Photo from Way Back

Found this picture from one of those Nadja was scanning.  This is vintage 1960's I guess.

My parents, Manuel Ginete (left) and Maria Futalan (center), pictured here obviously in a party or gathering at some place in Bicol.  My father, Manuel, was a very active social leader - he was a campaign manager, member of farmers' associations, adviser in the barangay in Gate and caretaker of the pieces of land bequeathed by his parents, Tiburcio Ginete and Tomasa Gueta, to their seven offspring.  Being the eldest son, he was a natural leader.  People in Gate would always consult him on many matters and he would always have time for sessions like this.  Despite his reaching only 3rd year high school, my father was wise in many ways.

My other, Maria, on the hand, was the supportive wife.  She was the home organizer.  When we were younger, she would normally be the one who would cook for all of us.  As soon as we grew old enough for some tasks, she would delegate.  But there is one thing she did not give up until the time she couldn't physically do it:  do the laundry.  She was so  keen on how white shirts and dresses should be:  spotless white.  She would normally soak these clothes twice (kula, in Tagalog) so that they would be very white.  Even colored clothes were not spared of this penchant for kula.  Mamay was also the dessert whiz:  every special occasion she would cook desserts like dulce na silot, arnibal na pili, dulce na pina, molido, etc.  Even her coconut jam is legendary:  bits of pili floating in right mixture of panocha and coco milk.  The viscosity is perfect that it does not turn sugary nor stiff when put in the ref.

I recall hearing Papay tell their story as husband and wife in the 1939 - 1940 period just when WWII was about to break out.  Papay was a tailor, something he also taught Mamay to do.  Together in our old house, they would accept tailoring jobs (I still recall their brand name:  Manly's).  And while Papay was busy tailoring, Mamay was making some native goodies (suman sa ibos, sinapot, etc.) just to help make ends meet.  When war broke out, all the brood of Tiburcio Ginete went as one family into Loyo, the piece of land my grandfather owned.  This was just across the river in our place in Gate yet it provided sanctuary during the war.

In 1972, both my parents faced one of their toughest times.  One of my brothers, Pancho, was in the militant organizations and when martial law was declared, he was imprisoned.  Papay looked for him in the different detention centers in Sorsogon and finally he found Pancho in Camp Vicente Lim in Laguna.  All throughout those months, we were witness on how our parents used all means to be able to find a missing son.  Not a week passed that we did visit Pancho in Laguna and later on in Bicutan.  It was always something that both my parents had to do for their son.

While we were young, my parents would also make sure we go to Sunday Masses in Bulan.  There was no Sunday Mass in Gate except I think on the 3rd Sunday so for the other Sundays we would normally go to Bulan.  We would wake up very early and make sure we dress our Sunday best.  After Mass is a real treat:  we would have our breakfast in May Celing's canteen.  May Celing is the wife of my mother's elder brother.  Her small cafeteria would have goodies such as binot-ong, suman, ibos, etc.  In case you're not familiar with binot-ong, this is malagkit rice cooked in coco milked and wrapped in banana leaves.

In their more than 60 years of married life, my parents tried their best to raise all nine children in the way they see fit:  having fear of God, being kind to people, valuing education, and most of all taking care of the family's reputation.  We may falter in some at one point or the other, but I guess these stay with us all our lives.