Profile of my Four Brothers: Val

This is my brother Valentino. Everybody fondly calls him Val. Being older than I am for just a year, we grew up together and shared the same childhood experience. When my mother enrolled him in grade one, I cried because I wanted to go to school with him too. With no choice, she put me in school agreeing to the policy that I would only be there just a visitor. I was underage at that time but we were classmates until grade two. We got separated in grade three when I stopped for some reasons. I had to take care of the younger siblings as my mother got her job at the municipal office. My brother went ahead but as I went back to school the following year, he was my idol. He finished elementary then he enrolled in the Catholic High School since there was no public high school then at that time. I knew that my brother has a brain but the fact that we were so busy helping our parents, we never had enough time to study and do our home work. He graduated with honors in high school. Hooray!

My mother took him to an agricultural college in Tagum, Davao del Norte, now Tagum City which he did not like. I knew he wanted to take another course but he had no choice. That was the only school that my parents could afford to send him to. So though he did not like it, he still did his best in school. And just before he graduated, he got married to his schoolmate who was also an agriculture student. Anyways, they both finished and came home and started their life the hard way, too.

My parents was devastated at that time because they thought that at least he could help them out a little bit before settling down. But I assured my parents that there were still the rest of us to count on. I was a college sophomore when that happened so I knew quite well their frustrations.

He started working as an elementary school teacher in one of the barangays. At that time, almost all public schools were overflowing with children and the demand for teachers was everywhere. He did not stay long in that job as it really was not what he was prepared for. Although the head teacher said that he was doing okay but he really had to move to where his filed was. He worked at the Municipal Assessor's Office for few years then moved to the Department of Agrarian Reform.

His family grew and they were able to build their own house in that small piece of land that my father bought with a can of sardines. His wife Vick got a teaching job in High School which was great help, too.

My brother's performance in the implementation of the Agrarian Program was very noticeable. He fought against few landlords in our place who refused to submit their property to Agrarian Reform . He defended so many tenants and took some of them to court to testify, thus earning their share of the land. Because of his achievement, he was being offered a higher position but he turned it down because he had to move away from his family. He decided to stay and got the Undersecretary Award in late 90's.

After 15 years of service, he decided to retire and manage his own business with his wife. They now have three grandchildren from their oldest son Kim.

These pictures were taken last Christmas at their place. To the left is a pose with their daughter-in-law and two grand children. Kim was not able to join because he was in Cebu. He was not able to take a day off from his hospital job as a radiologist. To the right is the picture with Ariel, their second son who is still in college right now.

Above is the picture of Kim and wife Jona with their first son, Liam. And on the right is my brother's house located just across the Municipal High School where his wife Vick used to teach before she retired.

This is all about my brother Val, the eldest of ten siblings.

(To be continued...)

Profile of my Four Brothers: Val

In not so distant past...

I could still recall our struggle in life back in those days when we were still young. My father used to be the tenant of their own ancestral land which my grandmother acquired when they resettled in the little town of Barobo. My grandfather died early and since my father could not go to school because of his asthma, he became the right hand, tending all their plants in the farm while grandma was busy doing some other works. She had another farm in Libertad, Butuan City in Agusan Norte. That made her went back and forth but most of the time she stayed there and just came to see my father once in a while and to get the money from the harvest.

As my father started his own family, he had nothing in his name except a small piece of unproductive land which he traded with a can of sardines and few pesos. He was just a mere farmer whose income was never enough to make both ends meet. Since I'm the second of ten siblings, I witnessed how tough life was for all of us. Tatay (my father) knew that his farm income would never bring enough food on the table, so he tried fishing. He once was a very skillful fisherman that some fish broker in our town granted him money to start his own fish pen. He did everything he could to support his growing family. He worked from dawn to dusk and from dusk to dawn. It was almost unbelievable but it's the truth. Sometimes he went to the farm early and came home for breakfast to go to the sea because the type of fishing he had largely depend on the movement of the water. So during high tide, he ran to the farm and worked for few hours. He estimated the time perfectly through the movement of the moon in the sky and he knew when to come home to pick his fishing gadgets to rush to the sea. He did not want to miss low tide because that's the time for him to gather all the fish in the pen. Then after selling the fish to his broker, he ran back to the farm to finish his unfinished work there. That's how he got his name "From the Sea to the Mountain Man" and to think that he would just walked the three-kilometer distance from our house to the farm. He also watched the fish pen in the evening to make sure nobody took the fish before him. Sometimes he took my brothers with him spending few hour or the night at sea.

It was really a rough time that as we were growing up, we were involved in the struggle. We were young and carefree but my father and my mother were both the authority. On weekends, they sent the three of us (Val, me and Boy) to the farm while my father was still in the sea. Many times we resisted but they always reminded us of our future. As young as we were at that time, we already learned the value of work and how important it is in achieving our goals in life.

One awakening truth that brought us all to success was the fact that both my parents did not finish school. My father was up to Grade Seven only but he has great common sense. My mother was a high school graduate but she has the discipline and the determination in keeping us all focused in our dreams. They both unceasingly reminded us of how tough life is without education. Both of them were instrumental in what we are and where we are right now in our community.

Look at them with worn out physique but both wear the glare of happy and contented parents because they were able to bring out the best in all of us.

In not so distant past...

29th Annual National Grade School Convention

I called my sister in Laguna the other night and we talked about her experience with her daughter Kaye. She told me that she went to Baguio City with Kaye who attended the convention. She represented their school in the search for Little Mr & Miss Graders Convention 2008.

There were more than 30 competing schools from all over the country. It was held at the Teacher's Camp in Baguio City. During the search, my sister stayed on the backstage along with few moms to attend to Kaye's needs. The reason she did not get pictures from her camera.

This is Kaye on stage presenting her talent. She knows how to play the piano and probably the reason why she made it to the top six.

Her costume was a unique one, too. It made her stand out from the rest of the contestants because most of them were wearing Mestiza dress. Hers depicted Gabriela Silang, the Filipina revolutionist in the Philippine History.

It was a week full of activities for Kaye, though she did not get the title but being on the final level was worth the experience.

Congratulations my dearest niece!

29th Annual National Grade School Convention

Back in my Hometown...

I just had a talk with my brother this morning. He is the current vice mayor of our town. I called purposely to talk about his plans and to check what he is doing right now. I know and I believe that he really has the strong conviction to make our town a better place to live. Right now it's a third class municipality, with a lot of resources untapped.

Barobo is rich in human resources if only all these people will get on their butt and start finding a job for themselves. There is a wide track of land to till in our place but only few are now engaged in farming. There is a wide sea but only few go out to fish. I wish all my kababayans had self- commitment to better off their lifes. It's just a matter of courage, perseverance and common sense. If everybody has all these three key things, Barobo will be a very progressive town in the long forgotten province of Southeast Philippines.

Back in my Hometown...