ONCE UPON A TIME IN ASINGAN

PART 1

The front window of our ancestral home in Asingan faces the east, and the right side of the St. Louis Beltrand Catholic church. When I visited Asingan in 2003, the view of the church yard from my window showed some small buildings owned by the Catholic church. These are meant to be rented to various businessmen. When I was there, just two out of these structures seem to be thriving. One is the Rodriguez grocery store and the other is the Law Office of Atty. Bong Viray,

But in the early '50s, this boundary of the church lot nearest our house was lined with TAGUMBAW plants. These plants ( discussed recently as possessing some commercial value ) look like small papaya trees. There was also some kind of metal fence enclosure, however people not wanting to enter thru the front gate of the church just find a weak link in the fence, push it down, then hopped over it. Why go around if one can take a short cut? I know this because I was one of the trespassers.

Beyond the tagumbaw hedge was soft grass that extended from the front of the church to the back. The property of the church ended with Monyang's cono characterized by this yellow hill mound of TAEP where me and my friends spent many afternoons jumping, prancing about and playing swordsmen using bamboo sticks.

On this turf, my sisters Ester and Aurora and I would hang about during summer afternoons when the lazy sun took its time to sink into the western horizon. We would wait here for the call from my mom"It's time to eat.."

It was nice to see the western sky change its colors as sunset commenced behind the house of Mr. & Mrs. Sergio de Mesa..Mr de Mesa ( my Ninong and one time teacher of the Dupac Elementary school ) and Ambrosio Divina Sr. are two of the earliest US Navy men in Asingan. Mr. Ambrosio Divina ( Tata Ambros ) was a Marine. He had a very loud voice as if he was angry all the time, but actually he has a very soft and kind heart.

On the back boundary of the church, there was a green building called TABACALERA. I was intrigued by this house one time when I was still very young because from my window, sometimes I could see some beautiful girls coming out and play in their front yard. Who are these girls? I would ask myself but since I was still in Elementary school, I never dared going and introducing myself to them. Many more years would pass before I would do that kind of thing: going after girls.

But a good friend of mine Angelito Domaoan who now lives in New Jersey told me a year ago that those girls were Spanish meztizas living in that quaint green building with a nice balcony. He knew this because his house was just a few doors away from this building. He told me that the girls were really young and beautiful. And he told me he had a chance to talk with the girls..At that time, I did not give a hoot to girls, but if I saw a beautiful one, the memory would stick in my mind for a very long time.Not long after, they moved away for who wanted to stay in a small sleepy town like Asingan?

There was also stories from my Mother that during the liberation years ( 1945 - 194? ) ther was a camp of American G.I.s in that part of the church yard facing us.

I remember ( very vaguely ) that one time, I crossed the road to go to the other side ( Why did Victor cross the road? ) . I remember an armoured vehicle passing by me as I reached the other side. I must have been 4 or 5 years old then. My Mom must have turned into a nervous wreck seeing me cross the street not minding the traffic of thundering tanks passing by. ( Years later, I found long metallic belts that surround the wheels of these tanks in our neighbour, the Aglipayan church. They provided a good decoration to the pathway surrounding the church going to the priest's house at the back. At that time, the priest was Father Castaneda who hailed from Alcala. )

There were two G.I.s who boarded in our house. I remember seeing their cot beds in our living room. I guess these two ( I believe they were officers ) did not want to stay in the tents with the other Yanks. And I remember the C rations they left to my Mom when armistice was declared and all of the US GIs pulled out of Asingan. There were lots of US made cheese and those bacon strips  sent such a good aroma when my Mom cooked them.

I remembered also my mom receiving a letter and a photo from one of them..Steve was his first name and he sent us a wedding photo of him and his new bride. Her name was Ann. They must have wedded right after Steve returned to the US.

He never forgot to thank my Mom for her hospitality.----#