Yes, dear readers.  You read it right.  Geoff Eigenmann, a Kapuso talent will be in General Santos City for a mall show at Robinsons Place GenSan.

This will happen tomorrow, Saturday, January 16, 2010, 5pm at the mall’s wide activity center.

"KAPUSO STAR GEOFF EIGENMANN IN HIS COSMOPOLITAN MAGAZINE SPREAD."

Geoff started his career with ABS-CBN and is the son of thespians Michael de Mesa and Gina Alajar.  With his transfer to GMA-7 last year, he was given lead roles in their soap operas, the latest of which is “Rosalinda“.

For the Robinsons GenSan Mall Show, he will be frontacted by up and coming singer Carl Guevarra.

As Bariles is writing this, the Partial Solar Eclipse is happening at this very moment.  Here below is his shot taken at 9:42 am, July 22, 2009 in General Santos City.  He covered the lens from the Canon 300D Camera he was using with a used x-ray film to shoot this.

Inspired by this heavenly phenomenon, GenSan News Online Mag is sharing with its faithful readers Solar Eclipse photos taken by Kryss Katsiavriades, a photo journalist and “eclipse chaser” from United Kingdom, Europe who documented the March 18, 1988 Total Solar Eclipse from General Santos City in his website.

At that time, the Solar Eclipse was best seen at its totality here in General Santos City, (then known not as the Tuna Capital but as Pineapple City), and therefore, hordes of scientists, astronomers, journalists, tv crews, tourists from all around the globe flew into what was then a quiet, sleepy city.  Even then President Cory Aquino joined in the fun of experiencing her first total Solar eclipse from what is now the Pioneer Seeds Compound in Barangay Apopong.

Bariles had also to take the plane from Cagayan de Oro, where he was then based to Davao, a day earlier to catch the solar eclipse which the local government of General Santos City (under former Mayor Rosalita Nunez) was promoting as one big Tourism Event.

The City Tourism Office and some enterprising people came out with all sorts of souvenirs including tshirts, brochures, visor caps, hats, solar glasses, etc for the occasion.  A dance contingent made up like Ati-Atihan dancers even greeted the visitors near the City Hall.  It was a fiesta, to say the least.

Here are some of the solar eclipse photos taken by Kryss Katsiavriades of that eventful time, not necessarily of the eclipse alone but of the people around him.  They are priceless photos of a GenSan gone by and of an event which will forever be etched in the memories of those who experienced it.

GenSan Ati-atihan Dancers greet visitors during the 1988 Solar Eclipse (photo by Kryss Katsiavriades)

Photographers and eclipse chasers prepare their photographic and video quipment at the GenSan City Hall Rooftop, minutes before the Solar Eclipse in March 18, 1988 (photo by Kryss Katsiavriades)

Kryss Katsiavriades carries a rifle in this souvenir shot with military men securing foreign visitors, minutes before the March 18, 1988 Solar Eclipse. Photo was taken at the GenSan City Hall Rooftop.

Kryss (5th from left) with other eclipse observers at the GenSan City Hall Rooftop, including Rosario, his guide (to his left). Check out Kryss' shirt with the "Pineapple City" graphics. And the hair fashion that time!!! (Photo from Kryss Katsiavriades.)

Military personnel try to view the ongoing March 18, 1988 solar eclipse in this photo by Kryss Katsiavriades. They look like CAFGUS to me!

Now, here are the precious money shots, from the camera of Kryss Katsiavriades. Below is the Iglesia ni Kristo Building visible from the General Santos City Hall Rooftop which Kryss used to illustrate the progress of the March 18, 1988 Solar Eclipse. Read the time line from each photo’s caption supplied by Kryss himself.

The Iglesia ni Kristo Building, seen from across the rooftop of the GenSan City Hall. These shots illustrate the progress of the Solar Eclipse on March 18, 1988. Photos are by Kryss Katsiavriades.

And finally, here is the 1988 Solar Eclipse Photo of Kryss, taken by his handheld camera.

The Total Solar Eclipse Photo of Kryss Katsiavriades shot on March 18, 1988, from the rooftop of the General Santos City Hall

By the way, where were you during the Total Solar Eclipse on March 18, 1988?

Yes!  You read it right!

As the title of the post says, there are really Cheap Flights from Philippines Airlines starting from P10.00 all in,  and one of these is the Davao-GenSan-Davao route.  The catch is, you will have to travel via TIME MACHINE to get them because they were offered ages ago.

The year?  1961.

During that time when the Philippines was still in equal footing to Japan in terms of economic wealth and prosperity and the term OFW was unheard of, cheap flights from the country’s only airline was the order of the day.  Since the dollar exchange rate was only P2.02 then,  a lot of Filipinos were jetsetters, doing their shopping in Europe, and in the United States of America.

Although there were fewer local flights that time, the available ones were priced at amounts that will make you salivate for the old days !  In the early 1960s, the only way to travel to Davao from GenSan and vice-versa was to go around what is now Sultan Kudarat and make your way out via North Cotabato.  Since the roads were still unpaved, a one-way trip would take more than 12 hours.  But then, Philippine Airlines were offering quicker Davao-GenSan and GenSan-Davao flights, and they really come cheap!

The scanned images of the plane tickets below are proof of the cheap flights from Philippine Airlines that time.  These are the Davao-GenSan plane tickets of my parents, Avelino and Maria which they used in May 9, 1961, after their honeymoon in Davao City.  They were married three days before that in May 6, 1961 at the Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage Parish Church, which was then a new parish.

Tomorrow, May 6, 2009 would have been their 48th Wedding Anniversary.  This post is dedicated to them.

Ticket Issued to my mother, costing P10 only, from Davao to GenSan

Ticket issued to my father for the Philippine Airlines Davao-GenSan route

Kung Hei Fat Choy!  Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Today, January 26, 2009, our Chinese brothers and sisters all around the world are celebrating the Chinese New Year or what is known in Mainland China as the Lunar New Year or Spring Festival.

Here in General Santos City, a good number of Chinese Families open their homes to their friends starting on the eve of the New Year and wait for the clock to strike 12 before they set loose their fireworks into the sky.  And that’s where their culinary feasts begin in their individual homes.

In my travels around Southeast Asia, I have noticed that it is only in the Philippines where the Chinese New Year is not declared as a public holiday considering the large ethno-Chinese population that we have.  A major portion of Philippine business is dominated by 2nd and 3rd generation Chinese mestizos now and we once had a lady President, Corazon Cojuangco-Aquino who traces her roots in China.  Even our national hero, Jose Rizal has Chinese blood.

In one way or the other, most of us have some traces of Chinese ethnicity and it is quite a shame that we don’t give the Chinese New Year its much deserved place in the country’s calendar of holidays as we should just like the other countries in Asia.

Anyway, here in South Cotabato, the pioneering Chinese of General Santos City arrived in her shores long before it became known as the Municipality of Buayan in the mid-1940s.  Most of them set up diverse businesses in the area such as rice and corn trading, livestock, general merchandise, copra trading, hardware, construction, and realty, among others.

As a tribute to them and in celebration of the Chinese New Year, here is the earliest photo taken of the Pioneering Chinese Settlers in GenSan, most who came from Amoy, China, taken sixty years ago in 1949, when then Consul Mih of China visited this part of the Philippines known as Dadiangas, Buayan Municipality.

This picture was taken at the General Santos Park, along the coastline of the city, Silway District.  The buildings on the left is where Rey Store is now while the buildings on the right are the ones behind Kimball compound.  Consul Mih is the person with the mark X while the one with two X marks is trader Ang Lin Bee. CLICK ON THE PICTURE TO ENLARGE IT.

 

The rest of the Chinese settlers in the photo above are Go Sek Yu, brothers Rubi Ang (agri-business/realty) and Ang Ling Bee (owns Angkalian Building, among others), Yu Se Chong (Hardware & Sarangani Restaurant at the former ChowKing Pioneer area), Yu Se Peng (agri-business/realty), Tony Diya (Rice Mills), Jose Lao (agri-business), brothers Tan Pi and Rudy Go Huy (realty including the Veranda building, livestock and agri), and Pedro and Seraphin Lim of Lim Bros. Harddware.

The rest are Boo Che Lu (trading), Conrado Du (Rice & Corn trading), Jose Abawag (shipping/ manager of Compania Maritima), Tony Sun (general merchandise), Go Siong (copra), Lu Ten (agri trading), Go Tai Ching (Lucky 7 Hardware) and Jose “Agurang” Catolico, Sr. who was not Chinese but considered then as the “Godfather of the Chinese”.

To all these Chinese pioneers and the others who came right after them like the Chiongbians, the Teng Brothers (Kimball & TSP), Johnny Ang, the Yaphokuns, the Ceds, Fred Ang-Sanidad, Johnny Tan, etc., Bariles Republic offers this post as a salute for your contribution in making General Santos what it is now. 

To sha.  Shie shie.

Photo is courtesy of Sir Jong Balagtas Ramirez’ WHO IS WHO, DATABANK, Volume IV, 1995. Copies of Volume VIII, 2007 are now available.

Long before the ubiquitous beauty salons and spas became vogue in General Santos City, there was the corner barbershop catering to the grooming needs of the local men (and women).

At that time, crewcut was the “only” acceptable hairstyle for the men and kids like us, and so off we went to our friendly barbers at least once a month with our dad.  Every visit then was a squirmy proposition for me, since I was ticklish behind the ears and at the back of my neck, and every time the razor blade touches these parts, i go zonkers.

Despite that, a trip to the neighborshood barber at least once a month became a lifelong habit.  Yes, there were times when I’d rather visit the parlorista but most of the time, whether I was in Lahug, Cebu City; Tandag, Surigao; Ipoh, Malaysia or Chiang Mai, Thailand during the later course of my showbiz career, it was always Mr. Barber for me.

During my latest visit to my favorite barber, Nong Abel of Ric’s Barbershop and Massage Clinic along Pioneer Avenue, I decided to ask him about its history in GenSan after noticing from their signboard that the shop was established in 1968.

The other barbers when hearing our conversation, also volunteered additional information.

There are what I gathered:

• Ric’s Barbershop is the oldest standing hair grooming establishment in the city having been established in yes, 1968, making it 40 years old (!).
• In 1968, its old name was Jimmy’s Rendezvous (this word was common then) since its original owner was a certain Mr. Jimmy Gomez.
• Later, the barbershop changed hands from Mr. Gomez to Rolando Caballero, and later, to Ricky Custodio.
• In 1980, it was bought by one of its customers, a Mr. Rodrigo Rivera, who has been a customer since he was the former manager of International Bank of Asia and America (IBAA).  Mr. Rivera changed the name to Ric’s Barbershop and gave it to his brother to manage. (Pssst!!!  He now owns GenSan’s largest privately-owned company, RD Group of Companies.  )
• Right now, Ric’s Barbershop employs three of most senior in the grooming scene in GenSan, namely:
  • Frank (who has been cutting hair since 1959);
  • Abel (my Dad’s and my suki who has been a barber since 1962);
  • Jerry (barber since 1967).

I had so much fun listening to the mini-history lessons from these guys plus a few extra naughty tidbits on some formerly living GenSan personalities (may their souls rest in peace). With all the info I gathered that day, I got more value for the P40 fee I paid for that hair trim, courtesy of Nong Abel of the oldest barbershop in General Santos City.

Ric’s Barbershop is located between Ramon Magsaysay Memorial College and Landbank, Pioneer Avenue, General Santos City.  Other than haircut, it now offers hair rebonding, hair relax and ionic hair (!).  It also offers Shave, Pedicure, Manicure, Hot Oil, Facial spa, Hair Relax, Massage, ear cleaning, Swedish Massage and Shiatsu Therapy.

Before Manny Pacquiao, Rolando Navarette was General Santos City’s first gift to the boxing world.  Known as the “Bad Boy of Dadiangas” for his penchant to be always involved in petty fights and brawls, Rolando won the WBC Super Featherweight title from Cornelius Boza Edwards in Italy in August 29, 1981.

I remember watching the replay of that video at the old restobar of the Pasiliaos along Pioneer Avenue, downtown General Santos, named Queenies Steakhouse beside Pioneer Theater when Betamax was still the vogue.

At that time, the restaurant was jampacked and though the video quality was grainy to say the least, we all felt we were at the same ring with our then “people’s champ”.

Rolando Navarette later defended his title against Choi Chung-Il of Korea but eventually lost it to Rafael “Bazooka” Limon.

As a precursor to the Dela Hoya-Pacquiao fight this weekend and to give the younger “generals” an idea of how Navarette fought, here is the YouTube video of that classic Navarette-Edwards fight twenty-seven years ago. This is the 5th and “knockout” round.

But before that, here are their stats:

Cornelius Boza Edwards*****versus****Rolando Navarette

25 years old                       AGE                    24 years old

5’9 feet                             HEIGHT                5’4 feet

129.25 lbs                        WEIGHT                129.75 lbs

7                                       REACH                 6.5

And below is a recent picture of the former WBC Superfeatherweight Champion:

And now, the video of the 5th and Knockout Round of the Classic Navarette-Edwards Fight in 1981.

I was joyriding onboard my partner’s motorbike the other night when I saw a streamer along the corner of Lagao National Highway and Tiongson Street, which caught my eye.

Hey!  It’s an announcement about an upcoming branch of Mercury Drug!

The following day, I went back to the same place and took these pictures.

Now people from this side of GenSan wouldn’t have to go far downtown to buy their medicines and other needs.  Mercury Drug – Lagao will soon be here.

I just hope it will have a walk-in mini-grocery just like their Pedro Acharon Branch.  And let it open 24 hours!

Now that would be great for Lagao’s burgeoning night life since Lagao has a string of bars and restaurants along its main roads.

Mercury Drug will now have three outlets in GenSan:  P. Acharon, Pioneer and Lagao National Highway.

I was at the KCC Mall of GenSan supermarket yesterday, doing my grocery when I came upon some familiar chichiria or what people now call as “junk food”.

These are the home made pinoy snacks, AMPAO and POP RICE, two of my favorite snack foods during my youth which I could easily buy at the neighborhood sari-sari store.

Presenting the cebuano delicacy, AMPAO, which look like these:

and these:

I remember an ampao costing 2 pieces for P0.10 before.  When I checked the price at KCC, 10 pieces now cost P15++.

Biting into a a crunchy caramelized piece made me recall that it used to be one of my comfort foods.  I used to eat so much of it that I usually had no appetite for lunch or dinner afterwards.

Now, the multi-colored POP RICE.

Actually called PUFFED RICE in English, It looks like these, packed inside small thin plastic wrappers, each one with a rubber band tied to its end…

..and upon closer look, they look like these:

Now costing P1.20 per bundle, I tried putting a handful of these pinoy version of Rice Crispies into my mouth and again, pleasant memories came rushing back to those days when we kids eat anything offered by the friendly vendor, not worrying if they have melamine, or MSG or if they have too much salt, too much fat, too much oil, too much cholesterol, too much sugar, or no nutritional value whatsoever, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

Back then food was food for kids like us, and there was no such thing as junk. 

How about you?

What were the comfort food during much of your childhood?

Has anybody among you ever seen a Dadiangas Tree, the plant from which Gen. Santos City was used to be named after?

I have.  And that was just over a year ago when someone told me that one can be found near the flagpole of the Gen. Santos Park across the city hall building.  I lost no time in looking for the elusive plant and upon locating it, found out a few things.

First, I discovered that Dadiangas is not actually a tree but a shrub, a very thorny shrub.  Second, it has  little yellow flowers and small marble-size fruits.

When General Paulino Santos arrived here in 1939 along with the first batch of settlers from Luzon, all they can see were hectares and hectares of arable land all ready to be cultivated and planted.

And of course, as the story goes, they also found out that there were a lot of these Dadiangas shrubs dotting the prairie that they decided to name it after the place.

Now, there’s just this lone Dadiangas shrub at the Gen. Santos Park which has been fenced off to protect it from peeing men and animals.  It stands about 8 feet tall but you would hardly notice it because it looks like a very ordinary plant.

According to some, a few Dadiangas trees can still be found at the farms at the city’s rural barangays, mostly at the pasture leased areas.

Now, only a few people call the city founded 60 years ago as Dadiangas, preferring to call it by its modern name, GENSAN.  The four downtown barangays of the city however are called Barangay Dadiangas South, Dadiangas North, Dadiangas East and Dadiangas West.

I just wish that the local government or some private group put a distinct marker near the surviving Dadiangas tree at the Gen. Paulino Santos Park so that the “generals” and visitors will easily discover for themselves this lowly-looking and thorny but historical plant from which their beloved city was first named after.   Am pretty sure it will be their first time to do so.

How about you?  Have you ever seen a Dadiangas shrub?

UPDATE: I just found out that the Filipino name of the Dadiangas bush is TALONGON.
Here’s more:
SCIENTIFIC NAME: SOLANUM TORVUM.
OTHER NAMES: Tandang Aso, Balbalusa, Gambol, Dagutung, Talampay, Talimbolo, Talongon, Talong-talongon, Talungkia, Taogotan

Botany
· A coarse, erect, branched suffrutescent herb, 1 to 3 m high, the branches with short scattered spines, most parts of the body covered with stellate-shaped hairs.
· Leaves: alternate, ovate to oblong-ovate, 10 to 20 cm long, wavy-lobed, acuminate, base inequilateral.
· Flowers: inflorescence lateral, usually extra axillary racemose, often dichotomous. Flowers, many, white, about 1 cm long. Corolla tube short, the limb 5-lobed. Stamens 4, the filaments short, the anthers united into a cone. Ovary 2-celled.
· Fruits: globose, yellow, glabrous, about 1 cm in diameter.

Distribution
In most islands and provinces, in wastelands at low and medium altitudes, flowering all year round.

Parts utilized
· Roots.
· Wash thoroughly and cut into slices before sun-drying.

Properties
Antipyretic, antirheumatic, antiphlogistic, anti-infectious, anti-contusion, anti-inflammation and analgesic.
Cooling natured.
Slightly toxic.

Folkloric uses
· For stomach ache, pain caused by contusion, internal bruise on the belly muscle – use 15 to 30 gms of dried drug. Boil to decoction and drink.
· Indigestion, gastric pain at the navel.
· Rheumatism-numbness, sprain contusion, lumbar muscular pains.
· Amenorrhea.
· Decoction used in some areas (Bukidnon) to lessen postpartum hemorrhage.
· Dosage: 15 to 30 gms dried roots in decoction, or processed into syrup or alcoholic suspension.

Availability
Wild-crafted.

Bariles Republic was amazed at the entries to the recent Tuna Float Contest held during the culmination of the 10th Tuna Festival last September 5th, 2008.  Companies from the fishing, academic, private sectors tried to outdo each other in terms of coming up with the float that best represents their take on the festival theme which was: A Decade of FISHtivities and OpporTUNAties.

Here then are the non-winning but equally notable entries.  You may click on each image for a larger view.

But did you know that Float Parades in GenSan did not only occur during the onset of the Tuna Festival? During the 60s and up to the 70s each Civic Military Parade also comes with FLOATS courtesy of a civic organization, a school or just about anybody.

Here are two samples from the BAUL of my late mother.

This float with a paper-mache lion up front belongs to the Mt. Matutum Lions Club with seven lovely Lionesses (wives of Lions) in their yellow gowns. My mother is the one directly behind the man trying to raise the banderitas strung up across the streets. (Click on this photo to enlarge it.)

The Lioness at the center is the prettiest,  Tita Elsie Golingan. The rest of the ladies I recognize are Mrs. Chayong Enojado (SLN, owner of Matutum Hotel), Tita Rose Malayang, and Tita Sonia Yumang, (SLN, wife of then City Engineer).

This float belongs to what was then the Notre Dame of Dadiangas Girls Department in Beatiles Street, now known as Notre Dame of Gen. Santos City (in Barangay San Isidro). Click on this photo to enlarge it.

This was taken in 1969 when I was in Kindergarten. I should know because that’s me, the little Bariles in Barong Tagalog up there as consort of the Princess, the late Marilou Onorio, one of the many times we were paired in events like this one.

One of the other girls in front of the float (extreme left), a mestiza wearing her Damean uniform is Councilor Meggie Santos, who was then in Grade 1. Now you already know our ages!!!!

The building at the back is the old structure presently still standing beside Sarangani Rural Bank along the junction of Pioneer Avenue and Morrow Boulevard (now Pedro Acharon Boulevard).  Check out how it looks now in this picture below.

The old buidling beside MLhuillier as it looks now with its rusty roof.

Amazing lessons in history, right?  Who could have owned that building then and who owns it now?

More HISTORY LESSONS like this coming up, only here at BARILES REPUBLIC’S GenSan News Online Mag.

If you like this post, why don’t you just subscribe to this blog then?

I have long wanted to take photos of the Gen. Santos City Central Public Market and the streets surrounding it from above and find out how it looks like from that vantage.  I remember doing it once when I still had my first digital camera, the first models of Sony Cybershot at 1.5 megapixels so you could just imagine how limited the outcome were.

But last week, with a much better camera, the Canon 300D using a 35mm Ultrasonic lens, which I have been using for almost all the pix in these blogs, I got permission from a kind front desk staff of Anchor Hotel to go up their rooftop and take my shots from there of the Central Public Market.

I never realized how clean our streets were, especially those of Santiago Boulevard and Cagampang street until the time I was editing these pictures today.  That CLEANEST CITY AWARD in 2004 from Malacañang was really no fluke, if you may allow me to say so.  Even the Gensan Public Market won as one of the recipients of the Top 5 Cleanest Public Markets in the country.

Cagampang Street was where I and my siblings spent a portion of our childhood, when our Dad’s tailoring, Avelman’s Fashion and Haberdashery used to occupy the frontage of the ground floor of the two-storey Golden City Theater, which was the first arcade in these parts in the 60s.

The arcade also hosted a hotel on its 2nd floor (managed by the Clarin Family) plus a billiard outlet, a barber shop, a canteen, another tailoring (Valderrama’s Tailors), among others.

That’s me going down the stairs leading to the hotel of Golden City with the manager, Mrs. Clarin.

Golden City and the whole of the the public market across our shop was my and my siblings’ playground. Our playmates were the kids from the stores, offices and shops within the vicinity, most notably the Tugbangs (Grecille and Ronnie) whose father, Dr. Tugbang had a clinic beside our tailoring and Raymond, son of Dr. Mendoza, who has a clinic farther up the road.

The arcade had a wide atrium in the center where I learned to roller skate courtesy of my older friends from nearby Lapu-lapu Street, the Alcasid Brothers (of Korelco) and their friend, a son of the Pacana‘s who regularly drop by after school. (God! If only my Mom was still alive, she could have furnished me most of the details and names here.  )

Golden City Theater burned down in the 80s and in its place, another commercial building rose, now occupied by a chinese retailer.  Beside it are shops selling Maranao items and fabrics from Southeast Asia.  The whole of Cagampang which is now cemented looks so much different from those times when it used to mean the whole world to me and my siblings.

Here are the photos of the GenSan Public Market and its outlying streets which you may each click for a larger view.  :)

The clock tower along Pioneer Avenue is one of the oldest standing structures in downtown Gensan. Strategically located at the center island right across the Ramon Magsaysay Memorial College, it was built and donated ages ago by either the Mt. Matutum Lions Club or the General Santos City Lions Club, am not actually sure.

Unfortunately, I also couldn’t even remember a time when there was actually a functioning clock 30 feet up there giving the right time for the people traversing along Pioneer Avenue. If I can recall it correctly, it had more downtimes due to the numerous electrical blackouts before, and repairing it took a bit too much of the budget of the donor.  Eventually, it was abandoned and from the looks of it, forgotten for good.

A few months back, I heard from Rotary GenSan Prexy Bing Royeca that their club wants to rehabilitate the clock themselves but I guess nothing came out of it.

Actually, the solution is really just simple.

Why don’t someone just ask manufacturers of watches like TIMEX, SEIKO, SWATCH, ROLEX, TAGHAUER, etc to sponsor the whole thing and donate a giant clock themselves?   That’s free advertisement for at least a decade for them, or until their clock conks out.   Has nobody ever thought about that?

In the meantime, the old clock tower just stands there proudly, but is actually just a skeleton of its old self, a reminder of the times when Pioneer Avenue used to be the city’s premier business and entertainment district and home to the likes of Ram’s Bombay Bazaar, The Terrace Restaurant, Eskimo, Pioneer Hotel, Capitol Theater, Pioneer Theater, State Theater, Cotton Bowl Grill, Bajunaid Department Store, Avelmans Tailoring, Conlu Department Store, Talion Restaurant, Crown Bookstore, Sacred Heart Pharmacy, Universal Grocery, Marietta’s Barbecue, Aliwalas Store, Albores Radio Shop, a Bowling Alley, and others whose names now escape my mind.

Oh Gawd!  How I miss the old downtown Pioneer Avenue….

Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage Parish is the 2nd oldest church in Gen. Santos (after Lagao’s St. Peter and Paul), established in October 13, 1957. That makes her 51 this year. The photo above was taken on Good Friday 1965 when there was hardly any tree at the park in front of the church. The park which used to be called Freedom Park was renamed as Carlos P. Garcia.

If you look closely at the picture, you can see the church bell tower and the convent of the Passionist Fathers to the left of the church (which are presently still standing) and a portion of the Parish Center to the right.

With no benches at the park, church-goers just sit on the grass and while their time away with their families. Of course, during that time, almost everyone knows everybody and people linger on to chat till it’s time to go home.

But that was then, my friends. Now, the park infront of the church is filled with trees which block its view from afar. The ground has grown bare and dusty because no grass could grow anymore with the sun’s rays blocked by the trees. And of course, people hurry home after mass because they have no time to exchange pleasantries with other church-goers, most of whom are strangers.

And the church? This is how the Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage Parish Church looks now.

The Holy Week is almost upon us and various households and religious communities all over the land are preparing themselves for their “acts of penitence” as a means of being “absolved of their sins”

One of the oldest Lenten practices in the country is by way of the “PABASA” which literally means “a reading“, but is actually the continuous and non-stop chanting and singing of the Passion and Death of Jesus Christ in the local dialects usually in front of a dressed-up altar.

This tradition begins during the days leading to Good Friday but in some cases, it is done a week earlier as in the household of my friend and classmate Jun Laiz in Gen. Santos, a practice which dates back to the 50s when his parents were still alive.

Above is the Passion Guide containing the long biblical passages of the Passion and Death of Jesus Christ which is sung and chanted in the most imaginable way.

Below are pictures of the “readers” or “chanters”, while singing the Tagalog dialect-worded “pasyon” or book containing the story of the death and passion of Jesus Christ.

I did not realize that the old City Hall building at the back of the current one is turning 59 years old this year until I saw this marker (above) near its front entrance. It says: Municipal Hall, Buayan, Cotabato. Constructed October 26, 1949. This was obviously almost two decades before the Buayan was declared as charter city and renamed as City of General Santos in September 5, 1968.

It then continues to name the Municipal Mayor at that time, Mayor Ireneo Santiago and his Vice Mayor, the Honorable Pedro Acharon, Sr., father of the current city mayor and his namesake, Pedro Junior. The older Acharon was later on elected Mayor after a few years.

The municipal coucilors at that time were Joaquin Natividad, Donato Quinto, Clemente Escallera, Artemio Ramos, Jose Catolico, and Arturo Pastor. Municipal Treasurer was Felipe Cariño while District Engr. was Engr. Marcellino Samson.

The Old GenSan City Hall Building

Currently, there is a plan by Mayor Jun Acharon to transform this building into a museum once the offices occupying it are transferred to their new location sometime middle of this year. The only museums in GenSan right now are the ones at the NDDU and MSU. If this materializes, it will be a treasure trove for visitors, historians, students and tourists since the building will be restored to its former look and glory.

The building’s contractor, by the way was Civil Engineer Gonzalo M. Javier.

Graduation time is upon us once again. Time for our first HISTORY LESSON.

On June 21, 1948, four Marist Brothers from the United States arrived in the Philippines upon the invitation of Bishop Gerard Mongeau, OMI to work in the Diocese of Cotabato where the Oblates have their mission.

Headed by Bro. Maurus James Doherty, FMS, they took over the administration of the Notre Dame of Cotabato Boys’ Department (1948), followed by Notre Dame of Marbel (1950), and the Notre Dame of Lagao in 1952.

Here is a 55-year old picture of the 2nd batch of graduates of the Notre Dame of Lagao Boys Department (now known as Notre Dame of Dadiangas University) where my late father, Avelino belongs. He was the Philippine Military Training Commandant at that time. When he graduated in 1954, he was 22, one of the oldest since he had to work in their farms in Lagao and babysit for his younger sisters.

Where others went off to college, my Kapampangan dad opted to study Tailoring in Davao for two years and later on, established & owned the biggest tailoring shop in GenSan until he retired in the 80s. (But that story of course, merits its own post here.)

I hope you can see my dad here with the X mark.

You might be able to recognize your dads, your fathers, or your grandpa’s among them.

And oh, while you’re at it, would you or anybody happen to know the names of the MARIST BROTHERS here?

Imelda Grass or more popularly known as Imelda Flower could be seen sprouting all around Gensan. Legend says that it was former First Lady Imelda Marcos who introduced it here in the 70s upon noticing that the area was one hot, arid desert. This thorny grass which is also known as Imelda creeper thrives well in sandy areas and needs minimal water.

These photos were taken at the oval plaza one afternoon with the tents being readied for “Pasko Sa Gensan 2007″ at the background.