The Bisaya and the Alog

10042011


My grandfather's ancestors hailed from the province of Ilo-ilo a long time ago. It was a time when nights were the blackest and nature provided sustenance to those who toil and take care of her. We were not landed from that part of the family yet those from my father side were from a robust stock. My grandfather Gerardo was eldest of 12 siblings from Cabatuan, Ilo-ilo. The province of Ilo-ilo had many Spanish descendants as well as chinese immigrants. His father, my grandfather Jose, died early leaving his mother Maria sole provider for the big family. Grandfather Jose wasn't educated and earned minimally from what he could eke out. So they struggled and had no property of their own. Though their struggles were felt somewhat through early years the family survived. They had an older soldier son who died during the war early eventually leaving my grandmother a soldier's pension through her old years. My grandfather Gerardo being the eldest now had opportunity to learn how to read and write. This knowledge saved him a number of times through the years. It gave him the assurance of writing his name and filing for pension after the war. Later it brought him to America as a veteran soldier. Some of their children grew up and eventually had families abroad. His siblings were able to live comfortably but were not a wealthy clan. Most became soldiers and seamen. We were prone to gamble and vices and those contributed to the struggle.

My grandfather Gerardo later married my grandmother Brigida from an educated family. My grandfather Jose, her father, was not that wealthy but schooled and later became a banker in town. Grandfather Jose was also the village head chief. Villagers sought his opinions for years as the rare educated man of the village. He was educated until grade six and that afforded him the opportunity to teach as a profession. He married my grandmother Elvira, a well-landed lass from a prominent family and settled in Badjiang, Iloilo - my grandmother Elvira's land. There they took care of their brood of 10 children. My grandmother and my grandfather settled for a time in her mother's village. This provided well. The children grew up among other relatives and nurtured the land. The food was abundant, livestock were plentiful, and produce provided for all. Fruit bearing trees were ripe for the pickings, eggs were picked early on by younger children to store and eat for breakfast and there was no want. They didn't buy any food but grew them around. The family flourished. They traded among town folks. Land grew wider.


Then the war came. Landed people hid among the villagers and were set back for their safety. Produce left untended. They toiled and never imagined the changes to come. Men and women went to war. Hunger for those in the run and for those left behind servitude. They fought almost naked and in sacks they could scourge around. They waited with just the assurance that their few weapons would be enough to fight the Japanese coming from Lingayen. But they were ill prepared when the Japanese soldiers eventually came. They were on bicycles and with tanks that took the towns and the provinces by storm. They were ruthless and disciplined. They were at their gates in less time that the Filipino soldiers expected so the people fled and became guerrillas. In less than six months the clothes on the guerrillas who fought were shredded beyond use. But they were supported with later with weapons and guns by the war and the allied Americans who promised to help. When the Americans came they fought with them. The province and parts of the Philippines were under Japanese rule. When the Americans left they still fought. Children grew up with the war. My family survived but some died too. Accounts tells that they helped hide people sought by the Japanese. Being educated afforded them to be more prepared. While the war was being fought, it seemed my family survived. Sons and daughters grew up to be fathers and mothers. When we won the war it was not the same place they grew up in. Men had their guns and kept guns and ammunition in their homes. Women now afforded to learn and work. Children became more craftier. A new awareness they would bring with them when they grew up. Learning from the Japanese and eventually the Americans another way of life and survival. They learned the ways of the West. Among these to feed on imported products. Cigarettes were abundant during the war, canned goods and chocolates. What we toiled from around us we now had in wrappers and shipped around. The lack of discipline and vices shredded morals as the good people tried to build the country back.

My grandfather Gerardo and grandmother Brigida later moved to Mandaluyong, Manila. My grandfather worked in an office and my grandmother worked in an overseas call telephone company. Between them the family survived. They had eight children. The eldest was afforded a soldiers scholarship from my grandfather. The second son named Gerardo, they paid for in education. The third named Cesar(my father), worked and paid for his education. They became the pillars of the now smaller family in Manila. The three sons became lawyers. They had several younger children and between the adults and the older siblings, they all took care of their new home. Struggling from the trauma of the war and dislocation, the city life offered a novelty and hope too. The youngest named Narciso, they eventually brought to America later on. Another son Robert followed but settled eventually in Canada in adulthood. Another son Jose stayed in the Philippines. Daughters married and had their own family. We again had a big family but this time of a Bisaya and Aglog descent. We are the Bertiz - Roldan Family in Manila. My grandmother died while in America. My grandfather later married my stepgrandmother Saling and adopted children who also became Americans. Still surviving today in her years in her own house, my grandmother lives with grandfather's American pension.

There were more for the family yet there were also less. We never had the large mass land again to run around. I grew up in Mandaluyong where my grandfather and grandmother stayed and first settled in. There were few of us here. The other three Roldan brothers left in Manila settled around and we became a compound of close relatives. I still think of all the struggles and triumphs the family had. I still imagine the roots that we nurtured. Yet life goes on and this time life will go on for a newer generation.





Amiel Gerald A. Roldan™
Mandaluyong City, Philippines

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