Tiyoy's Tales: DINOY AND MARIS, WHERE IT ALL STARTED!

Before the second world war, Papa and Mama lived a good life. They had Nene and Nening, a profitable drugstore business and produce from Mama's vast land holdings. They owned the best house in Passi that time. When the Japs came, they made that house their headquarters. Nene (9 yrs old, Nening only 2 yrs old) was a favorite of Jap Officers, teaching her Niponggo. (Up to now, she knows how to sing the Jap Nat'l Anthem. They owned expensive silver cutlery (Rogers brand) and fine china dishes. There was a well under our house and they hid these expensive tablewares underwater, in that well. After the war, they recovered these ( I must be over 5 yrs old, because i remember all these). I helped in the recovery, removing water from the well manually (no water pump) and painstakingly cleaning the table wares using ashes from our DAPOG (earthen kitchen). Why this trivia? I wish for the brgy members to know how your ancestors led the good life, lost that good life just when it was our turn to make a living and enjoy life now through our own efforts, armed with what we acquired genetically from our ancestors. I CALL THIS GULONG NG PALAD! Mabuhay ang Barangay!

Tiyoy's Tales: THE PATRIARCH, DINOY PATINO

He had a green thumb. After the war he had a beautiful rose garden at the back of the house. It was four-tiered, each tier planted with the same color american roses. All together, four tiers of four different colors exuded the most beautiful picture one can see. American roses are big, not same as local roses we see today. His rock garden was made of native white rocks (IGANG in Ilonggo). When i had my own house in 1976, i replicated his rose garden in my front yard . Instead of Igang, i used hallow-blocks. Sad to say, i did not succeed in my efforts. IBA SI DINOY, HE HAD HIS OWN MAGIC!

Tiyoy's Tales: THE GOLDEN BOY!

Everyone in the Brgy fondly calls him Awan, Tito Awan or Lolo Awan. I bet not everyone knows why he is called by that name. He was baptized AUREO in honor of Mama whose second name was AUREA. Now, why AWAN? The chemical symbol for gold is "Au", and gold in Ilonggo is "BULAWAN". It was Nanay ITAK (Petra Hachuela. Nene' A. was she ever married to Lolo Fernando Patino?) who consistently called him Bulawan. It was shortened to AWAN and the name stuck on him. When Toto Joemarie was born, it was the same Nanay ITAK (Abaw, tsuplada, baba-on, magarot - - - daw si ? ? ? ? ? gid. Hahaha, sin-o Mimi ya nag ugot? In the family, we always call one who is problematic as ITAK) ) who took care of him. She gave Toto Joe a pet name also (MUTYA) because of his thick, curly hair. But the name did not stick on him. Inday Stella was called KIRABOT because of her curly hair. 
Ako? Nanay ITAK simply called me GWAPO! Hahaha. (Jongjong, lesson nr 1 in life: If nobody praises you, by all means praise yourself).

Tiyoy's Tales: A STAR IS BORN!

This is about the circumstance of my birth. (Nening, see how good my memory is? I even recall events when i was in our mother's womb. Hahaha.). Papa and Mama had Nene Alice in 1932. Then they had a son a few years later but died at birth. He was Jose Maria Patino, part-1. And Nening was born in 1939. Papa and Mama really wanted a son but the war in 1941 screwed - up their plans. Their house in Passi was occupied by the japs so the family evacuated to their farm in Barrio Asisig. Those were hard times economically and otherwise but Papa and Mama found romantic moments together that resulted to Mama's conception of Your's Truly. Thus, I was born 3 Nov 1943. (Ironically, on that very day, Japs were killing suspected filipino guerillas in Barrio Lungaw, an adjacent barrio, by decapitation. Tatay Ponsing Palencia was a known guerilla leader and was wanted by the japs). When Langga was born much, much later, Papa was dead drunk. In my case, Papa was in total control of his faculties. The nipa hut (payag) they called home doubled up as animal cage, chicken coop, 
sty, goat shed etc. I was delivered by a comadrona and fortunately without complications. As luck would have it, a nest full of eggs (pugadan) over Mama's head gave way and several eggs fell right smack on our faces. When the comadrona cleaned us up, everybody saw a cute, handsome little devil (that was me). (Jongjong, take note). When Papa finally saw me, he did some dance moves kids now call TWERK or BOOTY in grateful appreciation for his answered prayers. Imagine, LALAKI NA GWAPO PA! Hahaha. He ran out of the payag to shout to the whole world that finally he had a son. Asisig river was startiing to swell (naga baha') but he jumped into the water to celebrate. Due to the strong current, he was recovered in the next Barrio, Imbang. My parent's passion for mahjong and pang-ging-gi
never waned even during war time. They left me with Nene' Alice who was my yaya at age 10. She would milk our goat and fed me while Mama and Papa played mahjong. When there was no more milk available, Nene would insert her thumb into my mouth and i would stop crying, savoring her thumb, dirt and all. After the war, Papa would bring me with him where ever he went. We had this scripted exchanges always: PAPA: Sin-o payangga? ME: Ako PAPA: Insa? ME: Amay, sambiyog yaki! (Hahaha, sambiyog was 'isa ka bilog' nga lalaki. BOTTOM LINE: I feel very fortunate to be the 1st son in the family and to have a father who adored me. (So long, Barangay. Until the next episode).

Tiyoy's Tales: THE DAY LOLO AWAN ALMOST DIED

  Circa summer of 1951, I was 8-yrs old and Awan was 3 yrs old. I had my barkada already, cousins and neighbors of the same age group. My barkada occasionally went to take a swim in the river, behind the munisipyo. There was this Bao-Bao area where the sand excavation was very deep and it was perfect for swimming. The Panay Railways extracted sand by way of digging river banks using a Turtle-Shaped contraption using a large pulley to deposit sand across the river. At age 3, Awan was my ward and he wanted to be with me always. Even my barkada liked him. One time we went to swim in that river. I made Awan sit by the river bank and admonished him not to move until I was done with my swimming. Little did I know, he followed me in the deeper part of the excavation. There was a big commotion and i saw an adult carrying in his arms a seemingly lifeless little boy. IT WAS AWAN! His tummy was bloated, eyes were open and large, and he was simply out of this world. I forgot the name of the man who saved him but he knew his 1st-aid procedures in reviving a drowning victim. In no time at all, Awan spewed a lot of water and he began crying. (THE LORD WAS VERY KIND TO THE FAMILY. HE ALLOWED AWAN TO LIVE ON AND SHARED A LIFE WITH US ALL). Now came the good part, The Time of Reckoning with Papa. We came home, I carried Awan on my back because i did not want him to walk. He was still weak. Passi was very small. Before we even arrived in our house, Papa already knew what happened. He had in his hands different instruments of torture for an 8 yr old kid who knew nothing better. (May banislak, paha, tsinelas etc etc). I was beaten black and blue, hahaha. Since then, Awan was not allowed to go out with me. But kids are always kids. A few years after that near fatal incident, Awan again joined my escapades. I had a friend whose younger brother was of the same age as Awan. (I remember the younger brother's name as Etik somebody). Whenever we met in the streets, we made our younger brothers fight one-on-one. No gloves, just plain fists. That was where Awan developed his bravery, guts and daring. He does not run away from insurmountable odds. When he was with Nene Alice in Zamboanga, 7 - muslim teens ganged-up on him and beat him up. He went home with a face like pulp-bits but he did not run away. When he joined the Marines in the 70s, he participated in a lot of combat-operations where he manifested his fighting prowess. He left the military service early because he loved his family more than he loved the military. That is where he is situated right now, A VERY GOOD HUSBAND AND FATHER.