A Brief from my Past

Adventures did made the world go round. And it was true with us.

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It was said that on the last half of the 19th century (1800s), before the end of an age, the age of powerful empires, our great great grandfather, a spanish officer and a soldier who came here in a battleship from Mexico, a commandancia of the once Spanish Empire, set foot on the Panay Islands, a midwestern island of the Philippines.

Setting eyes on one of the native peasant lady, they begat a son named Juan Salas year 1869. As to what name that Spanish officer and soldier, nobody remembers, and also the poor wife of that noble officer was just interred with her in their graves and was lost from memory. As if they have other children aside from Juan Salas, nobody knows, and maybe, nobody want to know.

Vague memories told us that Juan Salas together with his wife migrated from the mid west to the most central part of the mid-Philippines, which corresponds to the present location of Bohol. There they are fruitful enough to have 11 offsprings. Some of whom were Filomeno, Fermin, Irene, and Cristituto. There is no further records pertaining to Juan Salas, his wife, and their children except that Juan Salas died after the great war (World War II). The year was 1952

Almost all this 11 sons and daughters lost in history. Except for Filomeno due to a single reason, and I cannot think of other reason. He is the direct lineage of my own father. Filomeno was born 1903. He was married to Eufrocina Licayan. The couple was blessed with 13 children, 3 of whom died of disease during infancy and childhood. My father said, his sisters and brothers name including him were Bonifacio (my father), Simeon, Magdalena, Abdon, Carmen, Apolinario, Vicente, Domin, Belarmino, and Pastor. Filomeno died of disease coupled with old age in 1985, while Eufrocina, his wife followed almost a decade later 1993. As to the other members of the Filomeno-Eufrocina family, they are not my present concern. Except for Simeon, all are still living, and hopefully, in good health, except my father Bonifacio.

Bonifacio and his family including me of course now live in Nueva Ecija, Island of Luzon. He was an undergraduate mainly from his view in life. He decided to run from home and settled south, island of Mindanao. There he tilled tracks of land, planting coffee, banana, and trees. He did failed in his ventures so he traveled north to Island of Luzon to have a new life. He was pretty adventurous until he landed as a tailor in Manila, then the capital City of the Philippines, thus consequently meeting his future wife who is my mother, then Aquilina Cariaga. They did produced two sons, who includes me and Reymundo. Bonifacio also tried his luck in the mountains here as he did in the south. It was cut short however when he was lucky enough to have a new job overseas as a construction worker in Saudi Arabia. Threat against his life from the native Arabs, who was themselves displaced from their territories and homes caused by the boom in construction in their place caused him to stay there for only two years. His overseas job bought him a piece of land to build his own house, which is our present home.

Bonifacio tried again to be a tailor. Then a farmer. Until the last crisis of his life struck. The year was 1999. His right body was paralyzed caused by a mild stroke due to high cholesterol level. Lucky enough, he survived, and partially recovered.

My father's never ending adventures taught us many lessons, but we remained poor for life.

Adventures never made us rich. However, it made us wise. It made our world go round.

March 2000