an undated article written by Joy Picache-dela Rosa, curator of the Cavite City Library and Museum entitled Na Mi Pensamiento. Interested Caviteños can access the article and other writings by clicking here.
An excerpt:
Chabacano website esti, poreso todo qui di le ustedes aqui ta na lenguaje del mga Caviteño, el Chabacano. No raw esti lenguaje, ta habla el mga otro genti. Debi ilos sabi qui lenguaje el Chabacano, porcasa tieni esti gramatica, tieni literatura y otro pa mga aspeto de un lenguaje. Y dialecto rin esti, porcasa dialecto esti del mga Caviteño aqui na ciudad de Cavite. Dialecto rin esti del mga genti del ciudad de Zamboanga, Cotabato, Davao y Ternate. Cada lugar tieni otro otro caracteristica del Chabacano.
Cabao ya naman el “summer” aqui na Filipinas. Di abri ya naman el mga clase na escuela. Pero para cun niso mga Caviteño, no pa cabao el vacacion hasta no ta caba el Regada. Regada (Water Festival), cosa ba esti? Para cun aquel no pa familiar na Regada, esti el tres dias, 22 - 24 de Junio, de mga actividad na centrao na agua. Ta dale gracias niso mga Caviteño porcasa mucho niso mga provecho y riqueza, primero ya el abundancia del playa , donde ta pesca el mga pescador Caviteño y ta cuji mucho pescao y otro producto del playa. Ta umpisa el Regada na limpiada del mga barangay cerca na playa, para conserva el ecologia del mar. Tieni mga juego de playa, carrera del mga banca y otro mga alegre juego. Na tercer dia, 24 de Junio, tieni mga regador na calle P. Burgos, desde Padre Pio hasta na R. Basa. Aqui ta anda todo el mga Caviteño, tieni mga competicion del baile, mga otro-otro juego. Alegre y festivo el ambiente aqui, ademas qui todo el mga genti mujao. Para cun niso, bendicion el agua ta lliga cun San Juan, como ta bautisa otra vez cun niso.
Pictures above taken by mi hijo. Shows how things have changed but still remain the same.
There's no more Cine Perla at the corner of P.Burgos and Dra Salamanca, and the empty sandy lot where the chubibo used to stand every fiesta has been replaced by the Recoletos Campus. Chefoo has modernized; the old market was demolished. But the rest are the same images from the past.
January 28 el cumpleaño de mi sobrina Ayin. Tiene dos Ayin na niso pamilya. Aquel uno, mi cuñada, ya naci January 23. Este otro Ayin, hija de mi prima Rhoda. Ta qui el litrato de eli, ya saca niso na su Friendster page. Happy Birthday!
Local elections are coming up (in May), and although I don't vote in Cavite, it's interesting to know who's going to run against whom for mayor.
It's probably just a rumor but I heard that award-winning movie director Joel Lamangan, a son of Cavite City, is considering running for the position. Imagine all those movie and TV stars invading the city and campaigning for him! In a country as starstruck as ours, that would be an unbeatable campaign machine. Of course Mayor Bernardo (Toti) Paredes is running for a third term.
I hope that whoever becomes mayor (or continues to become mayor) solves Cavite's garbage problem. Such an eyesore. This photo was taken along M. Gregorio St. The uncollected garbage was a big problem years ago, when a mountain of trash grew somewhere behind t
he Cavite municipal cemetery and emitted a stench that spread over San Antonio. A cemetery is not a place for trash, which is supposed to go a landfill or something.
Anyway, the uncollected garbage disappeared for sometime but is now back. Poor Caviteños. No wonder many of them want to leave the city.
My Dad says that the old San Roque priest from the 1960s or early 70s must have been Padre Pedro. I'm not so sure. I remember Padre Pedro being mestizo. The grouch of a priest who terrorized me was Pinoy. It must have been the one who became parish priest after Padre Pedro.
Sung on the feast day of Nuestra Señora de la Soledad de Porta Vaga every second Sunday of November is this hymn. The lyrics below came from the website Ciudad de Cavite.
Reina de Cavite
Reina de Cavite per siempre seras
Es prenda tu nombre de jubilo y paz
Reina de Cavite per siempre seras
Es prenda tu nombre de jubilo y paz
Madre Immaculada, prez del serafin
Luz de Filipinas, protegenos sin fin
Luz de Filipinas, protegenos sin fin.
The Patroness of Cavite City is Nuestra Señora de la Soledad (Our Lady of Solitude) de Porta Vaga whose image is enshrined at the San Roque Church.
(Click here to go to a website dedicated to Our Lady of Solitude.)
It seems however that the Church reconstruction has been endlessly ongoing for the past several years. The Church is being enlarged to accommodate the growing number of churchgoers, and it is literally rising above the city.
My own memories of San Roque Church are traumatic. I remember that old parish priest, late 60s or early 70s, who growled at me while I was trying to receive Communion and asked me whether I was old enough to do so. I ran crying. He must ha
ve been one
of those old grouches forced into the priesthood, venting his ire on little girls like me.
Cavite City residents atttest to the miraculous nature of the image of Nuestra Señora de la Soledad. It's the stuff family lore is made of. One of the stories my grandmother tells is one that she swears happene
d one night when she was a child sent out to buy medicines. Just as she felt most scared, there appeared an old woman who accompanied her through a dark stretch of road. Next thing she knew, the old lady had disappeared. My grandmothers' folk believe the old lady was Our Lady of Soledad. (The child in the photo at left is my grandmother Luz Peña, now 94 years old. The photo, torn with age, must have been taken in the 1910s).
My mother also mentions talk among Caviteños that Nuestra Señora de la Soledad appeared to former First Lady Imelda Marcos when she wanted to build an airport there. Nyora Soledad must have scared the wits out of Meldy.
It seems the song Biabu has more lines than we realize. My aunt, Gigi Doyle, has supplied more. Where they fit in, I'm not really sure. But here are the additional lines:
Cosa el campana
Tinaja quebrao
Cose el hostia
Platu quebrao
Cosa el campanilla
Tibron cawcaw
Tamales is a delicacy Caviteños love. As far as I know, one of the main ingredients is peanuts (I don't cook so I don't really know these things). According to Internet recipes, it takes a while to grind the peanuts and mix it with other ingredients, such as coconut milk. When it is served, you usually see slices of ham and egg on top. During the Christmas season, Caviteños give away Tamales as gifts.
So imagine my surprise to discover that you can buy Tamales at food stalls at the SM supermarkets, for the relatively low price of 35 pesos for three pieces.
Out of curiosity, we bought three Tamales wrapped in banana leaves. When unwrapped, this is how they look--the color is a dull grey and the consistency and texture are not quite what I remember of the real thing. The appearance is gelatinous, and it tastes more like kalamay. Of course, there's the requisite egg on top and bits and pieces of what could be anything that are supposedly meat.
As disappointed Filipinos would say, "Harang!" But what can you expect at the price of three-for-thirty-five?
Here's that song again, corrected, by Bobby Valentin:
Biabu, Biabu,
Donde esta el tabu
Ya saca agua
Donde esta el agua
Ya saca el padre
Donde esta el padre
Ta hace misa
Cosa misa
Misa mayor.
I have no idea where these pictures are coming from! I think the termites are spitting them out of the woodwork.
Here's a picture of a little girl who used to be the apple of her father's eye, until the siblings cam
e along. (Incidentally, the little girl's father just took his oath of allegiance to the US of A, which means the little girl now has an American father).
There's a song the elders used to sing to little girls like her. Was it a song? A nursery rhyme? I have no idea. "Byabu Byabu, Donde Esta El Tabu...." (I'm not sure I'm getting the spelling right. It could be "Yabu, Yabu....")
I think it goes something like this, although there are many lines that escape me now.
Byabu ByabuWhat's the whole song? Help! This is not a time for senior moments!
Donde esta el tabu
Ya saca agua
Donde esta el agua...
Ya saca el padre
Donde esta el padre
Ta hace misa
Misa mayor.
My aunt, Gigi Doyle, called my attention to the photograph at right which I posted in an earlier entry. She says the woman on the right standing with my grandmother Luz Valentin and aunt Ochie is Dory, who is a half-sister of family friend Boboy Macapagal, and that they are children of Nyora Zosima Goodfellow-Macapagal and Rodolfo Macapagal. So she is Dory Macapagal? The photo was taken during an outing in Balara, Quezon City.
As for Goodfellow, I'm not surprised with the American-sounding name because Cavite City was the site of the American base Sangley Point and there were residents of American parentage. My grandmother's niece, for example, is named Laura Burgess Peña.
But speaking of Macapagal, I hope they are not related to you-know-who, who lives in you-know-what Palace by the Pasig River. A not-so-good-fellow, if you ask Filipinos. In fact, news reports say she was booed when she attended the Il Divo concert at the Philippine International Convention Center recently.
Not surprising. I attended a forum by the polling group Social Weather Station today, which reviewed the surveys it had conducted for 2006. SWS noted that you-know-who's "unpopularity is long-running," has in fact been so for two years now, and is the only such official to have garnered negative ratings in the history of polling in the Philippines. Worse even than Ferdinand Marcos.
My apologies to those who may not have understood the previous post. In English:
Today is the birthday of my sister-in-law, Ayin. My brother Mark celebrates his on the 31st. Happy Birthday to both of you.
I was looking for pictures the other night and came across this one. I am posting it to remind us of her birthday which is fast approaching. The picture shows my Mom celebrating her birthday but I don't know what year it was. Most likely the 1950s, in Padre Faura, Manila. They were all so young.
(As my Mom notes in her comment below, the year was 1957, exactly 50 years ago on February 8).
Ora el cumpleaño de mi cuñada Ayin. Na January 31 naman, birthday de mi hermano Mark. Happy Birthday con buso dos!
Ta busca yo mga letrato di quel ung noche, ya encuntra yo este. Di icha ya yo este aqui, para no niso olvida, kasi cerca ya el birthday di ele. Na litrato cumpleaño de mi Mommy, pero no se yo si cosa año. Sigurao mga 1950s na Padre Faura, Manila. Joven na joven pa ilo todo.
There's an article published in the National Statistical Coordination Board, the government agency in charge of collecting and generating data. It's a special fact sheet entitled, "Cavite City-Vanguard of Our Independence." However, the article calls Cavite City a 3rd class city, but in other government statistical articles it is identified as 4th class.
Click here for "Cavite City-Vanguard of Our Independence."
(I wanted to include an appropriate photo for this blog entry. There's one picture I found but the connection might be a bit stretched: The circa 1950s picture shows my grandmother, Luz Peña Valentin, with my aunt, Rosa Valentin-Seva at left, now deceased. The woman on the right is family friend, Dory, who was Bobby Valentin's teacher in kindergarten in Cavite City. Rosa Valentin or Ochie was also a friend of the Encarnacions-LR.)Kris, no tu olvida anda na Faculty Center manyana, ha? No ba di manda tu pirma con aquel cabron propesor de Karla aquel completion form? Di caba ya el second sem, no pa rin niso ta encuntra con aquel cabron propesor. Pirmi absent. Kilaya ba ya kida teacher na UP aquel? Quanto vez ya yo ya se text con ele, no naman ta contesta. Please anak ha?
Again, here's the link to Guillermo Ramos' food website and his blog entry, which also has interesting bits of Cavite City history.
Bandehado ni Ige: Memory of Taste: The Cavite Chavacano Bacalao
Certainly one institution in Cavite City is Chefoo restaurant, where long ago our family ate without fail at least once a year--on All Saints' Day or Todos Los Santos.
Funny how we always had pictures of the inside, but never the facade. The closest we have of a facade is this one showing my son right beside the pillar fronting the entrance to Chefoo, which was rebuilt some years ago. (Chefoo has kept up with the times and now even has a ramp for the disabled).
The dinner fare every Todos Los Santos was almost predictable: old favorites camaron rebosado, fried chicken, lumpiang shanghai which were always a hit even if we had them year in, year out. One of the last really big get-togethers we had at Chefoo was on All Saints' Day 2004.
If there's one thing about Cavite that its residents hold dear, it's the food. Faces and names may sometimes be forgotten but certainly not food whose taste lingers somehow. Among the more lasting memories Caviteños have of Cavite City are the dishes that have become part of tradition. Tamales, Kare-kare, Bacalao during lent, are some of these.
Guillermo Ramos writes about these Cavite City memories in his blog, called Bandehado ni Ige, where he also mentions Chefoo (the old Chinese owner who was a friend of my grandfather died recently) as well as Asiong's.
There's also mention of Nyora Puring Ballesteros who I last saw at my grandmother's 94th birthday, celebrated at Chefoo Restaurant with other members of the Cavite City Women's Club.
Indeed, the palate could also open the gates to a flood of memories.
Here's a quote:
This year marks the centennial of the birth of my grandfather, Marcos Valentin, Jr.
Angco, as he was known to friends and relatives, was born on September 21, 1907 and studied at the University of the Philippines where he graduated with a law degree in 1932. He was a proud son of Cavite City, serving as city councilor after World War II. Like other Cavitenos, however, he sought a better life elsewhere, becoming fiscal of Manila from 1955 to 1971.
I still remember him making some joke to friends in Manila about the word "piskal" sounding so much like "pescao" or fish in Chabacano.
He was named Most Oustanding Alumnus of the Cavite National High School in 1966.
What does he have to do with Cavite City today? Well, there's actually a street in Cavite City that carries his name. It was named after him shortly after his death in 1971. Marcos Valentin, Jr St. is the street that leads to the Cavite City Hall, facing the park, and fronting Patio Encarnacion. Sadly, the sign with his name on it had disappeared long ago.
In case I forget, here are some phrases I heard growing up and listening to my grandmother, some of which I hear my children repeating, after having heard them from the elders:
Cabao ya yo -- I am finished
Lleno ya yo -- I am full
Come ya niso -- Let us eat
Masyao lejos tu casa -- Your house is too far
Yo de paga -- I will pay
Cuanto tu ya paga? -- How much did you pay?
Ya compra ba tu pescao? -- Did you buy fish?
I wonder if I'm getting them right?
I've never really written Chabacano before. (My mother says it is spelled Chabacano, not Chavacano). It has always been an oral language to me, never written. In my childhood in the 1960s, it was something I heard my grandmother using when she talked to my late grandfather and her older children. I was never taught how to write it, not the way I could write and speak English and Tagalog.
But I could speak it, somehow. I could converse in Chabacano with my Uncle Luis. He is hard of hearing but hears well when the speaker speaks in Chabacano. My 94-year-old grandmother also hears better when you talk to her in Chabacano.
But this is Chabacano de Cavite. Cavite City in particular. It's different from the Chabacano of Zamboanga City which is laced with Visayan or Cebuano. The Chavacano speakers of Zamboanga, unlike their counterparts in Cavite City, are fortunate. The dialect there is still spoken by a good chunk of the population. In Cavite City, hardly anymore, I think. It helped that former Zamboanga Congresswoman Maria Clara Lobregat was actively involved in preserving the language, and had a Chavacano dictionary published, I was told, aside from recording Chavacano songs.
This blog is an attempt not to preserve Cavite's Chabacano, but to recall a time and place when it was spoken. Also an attempt to solicit sentences, words, paragraphs, in Chabacano, the better to remember Cavite City of old and share the memories with my children.
Pictures are what we usually attempt to put in order as we unclutter our lives and homes. I've never been successful at uncluttering, and have this very bad habit of misplacing important things like pictures.
Until today, and only with this particular set of pictures. They belong to my grandmother. I borrowed them 15 years ago for her 80th birthday. She is now 94 going on 95.
Someone in my household found them today. It shows my grandmother, Luz Peña, in her teenage years in Cavite City sometime in the 1920s, when she was a student at what was then the Sacred Heart Academy, an exclusive school for girls run by the Benedictine sisters, the same ones who run St. Scholastica's College today.
From my grandmother's sketchy stories (I often felt confused with the way she told her stories which were never linear or chronological), Sacred Heart was located somewhere in what was once the old city, near where the Philippine Navy base and Fort San Felipe are currently located.
In the group picture, she is the only one wearing what looks like a dark printed dress, standing third from left. It is obviously Christmas, as the decor behind them indicates.
Most people in Cavite City then spoke Chabacano. There were of course outsiders (mga taga-labas) who did not speak the dialect. There were also Americans, and years later Cavite City would be where they set up the military facility known as Sangley Point.
Come to think of it, my grandmother actually spoke three languages aside from Chabacano--Tagalog Spanish and English--as I am sure other Caviteños did in their time.
