Sablayan SB First 100 Days: Pioneers & Incumbents*

With the opening of our Photo Exhibition a while ago and the gallery walk, we are going to observe and commemorate the first 100 days of office of each Sangguniang Bayan. With this historical-cultural-political lookback using photo gallery as medium, we at the Office of the Vice-Mayor and the Sangguniang Bayan are optimistic that this would serve the purpose of commending and acknowledging the past and present local legislators and vice-mayors of Sablayan.

My assignment today is to give you a foreword for this activity.

We call this Pioneers and Incumbents: A Photo Exhibition of Historical Reminiscences of Past and Present Legislators and State of First 100 Days’ of Local Legislation Address of Vice-Mayor Walter B. Marquez.

But before everything else, please be reminded that the 100-days concept is believed to have its roots in France, where the concept of “Cent Jours” (Hundred Days) refers to the period of 1815 when King Louis XVIII regained the throne.

Later in America, President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s extraordinary productivity translated into enormous popularity, and he set a first 100-day standard against which all future U.S. presidents would be measured. This tradition extends in US allied countries like the Philippines and it transcends down to its local governments, and the rest is history, so to speak.

This event coincidentally falls in the celebration of the 28th Local Government Code anniversary as per Presidential Proclamation No. 63, series of 1992 declaring October as the Local Government Month, the second week of October as the Local Government Week and the 10th day of October as the Local Government Day.

In our teaser and in the opening banner it is written:

This project is in no way a finished business.

This Photo Exhibit is a continuous historical search and requires a more thorough investigation in the future, specifically the part where we try our best to honor the pioneering legislators and vice-mayors of our beloved town of Sablayan.

The days from October 14, 2019 onwards, we will have thankful days of remembrance. We will be presenting you photographs and documents to recapture the moments of legislation and dedicated labor of our past and present legislators.

The long gone pioneer legislators and those who are still living lost every bit of their temporal comforts but never let their zeal to serve the people, through authoring local legislation, go in vain. We have moved a long way and have arrived at a time where we have been called to cultivate the qualities of gratitude and service and possess the gentle spirit of determination to hasten the work of Lawmaking.

The Spirit of the People of Sablayan is larger than Life, thus, the Theme: “Look Back as We Look Forward for Quality Policy Rules”.

The journey of this town leading to quality legislation may be long and hard, but we will never be alone.”

But this was more than a photo exhibition and bestowing of recognition to the “surviving”, living past vice-mayors of Sablayan. It has been a major awareness campaign to remember the life and works of our forebears in local legislation. Today we honor their achievements, their drive to succeed and their contributions to our town’s development and productivity. It is our aim to highlight the ability of these lawmakers who made both their public and private lives productive, relevant and meaningful.

But bear with us in our inconsistencies,-historically, grammatically, or otherwise. The typo errors, the overlooking of some details are ours alone. We will rectify them the soonest possible time.

We all should empowering our constituents beyond our first 100 days of office and beyond and give them importance. We should abide by this culture. This is a way of capacitating them and empowering the people. Our constituents cannot be outsiders forever. They are part and parcel of governance.

Their participation is what we all celebrate. Let us give them a warm round of applause.

These are the things that cannot be captured in any photo of whatever size and be accommodated in any show room or exhibition space, as we have stressed in our opening banner.

Thank you very much and we wish this exhibition be a complete success.

Magandang araw po sa inyong lahat!

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(Introduction to the Activity Speech during A Photo Exhibition of Historical Reminiscences of Past and Present Legislators and State of First 100 Days’ of Local Legislation Address of Vice-Mayor Walter B. Marquez, 14 October 2019; 2nd Floor Legislative Building, Sablayan, Occidental Mindoro)

               

Happy 10th Year in the Embrace of Our Lady

Frt. Reymond Barrales- Mulingbayan of Our Lady of the Pillar Parish will celebrate his 10^th anniversary of sacerdotal ordination tomorrow, Saturday, October 12, 2019. This Mindoro blogger is happy because this young clergy reached this far wearing the cloth.

Fr. Ymon’s ordination exactly a decade ago coincided with the 25th founding anniversary or Silver Jubilee of our Vicariate’s Saint Joseph College Seminary (SJCS). Two years later, the SJCS was padlocked due to reasons that God only knows. 

Seminaries are important and Pope Pius XII in his encyclical “Ad Cathoici Sacerdotii” has this reminder to local ordinaries: “The seminary is and should be the apple of your eye …. [I]t is and should be the chief object of your solicitude.” Without seminaries, no priests like Fr. Ymon can be ordained!

Father Ymon, now 39, is the the second child in a brood of four of Cleta Barrales, my second cousin from maternal side, and Reynaldo Mulingbayan who are both active members of various religious organizations and ministries in their parish. Father Mulingbayan finished his Elementary in Mamburao Central School, Secondary Education in West Mindoro Academy or WEMA. In college, he studied at Christ the King Minor Seminary in Quezon City and Divine Word School of Theology in Tagaytay City.

My favorite definition of what a priest is came from Saint Pope John Paul II who once wrote that a priest is “the living and transparent image of Christ.” The man, who is a priest, is chosen and consecrated by God to make the love of Christ present in the world. At his ordination, the man who is ordained a priest is configured to Jesus Christ, the true High Priest, in a very special way. On his ordination day, a man becomes a priest in his very being. From that day, his deepest identity is that he is a priest; a priest forever. That is what those who love him must pray for Fr. Munding (AKA Fr. Ymon).

Like Prophet Isaiah, Fr. Ymon was sent to give fresh vision and hope to a people in suffering, anguish and pain. He at present is assigned parish priest of St. Joseph the Foster Parent Parish in Central, San Jose after having served in San Raphael Parish in Abra de Ilog and other assignments that I cannot now recall. Like Prophet Isaiah, that is also the task of the priest-prophet in the new exile, in every parish where the priest is assigned.

Priests are here not to fix the world or anything or anybody in it all by themselves. They are not solo parents in this wayward, dirty home called “Pilipinas” with the most dangerous, indecent and murky firstborns live. You are not alone because God is with you. Since you took your vows ten years ago, you are one with the Lord in your vocation and mission and pastoral ministry.

Priests are not like a certain president of a country or a despot who sees everything as objects to be dominated and controlled. Priesthood is about simple, humble service. It is about tenderness and compassion rather than rigidity and arrogance. Over and above, the gift you received some 10 years ago today was given so that through you, the Lord can shine forth. 

Our prayers for Fr. Reymond Mulingbayan for he entrusted his vocation to the care of the Nuestra Senora Del Pilar, the patron of Mamburao, his place of birth. 

Aside from Fr. Ymon's priestly anniversary, tomorrow is also the town's fiesta celebration. If I may add some trivia, also in October 12, 1492, feast day of Our Lady of the Pillar, Christopher Colombus first sighted American land and the first Mass in the Americas was celebrated. Our Lady of the Pillar, before that Columbus' event, is considered as the first Marian apparition in history. It was when St. James the Apostle, brother of St. John the Evangelist, witnessed Our Lady appeared standing on a pillar at the bank of the river of Ebro in Saragossa, Spain in 40 AD. "E, ano ngayon?," one may ask. Wala lang. Mema lang. 

Happy fiesta Mamburao and congratulations Fr. Ymon! ...

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Reference: https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/nuestra-senora-del-pilar-our-lady-of-the-pillar-622

Photo: Jasper H. Francisco

Convocation of PUP Sablayan Branch

Thank you for considering us as part of your 9^th founding anniversary celebration with the theme, “Pagsusulong, Pagtutulungan, Pagsusumikap nang Sama-Sama para sa Matatag na Unibersidad”. It is such a privilege to give you a Convocation Speech in behalf of my immediate superior, my principal, Vice-Mayor Walter “Bong” B. Marquez.

Technically, to render convocation speech is a sort of giving or sharing advice. This is the task you gave to the good vice-mayor who cannot be with us tonight due to an official function he is attending in Manila today. He is part of the Vice-Mayors’ League of the Philippines which is, as I speak now, is having a national election.   

Let us break down the 3 important words in your theme:

Theme 1 : Pagsulong (Moving Forward).

Last May 8, 2019, Ricky Lee, the award-winning Filipino writer, journalist, novelist, and playwright, speaking for the graduation rite of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) told his audience:  “Makisangkot ka! Don't be selfish. Give your life to others, even if just sometimes.” He said too, “Go to the mines, the mountains, the children and the elderly. Ask what you can help with.” Needless to say, hindi tayo magkaka-iwan ng marka kapag hindi tayo umiimik. Magkakaroon lamang ng tunay na kabuluhan sa buhay, sa gawain at anumang dimensyon ng pag-iral ay sa PAGSULONG na naglilingkod sa kapwa. We must be involved and move forward. Or move on, as the millennials would say.

The only thing we can do is to move forward. Do not let the situation crush you. Keep them going and damn the obstacles and make one tiny little step after another. It is difficult after some time you’ll notice that by taking one step after another, you’ll eventually overcome the struggle. We can move on, we must move on.

Theme 2 : Pagtutulungan (Cooperation).

Cooperation NOT Competition is the game’s name. It’s long been declared that the nature of life is based on survival of the fittest. History also tells us that people must constantly compete to survive. In some ways its rings true. But what is more powerful than competition that incorporates cooperation? It’s Love and Hope.

Consider this: love is more powerful than hate. Hope is more powerful than fear. And if we believe in love and hope, then we believe in the power of cooperation. We are not animals. We are their highest form. Cooperation is the true natural state of human beings.

As competing students you, as dictated by the system, develop antagonistic behavior. We want to know that we matter, that we are valuable part of your school that we are connected with the people upon whom they rely for nurturing. 

Cooperation is anything and everything that helps us feel connected and part of something meaningful. It can be a thought, a touch, a glance, an act, a memory. There are infinite ways of being in this world.

Denice Dare, whom she calls herself a “Love Activist” and “Soulful Life Educator” and my  source of this input, said that, “The underlying effect of competition; we envision ourselves as separate. We lose touch with our inter-connectedness, our wholeness, our oneness.” The opposite of competition is PAGTUTULUNGAN.

Theme 3 : Pagsusumikap (Hard Work)

Success is something that we all want to achieve in our lives. The type of success aspired to can vary greatly from person. Some people want nothing more than to be happily married, have a large family and bring up their children well.

Consider these: Hard work is the price for anything you are going to get. It builds self-discipline. It teaches you values. You make your own life with it. It gives your results. (Note to self: Expound. Give examples.)

Other people strive for academic success and becoming as highly educated as they can, while some people are much more career-focused, and even with this group, their main marker of success can be different things: the power they have, the money they earn or the good they do, a combination of things or something else entirely. Because every type of success is very different, every road to success is very different too, but everyone’s route has one thing in common which is a key to success: Hard Work or PAGSUSUMIKAP.

Sa pagwawakas, nais kong ibahagi ang isang bagay na batid na ninyo: ang PUP ay isa sa mga huling halimbawa ng pamantasan na lunduan ng malaya at progresibong kaisipan. Saksi dito ang makataong pagtingin nito sa kalinangan at edukasyon, magmula sa agham hanggang sining, na may iisang dakilang layon: ang ipunla at kalingain ang kabuuan ng pagkatao ng isang indibidwal. Instrumento rin ito para sa kaganapan ng layong edukasyon para sa mahihirap bilang karapatang pantao at kalayaang akademiko. Mga salalayan kung bakit nilayon ng mga tagapagtatag nito, kasama ang taong aking kinakatawan ngayon, na itayo ang pamantasang ito sa lalawigan ng Kanlurang Mindoro.

Maraming salamat po at sa ngalan ni Vice-Mayor Bong Marquez, pagbati ng makabuluhang ika-9 na anibersaryo sa Sintang Paaralan dito sa mahal nating Bayan ng Sablayan.

Mabuhay tayong lahat.

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(* Delivered October 9, 2019 at Siburan Hall, Municipal Building, Sablayan, Occidental Mindoro)

Photo: The Faculty of PUP Sablayan Branch; Taken by Prof. Reinne Alcaraz

Tale of Two Tamaraws

Trailblazer in Mindoro Rural Banking

Rural banking in the Philippines, just like the habitat of the endangered wild animals, is facing enormous challenges. The Tamaraw Rural Bank, Inc. (TRBI) and the very animal that they share the name are both struggling with time.

As the pioneering institution in rural banking in the whole island of Mindoro, it is a highly reputable bank supervised by the Central Bank of the Philippines. It has shown so much commitment towards improving the quality of life in its catchment areas practically in all municipalities of Occidental Mindoro. Adhered to their commitment of being “Your Trusted Partner in Progress”, as how its motto puts it, the TRBI exhausts all its resources to serve the banking needs of the province.

In retrospect, the rural bank is the precursor of the now-defunct Mina De Oro Rural Bank, Inc. which was established on October 25, 1956. After nine years, on March 15, 1965, it officially came into existence. Their principal office is in San Jose and now have a branch in Sablayan which arose to full operation in October of 2011. Its branch manager in Sablayan is Mr. Ronaldo V. Robles who had been in the branch for 8 years now. Aside from Robles, Choiline C. Advincula, teller/cashier; Jomar E. Vite, bookkeeper; Ronald T. Bugarin, loan clerk; and Calvin P. Viloza, security guard; are ready to serve you with a smile. 

Their vision is to be a leader in serving the farmers, fishers, and small entrepreneurs and businessmen and become a responsible rural banking institution using the highest standards in service delivery and be a staunch mission partner in the development of local economies. The Tamaraw Rural Bank, Inc. is a proud member of the Rural Bankers’ Association of the Philippines (RBAP).

Endangered Animal

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources or DENR designated the October of every year as “Special Month for the Conservation and Protection of the Tamaraw in Mindoro”. The “Tamaraw Month” is provided under Presidential Proclamation No. 273 of 2002. The biggest part of Mt. Iglit-Baco, home for Bubalus Mindorensis, is part of Sablayan. Tamaraw Rural Bank, Inc. periodically coordinates with the Protected Area and Wildlife Bureau (PAWB) of DENR about activities related to its commemoration and consequently on the latter’s participation in the upcoming headcount of the dwarf buffalo which was considered by many as one of the Philippines’ national treasure. Nine years ago, the Tamaraw was declared endangered by authorities and experts in wild animal conservation.

The Tamaraw, in reality, is not a subspecies of the carabao. They may have many identical physical attributes but the latter is a bit larger. The Tamaraw has a lot of hair and donning light markings on its face and has short, V-shaped horns. Mindoro’s unique animal is part and parcel and important feature of our delicate ecosystems. It is one of the most prominent biological heritages of our island.

The Tamaraw Rural Bank, Inc. as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) contributed to the conduct of the recent Tamaraw Count in the Mts. Iglit-Baco Natural Park (MIBNP) by way of providing uniforms to park rangers and volunteers and other necessities relevant to the activity. The count held last April 2019 in Occidental Mindoro has officially recorded a total of 480 participating individuals from 18 vantage points.  The Tamaraw Count was initiated in 2000 and is now an annual event that takes place in said area usually in April of every month. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), through its Tamaraw Conservation Program (TCP), takes the main cudgels in the annual count which aims to monitor the status and population of Tamaraws in their habitat. The bank supports all the activities in this year’s Month of the Tamaraw celebration.

For the whole month of October 2019, there will be motorcade, forum, symposium/ fora, day camp, Dalaw-Turo, quiz bee, fun run, and bio-camp anchored on this theme: “327 Tamaraw ng Mindoro: Sagisag ng Bawat Pilipino, Pangalagaan at Paramihin ito.”  The Tamaraw Rural Bank will support the Tamaraw Count come 2020 and surely in the years ahead. Last October 5, 2019, Tamaraw Rural Bank, Inc. joined and sponsored the Padyak-Tamaraw, a national Tamaraw Month bike fest for a cause. The bikers’ rendezvous happened at the Tamaraw Gene Pool Farm, Brgy. Manoot, Rizal.

The uniqueness of the Tamaraw must be carried in every endeavor, struggle, and inspiration of each Mindoreño. Be it in rural banking and in environmental conservation.

Banking and Ecological Protection

Under the leadership of its president and chairman, Mr. Emerito L. Ramos III, the Tamaraw Rural Bank, Inc. looks forward for getting more clients and in reacting and improving in many ways, as they strive to be responsible stewards of the environment. The rural bank acknowledge that they have a responsibility with their customers, employees, investors and the communities that they serve to better understand the impact of their operations on pro-environmental activities of their clients and help reduce the impact of environmental degradation through their future CSRs.

Mr. Ramos emphasized that it is their mission to, “take part in providing a bright and promising future of an improved economy and prosperous lives for Filipinos in the countryside.” Ramos is the current president of the Confederation of Southern Tagalog Rural Bankers.

Though a long shot aim, they are looking forward to venture on the juxtaposition of rural banking and ecological protection. For both the rural bank and the endangered animal, the Earth is what they all have in common.

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(Photo: Ronaldo V. Robles)

The Grand Master and His Foster Father

Wesley So made it to the semifinals of the World Fischer Random Chess Championship after defeating (6.5-1.5) Vladislav Fedoseev in the quarterfinals last October 6, 2019 to join Fabiano Caruana, Ian Nepomniachtchi, and world champion Magnus Carlsen in the Final Four. The Bacoor-born chess prodigy will meet them this October 26 in Norway.

The International Chess Federation (FIDE) runs the tournament. Fischer Random has different rules from the ordinary or classical chess we know. Just ask the experts to explain to you about it. Honestly, I can’t.

In an interview at Chess.Com by David Cox posted in April 10, 2019, Wesley So, the Philippine-born chess wonder and world’s top 10, recollects how he met former actress Lotis Key. So said, “I was staying with this Filipino guy during the tournament, and he put on a dinner party where I met Lotis and her family …. [T]hey gave me a place to stay, which was only supposed to be a short-term thing, six months to help me get my paperwork and everything sorted out. They’d always supported a lot of foster children through their local church. But then within 10 months of that Christmas, I was living with them full-time and they adopted me.” Lotis Key, erstwhile Dolphy’s leading lady, is married to Bambi Kabigting, a former basketeer who now lives in the US.

Wesley So’s surrogate father has ancestry in San Jose, Occidental Mindoro. He is a first cousin from maternal side of my high school batch mate Francisco “King” Banta, a resident of San Roque and a basketball referee in town. King, by the way is the youngest of Lt. Col. Jose Banta and Pilar Trinidad. Pilar had a sister named Estrella (or Esther) who later tied knots with Ramon Kabigting. Ramon and Esther are the parents of Renato nicknamed “Bambi,” now foster father of Wesley So. Bambi is the subject of my conversation with his cousin King through private messenger at Facebook the other night.

Renato “Bambi” Kabigting is a former college basketball star who played for the Ateneo Blue Eagles and Crispa Redmanizers and from there moving on to several professional basketball teams including San Miguel (1982), Alaska and Great Taste (1986). He had a short stint in the PBA though. In 2014, Lotis and Bambi took Wesley into their family.

Bambi is a grandson of one of San Jose’s early settlers Vicente Trinidad and his wife Isidra. His grandparents from the Trinidad side owned a refreshment parlor at the mill site of the Sugar Central in San Jose during World War-II. Throughout the Japanese occupation, Vicente became aide and kitchen staff of guerilla leader and local hero Capt. Lawrence Cooper.  One of Bambi’s aunts, Esperanza (or Panching), even served as medic attending the wounded Filipino guerillas and American soldiers during the Japanese occupation before the historic Mindoro Landing of the US and Allied Forces on December 15, 1944.

Bambi Kabigting’s mother, Estrella Trinidad (or Esther), is the first ever beauty titlist of Pandurucan, San Jose’s name of yore. The first beauty contest ever held in that town was in 1950 and Esther bagged the title. Esther became flight stewardess at Philippine Airlines (PAL) until his retirement in the 70s. Her marriage to Ramon Kabigting yields 7 children: 4 boys and 3 girls, namely, Ramon Vicente, Renato (Bambi), Roel, Ruby Anna (Avecilla), Roselle, Rhodora and Raul.

Esther as a teenager studied at the South Mindoro Academy (SMA), the precursor of now Divine Word College of San Jose (DWCSJ). Before her time at PAL, Esther taught at San Jose Pilot Elementary School, according to my buddy King Banta.

Kabigting was in the line-up of the triumphant Blue Eagles in 1975 when Ateneo bagged its 13^th NCAA basketball crown. They repeated the feat in 1976. Five players on that team went on to play in the PBA: Steve Watson, Joy Carpio, Fritz Gaston, Padim Israel, and yes, Bambi Kabigting.

Grand Master and chess book writer Artur Yusupov of Russia thinks that Fischer Random is an alternative variant but it is hard to predict how it will develop then. Yusupov further stressed that, "Chess is very beautiful and difficult and will be played many years to come.”

Like family ties, chess and basketball dwell in the heart of the Filipinos to stay.  

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Photo from Wesley So’s Facebook page

References:

https://www.rappler.com/sports/by-sport/other-sports/241959-wesley-so-through-semis-world-fischer-random-chess-championship-2019

https://www.chess.com/article/view/wesley-so-interview-chess-was-a-way-out

“Mindoro sa Panahon ng Digmaan”, Rodolfo M. Acebes; 2008; National Commission on Culture and Arts; pp. 235-236.

http://bleachersbrew.blogspot.com/2015/04/40-years-1975-year-of-blue-eagle.html

https://www.chessvariants.com/diffsetup.dir/fischerh.html