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| AGUMAN MEDICAL MISSION 2000, page 2 |
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| by Ernie Turla |
We were graciously welcomed by my former student,
Mayor Lilia Garcia Pineda - still looking pretty
after all the years that had passed by, and still humble
despite her wealth and prestige! She was president
of the Pampanga Mayors League, and vice president
for Luzon in the National League of Mayors.
As soon as we got into the house, she led us
to the dining area where, amidst all our chattings,
we were entertained with several dishes of sumptuous
delicacies laid on the rotating centerpiece of an
elegant table. One of her assistants asked, "Do you still
remember me, sir, I am Florinda Lacap.", and to whom
I quickly said, "Of course,... and weren't you and Baby
classmates?" I can't believe how the years have passed by!
We lingered for a while more and saw a woman with a
sick child and coming to the mayor for financial help.
Baby Pineda had always been active in helping the poor,
as well as in the resettlement of people rendered
homeless by Mt. Pinatubo's eruption. I remember when
Fr. Joe Lacap and my whole family made a visit to her
in Greenhills, and she later walked us to a fancy
restaurant a block away and where sometimes she would
recall the name of a person in need of help and ask her
secretary, Cynthia, to add it to her long list. And oh yes,
how can we ever forget her donation of one whole cow to
our party during our silver anniversary a decade ago?
On our way back to Magalang, we took the road through
Mexico and we dropped by the convent of our friend, Msgr.
Bustos, the parish priest there. I gave him a copy of my
Kapampangan dictionary which was quickly borrowed by
a visiting friend of his, a certain Mr. Miranda who introduced
himself as a translator of prayers.
Dec. 22 - Guagua (Rudy, Frida, Ernie, Angie, Marita, Art
and Cris) Guagua is a booming business center, and it
was here where I spent much of my time as a youngster.
We were kind of late in getting there on account of heavy traffic,
and fortunately, Art and Marita were already there to start
the ball rolling. Medical consultation and distribution of medicine
was held at the rear of the church which was spacious, and
there were already many people inside when we arrived.
Physicians and nurses were already busy doing their work.
(Note: Starting the day before, in Lubao, and now here in
Guagua, as well as in the rest of the towns we go to, we bring
bread bought from a bakery in Magalang and which we distribute
to the needy as an additional sort of help.)
The coordinator, Atty. Joleb Carlos, is a first cousin of Angie,
and was there, along with other people we knew, including
his mother, Inda Liling, Mrs. Guilas (of Guilas Lumber), Jim Boy,
Webb and Kong Menly (of Loanzon Studio). When the medical
work was over, the Aguman decided to have lunch at the
Razon Restaurant which was away from the business sector.
There we ordered (using our Aguman funds)a small plate of pancit
and a glass of their award-winning halo-halo which had been
featured in an article by well-known culinary writer and gourmet,
Doreen Fernandez. Sometime then, Joleb's wife gave me and
Angie a tour of my Alma Mater, the GNC, and to my surprise,
with all its new buildings that left no trace of the old school,
I found myself a stranger in the place! Later on, on the same day,
on our way back home we stopped by Angeles University (AUF).
Rudy, who used to teach there, brought us to the office of the
president, Emmanuel Angeles. Although there was no school,
Dr. Angeles gave us a tour around, and we were impressed by
the university's modern facilities. He also took us to its hospital,
which served as a training center for its medical students. We
tried to visit Josie in her house later but she was out, and we just
dropped the dictionary books I was giving her to her household help.
From Dec. 23 to Dec. 27 we had no medical mission, so we tried
to take advantage of our free time. On Dec. 23, we went to Dau and
attended the birthday party of the son of Rey (Frida's oldest). Emil,
Marita and Art were also there. Then we all went to the Carmenville
subdivision in Angeles to atend a party being thrown by George
Samson in his new house there. I was surprised to see my cousin,
Janet Punsalang, there, and I got to meet her husband, Rudy Mallari,
the incoming president of the Rotary Club of San Fernando.
Eto picked us up in Magalang on Dec. 24 and took us to his house
in Masantol to spend Christmas there. Angie, Eto, Zeny (his wife), Marie
(their daughter who worked in Laguna and spending the holidays there)
and I attended the Midnight Mass (actually at 8:00) in Sta. Lucia. On
Christmas Day, Eto, Zeny, Eddie (my other brother-in-law), Vangie (his
wife), Angie and I went to SM in San Fernando and saw the movies
"Marcova: Comfort Gay", starring Dolphy, and "Death Row", an Eddie
Garcia thriller. We were amazed to see so many people there shopping,
or should I say, window shopping. Being air-conditioned, it was cool
inside and you could right away feel the difference once you go out the
door. The following day (Tuesday, Dec. 26) Eto, Zeny, Vangie, Angie
and I went to see the Morning Breeze resort in Bagac, Bataan. (Eddie
could not come along, because he had to watch the 14 carpenters
building his three-story "castle" in Macabebe.) We passed through
Sta. Cruz, and I could not recognize the place anymore, what with
so many businesses on both sides of the road. After Bagac, we
headed for nearby Mt. Samat, the mountain whose gigantic cross on
the top could be seen for kilometers around. We were surprised to
find out that the cross was hollow and with an elevator going up and
down its shaft. We got on it and alighted on its horizontal part, and
there in its windows through which we were able to inhale the cool
breeze, we got a breath-taking birds-eye view of the land below,
and captured its majestic beauty. At its base is a historical landmark
on its wall of which you could read about the significance of the place
in connection to the war against the Japanese. The place was
called Dambana ng Kagitingan. We were benighted
in getting back to Masantol to attend a party being thrown for
the whole Bonifacio clan. It was held at the home of Angie's aunt,
Inda Lucing - in a house with a very long reception hall!
On Dec. 27 Eto took us to Olongapo just for sightseeing. Along
the way, we stopped at Angie's relatives Indang Ester and Mang
Felia (Yumang), in their nice residence in Macabebe, and
in Lubao, at the home of a friend of ours, Nick Laxa, a school
principal. Nick's wife, the former Lydia Bartolo, was Angie's
classmate at UST (and a good friend of Mayor Pineda), but was
unfortunately not at home. We then went to the Lubao cemetery
to visit the tombs of our departed ones, including my mother's.
In Olongapo, we stopped by a Jollibee restaurant for a snack.
After that Eto brought us to Magalang in preparation for our
next mission the following day.
Dec. 28 - To Tarlac City {Rudy, Frida, Ernie, Angie, Marita, Art,
Cris and Mary} This was our first time to see Mary since the start
of the mission.) The medical work was held in Barangay San
Isidro. When we got there with their box of medicine, Mary was
already there waiting, along with the barangay captain, Virgilio
Garcia and a host of other barrio officials and medical helpers.
We divided the day into two shifts - the morning and the afternoon.
After the morning shift, the barangay captain brought everybody
to his nearby house to have lunch. We left Mary afterwards to
take charge of the medical work for the rest of the afternoon.
In the evening, we got invited to a birthday party of a senior
citizen whose name I can't recall. It was held at Fortune Seafood
Restaurant in Angeles.
Dec. 29 San Fernando (Barrio Dolores) - Rudy, Frida,
Ernie, Angie, Marita, Art, Cris and Mary
We were met by Councilor Rey Pekson at the well-secured
San Fernando Municipal Building. When our group became
complete, we were ushered by a convoy of policemen to
Dolores. Doctors and nurses were already at work and
and many people were already there when we arrived.
While there, I got to meet the press reporter of the
weekly, Coffee Punch News whose name was Rick.
At noon, when the medical work was over, Rey took us
to Party Land Buffet where we were able to eat all we
could! Rey also gave each of us a small packaged gift
for what we have done for them! As usual, it was another
enjoyable day on the road. After that we went to the
house of Uncle Cris (Angie's uncle) in San Agustin
Subdivision where we rested for the afternoon. Mary was
also with us then. While there both Angie and Mary were
able to secure dresses to wear for an upcoming formal
event in Concepcion. In the evening, we all attended
an event put up by the Rotary Club of Magalang. Among
the award recipients were the Aguman, Linda Andres of
Mabalacat and 15-year old Kyla Tayag Camins,
a balikbayan from Vancouver B.C. who had won the title
"Miss Teen World" in Atlantic City. Mayor Guiao was
there, and so was Emil, the eloquent master of ceremonies.
For the next four days { Dec. 30, 2000 to Jan 2, 2001}, we had
no mission. On Dec. 30, Frida and Rudy took us to a birthday
party. It was a stone's throw away from their house and we just
had to walk. The party was for Sally Tayag, the mother of Kyla,
Miss Teen World. Like at the Rotarians affair, the mayor, Emil,
and we saw one another again - it was really a small world when
people know the same people in a closely-knit community like
Magalang. In the evening Frida, Angie, Rudy, Emil and I drove
to Concepcion to attend the Mesibucan Club Dinner Dance.
I was told that it was on an occasion like this here some 20
years ago when our clubmates Danny and Candy Ramirez
met. When we got there, we were impressed by the way the
plaza between the two gloriettas was decorated with lights,
and the stage, and the gate in front was also looking very
attractive due to their lighted design. The women passing by
were all dressed pomp in style, and we're glad that all of us
were wearing very presentable clothes! We introduced ourselves
at the gate to the officers of the club, since Cris, the once who
had invited us was nowhere to be seen. We were led to seats
where we had a commanding view of the dance floor where
Cris (Yumul) and the other dancers would be dancing the rigodon.
Soon Mary, also wearing her newly-acquired dress, showed up,
and joined us. During the event, we got to talk with congressman
Jessli Lapus, Mayor __(?). The master of ceremonies mentioned
us thrice during the night we were there, giving us recognition
as guests from the U.S. and emphasizing the name of our club
too. There were many ballroom D.I.'s, many dancing with much
older partners, but they hardly matched the dancing skill of the
Filipino D.I.s in the Bay Area! After seeing Cris dance the
Rigodon, we left. (Mary stayed with Cris and Ida and danced
with some D.I.'s until the wee hours of the morning.) The
following day was Rudy's birthday and he eventually became
a sexagenarian like me. (Maybe we can now form a club called
"The Sexagenarians" and compete with the Golden Agers!) His
birthday started at 12 noon and went on till the New Years
Eve fireworks celebration at midnight! In the afternoon Ellen
Ramirez, Jerry and Zeny Pacis who just arrived in the Philippines
the day before, came, followed by Cris later. In the evening,
Frida, Angie and I, along with Recesa (Frida's beautiful niece) and
her 89 year-old mother, Apung Carling, went to church. When we
got back home, the kids were still playing parlor games with
prizes given away, and this went on until midnight!
The following day, Jan.1, 2001, Angie and I attended the
Turla-Nakpil Annual Reunion party held at the Magalang Elementary
School. My cousins Adoracion, Lionel, Leonardo and Alma and their
respective families greeted us and all our nephews and nieces kissed
hands. Rizaldo Zuniga (he teaches school there) and Perry Nuestro
(he teaches at Pampanga Agricultural College), and cousin Eduardo
Turla Versoza who was visiting from Daly City were there. They even
had a song aimed to strengthen the bond among them, in adition to other
numbers in their program. A little later, Rudy picked us up and we went
on an extra medical mission to Barrio Mabatu-batu. (Rudy, Frida, Ernie
and Angie). Frida's cousin, Condring, was the coordinator there, and
Dr. Lacson, (accompanied by his father all the way from San Bartolome)
was also there to help out. In the evening we headed for San Agustin
in San Fernando to attend a party at Uncle Cris and the usual Bonifacio
relatives were there. We barely missed Regine Velasquez who was a
guest there and had just left. Later I found out that Regine had a son
who was courting a daughter in the family! But anyway, there was still
lots of food, and we had some Karaoke singing!
The following day, Jan. 2, 2001 ( I'd better practice
writing the year - and by the way, is this not the year
when there was supposed to be a Space Odyssey? ) we
went along with the family to Sta. Rosa, Nueva Ecija --
Frida, Rudy, Apung Carling, Marie, Daisy, Pinky, and the
children, Jerome, Clarence, etc. Also Gel and Pinky's
husband-to-be. We went there, because Apung Carling's
youngest brother, Msgr. Lacson was the parish priest
there. I did remember him when I was still a boy, he
used to be our priest in Lubao. We had lunch there and
before we left he gave all his great nieces and great
grandnephews gifts in the form of money! From Sta. Rosa,
we headed back to Magalang, passing through Zaragosa and
Concepcion along the way. It was nice to see places you've
never seen before! When we got back, we got a manicurist
to manicure us ( Angie and I had a woman masseuse massage
us the day before and until then my toes were still aching!;
Rudy and I had a 30-peso haircut, so cheap! And I got a
new set of dentures too).
Jan. 3 - Medical Mission in Angeles City (another
district) ( Rudy, Frida, Ernie, Angie, Marita, Art,
Cris, Mary, Ellen, Zeny and Jerry. Carmelita was
still sick.) It was held in a health center and there
were lots of patients lined up for treatment. We had a
sufficient number of volunteers from midwives who helped
in sorting out the medicine, and there were physicians
giving free consultation. Many policemen were also
there to provide security, many of them were policewomen,
and I found out later that Zeny used to work with them
when she was a policewoman herself in Angeles City prior
to her coming to America. Before we finished with our
work, I managed to call up Josie to inform her we
were going to wait for her at Zeny's place. When we
finally got through attending to patients, we were taken
to the Mangune residences for lunch. There was lechon
and other dishes on the table, as well as wine. (There
were three unoccupied houses there: one belonged to Paul
and Ellen, one to Jerry and Zeny, and one to the Colonel
and Lydia. But they all now live in the U.S.) This lovely
dinner very much winds up the medical mission. To all
delegates of this medical mission: I would like to
congratulate you for a job well done!!
But let me tell you the rest of the story. Just click:
 http://maxpages.com/mission2/mission2B
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