WHAT IS YOUR FONDEST CHILDHOOD MEMORY?
January 25, 2004 | 12:00am
Sometimes I find myself wondering how life would be minus all the modern gadgets and technology that exist today. Perhaps we might have more time for reading books, bonding with our kids or even taking walks in the parks. Read on and discover what life was like back then.
PILITA CORRALES, singer/actress: Growing up in Cebu climbing mango trees, growing up with very strict parents the Spanish way. But most memorable times when I used to escape from school to go to the radio station to join singing contests. Not speaking Tagalog, I would sing in Spanish and English.
DAISY PAYUMO, civic-minded lady: As a little girl, my fondest memories were those I enjoyed with my grandparents: Mr. and Mrs. Jaime Fernandez. My grandfather was then Secretary of Finance and he was such a busy man but Sundays were spent with family. We would hear mass at Malate church and I would look forward to the Sunday lunches at Aristocrat Restaurant where I would drool over the chocolate cake for dessert. Sundays were also for Motorco rides along Dewey Boulevard where I would invariably be on the top level of the bus.
On some weekdays after school while waiting for grandpa to finish work at Regina Building in Escolta, we would be treated to merienda of the most juicy hotdog sandwich at the Botica Boie.
Because I was the first grand daughter I found myself showered by the love and attention of my grandparents. They actually raised me. I lived with them in their old house in Santa Ana where there was this huge aratiles tree which I would climb for the fruits. Grandpa, busy as he was doted on me. He even found the time to help me with my homework and remember to bring home chocolate bars after his daily early morning round of golf at Wack Wack. I will forever cherish the memories of my growing up with my grandparents.
Former Senator EDDIE ILARDE: Due to extreme poverty, I was almost driven to juvenile delinquency, if not for my widowed mother who was a disciplinarian public school teacher. During the war at 7, I was selling cigarettes at cockpits – an unfortunate child of the streets.
Mostly memories of my childhood is hunger and pain, but interspersed through the years with some moments of laughter and simple joys. After countless typhoons in my town, Iriga, in Camarines Sur, our young mind often fancied sunshine and moonlights of better life sometime, somewhere. I was a champion declaimer, for our public school district. During our finals, my piece calls for me to throw a hard-boiled egg at my "nagging wife." It happened that the hard-boiled egg given to me was rotten, and being so cannot harden in boiling water. When I threw it to my imaginary wife, the smelly rotten fluid splashed over the stage landing smack in front of the judges. Grudgingly, the judges adjudged me the champion, but only after loud taunting and mocking from the audience who fell off their seats laughing.
I was some kind of a brawler among the "little knights of the road", and imagined myself a champion boxer. In spite of my emaciated build, I earned my first reputation as a performer in the ring versus the curtain raisers from the opposite barrio. I was to be paid a much coveted fee of one peso to raise the curtain with three rounds of amateur rumble before the main event, when before the first bell, my declamation coach, Miss Pilar Ordas, saw me in the ring and hysterically climbed it shouting at the people to stop the "nonsense... the boy is not a boxer. He is representing our district in the finals tomorrow as an orator, and declaimer. I don’t want him to go with a black-eye. How dare you even want to hurt our champion!" That was a minor disaster for the promoter but a major triumph for the town after the musical and literary competition, proclaimed Iriga as champion – and me the "new folk hero from the slums."
"Napakasakit....Kuya Eddie...at parang kahapon lamang."
Senator MANUEL VILLAR: I remember the times when I had to rush to the pondohan (fish port) in Navotas and wait for the delivery of fresh seafood in the wee hours of the morning. It was like mayhem and I had to compete with several fish vendors for the freshest supply by bulungan (secret bidding). After which, I would bring the supply to our stall in the Divisoria market and try to catch a nap on a bench before sunrise. I would then help my mother sell shrimp and fish before going to school. The experience taught me the values of industriousness and perseverance in doing business.
LETTY SYQUIA, civic- minded lady: Sitting around the armchair with my father Dr. Agapito Corpuz, my brothers and sisters as he told us stories while my mother was beside him crocheting.
Representative WILLE BUYSON VILLARAMA, 2nd district, Bulacan: An indelible memory of my childhood is the beach. My parents would bring us to Jale (Jalandoni-Led Esma) Beach in Parañaque for regular family picnics and as a child, I looked forward to those days when I could swim and endlessly play and frolic in the sand and under the sun. The experience was pure joy. That memory lingers but now the Jale Beach of old is gone.
PILITA CORRALES, singer/actress: Growing up in Cebu climbing mango trees, growing up with very strict parents the Spanish way. But most memorable times when I used to escape from school to go to the radio station to join singing contests. Not speaking Tagalog, I would sing in Spanish and English.
DAISY PAYUMO, civic-minded lady: As a little girl, my fondest memories were those I enjoyed with my grandparents: Mr. and Mrs. Jaime Fernandez. My grandfather was then Secretary of Finance and he was such a busy man but Sundays were spent with family. We would hear mass at Malate church and I would look forward to the Sunday lunches at Aristocrat Restaurant where I would drool over the chocolate cake for dessert. Sundays were also for Motorco rides along Dewey Boulevard where I would invariably be on the top level of the bus.
On some weekdays after school while waiting for grandpa to finish work at Regina Building in Escolta, we would be treated to merienda of the most juicy hotdog sandwich at the Botica Boie.
Because I was the first grand daughter I found myself showered by the love and attention of my grandparents. They actually raised me. I lived with them in their old house in Santa Ana where there was this huge aratiles tree which I would climb for the fruits. Grandpa, busy as he was doted on me. He even found the time to help me with my homework and remember to bring home chocolate bars after his daily early morning round of golf at Wack Wack. I will forever cherish the memories of my growing up with my grandparents.
Former Senator EDDIE ILARDE: Due to extreme poverty, I was almost driven to juvenile delinquency, if not for my widowed mother who was a disciplinarian public school teacher. During the war at 7, I was selling cigarettes at cockpits – an unfortunate child of the streets.
Mostly memories of my childhood is hunger and pain, but interspersed through the years with some moments of laughter and simple joys. After countless typhoons in my town, Iriga, in Camarines Sur, our young mind often fancied sunshine and moonlights of better life sometime, somewhere. I was a champion declaimer, for our public school district. During our finals, my piece calls for me to throw a hard-boiled egg at my "nagging wife." It happened that the hard-boiled egg given to me was rotten, and being so cannot harden in boiling water. When I threw it to my imaginary wife, the smelly rotten fluid splashed over the stage landing smack in front of the judges. Grudgingly, the judges adjudged me the champion, but only after loud taunting and mocking from the audience who fell off their seats laughing.
I was some kind of a brawler among the "little knights of the road", and imagined myself a champion boxer. In spite of my emaciated build, I earned my first reputation as a performer in the ring versus the curtain raisers from the opposite barrio. I was to be paid a much coveted fee of one peso to raise the curtain with three rounds of amateur rumble before the main event, when before the first bell, my declamation coach, Miss Pilar Ordas, saw me in the ring and hysterically climbed it shouting at the people to stop the "nonsense... the boy is not a boxer. He is representing our district in the finals tomorrow as an orator, and declaimer. I don’t want him to go with a black-eye. How dare you even want to hurt our champion!" That was a minor disaster for the promoter but a major triumph for the town after the musical and literary competition, proclaimed Iriga as champion – and me the "new folk hero from the slums."
"Napakasakit....Kuya Eddie...at parang kahapon lamang."
Senator MANUEL VILLAR: I remember the times when I had to rush to the pondohan (fish port) in Navotas and wait for the delivery of fresh seafood in the wee hours of the morning. It was like mayhem and I had to compete with several fish vendors for the freshest supply by bulungan (secret bidding). After which, I would bring the supply to our stall in the Divisoria market and try to catch a nap on a bench before sunrise. I would then help my mother sell shrimp and fish before going to school. The experience taught me the values of industriousness and perseverance in doing business.
LETTY SYQUIA, civic- minded lady: Sitting around the armchair with my father Dr. Agapito Corpuz, my brothers and sisters as he told us stories while my mother was beside him crocheting.
Representative WILLE BUYSON VILLARAMA, 2nd district, Bulacan: An indelible memory of my childhood is the beach. My parents would bring us to Jale (Jalandoni-Led Esma) Beach in Parañaque for regular family picnics and as a child, I looked forward to those days when I could swim and endlessly play and frolic in the sand and under the sun. The experience was pure joy. That memory lingers but now the Jale Beach of old is gone.
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