tagabungtod

Three weeks ago, I went to Tindalo, Mainit at the invitation of Ago Maglana who was "soft-opening" a farmhouse. Made of bamboo and other indigenous materials, this is a farmhouse which he shares with brother Nelson. It has an open living/dining area, a kitchen, a small pahuwayan bedroom, a loft, toilet and bath and two sets of stairs with perfectly measured steps on both sides of the house. Aside from the usual coconut trees, several fruit trees like mangosteen, lanzones and rambutan surround the house (click picture to enlarge).

While you may enjoy this very cute and elegant farmhouse, here is a sad story:

Driving with a couple of friends on our way to Tindalo, upon nearing Mainit poblacion, we were aghast and horrified when we found out that the trees that the late Eloy Secuya planted on both sides of the road have ALL been cut!! Telltale signs indicate it was very recent because branches and drying leaves were still strewn all over both sides of the road. A very sickening feeling overcame me because it was only three months back that I wrote about these trees in this blog (“Want To Live Another One Hundred Years?”, posted September 10, 2008). The idea of taking a picture of the “mass murder” of hundreds of 20 year-old mahogany trees immediately came to mind. But I did not have the heart anymore to stop and do it. The tree stumps were a very sorry and unconscionable sight to behold.

“Naunsa man!!”....”Buanga oy!!”.... “Sayanga ato, oy!”....”Nganong gipamutol man intawon to?” were all the incredulous questions most of us in the car could only ask. Nobody among us could provide an answer.

When we got to the farmhouse, Nab mayor Dodong Humol was there so that was the first question we asked of him. He himself did not know why those trees were cut and who might be responsible. When he passed by earlier, he said he was just as sorry and surprised as we were to find out the trees were all gone.

A week later, through a text message from Nelson who is married to Judith, eldest daughter of Eloy Secuya, we got to learn why the trees were cut. This same message is posted on the comments section of the blog article:

“Bro,

You are right, that portion of the road in Mainit lined on both sides by mahogany trees planted by Tay Eloy WAS really landong, bugnaw and very refreshing mao daghan motorists didto magpahulay/mokaon.

"WAS" because the trees had to be cut by Transco kay it was getting in the way daw sa transmission lines nila sa koryente, fyi.Bro.”

(Nelson provided this low res picture of the trees when they were still “alive”. I believe this picture was taken around noontime. See, how beautifully they shade the highway? What you don't see here in this picture is mas baga pa gyud ang kahoy sa pikas sa highway.)

Questions: Couldn’t have Transco (formerly Napocor or National Power Coporation) moved their power lines instead if only to save those trees? Couldn’t they have just trimmed those mahogany trees instead of cutting them altogether? Those trees have been standing there majestically for maybe more than 20 years, why complain about them getting in the way only now?

Is the right of government agencies, like Transco, to cut trees so absolute that it cannot be contested by private individuals? Couldn’t the Department of Environment and Natural Resources which oversees these trees, or the Department of Public Works and Highways which maintains the national road like that one going to Mainit, file a test case against Transco just so there will be a clear interpretation and implementation of the law against tree-cutting? Where do we draw the line between saving our trees and the need of government to maintain its infrastructures?

O di ba kaha giputol to kay naay taga-gobyerno nga gusto himoon tong kahoy nga negosyo? It is not an uncommon practice that some people in government make business out of our regulatory laws.

Daghang pangutana. Sa atong klaseng panggobyerno, ambot kung naay tubag..

The last few days, people here in Davao City have been rushing everywhere to go shopping for christmas gifts and attending parties. So many vehicles are clogging the streets. Maayo na lang gani, traffic lights have been installed and activated this year. Driving is no longer as nerve-wracking as it was before. Still you have to stretch your patience insofar as jeepney and taxi drivers are concerned. They have the habit nga mohunong sa tunga, mosingit, dili molugar, kalit ug liko, etc. Wala gyud sa ilang bokabularyo ning road courtesy and discipline.

Naa pa gyud ning mga motorcycle nga pwerteng daghana na kaayo. Unya hawod ug hambog pa gyud nga magpaikis-ikis sa karsada nga murag wala'y kamatayon. An orthopedic surgeon friend told me last month nga since these motorcycles proliferated, everyday, repeat, everyday, he gets at least two cases of broken and shattered bones from these motorcycle daredevils. Makalagot ug makalingaw daw. Makalagot kay ang iyang time tua na tanan sa hospital sige ug sinumpay sa mga nabali nga bukog ug tinapak sa mga nabuak nga mga ulo. Makalingaw pud daw kay samot daw kadaghan iyang kwarta (he was not so serious when he said this but I am sure he was not joking either).

Ang sitwasyon sa Nab, mao-mao na pud. Pwerteng daghana na ang pedicab sa poblacion. Dugangan pa gyud aning mga habal-habal (kanang motorcycle nga moangkas ug tulo ka pasahero ug isa sa atubangan.) nga midaghan na pud. Kanang naay paryente all ober da world (Amerika, Australia, Japan, Hongkong, Taiwan, Middle East, Europe, Africa ug uban pa) ug makadawat gani ug "remittance" kay ang unang paliton: jeep, pedicab o motorcycle. Panginabuhi lagi kuno.

Dunay mga gabii nga gina-extend sa mga habal-habal drivers ang ilang livelihood. Pinaagi sa pag pustaanay. Believe it or not, naga drag race ning mga tonto gikan sa kanto duol sa amoang balay hangtud didto sa tulay sa Sta. Maria! (Dili ka katulog kay tungang gabii man ni sila mag karera.) Mao na nga ubay-ubay na pud ang nangadakdak. Daghan-daghan na pud atong nacontribute sa mga hospital ug sa punerarya.

Karong panahona we just hope and pray nga kining atong mga kaigsoonan maghinay-hinay unta gamay aron makalikay sa disgrasya. Ug para malipayon pud ang ilang pasko.

Mao ni’y dagway sa atong 50 years old nga munisipyo karon. Pink!!! Pink nga hagdanan!!! Ingon ani ba kaha ang dalan pasaka sa langit? Pink nga hagdanan? Stairway to heaven. Murag color sa gulaman. And look a little closer: Pink!!! Pink nga mga poste!!! Peste!

After this building was constructed, the image that has been permanently etched in my mind was always of a whitewashed municipal building. Ambot. Nahutdan siguro'g pinturang puti ang Nabunturan. Pink pa gyud......ug gituyo ni, nganong dili na man lang violet.....o electric blue ba kaha!

Did you know that once upon a time, some political retard named the building “WHITE HOUSE”?! No joke! It was emblazoned in bold black letters right where it now reads in the picture: “Municipality of Nabunturan” (he was probably the same guy who named our main street Hot River Avenue sa kaniadto. We did have village idiots and they were voted into office! More to follow.) Maayo gani duha ka tuig lang and iyang termino. Gipa-erase ug dali-dali ni kanhi mayor Prospero S. Amatong tong "WHITE HOUSE" as soon as he assumed office for the first time.

During the late '40s to the early '50s, the first municipal building---made of inak-ak---was at the back of the Espinos sa may crossing. It is now known as Purok 2, the biggest of 19 puroks in the poblacion. It was to be the first temporary home of my father when he first came to Nabunturan in 1947. In the mid '50s the munisipyo was later transferred to a building owned by Dr. Gonzalo dela Paz (natung-an ni Secuya ug ni Pahate). The building became his private clinic after the present municipal building was completed.

Did you ever notice that the municipal building is beautifully perched on a low hill? The family of Mariano O. Fuentes, who once served as the town’s chief of police and later as municipal secretary donated this two-hectare property to the local government during the '50s to support the efforts of then mayor Lauro C. Arabejo to create a new municipality out of Nabunturan. One of the prerequisites for the creation of a municipality, then as now, is a piece of land where the municipal building will be erected. Officially, Nabunturan became a municipality on July 23, 1957.

Former mayor Antonio Tulio* once told me, that when he became mayor, together with his vice-mayor, Gregorio E. Echavez, they wanted that expanse of land, which stretches from the street fronting the present municipal building, going all the way to the national highway, to be acquired by the municipal government. It was not so difficult to do at the time because most lands in Nabunturan did not have clear ownership and there werenot so many settlers then. With the help of the local government, these claimants or occupants could have easily been persuaded to transfer elsewhere as unclaimed lands were still plentiful in the town.

Their vision? --to build a municipal park that runs from the munisipyo to the highway. An unobstructed view of the municipal building on top of the hill would have been a beautiful and magnificent sight from the national highway. Gwapo unta no? Kung natuman pa tong ilang gihandum, makita unta karon gikan sa highway ang pink nga hagdanan ug pink nga mga poste. Lingaw.

The turn of political events did not favor the “visionaries” and during the early ‘60s, a cadastral court presided by CFI Judge Jose Cusi was set up in Nabunturan. So lands---which included that which they wanted to become a park--- were distributed and awarded to claimants. Except for that small portion right in front of the municipal building which former mayor Joel O. Bugas developed, hasta karon walay park ang Nabunturan nga capital town man unta sa bag-ong probinsya.



*P.S. When Nong Tony had some financial success in logging, he tasked and funded his friend, Ireneo Salarda to convert his 4-hectare property in Nabunturan into a private park. Salarda was a former schoolteacher who was responsible during the early ‘70s for making the Sto. Niño (Kao) Elementary School win a national award for having the most beautiful barangay school grounds in the entire country.

This park, which Salarda slowly developed through the years, was fondly known as Tulio’s Park. And Nong Tony generously shared it for the tagabungtod to visit and enjoy. Unfortunately, the slump in the logging industry later caused him severe financial distress from which he never recovered. He was forced to sell the property later on. After that the only park that the tagabungtod ever came to know was no more.

I was sorting out and making sense of my emails when I got to reread some of the letters I received. (To those who have not received a reply yet, I am very sorry. I will do better next time.) I am posting some of those email letters here today. Felisa Chan or Peling told me nga dili i-post ang iyang sulat but I am sure she would not mind if I post this one. This is very informative about Nabunturan and its scattered children. I just wish I had pictures nila to accompany these articles.

Hi Trino:

Someone told me that the late Mayor Arsenio Flores requested Mr. Jesus Birondo to write the history of Nabunturan. Obviously he was not able to do it. So while reading your blog I was asking myself: "who could be writing this?. He must be in his 70's or 80's". I was so surprised when I learned that it's you! Be sure to keep a copy because we do not know how long you could have that free "space" in the cyberspace. (oh, this is a custom domain. tagabungtod paid google for this space so we own it ...renewable every year; for as long as we pay-- dili man pud dako kaayo-- so there’s no fear they will bump us off anytime they wish. Thanks for reminding me to keep a backup copy kay my biggest fear is kung mo-crash ang akong hard disk -- tgt.)

There should be a website of Nabunturan. Overseas Pinoys should be able to contribute for its maintenance. They could also be tapped to help in some community projects, render technical advice, etc.

I'll send you my photo with some tagabungtod- mga Avila (father was Municipal agriculturist, and mother was an elementary school teacher) and a Quismundo. Three Avila sisters, all nurses, are living in Nashville, Tennessee . One of them, aside from working as a nurse owns a Filipino store...dagsaan ng mga Pinoy performers, e.g. Gary V and Nora Aunor. My former classmate, Miriam (very shy kaayo kaniadto) told me: "Peling wala gyod ko magdahum nga ako, taga Nabunturan will be putting a lipstick on Nora Aunor". LOL. Nashville is the music capital of the US . I visited them last March.

I am in Fredericton , NB , working as a Researcher (member of Faculty too, sa Faculty of Forestry and Env. Mgt) at U of New Brunswick . Been here five years na...before coming here, I was at Universite Laval in Quebec City . Oui, je parle francais (gamay lang kaayo...tourist french I would say). Living here is a challenge because I am on soft money. When I was in the Philippines (sa LBanos, with a DOST org), gikapoy ko ug pangayo ug funding..mas grabe diay dinhi. I have to write project proposals not only for gov’t (fed and provincial) funding but for private companies as well...oops, my area of research is on wood products. The sector is heavily affected with the meltdown of the economy in the US .

Do you know how the Mainit river disappeared? I was really shocked to see those small Toyuzo pools. I thought the river is still there (it is still there pero lubog na kaayo and all the more getting worse because of unabated mining upstream. Ug wala na ang pool---tgt) ..Any updates on Dr. Maglana's NGO? There should be plan/proposal, a technical one how to rehabilitate or preserve the springs. Overseas tagabungtod could be tapped to contribute/help.

Trino, unsa may lingaw nimo ron? (one sentence omitted... sa amo ra tong duha ni Peling)

Talk to you later.

BTW, I sent your email ad to Ed Diva. He now lives in Vancouver .

I am not that young...kabatch ko si Josephine, your sister, although I think she is younger than most of us. I went to Compre...Arthur B and I have the same birthdate: year, month and day! Batchmate ko si Makaw, Father David, Merlita Opeña, the Gorospe twins...BTW, the Executive Director of Katakus Inc (Kababayen-an alang sa Teknolohiya nga Haum sa Kinaiyahan ug Kauswagan), Betty More (nee Marfil) is tagabungtod. We were classmates.

O sige...sa sunod na pod...please keep up the tagabungtod..salamat kaayo for doing it.

Peling
October 14, 2008

More often historical information written from memory are subject to inaccuracies and speculations simply because of the absence of factual references compounded by aging and long-dormant or nearing-extinction brain cells. I am very happy that some tagabungtod readers are coming forward to correct and straighten out facts. For posterity’s sake, please continue to provide this blog with more accurate information. It is quite inspiring to know that this blogspot is being visited and read.

From the comments section of the blog entries I got this information from my friend, fellow-tagabungtod and fraternity brother Atty./Engr. Nelson P. Maglana:

Bro,
This morning my daughter in Singapore, Cel, sent me a message about the "Maglana bond" article. thanks to you she says she is all the more proud of being a product of the Maglana's and Secuya's!!
Anyway,dili tawon ko valedictorian sa ACN HS, si Bebeth Echavez tawon. I think gihimo lang ko ato honorable mention para naa pud honor sa mga boys!! Hehehe. I graduated cum laude sa ADDU law school though in 1989.
Congrats for initiating this very laudable project!! Lipay au mi Bro.
December 12, 2008 4:34 PM

My apologies to Elizabeth “Bebeth” Echavez-Mendez and to Nelson “Bobot” (his nickname) Maglana for the inaccuracy. This reminds me that this ACN HS’69 class, indeed, turned out to be one of the brightest batch Assumption has produced---after Class ‘65, of course (an indisputable fact. LOL).

Some information about Bebeth: She used to head the Research Department of the Lapanday Group of Companies but she preferred to retire early so she could take care of her children who are now professionals. Still very cute and very pretty, Bebeth says she is now a proud grandmother. Her husband, Noli (shown here in the picture taken two months ago), works as an executive of the same company.

Tagabungtod is back! The only excuse I can offer for the long absence is the euphoria brought about by the US presidential election. I grew up watching, knowing and listening to politicians and was, myself, bitten by the political bug for a few years. All that is in the past now but I still follow with both keen interest and disdain goings-on in politics. Here and abroad. Am I glad Obama won!

And then it was followed by another euphoria: the “Dream Match” between Paquiao and dela Hoya. Boxing? Opkors, I paid P500 as early as October to get a seat and cheer lustily for the world's best Pound Por Pound Payter Pakyaw Pram di Pelepens during the December 7 PPV in one of the SM theaters!

When I was a very young boy growing up near the tulay, there would be occasional boxing fight nights in the crossing labi na kung duol na ang fiesta. Atubangan sa tindahan ni Insoy ang ring the floor of which was made of wood slabs from the Guinoo sawmill, Unya tabunan lang ug trapal. Pasensya ang mahapla kay may bonus nga bukol ug mapakog ang ulo sa salog. The ropes were made of real abaca ropes (kadtong panghikot sa kabaw). Ug ang ginabagting to signal the start and end of the round is a piece of bali nga mulye o di gani yantas sa truck nga gibitay sa alambre o kable. (Ang praktisanan nga punching bag sa mga boxer was usually made of interior sa ligid nga sudlan ug balas o bagaso unya ibitay) Kung walay koryente panahon sa away, naay binitay nga petromax sa kada corner. Kada human sa usa ka bout, ang referee mao puy mobomba sa petromax aron mohayag na pud ang ring.

Even if my parents strictly prohibited us from watching these “violent” sport, there were more than a few nights in my childhood that I sneaked out of the house and hied off to the crossing to watch round after round of local boxing. It was fun watching and cheering while the pair of protagonists pummelled each other red, black and blue. These escapades paid off the following day in school because I get to contribute firsthand information as to what happened the night before. Bilib intawon kaayo tong wa kaadto.

Donnie Kid, Lightning Villanueva, Jesus Resma, Erning Barque, Corcino, Oskik Fuentes, Medio Pabilona and many others whose names I can’t remember anymore. All the boys in school talked about them the next day. Their boxing prowess garnished with tall-tales (apil na anting-anting mao nang di maigo ug di mabuklan).

In a few years Nabunturan would have its glorydays in boxing when the children of Jesus, the Resma brothers from Cabidianan, Jun and Sammy, became boxing sensations in their own right. Jun slowly rose to become the Philippine lightweight champion. He could have gone on to greater heights in international boxing but after winning a lotto jackpot he decided to train his own stable of young boxers instead. He was quite admired by many for remaining his usual humble self despite his new bun-og-free fortune and his new boxing promotion business. One day, after bringing his boxers to a bout in Bukidnon, and while on a bus on their way home, he died of a heart attack. That is probably why younger brother Sammy*, who was already making a name for himself, would lose interest in the sport.

During the late 80s, boxing tournaments in Nab would be attended by shadiness, sleaze and cheats which one night resulted in a boxing melee and violent free-for-all among boxers, referees, judges and the audience. Nabunturan's interest in local boxing came to a halt after that.

(*Sammy is happily married to my dear classmate, Alipia Ramirez)

tagabungtod