My Mother's La Familia Sagrada Carved in Wood

I noticed a small wooden sculpture of the Holy Family that was gathering dust at my mother's altar in her old room. I took it out, cleaned it, and put it on another altar outside.

As I was cleaning it, I found the Caucasian features of the figures were really prominent, and their garments were very European. Mary had a cape, Joseph had a cloak and staff, while the young Jesus wore a skirt and boots. From the back, the hair of Mary and Joseph glowed in pale yellow hue when lighted on at night.

There was something missing from Mary's right hand. It could not have been a staff like Joseph's because his staff, a long stick, was clasped by his left hand and its length appropriately touched the ground. Whatever Mary was holding could have fitted in her right hand as well. Was it a goblet? A flower? A crucifix? I can only guess.

The statue looked like it was carved out from a single chunk of wood because the base and the feet of the figures were connected; there was no sign of separation nor was there any mark that the base and the figures were plastered or glued together. 

But even with its seemingly ordinary appearance compared to my mother's other statues, this one draws one's attention once it stands alone and not beside any other statue. 

Now, this was where it got interesting.

I asked my mom how she came to own this La Familia Sagrada statue. She said she bought it from a lady in the 1970s, about 50 years ago. That lady, my mom added, also sold wooden statues that were taller, but this one, the Holy Family statue that stands at seven inches measured to the tip of the head of Saint Joseph (slightly taller than the Virgin Mary), was the only one she could afford -- at 50 pesos!

The lady told her that a horde of icons and other religious items were found in a cave in a mountain that was part of the territory of the municipality of Talisay (which became a city in 1998) in Negros Occidental.

This information kept me thinking and asking: why would these statues be kept at a cave in a mountain? Of course, I knew that this wasn't like the story of the Our Lady of Monserrat that was found in a cave in the serrated mountains of Spain (read blog here).

The only reason why people would hide religious icons and other possessions in a cave was during their evacuation in the early months of World War II. The Japanese Imperial Army arrived in Negros Occidental in May 1942 (read blog here), but families in Negros island, knowing of the impending arrival of the Japanese, had planned, prepared and left their homes in the towns and villages in the lowlands and fled to the mountains bringing with them their prized possessions before the arrival of the invaders. 

If my mother's statue was part of a Negrense family's packed possessions, it must have been brought either to the highlands using carriages dragged by carabaos or horses and was kept inside the cave in a wooden chest or ba-ul for protection and preservation from the elements. Other families who had no carriage or vehicles had to walk for days just to find a shelter outside the town or city just to avoid the cruelty and oppression of the Japanese invaders (read blog here of such tragedy).

Just like family heirlooms, religious icons and statues are always venerated and taken care of because religious Filipinos, especially during difficult times like a war, seek protection from the Almighty, the Virgin, and the saints. (Read the World War II story of the Gaston Mansion in Manapla here).

We will never know the reason why the family abandoned the statues in the cave if the story was true.

Because if it was, I can think of many reasons: the family decided to leave their possessions behind after the war, or they decided to give it away because there was a lot to carry back down to the town, or worse, the owners did not make it through the war and the possessions hidden in the caves were forgotten.

Going back to the statue.

As the features of the figures are definitely european including their garments, was the statue made in Europe, or was it just a copy that was made in Mexico but was brought to the Philippines via the galleon trade? 

The galleon trade between Acapulco (in Mexico) and Manila happened from 1565 to 1815. If this was brought to Las Filipinas via the galleon trade, the statue is at least 210 years old. I got 210 years by deducting 1815 from 2025 if the statue was made in 1815, at the latest. Considering the strong Catholic heritage and history of the Filipinos, keeping statues and santos at home has been a tradition for centuries. And some very precious statues are even made from ivory!

All my thoughts about the statue's origins are just conjectures: a statue of La Familia Sagrada that was discovered in a cave, was hidden in the mountains during the evacuation in 1942 when the Japanese Imperial Army arrived in Negros island during World War II, and was found by treasure hunters or scavengers in the later part of the 20th century, and sold to my mother in the 1970s.

How I wish I had access to a carbon-dating machine or to an antique expert to shed light on the mystery of my mother's La Familia Sagrada statue. 

I supposed there are stories that do not want to be retold.

Almost ten years ago, I sat inside the Basilica de Familia Sagrada in the Eixample district of Barcelona in Spain, after having walked for more than a kilometer finding it (read blog here). Though the Basilica was full of hundreds of tourists, I sat on a pew at the nave and became a pilgrim. I took out my holy rosary and prayed five mysteries.

I believe we do not need a basilica or a structure as grandiose as Antoni Gaudi's masterpiece in Barcelona to express our devotion the Holy Family, nor do we need to build a glittering altar dedicated to La Familia Sagrada. 

Here, on my mother's altar, sat a statue of the Holy Family, simply carved out of wood with some of its old brown paint chipped away by time but with their features clearly intact and firm, and all warmly clothed as if they were in Nazareth during the Roman times when Jesus was a boy.

Seemingly ordinary, the statue, chiseled and shaped by an artisan's hands whose name I will never know in an epoch I can only imagine, stares back at you with their eyes still expressing the solemnity of the symbolism what they represent to the Catholics, and to us as a family. 

I will never know how many homes had welcomed this La Familia Sagrada statue over the years (or centuries perhaps!) nor will I know how many altars have received it to be venerated. 

But it doesn't matter.

All we need to know is, as Catholics, we can always have our own family consecrated to the Holy Family for guidance, protection and intercession in our times of need. 🙏

#familiasagrada #holyfamily #statues #antiquestatues #Catholic #history #heirloom 

Shedding a Tear for a Shed

On January 27, 2025, I told the Sangguniang Panlungsod to prioritize building and improving the waiting sheds in Victorias. The waiting shed (left of the photo) next to the Mormon Church is in their direct line of sight when they stand on the stage at the public plaza during every Monday's flag ceremony.

During a downpour or when the sun is scorching the land, the workers, students, and other commuters who are travelling south try to squeeze into the shed for protection. This has been the situation at the waiting sheds located: (1) in front of the public plaza, (2) next to the City Health Department, (3)(4) at the opposite sides of 'Crossing Central'. I also suggested that waiting sheds be built at the Coliseum area.

Today, March 19, 2025, as the city officials of Victorias sit at their own waiting shed that was lavishly decorated with white, red and blue colors and that only took a day to build while awaiting a parade, a group of commuters huddle inside the waiting shed across them.

The picture showing the small waiting shed that has been neglected for the years and the shed built for the city officials where they comfortably sit and be shielded from the sun and rain will make you shake your head and question the city's priorities.😭

#waitingshed #publicservice #commuters #workers #publicservants

Pope Francis and My Letters to City Hall

 

As Pope Francis said, "A good Catholic meddles in politics offering the best of himself so that who govern can govern well."

So today, Ash Wednesday, I delivered an 11-page letter to the City Administrator of Victorias City to follow up on the things that I enumerated on my February 3, 2025 letter, and then to also raise some.😞

Sometimes, you need to remind the city officials to stay focused and not lose sight of what's important and what's being asked by the public they serve.😭

At times, I ask myself, "Why should I care?" I could have just gone along with my day where my biggest problem usually is: "What do I feel like having for merienda today? Or, should I have for lunch my lettuce-cucumber-tomato salad which I bathe with roasted sesame dressing and sprinkled with cheese and James Ham, then paired with Coke on ice?" (Yes, the latter is a question-slash-challenge because it takes me about ten minutes to prepare! And about 30 minutes to finish! Not to mention that by 3PM, I'd be starving again!)

But I do this because somebody has to speak up for the voiceless and for those who are afraid to speak up. (We are all aware that the word 'retaliation' is in most politicians' vocabulary).

And of course, I just love to write! Of the 11 pages, the five pages were just photographs, while the six were text that took me an afternoon to finish while sipping wintermelon milk tea with pearls.

Over the years, I must have written the various offices at City Hall a lot of letters, which should now be masterpieces in communication.

I have written letters to the Office of the Mayor, the Office of the Vice Mayor, the Sangguniang Panlungsod and a few councilors, the City Treasurer, the City Accountant, and the Committee on Anti-Red Tape! And those who are just local offices! I have to enumerate the national offices!

But here's the thing. We have to ask ourselves: where were you and what have you done when your fellow citizens needed you?

Well, I do not need to brag that I have joined volunteer groups in distributing relief goods way back in 2020 (read blog here) and during the floods of 2021. And for crying out loud, I have even organized my own community pantry in 2021 with the help of anonymous donors (read blog here) and a clean-up drive of the Malihaw River in 2022 (read blog here)! And I'm not even running for office!

I just hope that someday, when the future Victoriahanon judge us, the Victoriahanon of the present, they will be kind to us because we spoke up.

And when we finally stand in front of the Creator, we would have something to tell Him as to what we did with our time and what we did to help our brothers and sisters.

#popefrancis #goodgovernance #victoriascity #victoriaslgu #negrosoccidental #Philippines #DILG #publicservice #publicservants #concernedcitizens #civilsociety

Chicken Biryani, White Pasta, and The Freshest Ingredients @ Missy's Restaurant Herbs and Spices

(A weekend scene at the bulantihan in Victorias City)

In my Dongdaemun neighborhood in Seoul, I was lucky that the biggest fruit and vegetable market in northern Seoul was just five minutes from my apartment building. 

I always felt like a tourist when I walked around its interesting alleys. Not only could I buy the cheapest strawberries and bananas, which I turned into smoothies, their watermelons were sweet and seedless, too! How I always wanted to buy two watermelons every time but they were heavy! (Read blog here). 

I had to share my discoveries with my friends, so I toured them around the market and my neighborhood , and they shopped and enjoyed themselves as well. (Read blog here). 

And in my hometown of Victorias City, we also have a bulantihan, our own traditional market where you can find the cheapest variety of produce. This is where I usually go to buy papayas, bananas, and other fruits and vegetables (read blog here). 

It is always full of people during weekends when the vendors bring in produce from the north and south of the Negros island. This is why I patronize these vendors: to support the local farmers. This is what the Slow Food Movement also believes -- that food should be grown and bought locally (read blog here). 

And all these years of going to the bulantihan, I was able to write my story in an essay that won at the 2022 Doreen Gamboa Fernandez Food Writing Awards (read blog here). 

On Fermin Street in Barangay 5 of Victorias City, Negros Occidental, we found a restaurant where the owner uses ingredients that she grows herself.

One day, an hour before noon, we ventured into that part of the town to try the dishes of Missy's Restaurant Herbs and Spices whose menu includes Middle Eastern cuisine, pastas, fresh fruit juices, and vegetable dishes, and where ingredients used are grown at a farm in the highlands of Victorias City.

We tried her chicken biryani and white pasta, which were perfect to satisfy the curiosity of her customers -- curious as to what makes Missy's Restaurant Herbs and Spices unique and what sets it apart from other restaurants in Victorias City.

I, being a pasta-person, ordered White Pasta which was al dente and creamy, and herbs used were organic. I paired it with Purple Lemonade made from blue ternate and sweetened with pure honey from the highlands of Gawahon of Victorias City. 

Other than the White Pasta and Chicken Biryani, we also enjoyed the Fresh Vegetable with Croutons.😍

And to prove to the customers that Missy indeed grows her own herbs and spices, pots of young herbs sat on the tables, not only as displays, but could be picked and chewed on by curious customers like we did.

On our table was a pot of stevia rebaudiana, or commonly called stevia. It's also called candyleaf, sugarleaf, or sweetleaf because...it's sweet! It was my first time to chew on this leaf and was surprised it was indeed sweet!

                          (Purple Lemonade)

(The pot of stevia plant on our table)

A menu of healthy, yummy food and a variety of homegrown, organic herbs and spices -- these make Missy's Restaurant Herbs and Spices unique and a must-visit restaurant. For me, it's a must-return!😎

                                  * * * * *

This is the Facebook page of Missy's Restaurant Herbs and Spices:

https://www.facebook.com/Missykitchen01

#missystable #restaurant #middleeasternmenu #slowfood #slowfoodnegros #foodwriter

Victorias Milling Company History: Don Carlos L. Locsin, Doña Salud Montinola and Company

These two black-and-white photographs did not have any date or annotation. After examining, I realized that what was written at the back were the initials of the important people in the photographs: CMC, CLL, SM, MM, and DG. Opposite their initials was "1", which means the number of copies given to the people in the photograph.

After looking for answers, I was able to identify them:

CMC is Cornelio M. Consing

CLL is Carlos L. Locsin

SM is Salud Montinola

MM is Manuel Mendez

DG is Daniel Gustilo

The location was the golf club house of the Victorias Milling Company (VMC), and although there was no date, I assume this was in the 1960s.

Don Carlos L. Locsin was the chairman emeritus of VMC, while Mr. Mendez was its president.

The other three, Doña Salud Montinola, Mr. Consing, and Mr. Gustilo were hacienderos, who milled their sugarcane with VMC, which was the biggest sugar central at that time. (Read VMC history here). 

Doña Salud Montinola, who was the one managing the haciendas of her family, gained the respect of the sugar industry because Hacienda Dapdap, one of their haciendas, was named was one of the best producing haciendas in Negros island. (Read Chapter 24 here).

It would have been easy for me to conclude that this was a big business meeting. After all, the attendees were VMC officials and planters. But after examining the photograph where you could see Don Carlos and Doña Salud standing, at the end, you can see nuns seated at the table. I wondered if they were the Maryknoll Sisters who were managing Saint Joseph's Hospital in Manapla, and this was a meeting about the Hospital, or, if you can conclude further, the five were members of the board of trustees of the Hospital.

And if they were members of the board, why does it look like Doña Salud had an important role? She was a pharmacist, a graduate of the University of Santo Tomas in 1920, and was the 'Presidente de Centro de Puericultura de Victorias' in 1930. Yes, she was the president of the puericulture center of Victorias.

If indeed they were members of the board of trustees, it would have been interesting to listen to them as they discussed and made decisions that would affect the lives and welfare of the doctors, nurses, and the workers of the Hospital, and of course, of the patients as well.

As I have always said that black-and-white photographs tell the most colorful of stories as long as you know where and how to dig for those stories.

By the way, in 1931, it was Don Carlos L. Locsin who initiated the organization of the Philippine Association of Sugar Technologies in Bacolod and was elected its first ever president. This association was the forerunner of the Philippine Sugar Technologies Association of PHILSUTECH. An award was named in his honor; the award is given to a person who has outstanding contribution to the sugar industry.😋 

#VMC #victoriasmillingcompany #victoriaslgu #VictoriasCity #NegrosOcc #Philippines #history #historymatters #historian #sugar #sugarindustry #MaryKnoll #MaryknollSisters #PHILSUTECH

Once a Binibini, Always a Binibini: Aida Margarita Gaerlan - Tomassini

Six months ago, I watched the introduction of the 2024 Binibining Pilipinas (video below) when I noticed a familiar face in a photo they used in the video. I screenshotted that part and scrutinized it. It was Margarita!😆  

                               

Our dear 'Margarita' was Aida Gaerlan, a contestant at the 1964 Binibining Pilipinas, representing Baguio City. That was the first ever Binibining Pilipinas beauty pageant. It was won by Ms. Myrna Panlilio Borromeo. Margarita told me she was named Miss Luzon. 

And thanks to Ms. Irene of the Binibining Pilipinas Charities for sharing with me a digital copy of that year's souvenir memorabilia (above), we have the photographs of the beautiful contestants of 1964.

According to the video, the original coronation night was July 3, 1964, but a very strong Typhoon Dading  caused damages in Manila and Central Luzon that day and pushed the coronation night to July 5, 1964, a Sunday. I highlighted in pink Margarita's photograph below.  

I met Margarita and her husband, Maurizio, here in Seoul, Korea, and were the among the most wonderful, thoughtful and caring couples I have known. With our other dear friends in Seoul, we were one big family! After Maurizio retired in 2010, they went back home to Rome and invited me to visit them. I did and I stayed at their home in the quiet Monte Sacro neighborhood, which was a bus and a tram away from the Vatican City. 

During our parties and get-togethers in Seoul, I was always the one taking photographs, and Margarita was the best in posing! I guess, once a binibini, always a binibini!

Sadly, our dear Margarita passed years ago, but today, December 22, her family and friends remember her on her birthday. 🙏

Happy birthday in Heaven, our dearest Margarita!💗

(Binibining Pilipinas 1964 Miss Luzon - 

Aida Margarita Gaerlan-Tomassini)

#binibiningpilipinas #missphilippines

A Pinoy @ The Movies: CONCLAVE

Being a Catholic, I am always fascinated by what goes on inside the Vatican City. The movie Angels and Demons gave us a glimpse into what transpires when a pope dies, but that movie was about conspiracy and murder. Conclave, on the other hand, is about the politics within the College of Cardinals, a group of the most senior priests in the Roman Catholic Church that will elect a pope among themselves.

Starting with a death of a pope, Conclave brings to life brilliant writing delivered by brilliant actors. The movie runs during sede vacante, Latin for 'the chair is empty. It is the time between the death of a pope and the election of a new one, and the election is called a conclave, which was derived from Latin 'con', meaning with, and 'clavis', meaning, key. Translated, it means 'a locked room' because the cardinals are locked inside the Sistine Chapel until they elect a pope (of course, they get to eat and go back to sleep at their quarters to rest at the end of the day (read blog here).

Ralph Fiennes, as the dean of the College, was more like an investigator than a Comelec commissioner. He had to organize an election that would elect the leader of 1.3 billion Catholics but had to ensure that the one they would elect was the right one. 

Although at first, it was weird watching Stanley Tucci as a cardinal with a zucchetto (red cap) covering his bald head, he transformed himself from Runway Magazine's artistic director (in The Devil Wears Prada) to Cardinal Aldo Bellini, an American cardinal who allied with Ralph Fiennes' character. 

John Lithgow, also playing a cardinal, is as brilliant in drama as he is in comedy (his 3rd Rock from the Sun character gave him three Emmy awards!). When Lithgow shows up on screen, he always makes you feel his presence even in a crowd, or in this case, even if it is a room full of cardinals. When he delivers his lines, he makes you feel he has an agenda, one that you, at times, are not prepared to handle.

The beautiful Isabella Rossellini, playing Sister Agnes, holds her own against the cardinals, even though she is relegated to being a head housekeeper of sorts of Domus Sanctae Marthae, the building that serves as a hotel for cardinals where they were sequestered during the conclave. This building is where Pope Francis now lives, choosing to stay away from the papal apartments.

The scenes of the conclave inside the Sistine Chapel should be a treat for any Catholic who dreams of visiting the Vatican and Saint Peter's Basilica one day. Those scenes brought back memories for me when, years ago, I took the tour of the Musei Vaticani that included a stop inside the Sistine Chapel where I spent an hour looking up the paintings of Michaelangelo and praying the rosary while seated on a bench. That day, I also realized the spot where I sat could have seated a cardinal who eventually became pope (read blog here).

Conclave shows us that, even how virtuous cardinals, bishops, or priests may look from where we stand, they are also men, ㅡ humans ㅡ who are also vulnerable to temptation and greed.

There is a scene shot from above showing the cardinals moving forward and carrying white umbrellas. This was a visual spectacle for the audience: the whole screen, TV screen in my case, filled with moving humans immaculately dressed and covering their heads with umbrellas as if shielding themselves from difficulties and challenges but still walking slowly yet forward to whatever lies ahead. 

You have to watch Conclave to let yourself ponder that the leaders of the Church are imperfect and they try to lead through His teachings, and that, as times change, those who lead do, too, making decisions that are required by the changing times.

There are very good lines delivered in the movie, and words like "Judas" and "traitor" were hurled at a cardinal. But there is one quote that really stood out, one that practically sums up our Church:

"Our faith is a living thing precisely because it walks hand-in-hand with doubt. If there was only certainty and no doubt, there would be no mystery. And therefore no need for faith. Let us pray that God will grand us a Pope who doubts. And let him grant us a Pope who sins and asks for forgiveness and who carries on."

#conclave #conclavemovie #vatican #movies #moviereview #ralphfiennes #stanleytucci #johnlithgow #isabellarossellini