Obispado de Cebu, July 29, 1856

Bishop Romualdo Jimeno, the Bishop of Cebu (1846-1872) was known in the Province of Capiz (of which Balete was then a part of) as the first Diocesan Bishop (he was actually a Dominican) to have made pastoral visit in this part of the ecclesiastical province of Cebu. He was further known as the bishop who was ambushed and killed on 17 March 1872 his way from Batang (Batan) to Dumalag. To commemorate his death the place where he fatally fell was named Jimeno (now known as Altavas).

To Balete-on, Bishop Jimeno may not ring a bell. But sometime in July 29, 1856 or exactly 154 years ago, the good Bishop wrote something to the advantage of the Baleten-on people. He was just informed of the death of Padre Don Jose Matias Piansay, the interino then of the Balete Parish. Worried that the faithful in the enchanting town of Balete were shepherdless, he immediately directed his chancellor to write a dispatch to Presbitero Don Diego Albao who was at that time in a mission work in the North to report to the Balete Parish as its parish priest. He instructed his priest that before reporting to the parish, he must first report to the Intendente General of the Hacienda (maybe the property covering the Aclan valley) that he may be given stipend in advance. He must be worried that his priest might have nothing to had when he arrived at his station.

We remember P. Don Diego Albao (Kalibo knows him as Fr. Diego Alba) as the parish priest who encouraged the faithful of Balete to do vigil and vesper prayers as cholera outbreak claimed the lives of many Baleten-on in the year 1858. Procession in honor of San Rafael was done the following day around the pueblo's callejones.

Guavas for Juan Tamad

Aiming for the sunbirds

one noonday in my orchard

I found myself framing stilled guavas.

Revisiting the History of Balete

I was privileged to do research at the National Archives of the Philippines for a couple of times. The first was in the year 1998 when Balete was considering to celebrate the "centennial" of the so-called "El Teroteo de Agtawagon", erroneously translated as "The Battle of Agtawagon Hill". That visit proved to be a wind of change that set the direction of the festivity away from that mythic scene. The outcome of that visit showed otherwise.

Balete was a Hispanic Philippine pueblo which initially dates back to 1826. It was one of the 33 pueblos in the province of Capiz. It had a total land area of 15,525 hectares. A report recorded in a manuscript Memorias showed that the Baleten-ons' total cultivated areas yielded to about 200 cavans of palay per season or cropping. An epidemic caused by cholera was recorded to have caused the lives of a total number of 144 people in the year 1882.

Those were the approximations per the 1998 research based on a number of manuscripts found and were subjected to textual analysis. Now that I had the opportunity to visit the Archives again (I was attending to a different task this time, but elected to do one-day research as I had the luxury of time), I requested to have access into some bundles of manuscripts which I failed to consult in 1998. The effort proved to be fruitful. Not only that it was a ripe one, but it is also a sweet one!

So watch out for my report on this development. I assure you that it will be of vital importance to the historicity of the Baleten-on community.

Confession

I just announced on my FB window that I'm back in Makati and got lost. Makati had been my home for seven years way back in 1986, just a few months after the EDSA revolution. I left in 1993 after getting fed up dealing with some forex trading "busyness" along Paseo de Roxas. I went home in Balete assuring my lady friend that I would be back soon. It is sad to note though that up to this time, I've not fulfilled that promise uttered to her on that one restless evening. It is sad that I've not tried keeping in touch with her after my failure to make that promise come true. It is sadder that I've not asked her to forgive me for my failings. It is the saddest that I've not prayed for her after all these years and that I even managed to list her name in the water or perhaps locked it up in some closed doors in the mansion of my mind.

Even then, the conscious self still wishes to make amend. In due time, I shall recall her name and by then, I can pray for her and ask my God that he'll make things great for his beloved daughter in her time. Yes, in her time.

I'm retracing my paths in Makati hoping to correct some mistakes but unfortunately, I got lost. Could somebody show me the way, please.

Winning A Contest

A local bird called Bakwa was busy feeding on some bananas. I was lucky to have harvested an unsullied one, not to mention that it weighed more than 50 kgs.

The rodents usually feasted on pineapples but this time, I beat them on a dozen of spanish red variety.

Trip

What will you do when you got the urge to frame something and found out that your camera is not functioning? The weekend witnessed me as I found a way to take that by its horn. My cellphone was fully charge and I carried it as I rounded up my orchard. I enjoyed the day taking pictures at anything that interested my eyes. Think of doing it again next time.

Into a Lonely Place

When I'm attuned to my heart's longings, I either grabbed my old Chinese brush or went out for a walk into some lonely place. And I sigh at the sunsets and hum songs of long ago when I was young and carefree.