THE LION’S HAUNTS
An Autobiography

I. LIFE’S EARLY YEARS

His recollection of life’s early years can be considered anything except being economically abundant. The fourth child in a family of what would later count to eleven living children composed of seven boys and four girls, the practice of wearing hand-me-downs was a mandatory way of life. In addition, he was born in a barrio that was seven kilometers away from town before the outbreak of the Second World War such that toys, goodies and even decent clothes were practically non-existent.

Surprisingly, his young mind did not crave for material things. Either the boys his age also did not have them or perhaps, youth, in its innocence simply did not care. There anyway, were other forms of enjoyment, like fistfights with the other kids his age and with the usual help of his twin brother who was bigger, and who would later die of sickness, like foraging for guavas and mandarins or local oranges, like riding on carabaos during moonlit nights or frolicking on the white sandy beach or swimming in what was then crystal-like waters that flowed freely from the still-unpolluted river.

His memories of the Second World War were likewise not traumatic. The aerial dogfights of the American planes against the Japanese Zeros along the San Bernardino Strait during the war’s end were witnessed with delight, and even the daily fare of camote and cassava (sometimes called long rice then) that his parents provided on the table were calmly accepted as the only source of food.

Immediately after war’s end, his father, who before the war was an elementary school teacher in the barrio, applied for and got a job as a clerk in the provincial government in the capital town of Sorsogon which is situated about thirty five kilometers away from their barrio. Caring for the daily needs of the children which by this time has already grown to seven, was left to his mother with the two youngest siblings still at nursing stage. Family planning at that time was still non-existent.

To feed the highly prolific family, his mother also applied for and was hired as schoolteacher in his barrio. The practical thing therefore, was to take him to school when he was but five years old.

Life at school was welcomed as a new experience. Although classified as a visitor (a child not officially enrolled as a pupil) he attended classes as if it were the ordinary and only thing to do. The teacher who was his aunt saw him as a precocious child who energetically competed in class and oftentimes even besting her regular pupils during class recitations. His aunt, the strict spinster disciplinarian that she was, would often whip his left hand with a stick whenever she would see him use it for writing as he was born left-handed. And when school ended, the school authorities decided to promote him to second grade.

Life in the second and third grades was no different from the first. The skinny and lanky little boy that he was, enjoyed class as if it were the extension of home. His well-to-do elder cousins would often see him perched atop their guava trees reciting Pepe and Pilar from cover to cover without a book in hand and even memorized the multiplication table that was printed at the back of notebooks as guide to pupils whose memories were not so good.

School and home life all these three years were really no different. His boyhood friends were also his classmates and oftentimes also his adversaries during fistfights but were also his partners when foraging the guavas and local oranges of his aunt. And all this time, the electric and precocious energy that energized his otherwise frail body simply ignored the niceties of life.

All these three years also, his father would be home during weekends to visit his family that has not ceased to multiply.

II. ON TO SORSOGON

In 1948, the family’s eldest child completed her elementary grades. The prospects of having their father stay at the capital town with his eldest daughter enrolled in high school became a problem. His parents were mindful at giving their children decent education since after all, his father was able to complete his first year in high school which was good enough to qualify him as teacher in the elementary grades while his mother graduated from the secondary course of education. And so in that year his parents decided to dismantle the house that they have scrupulously built in the barrio and out of the good materials that were retrieved, they constructed a modest house in the capital town. In the mind of his parents, a good education is the only worthwhile legacy they can leave behind to all their children.

Their lives in the capital town experienced a dramatic twist. They were practically uprooted from their barrio and placed on a new environment leaving behind the company of boyhood friends. Their new house was erected at the edge of a swampland with nipa palms and swamp birds or “tiklings” in abundance and was barely a hundred meters away from the town cemetery which in the local dialect was called camposanto, a corruption of two Spanish words that literally meant the camp of saints.

The early days in their adopted place proved totally different when compared to their previous surroundings. From a life of just going to school and sometimes cavorting at the edge of the river during recess and then coming home to sleep, he painfully realized that life in town was no longer the same. In the late afternoon after school hours and especially during weekends, he and his two elder brothers would go to the seashore to catch small crabs and gather mussels (tahongs) for viands since the only food still available without having to pay for is rice which the family still gets as share in the harvest from the small pieces of land that the family owns from their barrio.

For the first time also, he learned the value of money. He would wait at the road intersection where the provincial busses pass by and with a small cart in tow which his father built, would offer his services to take the passenger’s baggage to their respective homes. But his young and frail body could not withstand the rigors of physical labor and so when the cart collapsed because it turned out to be even weaker than his body, his father no longer bothered to fix it.

From baggage boy, he ventured into other activities. He shined shoes but could not make these as shiny as would other shoe-shine boys. He sold ice drop (now called popsicle) with the box slung on his shoulders but later decided to give it up because of the strenuous and heavy load involved. Until finally, he got a sideline to his liking- selling newspapers and weekly magazines; Chronicle, Bulletin, Liwayway, Free Press. The load was just right, his regular customers were government employees who were mostly friends of his father, and others to whom he regularly peddles his wares in the streets.

But life is not all scourging for viands nor earning these elusive centavos. In between are playing marbles, rubber bands, “tantsing” and “teks” (yes, we already have these during our time); and also the classes that had to be attended to which surprisingly, he still managed to get himself classed in the elite Section 1 every time.

His knack for earning pocket money almost ruined his studies. While still in Grade 6, his late-afternoon class schedule was Gardening, with a male teacher being a very strict disciplinarian who was even stricter than her spinster aunt. That teacher required all his pupils to gather horse manure as fertilizers. This the lion resented and together with two other recalcitrants decided to skip the schedule and instead sold newspapers.

His young mind enjoyed the deviation. No hard work on Gardening, money on commissions and consequently more time to play marbles, “teks” and “tantsing” and thereafter graduated to the game of “cara y cruz”, which was already a gambling game. All the while his parents either did not know or did not bother at the deviation. It was enough that they were not pestered by their imp of a son asking for pocket money.

But as they say, “crime does not pay”. The town vice-mayor, concerned with the impact of gambling on the youths, would periodically raid youngsters in their haunts who gamble. And one time, unmindful of people around them, while he and his friends were deeply engrossed in the game, they were cornered and brought to the town’s police station. His father learned of it fast; the town’s Chief of Police was the husband of his niece.

And so the backlash was unavoidable. His father, a man of very few words but abundant in corporal discipline required his roguish son to lie flat, face down on a bench, unfastened his belt and did the inevitable punishment, the “beinte siete latigos.” But before the count could reach twenty and with the young convict crying understandably, (and who wouldn’t?!), the old belt, which his father could not replace because it was way below the family’s priority of expenses, snapped and was cut in two. His junior would later hold the ignoble distinction of disabling his father’s favorite whipping tool.

Crime and punishment, that was the name for it. And later , picking up the pieces. His mother then accompanied her remorseful son back to school and pleaded with the Gardening teacher to take the boy back to class. The teacher acquiesced provided the five sacks horse manure requirement is complied with. Which the young cub did, and thus graduated from the elementary grades with excellent grades in academics but with the haunting memory of gathering five filthy sacks of horse manure and the cellar grade of 75% that his young mind still could not forget.

III. HIGH SCHOOL DAYS


Life in high school was basically no different from that of his elementary grades. The group of Section Oners to which he belonged entered high school practically intact. Attending classes during school hours, playing marbles and “teks” during recess, and all the other joys of boyhood still was his daily preoccupation. That year however, the class schedule was already more rigorous when compared to that of the elementary grades, thus compelling him to stop peddling newspapers. In its stead, he worked as assistant of the ice cream vendor during weekends to earn pocket money. With the income better than the commission earned from selling newspapers although admittedly more strenuous, he was assured of his allowance while in school during weekdays.

His activities in high school was anything other than being rated exemplary. Being one of the youngest in class, very naughty and still precocious, he despised leadership and eschewed being elected class officer. Oftentimes, the only paraphernalia that he brings to school was a pen and a notebook where he can jot down the assignments for the day. Home was never the place for study but a den where he can eat and sleep. And the surprising thing is that his excellent memory sustained him to stay at Section One all through his high school years.

Both his school and extra-curricular activities caught his teachers’ and classmates’ attention. He has maintained his mischievous and impish character, at times making his teacher or female classmates cry, at times inciting the entire class into riotous situations because of his usual comic demeanor.

The class, and this includes the teacher, would often wish the lion were absent whenever he’s around but would miss his jokes whenever he attends classes. There’s no way he can win, heads he forfeits, tails he loses the game just the same. How’s that for a game of “cara y cruz”?!

But back to school before the lion starts writing about that crazy game where he excels.

His third and fourth year in high school were still practically the same as that of the previous years. He, wearing that patented hand-me-down shirts and pants, and yes, that local rubber “bakya” (rubber sandals were not yet in vogue then) made of wood with improvised rubber soles to muff the noise since leather shoes were strictly for the scions of the rich.

His classmates, most of whom were older than himself, were already changing to young adults. They were already having their crushes, chasing girls and all the joys of manhood’s early thrills while he, still in short pants except when attending PMT (the equivalent of CAT or Citizens’ Military Training), and together with two other buddies similarly aged, simply ignored the change. The opposite sex did not arouse in them any physical attraction except as objects of mischief. If ever, the three did try to join their older male classmates in one activity; they gladly allowed themselves to be initiated into the art of drinking tuba (local coconut wine) without their instructor knowing about it. Drinking, not girls, became the name of the game.

And graduation came.

For a boy not yet aged sixteen years who skipped the junior and senior prom the year before, and whose inclination was to mischief rather than girls, it was not at all surprising that he never knew any of the basic dancing steps. The prospects of attending the graduation ball was to him traumatic, a dilemma that offered no solution. The entire class cajoled him to attend the graduation ball and commissioned the prettiest and friendliest classmate to be his partner and saw to it that he doesn’t disappear during the actual event. Just so he would dance. Serves him right, he mused, for making all their lives unpredictable during all these high school years!

After the gala procession, he did dance; but only once. He was smart enough to lose himself in the crowd of about two hundred fifty graduates and head for home. Undersized and undernourished, even his graduation picture that was taken at a local photo studio was mixed with the pictures of the elementary school graduates when he came back to retrieve it. The photographer did not realize his size can already graduate from high school.

At the same time he was attending high school (studying would be an improper word) his eldest sister was also browbeating in college, They both graduated the same year, she in the prestigious University of the East majoring in Accounting, and he in high school. And no sooner, he joined the growing multitude of istambays, (or good-for-nothing high school graduates) who were content at smoking King’s Cup cigarettes for lack of anything better to do. By this time also, the number of children of his prolific family already rounded to a full digit.


IV. THE GALLIVANTING YEARS

After graduation came the traditional summer vacation. He hied off to his godfather’s house in a barrio adjacent to his place of birth. His godfather was childless and treated him as his own son, in the same manner he cared for his only nephew who also stayed with him every vacation time. That time however, his niece who all her life lived with her mother and her foster-father in far-away Iloilo also took her vacation. A pretty thirteen year old girl with sharp mestiza features. And so for the first time his heart went a-pumping, his thoughts went a-whirling, and his mind completely ran aground. First love, or puppy love, they all say, his godfather even chuckled. It was a most memorable experience. During the two-month period, they enjoyed walking together at the sandy beach and for the first time felt that the opposite sex was not born to let cry but to adore, to care for, to whatever! She simply was somebody special although he did not know how to express what was in his heart.

In fine vacation was over and she went home. He felt sad but in time she was relegated to the dustbin of melancholic oblivion.

With vacation gone, he joined the army of istambays. Drinking tuba, smoking cigarettes, gathering clams and all the other menial tasks available. And one time when an older neighbor persuaded him to go with him to Cotabato, he said yes. He’ll work as an overseer at the hacienda of his brother-in-law, he said, and he surely will be in need of a helping hand.

His parents have no choice. His two elder brothers were already studying in Manila, the eldest brother at FEATI, and the other at the Philippine College of Arts and Trades. There were no prospects for him to study as yet. Reluctantly therefore, his parents gave the lion their blessing.

Life in Tacurong, Cotabato was a disaster. His frail body was subjected to the daily task of cutting “talahibs” or cogon grass at the farm for a pittance. Until finally, misery struck; the person to whom he went with got into a serious altercation with the brother of his brother in law, placing them both on the spot. Hurriedly, he sent his mother letter begging for transportation money and returned home totally dejected.

At age seventeen, he persuaded his father to convince a cousin who was mayor of a neighboring town and had him work as casual in road work. His uncle accommodated gladly and that time, his body already having gained weight and muscles, withstood the hard work required in the asphalting of roads, riprapping of rivers and the construction of feeder roads to outlying areas. And the pay was good as these were government projects.

During the summer of 1957, a classmate who was also his neighbor went home for vacation. The ugly duckling that he often managed to make cry during high school and the daughter of his English teacher blossomed into a very charming young lady who learned the art of feminine charm the U. P. way. By provincial standards, it’s now called the modern method.

Lovestruck, they say. Inexperienced at courting girls but gifted with the use of the plume, the itinerant Romeo courted the lady with his poems.

“The bouganvilla bloomed as beautiful as she
a pretty sight to see.”

He thought she did care, but before she could say “yes”, the summer vacation was over.

The October semestral break came but the U. P. girl did not come home. Another young lady, who during previous vacations he did not notice (and how could he, when he was at those times too engrossed at playing kids games) a grand daughter of another neighbor, also took her vacation. A complete Manila girl who caught him by the horn. Love struck Romeo once more. And the trick that he learned earlier, that of sending love poems went into full gear, even her mole did not escape attention. And who of the fair damsels would not take notice? But like Cyrano’s lances, his poems never scored, because as fleeting as the passing wind, the short vacation ended.

But life is not all frustrated courtship. In early 1958, his former instructor in Horticulture chanced upon him and asked if he would be interested to attend a three-month Poultry raising course in Manila free of tuition fee. He said yes but added that it will entail the approval of his parents since train fare, lodging expenses and pocket money are still needed. His father ultimately said yes and off to Manila he went.

He stayed with a cousin at Pasay City near Cartimar and attended the three-month course energetically. To save on transportation fare, he would usually ride the train from Blumentritt where the seminar was being conducted, alight at the Paco station and walk the rest of the way home.

At the course he learned the basics of raising chickens, culling the undesirable chicks, the process of incubation and all the other things attendant to growing young chicks and raise them into eatable poultry. At that time, the 62 days maturity period was already considered a success. But when he returned home to Sorsogon, what he learned could not be put to good use as poultry farms do not yet exist and his parents did not have the funds to invest in that kind of business venture.

Again his vagabond feet got the better of him. He returned to Manila, worked as a nightclub waiter, could not adjust to the sleepless nights although the tips were good and once more returned home still a failure but with some tall tales to tell. At the city, he also learned what sex was all about. And how else, since it was at the nightclub where he spent the nights that lasted till the wee hours of the morning!

By this time also, his youngest sister was born. The family has grown to a formidable eleven, not counting his two brothers, one of whom was his twin, who died at very early ages.

Summer of 1958 came. The father of the girl to whom he addressed his love poems to also took a brief vacation and made him a mascot, err. . . errand boy. He must have been impressed by the wit and natural flair for things or probably felt the lion could be a good son-in-law (wonder if he knew!) he was encouraged to join the former to Manila with the promise that he’ll land him a job later so that he can study, the man said.

Again, off he went. By this time, his parents have already grown callous to the gallivanting ways of their prodigal black sheep they no longer posed any objection. At least, they must have thought, it should be less miserable than the almost-daily drinking sessions which already involved the more potent Ginebra San Miguel. And in most cases, he and his cohorts would do it on top of graves at the nearby cemetery so as not to disturb their folks when boisterously singing the out-of-tune Sinatra songs. And who could disturb the dead?!

In Manila he was hired as delivery boy, loading and unloading lawanits and canned goods. Also masking tapes and sardines. Life became better with the four peso daily wage. Consequently, he was able to give pocket money to his younger sister who was then already taking elementary education at the Philippine Normal College together with a charming friend from the province. Appealing indeed is she, only, a delivery boy to court a soon-to-be schoolteacher? No way!!

Good life at times do not last long. Almost to be reassigned as office messenger by the boss so that he can study in the evening, the salesman he was assigned to work with cheated the company by manipulating inventories. The sad part was that the lion was the one who noticed the irregularity and was therefore compelled to report the anomaly to his benefactor. He was praised by his superiors but ultimately had to resign and returned to the province since the salesman was understandably angry at him. But it taught him two good lessons- that honesty and debt of gratitude are two virtues that are definitely worth more than gold.

Again to his boyhood haunts he returned. Back to the life of a no good for nothing istambay. Back to the almost daily drinking sessions. If you rate it in school lingo you’ll call it “Summa”- sumama’ talaga! (loosely translated, it has gone bad. . . up to the superlative degree!)

By late 1960 his benefactor again went home on vacation and persuaded him to return to the big city once more. He promised he will be taken back by the company and so he returned.

But the job for office messenger was already occupied and so back to the job of a delivery boy he returned. It was again flexing muscles during weekdays and on weekends would splurge his hard-earned wage on bouts of gins in the company of friends who, like him, were working in the big city. And there was no more allowance to give to his younger sister as she has just graduated.

Life in Manila flowed smoothly for a year. But by mid 1961 before the actual start of classes, he received a telegram from his mother urging him to come home for good. At long last he now had a chance to study as his younger sister was already taken in as a school teacher. She said she would also want to return the favor and would he want to study in the nearby city of Legazpi as the cost of education in that place is definitely cheaper than in the big city?!

No reply to the telegram was necessary. The lion immediately begged for understanding from his benefactor, packed his bags and rode the train headed for home. At last, he mused, his vagabond days were over. In all, he hasn’t stepped in school grounds five solid years, except of course, for the three-month Poultry course. Which effectively meant that most of his classmates have already graduated from any four or five year baccalaureate courses.

But what the heck! In vulgar language, this is what is called “partida”, he half-amusingly thought..

V. BACK TO SCHOOL


The school activities that he experienced during his high school years were totally different from the activities that he encountered in college. At age twenty one, he was a good four to five years older than his classmates. Together with some working students enrolled at night, they easily became senior citizens. It was no wonder that in contrast to his high school years, he was automatically elected class president in almost all classes and was quite active in extra curricular activities. It was his turn to lead.

His first year in college caught him totally unexpected. Student strikes, which at that time was already the fad in metropolitan Manila contaminated the college where he was enrolled, with him as one of the active organizers in the freshmen level. The strike was, however, quelled, the senior leaders were arraigned in court and suspended, while the freshmen were severally reprimanded but allowed to attend classes.

Three of the accounting professors, one of whom was the school registrar, were considerate. Instead of blacklisting him, they saw in him the potential for growth and so encouraged him to take the accounting course although his inclination was to take liberal arts preparatory to a law degree.

The three persuaded him to hone his accounting subjects and with the school registrar periodically hiring him to help in the registrar’s office for a fee and even gave him bookkeeping jobs. With both scholastic and financial encouragement dangled by his professors, he got hooked in his accounting subjects. It also somehow tamed his maverick character and mellowed his hardening stance as a student radical.

By this time, his parents decided to rent a house in Legazpi City and enrolled all the children save for the three who have already turned professionals and another brother who was left to the care of his father in Sorsogon. All the children were already bent in getting for themselves decent education.

School life is not all accounting, though. His talent for poems, his looks and his leadership skills endeared him to the female student population. He began to feel the admiration of the opposite sex and the attention of his teachers. The only problem was most of his female classmates were but sixteen or seventeeners. In vulgar language, they still sport mucus in their respective noses, it did not offer in him any romantic inclinations.

But life in third year was different. He has already established campus fame. And in one class where he was enrolled, there she was, beautiful, his age, with a mellow voice. She floored him, love at . . . . .never mind the first. But she has a boyfriend. . . Dead ball.

In due time they became close friends without her knowing he admired her very much. Much like secret love, even she doesn’t know about it. Well, at least that was what he thought. She confided and often came to him for help in their common subjects. She would even let him accompany her to her boarding house at night after class ended. Talk about love? No way, she has a boyfriend who seldom visited her.

After some time, they quarreled. Again she confided. Irreconcilable, she said. And so they were drawn to each other like opposite poles of a magnet, with him always offering a helping hand, with him treating her like a fragile glass but never mentioning anything about love.

Valentine came finding them both unattached. As was customary in school, a benefit dance was held with him as active organizer. He offered to take her to the dance and she obliged. They danced the whole night mostly to with each other. Only to the tune of slow and sweet music though for that was the only basic dance steps that he knew. And by past midnight, she was tired and requested the dashing lion to take her home.

On their way home, he asked her one simple question: “Would you be my valentine?” And she answered back: “But you haven’t even proposed yet!” And got a rejoinder that said: “Do I have to?”

Well, the cave fell in like stalagmites with all the debris following. In vulgar language: “bagsak ang Bataan!”(Bataan has fallen.) She later confided she was terribly upset on her break up with her beau and was therefore only baiting me in order to exact vengeance at Cain’s brother if only the lion courted her directly. But his strategy was perfect, for how could she drop a hot potato when she was not holding it?!

Their relationship went on smoothly until the start of first semester of his fourth year when her eldest sister persuaded her to join her in Manila. What a sad parting, he even accompanied her in the train and rode as far as Tagkawayan, and when the trains going to and from Manila intersected, he transferred trains and returned to Legazpi City morosely dejected.

Somehow, she either forgot or intentionally did not bother to write. Christmas came, and then another Valentine. Being unattached, he attended the dance alone and was paired by friends to a charming but plump Chinese mestiza who turned out had a crush on him. She did not conceal her admiration and caught him in a hopeless state of melancholic void. She became her girlfriend in just one night. The class ring that she would wear during graduation was immediately pawned to him for love’s sake. And never mind how it ever happened.

Life was not all girls and extra-curricular activities though. He has consistently managed to be on top of class and was even elected president of the local Junior Philippine Institute of Accountants. Academically, he got grades good enough to merit a “cum laude” distinction which was pinned on his breast on graduation day.

VI. BURNING BRIDGES


Immediately after graduation, he went home to his parents in Sorsogon where his mother gave him P600, already a sizable amount during these days, and told him it was intended for his review class in Manila. She also said she will be sending additional money as it becomes available.

With the only prospect of rejoining the growing army of istambays, although this time already with a college degree, he packed his bags, the three accounting textbooks (Intermediate, Advanced and Cost) that he inherited from his eldest sister and headed for the big city with a solemn vow never to rejoin his jobless friends at home. After all, he was already twenty five years old.

Life in Manila as an accounting reviewee was routine at the start. One day however, his elder brother who was already married, was working in Manila and who was financing the engineering studies of their younger brother, decided to return home since his family was in Sorsogon. He quit his job, entrusted his ward and packed his bags for home. He promised he will discuss the problem with their parents but in the meantime, he requested that the lion and his ward in the metropolis fend for themselves.

And so that was how it went. Their landlady who was a close relative, accepted two young but determined students as boarders for the price of one which at that time cost only P35 a month per person. And to make the allowance last, he had to walk from the end of Legarda to Azcarraga (now called Recto) and back while his younger brother took a longer stretch- his walk extended to Rizal Avenue and back where Mapua University was located. There was no other choice.

With a little ingenuity, he joined four young reviewees who came from Bacolod City. Their leader was a Chinese mestizo who previously was his classmate in Legazpi City and who later transferred to Bacolod to avoid a shotgun wedding for getting their maid pregnant. The classmate would generously provide him with a ream of Kent’s cigarettes as stipend for acting as discussion leader during group studies.

His new-found friends were mannas from heaven. Being scions of prominent families at Sugarlandia, they were equipped with complete accounting textbooks and reference materials that they would gladly lend to solve complicated accounting problems. In solving difficult puzzles, he would take home the said reference materials, pore over their pages, solve it during the wee hours of the night when the jeepneys that ply the Legarda route were no longer as noisy, take a brief nap as the jeepneys again careen on the streets, return to his friends’ dorm, discuss the problem, accept the free lunch at their dorm and once again attend the afternoon review class the whole afternoon.

Life was not all studies, though. Sometimes, the group would enjoy merienda at Little Quiapo with him almost always tagging along as the perennial freeloader since he has no money to contribute. They would also regularly attend mass at nearby St. Jude’s Parish near Malacanang Palace, and once in a while is also fetched by another wealthy co-reviewee also from Bacolod who did not join the group and would at times take him to the house of the latter’s aunt where the wealthy co-reviewee was residing. The latter would also seek his help on the various accounting problems and feed him as a sign of gratitude.

The girl in Legazpi City who gave him her ring would also write once in a while. Sign that she cares, she said. On beautiful stationery, and his reply would usually be in yellow pad.

By September 1, he received a social telegram from the girl whom he thought has already forgotten. And a letter followed a week after that. Complete with a telephone number saying she missed him terribly and would appreciate if he can call.

The daily school schedule changed a bit. This time incurring additional centavos for the telephone call. Usually not more than three minutes so that the five-centavo rate would not be exceeded. And sometimes during Sundays when the review is lighter, they would stroll at the Luneta Park, with her paying for the merienda while he defrays the cost of the fare. As a reviewee and she already working, the unlikely sharing of expenses suit them fine!!

About a month before the exams, his benefactor who earlier landed him a job as a delivery helper and who already treated him like his own son, offered a very tempting proposition. He said the branch manager who is his subordinate at his office is the brother-in-law of one of the CPA examiners and has gladly volunteered to pass two examinees for free using his connections. His benefactor really wanted to help and so passed the offer on. The lion thanked him but declined the offer. He said he wanted to pass on his own merits.

His benefactor thought for a moment and blurted out: “What if you flunk?” He retorted: “Bad, but at least I know I don’t deserve what I am aspiring for!.” And there’s no going back.” He added. His benefactor thereafter called him stubborn, strong willed, but just the same wished the lion luck.

That decision would later serve as one of his basic tenets in later life. He has learned to be fiercely independent and coldly analytical. He realized that not all opportunities offered by well-meaning acquaintances should be grabbed; self respect and gaining self-confidence count much more. Also, his respect and deep affection for his benefactor who he later learned was a devoted Freemason grew even more. He realized people help without expecting anything in return.

The day of reckoning arrived. Three other boarders who took their review in Cebu City stayed in the dorm since the husband of his aunt was a Cebuano. The auditing subject was particularly tough. He could not balance the figures. He spilled ink on the floor and instantaneously clutched the rosary that was in his pocket. The words of the famous and respected accounting icon named Doroteo Pasion reverberated: “Do something, do the best you can, jot down any figure, mark it unlocated difference, and for heaven’s sake complete the requirements. The worst that you could do is leave the paper blank.” The lion did just that.

The last day before the last exam, he and the three Cebuano board-mates were reviewing till the wee hours when one of them said: “It’s aguinaldo, let’s go to church hear mass for luck.”

And so off to Quiapo they went, heard mass and later walked across the street and headed for the jeepney bound for home. Seeing a restaurant nearby, one said: “let’s take coffee first” but once inside, ordered beers. The four later went home drunk and was met by his aunt with a stern reprimand. And for good reason, his nephew has already burned bridges but still can get home drunk!!

The last exam was to him, peanuts. Practical accounting, as in life, needed practical solutions. And that he had in abundance. The problems were solved with comparative ease enabling him to complete solving the problems way ahead of schedule. On quitting time, he submitted his papers to the lady watcher and in jesting mood said: “Ma’am, thanks, see you next year.” And she replied: “Son, if you don’t pass, nobody in this room will. I saw all your papers!”

And so immediately after the exams, his group reconvened, went to the Little Quiapo Restaurant, ordered beers, and in gay abandon of the shook off the rigorous examination all went home dead drunk.

The next day was the parting of ways. The guys from Bacolod were appreciative of the help that he has extended, as he was for graciously being allowed to be their parasite. The introvert guy was even more profuse in his thanks. He desired that the lion go with him to Bacolod as his personal guest. He said that he will help the lion find a job there, if necessary, help him also find a wife; and should the latter’s stay prove to be not to his liking, he would gladly take the lion back to his boarding house, all free of charge. All that is needed is for the lion to pack his bags.

The offer was very tempting but the lion politely declined. It was a venture he was totally unprepared to handle.

And Christmas came with him practically penniless. He did not bother to answer the telegram that was sent by SGV requiring him to report for work as he was expecting his cousin to help him get a job at Parke Davies as detailman. With attractive salary and a car, that was the most attractive employment opportunity that he envisioned in his whole life.

But his cousin did not arrive from the province. And so after Christmas, totally broke and without a job, he borrowed transportation money from his aunt, went to SGV, lied that he could not report sooner as he went home to the province for the holidays and was immediately hired as a junior auditor without really knowing what the job was all about. At SGV, the personnel manager asked him if he would be interested to be assigned in Davao City and he immediately said yes. He mused, any place other than returning to his hometown will do. He’s got a decent job at last.


VII. LIFE AS A PRO- THE EARLY YEARS

He became a professional by joining SGV-Davao as father time tore away the last leaf of the 1965 calendar. The place, the work and the people were all new and therefore exciting. And the lion was a total stranger to them. They thought he knew a lot. Ha, ha, hah!

After a month an audit manager from SGV Manila arrived and since he was short of staff, borrowed the lion from the office. The engagement was at Dole Philippines which at that time was in its organizing stage. The said manager was pleased at his attitude towards work and they became friends. The engagement took a month to complete and when it was over, the manager flew to Manila while he returned to his officemates in Davao City.

Back at Davao City, he worked energetically. On the side was meeting Davawenos. He was even introduced to a pretty daughter of a lumber magnate whose house had a swimming pool at the yard, and who was particularly attracted to him. But he decided to backtrack because he strongly felt that pairing a pauper with a charming lumber heiress would be like mixing water with oil.

The atmosphere at the office later on went sour. The rest of the office staff which numbered twelve including the manager were of Visayan extraction and were treating him, an Ifugao friend and a Samareno as second-class officemates. The three were being hemmed in so they made a pact- if one is forced to go, so will the other two.

In the meantime the periodic letters to his girlfriend and the monthly sustenance of his younger brother were being flown to the north by Philippine Airlines. He however forgot the girl who gave him her graduation ring. Whoever said that absence can make the heart grow fonder overlooked the sad reality that one can also be forgotten.

Ultimately, the uneasy peace at the office was broken. Unfairly berated for a mistake he did not commit, he resigned and told his two friends he was packing his bags for home. Immediately, his Ifugao friend also resigned but the Samareno suddenly got goose pimples and stayed behind. In all, he and his Ifugao buddy stayed in Davao a whole eight months.

Back in Manila, they reported to the SGV office and explained their side. The personnel manager was sympathetic and offered not to act on their resignation but they politely declined. Instead the two requested that they be referred to a client where they could start anew. And so they were sent to Philippine Airlines where a major accounting personnel overhaul was being done by former SGV people in its staff vainly updating PAL’s records.

The two friends worked, drank, painted the town red during paydays and periodically climbed to Baguio City where the sister of his Ifugao friend has an apartment and. Sometimes they would also trek to Banawe in Ifugao where his friend was born.

At the house in Baguio was a charming lass with pinkish skin who was studying in one of Baguio’s universities. The acquaintance was starting to bloom but time constraints did not offer a lasting romantic episode; Baguio City was too far from Manila where the two gallivanting friends work.

The results of the 1965 CPA exams were released in November. He was then visiting his former buddies at his old boarding house in Legarda when his cousin arrived from work holding a local tabloid that announced the passing of 2,265 examinees. The complete list, however, was not made available and was to be published the next day yet.

His cousin needled him for a blow-out but he won’t budge. And so, being the close relative that he was, financed the booze and together with the other boarders, celebrated his passing the board in advance unmindful of the possibility that he might have flunked the exams and in the wee hours of the morning went back to his apartment in Makati dead drunk.

While taking a shower that early morning, he heard his Ifugao friend holler from the top of his voice outside the house that both of them passed the exams. Still in birthday suit and dripping, he went out of the bathroom in jubilation and with the splitting hangover totally gone. The two would later go out the streets and bought three different newspapers reading their names in disbelief that they did pass.

In the late afternoon, he visited his girlfriend who by that time already learned that he passed the exams, went to Luneta Park and with a Robina fried chicken and two bottles of coke, enjoyed a pauper’s blow-out.

And shortly, a letter from his mother. The college from where he graduated was honoring him and seven other successful examinees and said the school would appreciate his presence if he can attend the testimonial. It turned out the school learned that he garnered 19th place in the exams. He was deeply elated. With only three accounting textbooks that he inherited from his sister, with practically no money to spend during the review but with a lot of guts, he managed to pass and bagged 19th place at that!

Except for one, his chosen group during the review all passed the exams, even the introvert who invited him to his place in Bacolod, and another reviewee surnamed Paraz who either drives a Mercedez or his BMW allowing him to joyride during lax hours. The three Cebuano drinking buddies, however, all flunked.

His trip home became a celebration of sorts. His parents were voted Most Outstanding Parents of the Year by the school where most of their children took their secondary education. By that time, six of his brothers and sisters, including himself were already professionals, three were still holed up in college, while the youngest was still in the elementary grade. And what made the feat significant was that getting the needed education was a total family commitment.

He also returned home a little hero. The owner of the magazine stand, the owner of the ice cream cart and even the mother of the girl to whom he periodically sent his love poems to, were all praises at the boy who made good. They reminisced with clarity the mischievous imp that they have known quite well during his boyhood years.

His father who was a man of very few words and who has just retired from government service persuaded him to stay home for good. He said he already talked to the provincial governor who was his cousin and was assured that the latter will hire him in the government since he is already a CPA with solid credentials, in addition to also having passed the recently held auditing examiners examination He emphatically said the lion was already assured of a decent future in the province.

But his son politely declined saying he no longer desires to return to his old ways, like the almost daily drinking sessions. since most of his boyhood friends are still there. He stressed his life was now steered in different direction.

He left home not knowing whether his father understood. But he guessed it made him feel bad. In the eyes of his father, a teacher or a government employee already assures one of a lifetime career imaginable. It definitely would have made him feel better had his prodigal black sheep settled down at home since he has already grown old and has even recently suffered from a heart attack that almost physically incapacitated him.

Back to Manila he returned. By then, his self confidence was already at its peak. He learned the job fast and consequently his superiors at Philippine Airlines assigned to him a number of subordinates to supervise. But being the semi-government institution that it was, he was receiving the same pay as his subordinates and with the same official designation. He was dejected.

One evening while he and his Ifugao friend were enjoying their beers at nearby San Miguel Canteen, the SGV manager whom he worked with at Dole Philippines happened to be at the other side of the table and so inquired on the lion’s work progress at the airlines. He confided that he was not satisfied and so the manager persuaded him to return to SGV but this time to work under his direct supervision and control. He of course, said yeas, but on going home, decided not to call, he thought the discussion was only the result of idle talk of drunkards.

Two days later the lion received a call from that manager. He said he has already arranged the transfer with the personnel manager and wondered why the lion has not made good his word. The latter thereafter apologized, went to SGV, and was promptly rehired.

Consequently, he worked for his clearance at the airlines. The lady audit manager of the firm dissuaded him to resign and offered him the job of an internal auditor with a higher salary. His reply, however, was that he was not interested. And so off to SGV he returned.

VIII. THE SGV “BALIKBAYAN”


He rejoined SGV but left behind his friends at Philippine Airlines, especially his dear Ifugao friend who was already more than a brother to him and consequently they no longer climb to Baguio City. Eventually, the girl with the pinkish skin was also forgotten. By this time also, he returned to his old boarding house at Legarda where his younger brother was still staying.

The audit group that he rejoined at SGV was headed by the audit manager who persuaded him to return. Camaraderie was close and well-knit. He was assigned to the most senior auditor, both in terms of experience and biological age, who it seems, forgot to grab his share of the smiles when it was distributed from the heavens. Real strict and eccentric. He taught the various audit techniques as if the lion was his kid brother. Even taught him how to play tennis. Eventually, they became friends.

But the management style of SGV was modified. From the previous grouping of the staff led by audit managers, it was transformed into a group led by partners of the firm. His senior, who already had definite plans to migrate felt the lion would be better off if he is grouped to a partner well-liked by the staff. He discussed the matter with his audit manager and so arranged that he be transferred to the specific care of the partner concerned.

The new group that he joined proved even better. They treat each other like brothers and sisters. Camaraderie was also the name of the game. Provincial assignments involving trips to Tarlac, Bicol and Zamboanga were frequent. With per diems on those provincial trips, finances became good and consequently he and his younger brother no longer saw the need to wash their clothes. At the office, his usual comic wit helped in him getting noticed by superiors and peers alike.

One time, the lady friend who introduced him to the plump mestiza while still in college phoned. She was the bridge to the plump girl whom the lion already forgot. She said the girl wanted her ring back and without a word, it was returned through her.

By this time also, he was already regularly dating his girlfriend in Manila. She was really beautiful. An orphan who was living with her elder sister.

But her sister applied as migrant to Canada and also persuaded her to apply. Their papers were soon approved and so the decision to leave. The sister talked with the lion privately saying she would not mind leaving her younger sister behind if they can be married before she leaves.

But the option was bad. Zuggswang, as they call it in chess. The lion’s younger brother has not yet graduated and the lion made a vow not to marry until his younger brother has earned that elusive diploma. A plighted word he cannot break..

So he engineered a way that would make her hate him. And he succeeded. His girl left with her elder sister to Canada in a huff never to return. He never heard from her again since then.

With her but a memory, he directed his energy on his work with total dedication. His profession became antidote not only to boredom but also to loneliness. During paydays, side-trips to Ermita and Culi-culi (now Pio del Pilar in Makati) to watch bawdy shows, at times even enjoying these physically, and as a consequence, avoided being romantically linked to the opposite sex just like that for quite a while.

Valentine of 1969 came. Since the boarding house catered to both sexes, he nonchalantly invited one of the girls to a date. And what do you know?! She became his girlfriend with just the wink of an eye!

Two weeks later, two female co-boarders quarreled while he was out on provincial assignment in Zamboanga. On his return, the landlady (no longer his aunt) narrated with amusement what happened. The two quarreled over him without him even making passes at them.

His new Valentine soon graduated and went home to her home province without even saying goodbye nor leaving a forwarding address. She was also distracted by the quarrel of the two other boarders. She thought that the lion fooled around with the two spinsters, which of course was not true. From the looks of it, she also decided to call it quits, hence was also forgotten.

By this time, the lion was already aged twenty eight and was already getting bored at life. Drinking, going to nightclubs and bawdy houses with officemates and enjoying the other thrills of the life of a bachelor were already becoming routine, trite and tasteless. He was already free of his obligation to his brother as the latter has already graduated as an electrical engineer. Looking back, it dawned on him that save for the fact that he has already turned professional, his life was still the same- the periodic drinking sessions after every payday were still the name of the game, and sadly, he realized his life must change. There should be an avenue for another commitment.

By end 1969, his younger sister who helped finance his studies and who has already married decided to transfer residence to Manila, specifically in Sta Mesa, where her husband was working. Would the lion therefore want to be her boarder so that the boarding fees that he will incur may help them start their married life in the metropolis? The lion said yes but on two condition: (1) that he be provided with his own door key and (2) that what he does with his own life is none of their own business since he has already been accustomed to doing his life his own way. Remember that signature Frank Sinatra song that is the bane of lousy singers at Karaoke bars?!

And one time he reported to the office of one of the clients where he was assigned, he saw a pretty young lady at the reception counter. He mentioned his name, said he is an external auditor from SGV, asked for the accounting manager and asked for her name in rapid-fire succession. The trick worked. She blurted out her name but did not remember what his name was.

Sometime later during the day after consulting the accounting manager, he went back to the counter and since he learned she was a Cebuana, spoke to her in her dialect which he learned while still in Davao. She likewise replied in the dialect, a ploy that readily broke the ice. As a professional who speaks her lingo, there was no way she would not notice.

And the rest was not difficult. It turned out the office staff was already privately pairing her with him , one female employee even vouched for his credentials since she is related to the owner of the apartment where his eldest sister was residing. And when he asked her how old she is, she lied that she was already twenty three when in fact she was only twenty one. Talk about white lies, and her reply can well equal the color of snowy White Christmas.!

The last leaf of the 1969 finally was torn off skeletal frame and his sister decided to transfer residence to nearby Murphy (now called Aguinaldo) in Cubao since she was then teaching at Crame Elementary School with him still her boarder.

Life again acquired a new meaning. With a young girlfriend whom he dated regularly. the only child, she is often picked up by her Dad on her way home in their car but during dates, rides in jeepneys, and after accompanying her home would even dine with them with her parents.

The parents particularly liked him as suitor for their only child. A professional with solid credentials, he is above par when compared to her other suitors who are mostly young students her age. Another plus was the fact that her father also came from humble beginnings who worked his way up the ladder to become a lawyer.

During the Holy Week of 1970 when the riotous demonstrations were at their peak at the University Belt, the office where he worked needed personnel to be assigned at Taiwan. Being one of the staff who enjoyed assignments outside of the city, he was asked if he would be willing to get a three-year stint in that place. He said yes and immediately went home to the province to ask for his blessing and to get the birth papers needed for his passport and visa.

On the way home, he pondered. After the three-year stint, he will already be as old as Jesus Christ and Jose Rizal, two immortals who managed to reach the age of thirty three, the first was nailed on the cross while the other was shot at the Luneta. He thought, what would he be at age thirty three? A bachelor with a dreaded sexual disease since Taiwan (at that time) was said to be the haven of promiscuous males, a place where sexual partners can be hired as maids because of the then poor economic condition of the country? Ah, what the heck!

In his hometown, his father who was already mentioned as a man of very few words and already physically weak, talked to him in earnest. Indeed what would he be three years hence. Still a vagabond with nothing to speak of. Why not settle down for good! He could not reply.

Two days before he returned to Manila, he borrowed his brother’s motorcycle and headed for the barrio where he was born and spent most of the summers of his early boyhood years. While driving at a fast clip, a bus on the opposite direction overtook another and headed at him forcing him to drive straight at a pile of sand at the edge of the road the way one would see James Coburn ride the motorcycle in the movies; only the motorcycle careened and landed in the ditch! James Coburn, pweh!!


IX CROSSROADS


He returned to Manila with a fractured shoulder and deeply bothered by what his father said to him. While their relationship has never been close, he deeply respected the old man. What if his father dies while he is out of the country, like the time his godfather who was also very close to him who died while he was in Davao? His prodigal life never afforded him the opportunity to really knew each other; all these years, his father was buried in work trying to raise all their kids and give them a decent education. Already almost thirty, the lion finally decided going to Taipeh would be a serious mistake.

Upon his return to Manila he got into serious altercation with his girlfriend who was also against his leaving for Taipeh. She said she is also part Chinese and therefore what he would see in that place will practically be the same. Borrowing a Chinese proverb in its translated phrase, it is possible “that what is down there might fall” .(baka naman pag ikaw balik, yang andyan sa baba’ laklak na, sabi intsik) Ah, what the heck!!

And so he discussed his decision no longer to go abroad with the personnel manager and his boss, and instead asked if he can instead be referred to one of their clients for a job that can support married life. He’s getting married, he said.

The SGV partner to whom he was assigned advised him to cool down for two weeks and should his decision be still the same, he assured the lion he’ll get him a job at one of the clients; that is, if life in SGV was no longer for him. He did just that.

He subsequently reconciled with his girlfriend and thereafter decided to get married in civil rites. And so by early August, during one of the evenings that they were having dinner at his girl’s place, they informed her parents of their intentions and asked for their blessings since she was hardly twenty-two. Her father, caught off guard by the whirlwind turn of events got a bottle of whiskey at the pantry, poured a shot on an empty glass and took gulped. The lion, without being offered, did likewise. But it turned out they were only momentarily stunned but did not offer any objections.

Her father asked for his parents and was informed they were in the province. His Dad has since retired and it will only entail additional expenses especially because he again suffered from a mild heart attack.

And so they were married in Meycawayan where he had a friend who had connections at the municipal office. A fine way to start married life, with P350 in his savings passbook and a P750 loan from SGV on the refrigerator that he gave to his elder sister while still a boarder, it gives him a P400 deficit as he left the life of a bachelor.

Because of financial considerations, he told her parents that it will take him roughly three months to walk her down the aisle for a decent church wedding. But her father was apprehensive, for after all, she is an only child, and it would be embarrassing should she troop to the altar already in her bulging stomach. He thereafter strongly suggested that modest church rites with limited attendance will do., and he being the lawyer proposed a very convincing alternative that the lion’s wily arguments could no longer duck. Five days after the Meycawayan civil rites, they were again wedded in church! And what a memorable day it was because while his parents were not officially invited to the wedding, solicitously, they arrived from the province to attend their prodigal son’s tying up the marital knot.

X. STARTING MARRIED LIFE

Mankind usually considers the advent of a new year as the ideal time for resolutions but to the lion, so is the start of married life. He therefore resolved (1) not to gamble and (2) never to use a credit card nor borrow unless in cases of extreme emergencies, the latter word of which he clearly defined as hospitalization, death or expenses that had to be incurred which cannot be reasonably planned nor programmed. In short, he has no right to spend something he has not yet earned.

Three days after his church marriage was his 30th birthday and also the start of his joining a multinational company. The middle financial management staff of the company were mostly CPA’s from batch 1965 and with their big boss a former SGVean thus giving him an edge over the line managers since he was a 19th placer and a former SGVean himself. In addition, his job was highly skilled which involves budgeting, systems analysis and audit work all of which SGV has honed him to the tee.

His first year on the job was mind boggling. The five-year old company had already established its line functions on finance like Credit & Collection, Cost Accounting and General Accounting. But Auditing, Systems work and Budgeting also had to be addressed. He was therefore handpicked by the Financial Manager to attend to all three functions acting solo, similar to a one-man band.

In fine, his staff grew. His recruits were mostly CPA’s that formed his elite staff. Frequent travels within the archipelago became routine. The company even provided him credit cards for airline tickets and another to allow him unbridled provincial visits with minimum cash on his wallet. His professional career soared to heights. It was undoubtedly hard work that he encountered and enjoyed every bit of it.

His married life also was not standard. His wife being an only child, her parents them that instead of living separately, would they mind to just stay with them under the same roof since anyway, all of them are working?! Instead of losing a daughter, they acquired a son-in-law in their premises who was a confirmed workaholic.

By mid- 1971, their eldest son was born. As was customary, they leafed through the pages of the almanac for a suggested name but none matched their likes. His father, who was then visiting suggested that the boy be named after him by adding the Roman numeral III, but the lion could not forget his days in the elementary grades wherein he could hardly accommodate writing his name on a one-fourth sheet of paper. To solve the dilemma, he named his eldest son Ian, partly taken from the James Bond film Ian Fleming, but more specifically a three-letter coined monogram that was lifted from the lion’s own first name.

The doctor who delivered the baby boy and who was a relative of the lion tamer advised on the need for spacing children. But the two simply ignored it. At age thirty, how sure are they that another descendant is forthcoming?

Eighteen days before the boy’s first birthday, the stork announced the coming of another child, this time, a girl, which consequently elicited the obvious remark from the “doctora” the phrase: “I told but you just won’t listen on the advisability of spacing of children!!” Well, after that, they did. Milk was becoming expensive.

His life subsequently changed. With two young children, he worked with total dedication. The lion tamer was also persuaded no longer to work but just to attend to the needs of his herd. At the office, he has uncovered many irregularities that were committed by salesmen which resulted in outright dismissals.. He earned the respect of his boss and the admiration of his peers.

By September 1973, he awoke one night with a terrible pain on his stomach and was chilling profusely. His father-in-law rushed him to a hospital where the doctor conducted an emergency appendectomy operation.

Twelve days later, one of his younger brothers who already became a lawyer called long distance from the province saying their father was seriously ill and was asking for him. Taking a plane ride to Legazpi City and proceeding to Sorsogon via a bumpy bus ride, he and the lion tamer reached home with his father still alive. There was not much word to be said, however. His father, already too weak, just smiled as acknowledgement that his prodigal junior has returned and in barely audible voice, told him to return to Manila. He was made aware that his son has also just recently subjected himself to a surgical knife. Both are aware that work must already have piled up by then.

And so to Manila he and the lion tamer returned. But after only three days, came another long distance call. There was not much to say; the old man has already exited to the Deep Beyond.

All the children and together with their respective spouses for those who were already married went home for the burial rites. For the first time since 1952 when the eldest child ventured away from home to get a decent education, the eleven children were no longer able to group together; all for one reason, to fill their mental coconuts with knowledge, with the prodigal son incurring the most absences.

The lion thought of it as ironic. If the old man were alive, he would have been undoubtedly happy at seeing his brood, now turning professionals with varying diplomas attached to their respective walls.

Despite the prohibition by their mother, the seven brothers grouped together and bought their own preferred brand of wines- Tanduay Rhum, Anejo, Ginebra San Miguel, White Castle. Name it and you’ll see it on the table. For all their boyhood friends who attended the wake till the wee hours of the morning.

His lawyer-brother had an unusual tale to tell. He claimed that on the last evening before their father’s death at the hospital, it was his turn to watch and with but a faint ray of light that came from the corridor, a silhouette resembling the Grim Reaper carrying a scythe entered the room and bent over the motionless body of their Dad. In an instant, the apparition was gone. He narrated further that it caught him completely aghast and could not move all the while it was happening.

All those who heard of it dismissed the story as a tall tale. But all the female children, including the lion tamer, believed him especially because that particular brother was not a man known for cruel jokes nor of fabricated lies. But who really can tell?!

The solemnity of the burial rites had its share of comic episodes. When the community’s old-timers tried to take the coffin out of the house through the window as was the custom of the place, an elder brother barked that only thieves pass by that exit. And when the burial car passed by their residence in going to the cemetery after the church final rites, someone in the crowd suggested that it be stopped so that the spirit of the deceased can see his house for the last time only to receive a stern admonition from another brother that it won’t help any. Dead men could no longer see in broad daylight mortals still can see.

The final act of cementing the coffin inside the tomb after all the usual ceremonies proved to be the icing on the cake. One of his female first cousins who was quite close to the old man wailed uncontrollably. The mother and her female daughters whose eyes were already soaked with tears were caught off-guard. There was a scene-stealer, much like Nora Aunor or Vilma Santos of the movies. Ha, ha, hah!

In the evening was the family caucus. With two of the youngest siblings still in school, who would assume their school expenses since the monthly pension of their father will be cut off? It turned out it was not a problem. All the professionals pinched in, one for tuition fee, another for board and lodging and still another for the monthly allowance in going to and from school. Which made the lion murmur to himself: “these two kids are lucky, during our heyday, we had to scrimp on our allowances to survive.”

So back to Manila the lion and his tamer returned. But on arrival, he saw his eldest son on a plaster cast down his lower leg. Fractured bones, his father in law said; he did not call long distance as it will only confound further the bad lucks that they had already been into. Sometimes, when it rains, it pours, the lion could only muse.

The appendectomy operation, the expenses incurred during the two trips that had to be incurred on account of the illness and death of his father, and the fractured leg of his eldest son totaled no less than P10,000 which during these days was already a hefty sum. While the lion tamer sulked at the unexpected turn of events, the lion, already seasoned to face life’s adversities, could only shrug his shoulders. As the Holy Writ said: “these things are bound to pass.”

XI. AIMING FOR THE STARS


The daily grind of working during the day and attending to the needs of the family during the night resumed. He has already achieved recognition as “expert” in his line of responsibility supervising a number of people who are, with the exception of his secretary, are all CPA’s. His sphere of influence in the company widened and was already being looked upon by the employees as the man to watch, the only junior official privileged to attend staff meetings of senior management. Most of his peers and officemates thought he had his career already made. He became his boss’ heir apparent.

But the pressure of work took its tool on the company’s eagle eyed functionary. He oftentimes found himself in the middle of power play. His health began to deteriorate while his blood pressure began to rise to alarming level.

One Saturday afternoon he went home with a load of papers to work on. He pored over stack of documents as if he was alone in the world. A complete island. But his son wanted to play with him and messed up his concentration. The lion was irritated and consequently spanked the boy without the latter knowing why. When he regained his composure he vowed never to bring work home again.

In late 1975, he was offered a very tempting job near the place where he took his studies at Legazpi City. The firm was in the same manufacturing line where he was presently employed and the offer of financial remuneration was attractive pay, free use of car and free housing accommodation for the family. He was even given a plane ticket for him to scout the place and he did. But on final interview, the offer for free car was deferred for a year.

He consulted a senior executive of his company who advised him not to transfer. That executive was aware of his brewing difference with his boss. He advised: “don’t transfer. It’s too risky. And besides, you’ll be able to weather your own storm here.” He did not .

By mid 1976, he took up MBA course at Ateneo. It provided a new dimension for a while and the pressure of work at the office was somehow deflected. He easily got a lot of friends in school who hitched ride in his blue Volkswagen car in going home, a convenience which at that time was not yet in vogue.

One time an associate in the office committed a serious mistake that earned the ire of the head office based in the States. The entire financial managers were called by the big boss of a severe tongue lashing, the erring official terminated, and the lion had to mend the error. He felt sore as he believed the incident should not have happened as it did. His rift with his immediate boss has turned from bad to worse.

As an MBA student he would, at times, read reference books during light hours in the office and have his school papers and solutions typed by his secretary. But the rift with his boss has already turned personal and on this he was also reprimanded for using his company time and that of his subordinate. The lion found this ironic as two years before, his boss also took the MBA program and even required him to solve the financial problems in his stead. Further, he thought that despite the fact that he is paying for his own tuition fee, what he will learn in the program will redound to the benefit of the firm where he work and that is the company itself. When his boss again mentioned that he should avoid using company time for school purposes, he promptly quit the program and stopped going to school altogether.

With the pressure of work and his rift with his boss getting more complicated, he found solace on the contents of the bottle. He indulged in drinking at the slightest excuse. Frustrations were already being numbed by alcohol and even his family was already sharing part of the pains.

In early 1977, the lion tamer became pregnant with their third child and at the expected date he brought her to the hospital. He was, however, compelled by his boss to report back to the office as they have an American visitor from the head office at that time. He thereafter requested for an emergency leave of absence because he felt he was no longer needed but the said request was turned down. There might be something that will require clarification which the lion alone could solve or answer. And the ironic part was he was not even introduced to the American visitors and was ordered to be at his room for possible call.

At quitting time, he rushed to the hospital and found the lion tamer and the doctor waiting for him. A Caesarian operation was needed and his written authorization was required.

On going home three days later with their third child in his arms, he pondered hard. His career path was getting to the wrong direction. His family was being ranked second fiddle to his job. What good is professional glory if earned at a very high price?! Should his responsibility to his family be sacrificed???

At home, he asked the lion tamer what vice he should forego. She replied: “Don’t smoke from hereon!” And he did, giving away that sleek lighter called “Monopol” and a machine-carved stainless steel ashtray that would have lasted centuries his brother in law gifted him some years back.

Shortly thereafter, he had himself undergo a vasectomy operation to limit his siblings to just three. He reckon with determined clarity that he can only effectively care for three children, give them decent education and never to wear hand-me-downs that to him was part of history. Looking far ahead, he also planned to retire at age sixty and by that time he figured even the youngest must have completed in college a baccalaureate degree.

And many other rifts after that. Disagreements with his boss could no longer be differentiated. Professional growth was already violently clashing with family life. The price became too heavy to bear. “Executive burnout”, the Monday morning analysts said.

By mid 1978, the Company announced the creation of the No.2 man in the Finance/Administrative division, a responsibility that was tailored-cut for him. Everybody expected him to get the plum post since he was the only logical choice who has had the exposure to handle the delicate job. Instead of finally realizing his goal however, the stigma of his rift with his boss loomed as would the sword of Damocles on his head..

He pondered hard. The dilemma is pretty much the same as when he was offered his passing the CPA board exams for free. The prospects of promotion glitters, but is it gold?

When the post was finally dangled, he has already decided. His boss, it turned out, was having an extended vacation to the States and so an officer in charge to run the affairs of the division was needed. Would the lion take the job?

He declined the offer to the utter surprise of the entire company. The job looks attractive to others but to him it was the scourge of Midas. But he could not explain his reasons. He was able to confine his rift with his boss such that explaining his reasons to the Big Boss will damage both their reputations in the company.

XII. DOWN, DOWN, DOWN

He was shortly relieved of his important responsibilities and was relegated to handle general accounting functions without his associates ever knowing what happened. Ever the realist that he has learned to become, he took everything in stride; he was well aware of the backlash that his decision would entail.

The workload became considerably lighter at the passing of each month as he often introduced innovation in his new job. Consequently it enabled him to enjoy more time with his family and unlike before, he no longer had to spend the night to finish the work on hand. Slowly, he began to notice even the peculiarities of his children, his eldest son’s comic wit, his only daughter’s ability to solve math problems without half trying, and his youngest son’s impish attitude that also reminded him of his own lanky frame while still a child. His mother, who would sometimes pay a visit to the house would laugh whenever the lion tamer would narrate the boy’s mischievous attitude in school. As the mother would also be a frequent visitor of the Principal. Just like his Dad, the boy’s grandmother would often say.

Still endowed with professional vigor, he looked for advertised jobs but the offers were barely attractive. Some are but the jobs require relocation since the companies that can match the salary the lion was receiving were mostly located at the Export Processing Zone Authority and will therefore require separation from the family which he does not want. He reckon that staying in his present job, no longer idolized but still respected by the rank and file, and still receiving a decent salary is not as bad. The bad also has its good side.

He also changed his personal lifestyle. He already quit smoking and thereafter also avoided hard drinks. To while his time during off hours, he bought a racer bike and during weekends would join other amateur cyclists tour the countryside, reaching as far as Nasugbu in Batangas, Bagac in Bataan and even tour the towns that encircle Laguna de Bay. Or simply enjoy a half-day ride to Antipolo and back at the end of the day enjoy a round of beer with his cycling buddies.

Consequently, his life changed considerably. No longer pressured and no longer aspiring for the top, already above forty, he realized the trade-off was more than worth it. The priorities shifted, from professional growth to family and personal enjoyment. Looking at yonder stars, he reckoned, can also be pain on one proverbial neck. In the meantime, his immediate boss whom he considered was his nemesis in his professional growth died.


XIII. SENTIMENTAL HOMECOMING

Then came the Holy Week of 1981 and unlike on previous occasions where he was holed out in the office grappling the Annual Budget and Plans which is usually reviewed by the staff from the Head Office on site, he was now able to went home for vacation towing along the lion tamer . The Golden Jubilarians which included his mother were honored. His batch, which comprise the Silver Jubilarians at having reached its 25th year anniversary of their graduation, likewise grouped together. His classmates were jubilant; most of the graduates of twenty five years ago have changed both in looks and in stature. The impish little boy has already more than doubled his size, and he has reached a credible job at a multinational.

His mother had her own laurels. All her eleven living children, despite want and poverty, managed to don their own togas, a feat the school found hard to emulate. Four of them took commerce courses, three of whom became CPA’s; three were in the field of education, two became lawyers, one each graduated in fine arts, one a nurse and still another, an electrical engineer. The twelve total was not unusual because one became a CPA-lawyer.

XIV. BACK TO THE GAME

Family and personal life went on smoothly, but save from receiving a decent salary, life at the office was hardly worth narrating. Often, he would kid himself that professionally, he is either down the gutter or inside the freezer hibernating.

In the meantime, two of the children already entered high school with impressive class standings. The youngest was still in the elementary grades.

And then an opportunity at the office came. The head office of the multinational where he was employed established a cigarette paper company in the island of Sumatra in Indonesia and needed expert assistance on financial matters. Because of language barrier, the head office opted to send one from its affiliate in Manila and no other could fill the assignment. The person who heads the department that he created was still lacking in finesse and perspective to handle the job. And so he was sent to organize its financial functions.

After three trips shuttling to Indonesia and back, the manager of the affiliate in Indonesia asked that he be assigned permanently. The offer was very tempting; two and a half months will he stay abroad and then come home for fifteen days to report to his office in Manila. Should he desire, he can bring his family along and let them study in the International School that was also available at Medan, in Indonesia or in Singapore which is only an island away from Sumatra, whichever he prefers. But he did not take the opportunity. He felt the studies of his children will be derailed by transferring to another country.

Soonest after his return from Indonesia, he was reassigned to the department that he nurtured whose functions involved Budgeting, Audit and Systems work and managed its concern for two solid years until the EDSA Revolution conflagrated.



XV. THE EDSA REVOLUTION AND THE COMPANY


People who were around during the first EDSA Revolution have different tales to tell and conversely even the employees in the company where he worked also have theirs to narrate. Of course EDSA has had its indelible imprint on almost everybody but in their workplace, the Kilusang Mayo Uno or KMU has gained firm foothold to the extent it was able to terrorize the company. Led by an ultra-leftist union, it threatened the company with closure through wildcat strikes and so the company president, seeing the Mill Cost Accountant unable to effectively check his subordinates in tow, reshuffled its middle managers and sent the lion as cost accountant to the mill.

Soon the dreaded strike commenced with the union paralyzing operations. But accounting reports had to be submitted and so the lion and with the help of his select staff spirited out the accounting records out of the mill and prepared the needed accounting reports at the Makati office. The daring task of getting the records out of the company’s premises via the South Super Highway, under the very noses of the union members, effectively bamboozled the impression that the KMU was an invincible organization and brought them back to the bargaining table for labor negotiations with the lion regaining the lost glory that he previously enjoyed.


XVI. ANOTHER CROSSROAD

He was already the number two man in the Finance/Administrative Division, the very job that he opted not to aspire for some eight years back, when whirling events occurred in 1989. By January he petitioned for degrees in Masonry, by February he was charged with sexual harassment by a female subordinate who wanted to rise up the company’s ladder through unorthodox route and by March he was out of job. A man who hardly looks back grudgingly at the past, he simply collected the retirement annuity that was accumulated the last nineteen years and left the company never to look back.

By April, he was initiated into the mysteries of Freemasonry and for the first time since he became a professional in 1965 took a two-week vacation, a luxury that he never experienced before and went home to the lion tamer’s hometown called Guindulman.

By the next month, he was hired as consultant of a steel-based conglomerate and in Masonry, was also passed as a fellowcraft. By June of that year, he was raised to the sublime degree of master mason and started their jewelry-retailing business.

Professionally, the change of jobs may be declared undoubtedly queer. From a paper company whose main office was based in Makati and whose customers are the supermarkets and drugstores, his new job involve the manufacture of steel-related products and whose customers were hardware and the like. While he has not had the chance to go to church during weekdays at Makati, his new office was right beside Binondo Church and since he arrives at the office early in the morning before the office starts, the prudent thing to do was to say a few simple prayers inside the church before starting the days work. San Lorenzo Ruiz became a silent witness to his new-found religious fervor.

As mentioned earlier, the lion tamer also engaged in retailing jewelry and soon their combined income trebled the salary at his previous workplace so that in two years’ time they were able to purchase a secondhand Nissan Sentra car for a hefty P200,000 cash. Not a bad income for a guy who not too long ago was kicked out of his job.

XVII. THE FREEMASON

Contrary to popular belief his interest in Freemasonry was not a natural nor voluntary reaction. While he did endeavor to attend the monthly stated and special meetings as required by lodge rules, his professional advancement can be considered slow. First, there was a dire lack of reading materials to browse upon. Second is attending meeting once a month is hardly an opportunity where one can learn the tenets of the Craft.

But a lodge elder, probably seeing his potentials or probably because he saw the lion groping in the dark, made a very strange request after fellowship one day. He asked whether it would be alright for the lion take him home every stated meeting. The request was undoubtedly unusual because while the lion resides at Project 8, the elder’s residence was at Project 4 which was at the opposite direction, a chore that meant going out of the lion’s way in going home.

The lion later realized the old man’s ploy. On the way, he would talk about the joys of being a Freemason and would even invite the former at his residence where his wife would serve them coffee while the two discuss things about the Craft. And when the lion begs leave for home, the old man would lend him a book, with the kind words that the lion is entitled to another book once he returns what was earlier borrowed.

Another activity that the lion got himself hooked into was his involvement in the DeMolay movement. No sooner had he accepted the job as Chapter Dad of a nearby DeMolay chapter , and he also enlisted the lion tamer as Chapter Mom which practically made their residence the bunkhouse of these youths.

He also became involved in the Scottish Rite and for quite a number of times became conferral master of the fourth degree ritual and an able assistant on the other degrees.

But it was his burning desire to become a lodge lecturer that finally nailed his involvement to the Fraternity. Ignorant of the fact that upstarts who are conversant of the rituals are automatically lined up to become wardens of the lodge, he memorized all the three lectures and gladly accepted the role of deacons not knowing that during election time, he will be selected junior warden, hands down. Also, he single-handedly revived his lodge newsletter that served as effective mouthpiece in disseminating masonic ideas to the brethren of his lodge. His writing skills also enabled him to regularly contribute to the Fraternity’s Cabletow. And to make the long story short, he became master of his lodge in 1995.

Having achieved the top spot in his lodge, he shifted his energy at the other lodges. He gladly accepted the role of Grand Lodge Inspector for three terms, and was even elected Honorary Member of three other blue lodges. Through the strong recommendation of the Senior Warden during his term as Master of the lodge, he reluctantly accepted the appointment as District Grand Lecturer, because the latter would only accept the position of District Deputy Grand Master if the lion will likewise accept the job that was offered to him.

He also immersed himself at writing various articles until finally, he was handpicked to become the Managing Editor of the Far Eastern Freemason for a time by his mentor, a job that he enjoyed very much. Only very recently, he was able to create his own website that compiled almost all the articles that he wrote He also co-authored the monumental “Philippine Lodge” with the foremost Masonic historian MW Reynold S. Fajardo.

But what catapulted him to international renown was his appointment as Contributing Editor to the Grand Lodge of the Philippines Website. Teaming up with the members of the Computer Resource Committee, he wrote most of the articles that were therein posted, among them “Brief History of Freemasonry in the Philippines”, “Retracing the Known Origins of Freemasonry”, and “The Lion of the Tribe of Judah” and posting the articles contained in an unpublished book of his mentor, MW Reynold S. Fajardo, and together combined, their written works propagated the tenets of the local Fraternity over world-wide Web.

Not all actions involve positive notes though. He declined his election as Knight Commander of Honor (KCCH) in the Scottish Rite on account of his lack of the required number of years’ residency as well as the Cross of Honor offered by the Supreme Council, Order of DeMolay because he believed his contributions to their cause were not sufficient to merit these awards..

XVIII. THE LAST HUNTING GROUND

The turn of the century found him at age sixty and according to his plan, he retired. Two of his three children have already graduated and have decided to separate from them as they already have their own families to care for. The youngest son’s graduation suffered a minor hitch and since he is likewise married, he opted to stay with the lion at the ancestral house with his wife and kid. Soon his youngest son graduated and like the carnivorous animal

that would wean out his pride at the earliest opportunity, the lion decided to transfer residence to the bucolic island called Bohol towing along the lion tamer and there enjoy the sunset of his years.

But he did not remained idle. In five years years of their stay, he and the lion tamer succeeded in arranging for the operation of no less sixty harelip patients through a sponsoring organization. They also helped in assisting SSS members get their retirement benefits. Lights at their backyards were also provided thus beckoning the approaching fishermen from their hazardous occupations while at sea. And so on and so forth, many of the articles of which were chronicled in the other pages of this Website.

On his Masonic life, he regularly attended the stated meetings of Dagohoy Lodge No. 84, the island’s only lodge and in year 2004 applied for dual membership and was accepted. He became a permanent fixture of the lodge helping in its rituals. He and the lion tamer would, during summer and Christmas vacations, return to the big city and enjoy their lives with their three children and grandchildren.

XIX TRAGEDY

Five fruitful years of leisurely life elapsed when tragedy struck. It was a on a Holy Wednesday in year 2007 when he found himself gasping for precious breath. Accompanied by the lion tamer to a community hospital, oxygen paraphernalia was attached to his mouth and for five full hours he lay in comma. He later thought his date with the Grim Reaper has arrived. Miraculously however, he survived.

A week later, he and the lion tamer boarded the plane for the big city and there was subjected to a barrage of medical tests. He was found to be of weak heart, a still weaker kidney, lungs full of water, his rigjht foot had a pestering wound that was infected with poisonous gangrene. Additionally, his blood sugar was fluctuating wildly. Dr. Billy del Rosario, his fraternal brother working at St. Luke’s advised an immediate amputation else gangrene might seriously affect his fast declining health.

Without funds as their P15,000 pocket money that they scrimped to enable them to visit the children were immediately consumed by the battery of medical tests the P300,000 cost that Dr. Rosa Allyn Sy his niece, estimated was way beyond their reach. He wanted to return to Cebu City and there be operated upon by VW Felix Vicuna, Jr. as a charity patient but his niece advised against it. His weak heart may not withstand the airplane’s thin atmosphere while aloft and his body may end up a cadaver by the time the plane landed.

He finally acquiesced and allowed the lion tamer to make the decisions. For her part, she authorized the immediate amputation and called various relatives and friends both from abroad and in the country about the sad plight of the aging lion. Brethren were likewise informed.

The response was outstanding, the P300,000 was raised without difficulty and with nary a promise to pay being offered.

But no more than twelve hours after the amputation, he was brought to the Intensive Care Unit. His heartbeat was fast declining. A second date with the messenger with the scythe. But again, another good luck; the aging lion was as elusive as the proverbial cat with that daunting nine lives. He managed to get out of the pressure cooker still alive.

XX A CROWNING GLORY

On November 21, 2007 he received a rare citation from abroad the gist of which was self explanatory as can be gleamed from his reply below and unto which he replied immediately as follows:


The Masonic Brotherhood of
The Blue Forget-me-not
2 Knockbolt Crescent, Toronto, Ontrio, Canada MIS 2P6

Attention: Bro. Nelson King, PGM.(H)

Secretary

It is with profound sense of humility that I accept my election as member of

“The Masonic Brotherhood of
The Blue Forget-me-not”

It is a distinctive honor that our two sons, the elder of whom is already a Mason while the younger has signified he will also join, and our four grandsons may hopefully be reminded and thus learn to emulate when they come of age someday.

Kindest fraternal regards!

Sincerely,

Geminiano V. Galarosa, Jr.

XXI BACK TO HIS DEN

Against the well-meaning advise of those who care, most especially his children, he decided to return to his adopted home not only to recuperate but there spend his remaining breath. Those who wanted the two to stay argued that there in the big city, the chances of survival are better what with medical facilities and professional care ever present, he could be bundled and brought to the hospital should the need arise. Doc Billy, for his part said he would want his dear fraternal brother reach a full hundred years.

But the aging cat countered, to him it will be all right if he lives but four whole days. Out there beside the beach, peacefully resting as calamties grapple over all the world’s living denizens, he intends to let time pass by and enjoy the serenity of the place.

Will there be a continuation to this narration? Ah, but only time can tell!

(Revised November 22, 2007)