98. 10 TOMBS AND MEMORIALS OF REMARKABLE KAPAMPANGAN PERSONALITIES

DON ANGEL PANTALEON DE MIRANDA

(ca. 1765/ d. 21 Jun. 1835)

Place of Memorial: Sto. Rosario Church

Founder of Angeles. Together with wife, Doña Rosalía de Jesús and some followers, the group headed north to clear a forested area there for rice and sugar farming in 1796. The settled area became known as Culiat, named after the vines that proliferated in the place. Culiat would become the future city of Angeles, named after him and his patron, the Guardian Angel.

FELINO GIL

(b.1803/d.1884)

Place of Interment: Pio Chapel, Porac, Pampanga

Spanish civic leader. For helping secure lands in Porac for the friar missions, he was awarded tracts of land that he successfully turned into sugar plantations. Recognized as one of the founders—along with Juan P.  Zita-- of the “Escuela de Artes y Oficios de Bacolor”, which aimed to train artisans, on 14 Nov. 1861. Later renamed to Bacolor Trade School in 1915, which offerd courses in Woodworking Domestic Science, Ironworking and Building Construction.

 HONORIO T. VENTURA

(b. 30 Jul. 1887/ d. 3 Sep. 1940)

Place of Interment: Cementerio del Norte (Manila North Cemetery)

Son of Balbino Ventura and Juana Tizon of Bacolor. Graduated with a law degree from Universty of Santo Tomas , and went to Spain for advance studies in Jurisprudence. Appointed as acting governor of Pampanga in 1916. Served as Chief of the Executive Bureau of the Department of Interior and later as Secretary of the Interior in place of Atty. Felipe Agoncillo. The former Pampanga School of Arts and Trades in Bacolor, Pampanga which he supported as a philantrophist, was re-named as Don Honorio T. Ventura College of Arts and Trades in his honor. One of his scholars was the future president, Diosdado P. Macapagal.

FR. SIXTO M. MANALOTO

(b. 6 Jul. 1891/d. 30 Mar. 1952)

Place of Interment: Magalang Memorial Park

Though Tarlac-born, Fr. Manaloto would make a lasting impression on Magaleños, serving their parish for an unprecedented period of nearly 30 years. On 8 December 1915, feast of the Immaculate Conception, Fr. Manaloto, a product of San Carlos Seminary, was ordained into priesthood by Archbishop Harty in 1915. Assigned in Magalng in 1923, he is known for his major restoration works of San Bartolome Church., for opening a parochial school in the town and for sending poor, but deserving students to Manila, many of whom eventually returned as professionals and became leaders of the community.

 JOSE CORAZON DE JESUS

(b. 22 Nov. 1896/ 26 May 1932)

Place of Interment: Cementerio del Norte (Manila North Cemetery)

Son of Vicente de Jesús  of Sta. Maria, Bulacan and Susana Pangilinan of Pampanga. As Huseng Batute,  he wrote nationalistic articles for Ang Democracia, Liwayway, Taliba, under the pseudonym Huseng Batute. He supported Philippine independence and wrote critical articles about Philippine society under the Americans. Known as the King of Balagtasan, for his mastery of Tagalog poetry.Wrote the lyrics  of the popular Filipino song “Bayan Ko”,which has become an alternative anthem.

KUDIARO LAXAMANA

(b.1906/d.1970)

Place of Interment: Clark Cemetery, Angeles City, Pampanga

Born in the Mt. Pinatubo area. Aeta World War II Guerrilla Hero. Head of the 55-155^th Squadron of the Northwest Pampanga Mountain District. Reputedly killed 50 Japanese soldiers, chopping off at least 17 enemy heads with  his bolo. Given a post-humous recognition in Mabalacat in 1995 for his wartime bravery. Killed in 1970 for his advocacies. Given a 21-gun salute at his burial at the Clark Cemetery. A major road in Clark—Kudiaro Laxamana Ave.—is named after him.

RUFINO J. CARDINAL SANTOS

(26 Aug. 1908-d. 3 Sep. 1973)

Place of Interment: Manila Metropolitan Cathedral crypt

The 1^st Filipino Prince of the Church. Born in Sto. Niño, Guagua to Gaudencio Santos and Rosalia Jiao. Accepted as seminarian at San Carlos Seminary in 1921.  At 19, became a scholar of the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome in 1927. Ordained on 25 Oct. 1931 in Rome. Assigned to Imus, Cavite and Marilao, Bulacan as assistant priest; then to Manila. After his war imprisonment, was named by Arch.  Michael O’Doherty as Vicar General of Manila, then elected as the Titular Bishop of Barca and Auxiliary Bishop to the archbishop. Succeeded Arch. Gabriel M. Reyes as the new archbishop of Manila in 1953, following his appointment by Pope Pius XII. Elevated to the rank of the cardinal at the Basilica of St. Peter in Rome at 9:30 a.m. on 31 Mar. 1960.

CLEOFE J. BALINGIT

(b. 9 Apr. 1910/ d. 5 Jun. 1981)

Place of Interment: Apalit Municipal Cemetery

Daughter of  Macabebe Scout Felix Balingit and Juliana Jaime of Macabebe. Chosen to represent Pampanga in the search for the 1936 Queen of the Manila Carnival, touted as “the biggest annual event of the Orient”. Her candidacy was supported by the newspaper “Ing Catimauan”. Placed 4th after the winner, Mercedes Montilla, of Negros Occidental,  crowned Miss Mindanao 1936. Married to Dr. Mariano Bayani of Apalit.  Spent the rest of her life involved in socio-civic causes,  especially the Pampanga Chapter of the Girl Scouts and the local Red Cross.

DIOSDADO P. MACAPAGAL

(b. 28 Sep. 1910/ d. 21 Apr. 1997)

Place of Interment: Libingan ng mga Bayani

Born in Lubao to Urbano and Romana Pangan. “The poor boy from Lubao” became the 9^th President of the Philippines, serving from 1961 to 1965, and the sixth Vice-President, serving from 1957 to 1961. Was a member of the House of Representatives, and headed the Constitutional Convention of 1970. Father of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, the 14th President of the Philippines from 2001 to 2010. Succeeded by Ferdinand Marcos.

THE AQUINOS OF TARLAC

Place of Interment: Manila Memorial Park, Parañaque, Manila

Corazon Cojuangco Aquino ((b. 25 Jan. 1933/d. 1 Aug. 2009)

The first woman president and the 11^th chief executive of the Philippines.  The most prominent figure of the 1986 People Power Revolution that ended the 21 years of dictatorial rule by Pres. Marcos. People rallied around her after her husband’s assassination and swept the plain housewife to power. Hailed as the “Mother of Asian Democracy”.

Benigno Aquino Jr. (b. 27 Nov. 1932 /d. 21 Aug.1983)

A leading oppositionist of the Pres. Ferdinand Marcos and his dictatorial regime. Arrested and jailed for 7 years during the Martial Law of 1972.Founder of the lakas ng Bayan (Laban) party. Allowed to travel by Marcos in 1980 for medical reasons, byt was assassinated upon his return to Manila in 1983. His death was the catalyst for te People Power Revolution that ended the arcos regime and started his wife Corazon’s ascent to power.

FERNANDO POE JR

(b. 20 Aug. 1939/d. 14 Dec. 2004)

Place of Interment: Cementerio del Norte (Manila North Cemetery)

Actor, director, film producer and presidential of the Philippines. Considered King of Philippine Movies. Began showbiz career in the 1953 with the movie “Anak ni Palaris”. Has over 200 films to his credit. Most portrayals show him as a champion of the poor. 5-time winner of FAMAS Award. Married to showbiz royalty, Susan Roces; daughter Grace Poe is a senator. Ran for the 2004 presidential race, but lost by the slimmest of margin against Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

ALEXIS TIOSECO

(b. 11 Feb. 1981/d. 1 Sep. 2009)

Place of Interment: Family mausoleum, Angeles City Cemetery

The young film critic is the great-grandchild of Leonardo Lilles, a successful agricultural engineer, businessman and town leader of Macabebe.  Noted film critic and film professor at the University of Asia and the Pacific. Known advocate of Southeast Asian cinema. Named  in 2005 as “one of the most important young people in the Philippines today”, by Philippine Star, for championing Philippine cinema. On 1 Sep. 2009, Tioseco and Slovenian girlfriend Nika Bohinc, were murdered in their Quezon City apartment by 3 burglars. Their househelp was convicted in May 2018 for her participation in the crime,

BONUS!

COLIN P. KELLY JR.

(b. 11 July 1915/10 Dec. 1941) 

Place of Memorial: Madison, Florida

B-17 pilot Capt. Colin Purdie Kelly Jr. died in action against the Japanese forces in 1941. Kelly’s damaged plane, while returning from a bombing run, blew up near Clark Field after being engaged by enemy forces. Declared as America’s first hero of WWII by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt.  The Kelly Theater of Clark as named after him. There is a  memorial statue of the fallen captain in front of the theater ruins inaugurated on 10 Dec. 2007—the 66th year of his passing.

CONRADO Y, GUINTO, KING OF POETS

(b. 21 Jan. 1946/d. 5 May 2015)

Place of Interment: Porac, Pampanga

Conrado Guinto is the fictional character in the award-winning advocacy film,”ARI: My Life with a King”, produced by Holy Angel University. The aging Kapampangan poet royalty befriends a Pampanga-born high school lad, JP, who can’t speak the language. Their contentious relationship ends with the death of Conrado, but only after passing the poet’s torch, and the laurel crown to the young boy. Portrayed by real-life poeta laureado,  Francisco "Frank" Guinto, who won Best Actor honors in the Metro-Manila Film Festival 2016, New Wave edition. The FAMAS-award winning sory was penned by Robby Tantingco and directed by Carlo Catu.

SOURCES:

HONORIO VENTURA:  https://www.flickr.com/photos/govph/

(tomb)

FELINO GIL: Jerry Punzalan Sagmit (tomb); Luther Parker Collection (photo)
SIXTO MANALOTO,:Old Cemetery: https://magalang-heritage.weebly.com/old-cemetery.html

JOSE CORAZON DE JESUS: http://malacanang.gov.ph/undas-2012-a-cemeteries-tour/(tomb); flickr.com, posted by NCCA Official (photo)

CLEOFE BALINGIT: Alex R. Castro Collection

COLIN KELLY: www.findagrave.com

(tomb); https://fcit.usf.edu/wwii/overseas.php.(photo)

CARDINAL SANTOS: findagrave.com (tomb); Alex R. Castro (photo)

KUDIARO LAXAMANA: www.finadagrave.com (tomb);

 www.art.com (photo)

DISODADO MACAPAGAL: Twitter photo, by Maria Cepeda (tomb); wikipedia.com  (photo)

CORY AQUINO, NINOY AQUINO: wikimedia commons

FERNANDO POE JR: Wikimedia commons (grave); Alex R. Castro (photo)

ALEXIS TIOSECO: Robby Tantingco (tomb), Association for Southeast Asian Cinemas Conference - WordPress.com (photo)

66. 20 FUNERAL TRADITIONS & PRACTICES THAT KAPAMPANGANS OBSERVE

All Saints’ Day (Todos Los Santos on Nov. 1) and All Souls Day (Nov. 2) used to be 2 distinct observances until somehow, they merged as one. When campo santos (cemeteries) began being built outside of the town, folks found it convenient to divide their pious duties: Nov. 1 was devoted to grave visits while Nov. 2 was reserved for church rites. Death came early for Filipinos in the 19th century; life expectancy was just about 35 years. Life, was indeed precious, which was why, death was considered major rite of passage, with traditional ceremonies and post-mortem practices created around the inevitable.

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1.There were certain portents of death that old Kapampangan folks believed in: the appearance of a black moth, a dog digging up the ground for no apparent reason, the dreaming of a loss tooth, combing one’s hair at night. To avoid untimely deaths, one should neither position his bed towards the door nor join a picture-taking session if the number of subjects is either 3 or 13. If the toes of the dead curled inwards, beware of another impending death.

2.As soon as someone died in the neighborhood (indicated by loud wailing), neighbors knew exactly what to do next. Members of the grieving family were not allowed to do any work, and so the neighbors took over. There were no funeral services, no embalming, and so everything that needed to be done must be done quickly, before decomposition set in (burial must take place within 24 hours)

3.Early Filipinos believed in the mystical number 7, representing the 7 holes of the head. Our pre-colonial ancestors thus covered their dead’s faces with a death mask cut out with 7 holes. But Kapampangans also believed that an invisible 8th hole exists at the crown of the head of certain special persons, gifting them with the power to liaise between the dead and the living.

4.The deceased was laid on his bed decorated with hangings (black for an adult, white for a child). If the deceased did not own a bed, he was laid out on a mat (dase or banig) on the floor. A black cloth is draped in front of the house to signify a death in the household.

5.The grieving family would have nothing to do but stay beside the dead to weep (they had less than 24 hours to say their final good-byes). If they had to talk to visitors at all, it should be about the life and legacy of the departed.

6.Meanwhile, the teenagers stayed up all night to keep watch and guard against the magcucutud (or manananggal), the airborne supernatural creatures who stole corpses. They entertained themselves by playing card games like entre siete and pierde y gana or playing the traditional Kapampangan games of caragatan (or bugtungan) and talubangan (or bulaclacan), where the boys played butterflies to the girls' flowers.

7.There are certain no-no’s when a death in the family occurred. The family of the deceased were prohibited from bathing, cleaning the house or getting a haircut. The children of the deceased were not supposed to play; if they did, old folks warned, they'd go crazy. A dead should not be perfumed lest he decomposes faster.

8.Children and infants were carried across the coffin to prevent hauntings by the deceased. Taking out the deathbed through the window is another sure way to ward off ghostly encounters.

9.In Macabebe they still do tagulele, an ancient practice that the Bergaño dictionary defined as "the chant of lamentation during a person's wake or burial, relating the bravery of the deceased."

10.Any form of house cleaning is still prohibited during the wake, or another member of the family might also die. When the coffin is already being carried out of the house, however, it should be followed with sweeping of the floor, to drive away illness and bad spirits.

11.Some relatives must also stay behind and peep out of the windows as the coffin is being taken out. The deceased person's bed must be discarded by taking it out of the house through a window, to ensure his happiness in the next life and to prevent another death in the family.

12.The Church dictated the rituals associated with the dead and the dying. Back then, fees were being collected by unscrupulous frailes for walking the dead to his burial ground or for ringing the church bells a certain number of times. During a funeral procession, prayers were intoned at regular intervals called “posas”.

13.During the funeral procession, everyone (not just the family) should be in black and holding lighted candles. The widow and female relatives should wear sucong (long black veils). Rich families spend more to have a punebre (funeral band) and the parish priest accompanying the dead to the cemetery.

14.In those days when there were still no public cemeteries, the dead were buried in private properties, usually the backyard. A child's corpse was always buried neck-deep while a male adult's corpse only knee-deep, in the belief that the soul of older people needed to get out of this world more quickly.

15.When it was time for the dead to be buried, the coffin, as was the custom in old Mabalacat, was placed on a “lankayan”, a stretcher of bamboos, which was then carried on the shoulders of 4 persons. Shortly before burial, relatives younger than the deceased took turns kissing his hand, while the children were held up and passed to waiting arms across the coffin to prevent hauntings. Taking out the deathbed through the window is another sure way to ward off ghostly encounters.

16.Everyone threw in a handful of soil as the casket was lowered, but only the gravediggers were permitted to look at it. There was also the prevalent practice of burying a rosary with the dead, but it had to be cut first lest the dead became restless. (Death is the end of our physical life, but a rosary, in a chain form, is “endless”, so it also needs to be cut).

17.In the first two nights after burial, family and friends gathered around a makeshift altar inside the house to pray for the deceased, have bread, sweets and tea or coffee (nothing more), followed by merriment (more caragatan and talubangan).

18.On the third night, when the soul was believed to come for a brief visit, a seat would be reserved for him at the dining table where ash, instead of food, was put on his plate and covered with cacaricucha leaves. The soul would be pleased to see this and would reward his loved ones with a passing apparition or even clues to some hidden wealth.

19.From fourth to eighth nights, only bread, sweets and tea/coffee would be served again to those who participated in the prayer vigils, but on the ninth night (the uacas of the pasiyam), a big dinner was served. Groups of visitors took turns praying for the deceased before proceeding to the dinner table.

20.The period of mourning ends after a year—lukas paldas—and on this day, the black clothes worn by the bereaved family are finally replaced and kept in the baul. A pa-misa and a grand salu-salo cap this day, with everyone reminiscing about the past year and of the days with their beloved departed. Tears are wiped, laughter returns. Indeed, to everything, there is a season.

SOURCES:

Tantingco, Robby P. 'Death and Our Neighbors", http://robbypeanutgallery.blogspot.com/2010/11/death-and-our-neighbors.html

Castro, Alex. Kematen: A Time to Mourn/ Mourning Mortality, www.viewsfromthepampang.blogspot.com