Unforgettable Tita Viring

When you say "Tita Viring" in Metro Manila, chances are the lady you are referring to is Viring de Asis. Tita Viring passed away two Saturdays ago after a bout with pneumonia, but she will live long in the hearts and minds of a multitude.

"She passed away from our lives, and into our memories, where she will be ever present," said Father Salonga of Angat, Bulacan, one of Tita Viring’s closest friends, in a tribute to her at a Mass at the Mt. Carmel Church in Quezon City, shortly before she was laid to rest.

And in the memories of many, she really is very much alive. They will remember her for her genius, for the methodical way she kept track of all the antique furniture and woodwork in her Jo-Liza shops, for the uncanny way she knew which curio cabinet was in which corner of the bodega, or which Ming vase was in which table. Despite the mind-boggling inventory in her Jo-Liza shops, Tita Viring knew when something was missing or moved out of its original place. She also could keep track of their prices, give or take a few pesos.

Ah! And many remember the good times they had in her table, which probably could seat 50 people at any one time. It was always groaning with food–from lechon de leche to the freshest vegetable salads. But the star of the feast, more often than not, was Tita Viring’s tortang talong.

Tita Viring would not only invite you to her table (whether you bought a container-ful of antiques, window-shopped or just dropped by to say hello), she would cut a piece of the lechon herself and put it in your plate, and slice a triangle from the torta. She would do the same for your driver, if he was on the table with you.

She was an inspiration to many entrepreneurs because she showed that by dint of hard work, you could build a name and a fortune.

Born to a family of humble means in Bulacan and San Juan, she started by buying second-hand items–from sofas to old bottles–from "Americans leaving" at the former Clark Air Base in Pampanga.

Her first venture was a thrift shop, which she set up 36 years ago on J. Abad Santos St. in Little Baguio, San Juan, on the very spot where her three-story mansion cum showroom now stands majestic.

During the funeral Mass for Tita Viring, Manila’s creme de la creme sat by side Tita Viring’s workers, who proudly wore their Jo-Liza T-shirts as they sobbed quietly.

There will never be another Tita Viring. In death, she continues to inspire. Her success is so concrete, so visual, it cannot help but inspire. It is easy for anyone who walks or drives by Jo-Liza to realize that every little girl with a dream can grow up to live in a beautiful home and run a thriving business.

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The average Filipino probably links Portugal with sardines. He probably overlooks the fact that Ferdinand Magellan, who discovered the Philippines for the West, was Portuguese, although he sailed for the Spanish empire.

Filipinos are also devotees of Our Lady of Fatima, which appeared to three shepherds in Portugal in 1917. Today, there are over 25 parishes in the Philippines dedicated to Our Lady of Fatima.

"The Portuguese and the Filipinos met for the first time in the beginning of the 16th century, after the conquest of Malacca by the great governor of India, Alfonso de Albuquerque. They instinctively liked each other but it took them almost five centuries to undertake a concrete project together," says Portuguese Ambassador Joao Caetano da Silva.

The project–five centuries in the making–is the Portuguese festival in Manila, which was launched last Tuesday at Rustan’s Makati and is ongoing until Oct. 25. It is being spearheaded by the Portuguese Embassy and Rustan’s Commercial Corp.

Have a taste–literally and figuratively–of the rich culture of Portugal when you visit the exhibit. Aside from displaying paintings about Portugal by Manuel Baldemor, the exhibit tempts with Portuguese delicacies like cheeses, smoked ham, sausages, sardines, wines, and bacalao.

There will also be an array of Portuguese products that have never been sold yet in the Philippines, says Caetano da Silva. These include the best decorative tiles (azulejos), ceramics (which sold in 15 minutes during last year’s International Bazaar), embroidered cloth, clothes, silverware and cookware.

We had a preview of the festival during a dinner hosted by the ambassador and his charming wife Ulrike at their Forbes Park residence. Ulrike, who personally supervised the scrumptious buffet, boosted Philippine-Portuguese ties with her rissois de camarao (prawn cakes), pasteis de bacalhau (codfish cakes), bacalhau con natas (bacalao with cream), cataplana de ameijoas (clams cataplana) and an assortment of chorizos.

As I nibbled on the pasteis de bacalhau, the ambassador told me I was doing something very un-Portuguese.

"You are standing up while eating. In Portugal we linger for four hours on the dinner table for a good meal!"

I also particularly relished their bacalao, used as I am, like most Filipinos, to bacalao a la Vizcaina. The bacalao prepared by Ulrike was creamy–imagine codfish fillets on a bed of carbonara sauce. Yummy.

Ambassador da Silva says the festival will also be a showcase of science and history, as he points out that the Portuguese were the first Europeans to arrive in Southeast Asia in the 16th century.

"They started immediately to design maps, charts and sketches of the region," he said. Thus, the Metropolitan Museum will show after Oct. 15 the first European collection of modern cartography of Southeast Asia, including maps of the Philippines before the arrival of Magellan in 1521.

It really is more than just sardines between our two countries, you know.