Th Summer of '60

In 1960, I took a year long sabbatical from my University studies( I could not adjust to Manila life then ). That was the summer of 1960 when I joined the Cathecism League in Asingan, headed at that time by Fr. Lazaro de Guzman, the town's Parish Priest. His assistant then was Fr. Geronimo Marcelino from Camiling, Tarlac (the hometown of CP Romulo ).. So during this summer of 1960, I and several out of school Asingan young people(YPs) took a crash course on Catechism, aiming to teach Catholicism in the Elementary schools for the next school term, 1960-61..

I joined this club before because there was nothing much to do in Asingan.Being idle in this town could be the pits. So I signed up with Lito Domaoan and Philip Martin. Pretty soon, Lito found a job in Manila and Philip Martin joined the US Navy. I was left alone in Asingan, but I persisted with the project where I met other friends in town, mostly women.

Anyways, before we entered the church at around 3:00 pm for the hour long lectures, , we socialized, played games, etc. For me, this is the best part of the afternoon's agenda.

After 20 afternoons of "intensive" studies, the "successful" students ( those who did not give up ) received a membership card and half a cavan of rice. Which was nice.

When school opened that June, we were assigned schools to visit. The school curriculum was adjusted through an arrangement between the priest and various schol principals so religious teachers could come 3 times a week and teach Catechism. I was assigned to South Central and North Central Schools.


A month before the closing of the school year, there was a first confession for all students taking up Religion. A week later, there would be their frst communion followed by a breakfast for all first time Communicants.

Fr. Gerry Marcelino was the priest who heard their confessions the kids who took Religion in South Central. We accompanied him to the school together with one altar server..

The confessions took over an hour, and after the session, he appeared to be in a mild nervous wreck.Then we heard from his altar boy some little stories about Fr. Marcelino's first encounters with the new would-be-members of the flock... "I heard the confession of about 30 pupils. They seemed to have the same "sins" like they were reading from a common piece of paper...

"But what really made me lose my cool is one kid who confessed..'I pinched my brothers, my sisters, my friends and I also pinched our cat..!" Fr. Marcelino, nearing his wits' end, blurted in a much louder voice" It is not a sin to pinch the cat!!!"

I added one story, that goes.."On our last day of school, I gave a short quiz ( the kids wrote their answers on a 1/4 piece of pad paper)..There were just 10 easy questions. One kid had only one answer from numbers one to ten. Just the word GOD. He figured that out of the 10 questions, there there would be a few whose answer would be GOD.."

Sparky's New Video in my Blog...

IT was raining: drip-drip-drip constantly yesterday..Our dog Sparky positioned himself in front of the patio door as if he wanted to go out, but when I opened it, he ran back to his comfortable bed in the kitchen..'stupid dog," I said, "but I will always love you.."

He is my constant companion at home. He loves roaming around the backyard which had grown green and fresh and flowery with the arrival of summer rains and days of sunlight. Every three days, the grass has grown taller than the day before. Thus, they seem to call to me, in their silent plant language, cut us now, cut us now..just like the plants in ALICE IN WONDERLAND...

So I had to take out the very long extension cord and to begin the preliminary ritual of trimming the lawn, our dog Sparky's play ground..

A WITNESS TO THE EXECUTION

One of the more interesting Asinganians I met in my work as a correspondent for our town was a 90+ senior who lived in the Malong residence along the road to Dupac. I do not know if he was related to the Cardinez or the Malong family..Anyway, I learned the fact from a friend that he was one of the oldest persons in Asingan at that time and he was a former member of the defunct KKK ( the famous Katipunan league )

I found his mind then was still sharp, and his eyes were bright and he was responsive to my questions.. He showed me a certificate (yellow with age ) showing his emmbership to the KKK league. One of the signatories on the document was Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo...He related to me further that on the day of Dr. Rizal's execution, he and a few compatriots ( all KKK's ) were hanging out around Bagumbayan. Somebody concocted a foolhardy plan to rescue Rizal from execution, he said for there was an overwhelming feeling for the martyr-to-be. He said he was there in the crowd of witnesses for the execution with a short knife hidden underneath his trouser pants. But security was very tight he said and to do anything drastic then would mean sure torture or death for the perpetrators of the rescue plot. So the plan was aborted the last minute..He said he saw Rizal from a distance, and he said it seemed he heard him reciting some verses from his MI ULTIMO ADIOS... After the volley of shots, he fell the same way as described in some history books...

I sent in the story to my agency a few days before Dec. 30..When I opened the Manila Times on that day, Rizal Day, I saw it appear in the front page. I was then in Los Banios. Miggie has just resigned from her job from the DWA in Urdaneta to join me. The day before, Dec. 29, we visited Calamba, Laguna just to see this birthplace of our national hero. It was a very beautiful Philippine town. On its entrance is a big clay jar ( Calamba or Caramba meaning jar )embellishing the entrance to this picturesque community.---#