FEMOCRACY AND HOME ECONOMICS 4

FILIPINA, I SEEK YOU

Women giving high priority to their career is the main cause of families breaking down in the western world. As a result some disgruntled men are looking for family- oriented women from different cultural background. The majority of those that westerners seek are Filipinas.

People’s perception of the Filipina vary from country to country, some of it  are very negative indeed. Most of it are classic stereotypes that  I mentioned in the first chapter of this series. But all that are changing.

Countries who hired Filipinas in their homes soon realised that they are decent people who wants nothing more than be given a chance to work and be paid inorder to support a family back home. They soon realised that since Filipinas are educated, religious, peace- loving and clean, they can be trusted to run their homes smoothly and with ease. In some non- English speaking countries, families intentionally choose a Filipina over other nationalities for a maid because they could double as tutors as they speak English fairly well, or better that they could.  Filipinas hardly complain and just concentrate on the work at hand. It has to be said that even though they sank in the bottom of the career ladder, they tried their best to just get on with it .

The fact that many countries wanted to hire more Filipinas signifies that we have good qualities that people want us to fill that need in their homes. People observe that  and may be one of the reason why a great number of Filipina maids became brides particularly in Canada and Italy.  I remember a series in “Wakasan”, a  magazine in the Philippines when I was in high school in the 80s, (my entrepreneurial brother Alex has komiks for hire sa tyangge).  The title has something to do with “langis at tubig” (they will never mix)  where the Italian “boss” fell in love with his niece’ nanny named Laura (a Filipina), and the girl’s name was Marnelli (if I remember it right). It was a cute little series, I was just reading it for the love story element of it and was completely naive of the Filipino psyche then. 

The fact that some western men fall in love with a Filipina or in many instances deliberately choose a Filipina for a wife angers some so called elite Filipinos. It is a total impossibility to them and they take it to themselves to find a reason why those men could possibly want a Filipina. They seem to apply a counter stereotype directed to the foreigners, like they are looking for ignorant women that they can abuse; they are looking for backward women that would serve and obey them; they are looking for workers to take care of their children and clean their house for free; they will insure the Filipina (get her a life insurance policy) , kill her and claim the insurance money afterwards; and the most gruesome one: they will kill her, chop her body, keep in the freezer and consume in the winter when food is scarce.

I wonder whether these ridiculous preconceptions has something more to do with our insecurities as a country. Having been colonised for so many years,  we may not feel comfortable being directly linked to former colonisers or people from superior societies as equals. Not  wanting to accept the simple concept that these men want a woman who would make a wonderful wife and mother to their children. Someone to share their simple dreams with. While these stereotypes are mainly directed to the foreigners, I, as a Filipina who married a “foreigner” could not avoid but feel affected by it, hurt even. I used to ask myself: Are Filipinas not good enough to deserve the attention of the then colonisers? Are we that insecure?

During the mid 90’s I attended a function which the mayor in the neighbouring town organised especially for the Filipino community as part of the town’s “Beef Week” celebrations (by Filipino community, I mean Filipinas as there are only 2 Filipino men here). The Philippine government bought heads of cattle from Australia to be transported to the Philippines. In the presence of the Philippine Ambassador to Australia, the local mayor has nothing but praise for us Filipino- Australians . He stressed that since Filipinas  are “westernised”, we have no problem assimilating in the Australian society. We are always participating in events, we bring Filipino foods to share and our culture makes it easy for us to adapt and conform. Unlike other nationalities, we are comfortable in our skin, always smiling and always happy.

One of the solutions that the New South Wales government thought of to meet the challenge of nursing shortage in Australia was to offer a three- year  nursing scholarships to all migrants. More than eighty percent of those who took advantage of it and were qualified were Filipinas. The positive result reflects the fact that most Filipinas already have a college degree from the Philippines, have a good command of the English language, passed the exams and interviews.

A hospitality scholarship course was offered in a local TAFE college for migrants to prepare for tourism boom in the area, again, more than half of those who enrolled and qualified for the course were Filipinas. Some of these Filipinas were already working as cleaners in hotels or motels, but given a chance, you can see the burning desire to go in there to move up and compete.

An Australian couple, both teachers in the local private school wanted to adopt a child. They chose a boy from the Philippines. The adoption was approved and a year later, they adopted another one, this time a girl. The went back to the same excruciating adoption process and now they are proud parents of two Filipino kids. When asked why they chose Filipino children, they said, “because there are so many Filipinos here, they will never be lonely here. There will be plenty of support from the Filipino community.”

If a westerner choose a Filipina for a wife, it has to be because of the positive reasons. We are family- oriented, highly- spiritual, values friendships and simple- minded. It is not because we are stupid, ignorant, subservient, nor docile. There are instances when Filipinas find themselves in an unfortunate situation but as far as I know, in the developed world, the percentage is very low. I know of Filipinas who divorced their husbands and knows what to do when things go ugly. Filipinas are generally shy and peaceful in nature but knows how to growl when provoked.

Kuripot, Gastador, Tikalon, Damak, Maisug, Manug-Hiwit, Aswang

Philippine regionalism is one important factor to consider why Capicenos have been branded as aswangs, and in understanding why the myth has been perpetuated for over 100 years. Archipelagic Philippines has been populated by divided and competing tribes whose highest politico-economic achievement as a civilization have been the short-lived minor kingdoms in Pangasinan and Mindanao. Prior to Spanish colonialization, there was no sense of national identity, and much less appreciation about other ethic groups and cultures. The small, diverse and self-sufficient tribes have been scattered and isolated across thousands of islands. Having primitive maritime technology, they did not have active inter-island trade and much less opportunity for cultural exchange. It was only in the last 350 years, under the Spanish rule, that we evolved a concept of a nation. And even today, we are still struggling to accept it. Until the last century estrangjeros or pangayaos have been fiercely rejected by the tumandoks. Hence, whatever information we had about other regions could have just been trickles information. Bits and pieces of information are sewn together to make a derogatory collage of peoples of other regions.

Our diverse ethnicity is the foundation of our rigorous regionalism. We are a 7,000-island nation with over 100 ethnic groups. Overall, we are overwhelmingly Malayo-Polynesian under the broad Austronesian linguistic family. But underneath, we have more diverse ethnicity, subgroups, and sub-subgroups, hastily categorized into generic groupings of Ilocanos, Pangasinense, Kapampangan, Tagalog, Bicolano, Bisaya, Mindanao minorities, tribal groups, Chinese, Spanish, and Western and other minorities. Ilocanos are Ivatans and Ibanags, and their many variants; Pangasinense have the Cordilleranos (Igorots and their variants); Bisaya is classified under three main groups of Hiligaynon (Ilonggo), Cebuano and Waray. But under that, there are distinct sub-groups like the Aklanon, Karay-a, Romblomanon, Sibuyanon, Masbateno, Cuyonon. Each one of these has another layer of diverse ethnicity (e.g., Mambusaonon, Sapianon, Sijuiornon, etc.). Southern minorities include the Tausugs, Maranaos, Samals, Yakans, and the Lumads. The Lumads alone include the Manobos, Tasadays, Mamanwas, Mandayas, and Kalagans. And like our nomenclatures, they also have distinct diversity.

As indicated above, regionalism is not only a distinction due to geographic locale, rather, it is an ethnic divide highlighting cultural, social, economic and political differences - over 100 of it. In our attempt to make our region different from the others we highlight our dissimilarities. Such that, we never cease to find what is ridiculous in other cultures. We stockpile our arsenal of insults against them, so that, ultimately, we want them to be inferior to us. Sociologists point out that an individual ethnic group, united by a common language, invariably views the world from its own set of filters, experiences, beliefs, traditions, standards, biases and vantage points, a condition known as ethnocentrism. Ethnocentricism means judging other cultures as inferior based on your own culture’s superior cultural vantage point. Over time, an ethnocentrist world-view can hastily summarize a region into one common derogatory characterization. For instance, the Tagalogs have a crystallized world-view and common characterization of Bisaya as aswang, mangkukulam and katulong. The most degrading of which is aswang, and Capiz is said to have the worst concentration of aswangs.

Regional characterizations are not without bases, however. Ilocanos have been said to be frugal because their arid land does not allow large-scale cultivation of food and cash crops. Therefore, other regions dismiss them as kuripot. Tagalogs, living in the center of Philippine culture, politics and economy, having the first glimmer of electric lights and cooking gas, thought they are in the center of the universe. Anywhere outside their region had hitherto been a bundok. Hence, Americans going to the hinterlands was said to have gone to the boondocks. That literally landed into the English dictionary as a legitimate word - owing to the arrogant and ethnocentrict Tagalogs. The King of Spain gave generous encomiendas to conquestadores from northwestern Spain settling in Iloilo and Negros. In the heyday of sugar plantations, from the turn of the 20th Century to the roaring 60s, briefly disrupted by war but put to a final end by Marcos cronyism, sugar barons lived in Southern opulence and lavish lifestyles. The 3 percent Spanish sugars planter families, having their own sugar centrals, railways, piers, and shipping lines, have had every right to boast - guina pala, guina piko! But if the other 97 percent also brag, they are on their own. Hence, the Negrense and Ilonggos earned the tikalon moniker. Fierce resistance from attempts to Christianize the Mindanaonons earned them the savage, bloodthirsty reputation. Of course, regional attributions to Masbate, Siquijornons, and Samarenos as manug-hiwits could likewise be explainable. For instance, an MGB episode a few years ago featured an age-old modus operandi in one Samar hinterland about the locals secretly adding toxic herbal concoction into the beverage of strangers, only to be “healed” with an antidote for a fee. Although Bisayan and Tagalogs alphabets are almost exactly the same, our pronunciation did not highlight the different sound of paired vowels. Hence, enthocentrict Tagalogs’ criticisms against us. Remember the PLDT ad about a Bisayan katulong? “Sir, tumawag si GG.” for which the boss asked, “Si Gigi or si Jayjay?” The katulong answered, “Si GG, sir.” It would be a full time job to document all the insults, ridicules and mockeries that we hurl against each other.

But there have been tangible events that did earn a region an insulting reputation. If a province or one region was to be branded as aswang country, it should have been Samar-Leyte. There had been no single pre-Hispanic record about aswang anywhere in Philippine folktales and literature. Hence, the earliest written record about aswang in the whole 7,000 islands ever is by a Westerner, Miguel Lopez de Legazpi. On February 14, 1565, in Samar, he wrote about being warned by the natives about the existence of aswang and how terrified they had been listening to howling noise around his encampment one night. But Legazpi’s account did not come without motives or reason. He came from Medieval Europe, itself rife with burning accused witches at stake, predisposed to the Count Vlad story, and with a mission to introduce faith. This perfectly jibed with the situation of Samar tribe that, without an army, only hoped to drive away Spanish colonizers with horrific tales about aswang and by actually making terrifying nighttime noise around their encampment. The reason why this first aswang manuscript did not stick to Samar-Leyte region is probably because this account had not been reinforced by other socio-cultural factors in the region. Such that, Samarenos did not create and maintain an aswang out of themselves. We did.

In summary, regionalism is partly due to the absence of a sense of nationhood - each tiny ethnic group or tribe, isolated by mountains and seas, existed alone for centuries without contact with the others. When they finally have contact, their crystallized ethnocentrict world-views, predisposed Filipinos to ridicule and degrade people from other regions. Each region had been given a brand or moniker. It is unfortunate that Capiz had been branded as aswang. The continued Filipino regionalism, along with complex web of factors that we will discuss more, sustains our aswang brand. In order to minimize it, we need to respect and be sensitive to other regional cultures.

In the succeeding posts, we will examine the other factors and elements that created, strengthened and perpetuated the aswang brand to us.

Sapianons are invariably associated with the Capiz Aswang tradition, to the extent of being ridiculed and humiliated. For decades, Capizeños, and Sapianons for that matter, have earned a moniker that is culturally derogatory, but inadvertently prank in this time and age. As you very well know, almost everyone outside Capiz is itching to ask us, given the opportunity, a standard question of whether or not aswang really exists. Generally, we would vehemently deny it. Denial would be laborious because you need to present a broad array of scientific, historical, social and cultural facts, theories, postulates and propositions, hoping that you are talking to an enlightened human being. When they insist, we would give them what they want to hear. We tell them stories from our Pandora’s box of age-old “actual” and “proven” stories from “reliable sources” passed down to several generations. We often detail the cadence of a horror event, grizzly “real” aswang episodes, even exaggerating it until they shiver and tremble in fear. A dismissing disposition could be a lamentation of how hopeless the long Philippine Airlines wait list was in Roxas City Airport, even with the evolution of domestic service and expanding capacities of Fokker-50s, to BAC-1-11s, to 737s. The same is true with the crowded, ardous and troublesome sea travel, even with today’s roll-on-roll-off (RO/RO) innovation. If we could just fly, why bother with the ordeal. Capicenos would sometimes boast that while some countries fly the best planes, we have the best pilots flying without planes. Digressing more, we could always volunteer wishful hindsight scenarios of how World War II had been averted if our vampires crushed the Japanese advance. Our forebears would have been enlisted by U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt to dismantle the Axis powers so Russia did not have a chance to race for Berlin. With that, the Cold War and the arms race could have never took place. By now, the whole Western world would have bowed down on our doorsteps, the Philippines had been made a U.S. state, with Roxas City as its capital. The largest air force base could be in Sapian, and genetic research would be in full swing on how to further improve the aswang DNA strains for other applications, even for space travel.

The aswang brand to us is a valid generalization, both a legacy and a birthright, of being a geographically and organically a part of the Capiz ethno-historical tradition. Filipinos are more clannish rather than ethnic, and far more regionalistic rather than patriotic. As such, they tend to promote their own region’s superiority by downgrading other regions and ethnic groups (e.g., Ilocanos vs. Visayan, Capiznon vs. Ilonggo, etc.). Talk about crab mentality. Additionally, we are part of the blame because our own local ethic traditions strengthen that myth; our folktales and superstitions highlight the aswang tradition. Local folktales, branding and ostracizing individuals and local families as aswang, confirm the belief - to the mixed pleasure and terror by our regional detractors. For generations, our culture has institutionalized the existence of soothsayers, sorjuanos and arbularyos. Professional soothsayers are the creation of the myth, and the myth lives on with our continued patronage. It is a symbiotic relationship between the mythical healers and the myth itself - each one requiring the other, sustaining each other, surviving together. More importantly, the colonialization by Medieval and monastic Spain established the foundations of an intricate anthropological and sociological web that cajoled us into creating, believing and perpetuating the aswang myth. And because of its mythological nature and the Filipinos predisposition to superstition, it has remarkably evolved to become the centerpiece and the most pronounced feature of the Capiceno and Sapianon belief system and world view. 

In the succeeding items, we will attempt to discuss, from a systems approach, the components and elements of this myth. We will also attempt to articulate how these factors interacted with each other to formulate, confirm and sustain that enduring ethno-cultural brand.

FEMOCRACY AND HOME ECONOMICS 3

US MIGRATION AND THE OTHER FACE OF THE FILIPINA

Filipino migration to the United States started way back during the era of colonisation. The Americans forced the Spanish out of the Philippines in 1898 and the new colonisers sent Filipinos to North America between 1901 and 1935. They mainly worked as errand boys, janitors and houseboys. During World War II, many of them served the US Army’s First Filipino Infantry Regiment.

Few decades after World War II, a lot of Filipino war veterans and their families were permitted to migrate to the United States. The presence of American Air Base in the Philippines also gave Filipinas a chance to migrate to the US and other allied countries as brides. They had very limited employment opportunities then and most if not all were subjected to racial abuse. We heard stories but we can not begin to comprehend the appalling treatment these pioneers had to endure before they successfully managed to adopt and assimilate to the American culture. 

Like typical Filipinos, they struggled to send their children to school. They believed that education is vital if their children were to survive and blend in to western culture. Many of these children, and their children afterwards, successfully finished their education and had decent work. They mainly found employment in industries dominated by women like nursing, teaching, child care, sales, hospitality, and factory work. Filipinas and other migrant women from different nationalities happily filled the available jobs that American women vacated to pursue better careers.

Today, there is no turning back for women in the developed societies. Their main role in society: homebuilding, care giving, raising and nurturing the next generation are all but marginalised. They argue that it is urgent and necessary to penetrate business and politics as they have social and emotional intelligence about interpersonal relationships that few men have. They claim that men are more interested in profits; they are convinced that women’s motherly qualities will put human and social concern on the agenda like children and women’s adverse conditions in other parts of the world.

While that is a valid enough reason, I tend to agree more on the notion that the real motivation is hard economics.  Now more than ever women find themselves driven by money, they simply cannot afford to stay at home . This may be due to the privatisation of health and education, the cost  of petrol, the continuing flow of digital must haves, the basic necessities of westerners like entertainment, recreation, travel; and the irrepressible urge to keep up with the Joneses e.g. second car, spa bath, pool, renovations, etc. etc.

This economic pressure is luring women to the top jobs. They don’t want just any job anymore; they are aiming for top- level, high- paying jobs that used to be dominated by men. Time is precious for high- earning busy career- women, the financial disincentives of childbearing have become so high that a great number of them now choose to shun marriage and baby- making altogether to concentrate on the pursuit of a career. The homes in the developed societies reflect the appetite of global capitalism for all talent, female and male, at the expense of the family.

Modern Filipinas are following that same path. Filipino- Americans as they rightfully call themselves successfully integrated and continue to labour and insist that young bloods attend colleges and universities and make something out of themselves. The same pride and conviction is shared by Filipinos in other western societies and in the Philippines itself. With the dawning of globalisation upon us, there is an assortment of employment opportunities for Filipinos worldwide from hard labour to top level jobs. Few Filipinos today are patiently breaking the grounds in higher education, medicine, law, engineering and business while many are successfully competing for top corporate jobs.

But while career divides homes  in western families, it has an entirely opposite result in migrant families. Through family sponsored migration, Filipino families reunite and help each other. Filipinas do not feel as much guilt and not suffer as heavy a consequence for pursuing a career compared to their western counterparts. They can look forward with confidence and go out there knowing that Nanay and/or Tatay, Mama and/or Papa, will be around to take care of the home front.

When competition in the femocracy is fierce and the going gets tough, Filipinas have large willing families to rely on.  Thus, the other face of the Filipina: qualified, capable, competitive, confident.

FEMOCRACY AND HOME ECONOMICS 2

INTERNATIONALISATION AND THE REDEFINING OF THE FILIPINA

Dirty politics, corruption, and  economic instability mired the nation. As a third world country, the Philippines suffered vast unemployment with no opportunity for its citizens. Under the Labour Export Policy of 1972, human labour became just another export commodity like rice and sugar. Eight million Filipino labourers were exported, the majority of them women to different parts of the world.

As western women climb the ladder of their careers, some governments tried to rescue the family and thought that a substitute caregiver would solve the problem. Some countries started recruiting highly educated professional women from the Philippines as live in nannies and domestic helpers. Some Filipinas seeing no prospect at home had no choice but grab the opportunity to find employment abroad. The Filipinas who may have “helpers” in their homes in the Philippines became helpers themselves in far- away lands.

As the country sank deeper in economic and political instability, more and more Filipinos especially women ventured for better opportunities abroad. Further dispersal of human capital  was favoured as the Philippine government heavily depended on the taxes and fees generated from overseas workers. The continued flow of cheap, highly educated labour in Canada, Singapore and Hongkong in particular and the plethora of charming young Filipinas entering Japan as entertainers influenced the perception of Filipinas in the eyes of western societies. New words were entered to the growing adjectives used to define a Filipina: cheap labour, obedient, timid, demure, exotic. 

The advent of internationalisation paved the way to degrading stereotypes that Filipinas were subjected to.

FEMOCRACY AND HOME ECONOMICS 1

Internationalisation, free trade, and technological advances brought about globalisation. A new frontier where information, capital and people move faster than ever thought possible. I cannot help but wonder the future that awaits most Filipinos as they surrender their fate to this emerging new world. I am particularly interested in exploring the plight of the Filipina, their poignant search for a better life, and the role that they will play in the global stage.

WORK AND FAMILY

Decades ago, women in developed countries have joined the work force and have been recognised as main contributors of economic advancement. Governments encouraged this by providing child care facilities and gave women lots of opportunities to build a career. As a result, the number of women in the workforce continued to increase. This was in part a reflection of the need for a second income in families, an assertion to escape from the routine of housework which had entrapped women of earlier generations,  and an expression of women’s right to self- determination. These new breed of women who today are called superwomen juggled work and family to prove themselves worthy of respect and equality with men. They chose to have a career, and at the same time maintained their role as homebuilders, caregivers and selfless contributors in the community.

As much as western women want to care for the family, the kitchen sink will have to wait as pursuing financial independence has become more important and on top of the agenda of the increasing group of ardent superwomen. Women in the west are finding roles in business and management, in all of the professions and in politics. And while they advanced in their careers something has to give; the family suffered. Governments recognised that superwomen proved to be a myth; the kind of being aspired to by many working women.

Filipinas live the financial independence of its western counterpart without any struggle. Feminism was not considered essential in the Philippines as elite Filipinas, the supposed movers of the feminist cause already enjoyed an esteemed status in Philippine society. A woman’s rights to legal equality, inherit family property, attend school and university have not been questioned. The presence of women in important positions is not new or unusual in the Philippines. The rumour that Imelda was running Malacanang in the later years of Marcos administration may not be far from the truth. It was customary for working men to give and surrender all the earnings to the wife who is in charged of the family purse. Women who can afford it strive to get an education, go to work or engage in business and at the same time maintain peace and harmony in the family. The burden of juggling family and work were made possible by the availability of relatives and servants who functioned as helpers in the Filipino homes. Women enjoyed greater equality in society than was common in other parts of Southeast Asia.

Petropolitik, Sapian and China - Thirteenth and Final Part

Phew! Final part. Sapian is part of the Visayas Grid, powered by the combined generation capacities of Tongonan, Kanlaon and Palinpinon geothermal plants. On its own, the Capiz Electric Cooperative (CAPELCO) is solely dependent on bunker fuel. Other power plants in the region are predominantly bunker fuel, fuel oil and coal-fired. National Power Corporation (NAPOCOR) augments shortages around the Visayas islands with bunker fuel-run power plant barge. Bunker fuel is generally used to run factories, and Chinese power plants and factories consume increasing volumes of that fuel distillate. Recently, China has been consuming nearly half a million barrels of bunker fuel everyday, and more than three times more fuel oil. See China’s Petroleum Consumption, by Economic Sector, 2002

As such, CAPELCO competes against China for scarcer bunker fuel. Increased demand for electricity in Sapian was due to expanded electrification. But power is essential to spur growth and development. With electric power, people would enjoy improved quality of life and have access to better opportunities. Families would converge around energized areas to enjoy the amenities of modern technology, like the wider world-view TV offers, and food-preserving refrigerators, and better study hours for students. They could operate capital equipment like rice mills and welding machines, and would have a longer productive day. Senator Juan Flavier once joked in a meeting that electrification also reduces birth rate because people could follow soap operas instead of going to bed early. In short, electric power also empowers people in many ways.

Over 15 years after Poblacion was energized, a large chunk of Sapian, from Crossing Bilao onward to Lonoy and Guibongan did not have electric power. I recall Igsoons Toti and Bodong having to come to Poblacion to charge car batteries to power their TV. I do not know if they are served today, but in any event, a lot of households should be served by now. Energizing that part of Sapian can be traced to Cory Aquino’s visit to Iloilo.

Cory’s regional visits and inspection trips have been the domain of former Cabinet Secretary Jose P. de Jesus (later, DPWH Secretary). But it was turned over to Chito Sobrepena when Malacanang was reorganized under the flamboyant Executive Secretary Oscar Orbos. Government programs and projects are usually developed through long bureaucratic processes, but Cory also wanted to go directly to the people to know about their needs and to address local problems. Secretary de Jesus was designated to coordinate during the early part of the Aquino Administration. At the latter half, Sobreprena was appointed under the Office of Special Concerns. I was part of Sobreprena’s core-group for regional visits. That unit coordinated all presidential visits across OP and line departments. During visits, we collected hundreds of letters and resolutions from local governments and individuals. We make sure that visits run smoothly. One time, I earned the ire of the Bishop of Nueva Caceres in Naga City when I asked what would he say in his prayers at a program the next day.  He snapped, “It’s between me and God!” Advance party had to be quizzical because one priest prayed to God to fix a bridge in a program. Cory was put on the spot and could not respond right away.

Cory’s visit to Iloilo was announced to the media far ahead in advance. But in case they did not hear about it in Sapian, I told the late Uncle Alber Gallardo, Sr., former ABC President. When I called him at Movietone Studio, he said he heard about the visit and had been planning to write a request letter. At that time, he said he was torn between a farm-to-market road in Poblacion and electrification from Bilao to Guibongan. Two weeks later, when we collected his letter during Cory’s dialogue with the local officials in Iloilo, his letter requested Cory for a power connection to Bilao-Lonoy-Guibongan. As a closing statement in that dialogue, Cory promised her very special commitment to all the requests submitted, verbal and written. Hence, in compliance to the President, all letters gathered and oral requests raised at that specific event bore a collatilla, “the President’s very special commitment.”

When request letters have been sorted in Malacanang, Uncle Alber’s request was grouped together with a similar request for Dacoton, Dumarao. Office of the President’s Office Special Concerns Director Nick Torres promptly conveyed this very special commitment of the President in a memorandum to the National Electrification Administration (NEA). NEA, soon thereafter, had informed CAPELCO that a special loan with Land Bank of the Philippines was being offered under the rural electrification program. CAPELCO initially expressed disinterest, stating that the proposed connection would be fiscally infeasible given the density of prospective users and the long stretch of power lines that would be required. Director Torres again issued a memorandum reminding NEA that the very special commitment of the President had to be delivered to the people of Sapian. NEA replied two weeks later that a barge carrying electric posts from Leyte are en route to Roxas City. Uncle Alber Gallardo, as the requestor, and Uncle Nicoy Odrunia, as a Sapian delegate to CAPELCO Board of Directors, have been continuously apprised of the status, as are any requestor for President’s assistance from anywhere else. As FVR said, fire on top and fire at the bottom get things done.

Uncle Alber had been very happy about the completed electrification project. I also heard about the ceremonial switching. I remembered about this project recently when Nang Luz Obligar talked about a power outage during their visit to a church in Lonoy that her daughter, Inday Reynalda Firmalino, helped build. Hopefully, the project had been financially feasible for CAPELCO as it is empowering for the Sapianons it now served.