The Photographers in Town

Before the war there were three photo studios in San Narciso. Lola Pinay patronized two of them, the Dimalanta Studio and the Minora Studio. Most, if not all, of these pictures are from them. Mr. Minora was Japanese and this was before the war. Since she was just a kid mom doesn’t know how he came to town, but he was well established and had been there as long as she could remember. He was an older gentleman, perhaps in his late forties at this time, single and with no kids, and spoke Ilocano with his Japanese accent. What she does remember is that Mr. Minora would bury one centavo coins around one of the coconut trees in his property. Whenever the kidz in the ‘hood would find Minora-san away from his house, they would dig up these coins. Mom doesn’t know why he did that.

When WWII broke out the occupying Japanese took Minora-san and he was never heard of again. I’d like to know whatever happened to him, if any of you out there know. A good guess is he was held as an interpreter and to gather information. I just finished the book Illustrado (winner of the Man Asia Prize) by Miguel Syjuco, a Filipino writer, and there’s a story about the protagonist’s family’s Japanese gardener, Yataro, who had been with them since before the war. When the war broke out, he turned out to be a spy and became a leader of the local occupying forces. He did, however, save the family from atrocities. Having just read the book maybe that’s why I’m curious about whatever happened to Minora-san.

Dolls arrived from Lolo Satur in America. Auntie Luz had Elizabeth, a rag doll, and mom had Shirley Temple, made of porcelain whose eyes could open and close. The tree next to Auntie Luz looks like a balimbing, although mom insists what they had in the backyard were chico and kamias. Maybe someone can identify the tree.

Lolo Satur and Lola Pinay

Here’s a picture of my mom’s parents, Saturnino Fontecha Farrales and Josefina Labrador Firme. Gorgeous picture right after their wedding, isn’t it? This was taken in 1929 in Manila at Sun Studios. Note the 1920s style flapper dress – straight, loose, bare arms, and indicative of the new woman of that age. The white stockings and bright necklace are classic for the roaring twenties. Lola Pinay was a modern woman, having graduated nursing from the University of the Philippines during the early years soon after the program started. Lolo Satur, then in the U.S. Navy, was home on shore leave. I find it unsettling to see him so young and with a perfect set of two eyes – I’ve always remembered him having one glass eye that he would remove to wash in the sink every morning. Here she was twenty-five years old and he maybe three years older.

Navy men weren’t exactly in the highest echelons of society even in small town San Narciso because they didn’t go to college. This despite the steady income.

The story is that lolo was home for shore leave and staying in Manila with some Farrales relatives. Inang (although that’s mother for Ilocano, that’s what we grandkids called her) was staying in the same compound because she was related to the in-laws (Madarang). She already finished nursing and was working. It was raining that day when lolo offered to pick up inang from work using a karitela (single horse-drawn carriage with two wheels). She was surprised. Because of the rain the driver put up a partition between him and the passengers to cover them, and lolo promptly… kissed her. Nadadael ti dayaw (ruined virtue), so they had to get married.

Fast forward one year and mom appears, then five years later Auntie Luz appears, the time difference between them a function of the shore leave interval. Uncle Jovelo appeared twelve years later because of the war.

So there you have it, brothers, sisters, cousins, kids, nieces and nephews – you’re all here because of someone’s ruined virtue!

From Sea to Shining Sea

Hello everybody. This blog is about the book that my mother just published where she tells of her experiences growing up in the Zambales, Philippines starting before WWII up to the present time in California where she is now. Growing up I was always fascinated by her and my dad’s stories when they were kids in San Narciso, especially the ones during the war and Japanese occupation. With the help of many she finally has these stories in a self-published book. Here’s the blurb from the back cover.

MINDA FARRALES BELLO was born in San Narciso, Zambales, a rural coastal town in the Philippines. Her book recounts stories of growing up as a child in an idyllic setting, going through her early teenage years during the war, recalling the ultimate sacrifice of a guerrilla town mate, and meeting a then unknown Filipino war hero who went on to occupy center stage in Philippine government in later years. While living in fear she found humor during the Japanese occupation and thrilled at welcoming the Americans who arrived by ship along Zambales shores during the U.S. liberation. A small town girl, she moved to the big city of Manila for her college education where she met new friends and developed relationships. She married a long time friend with whom she has five children. Her family moved to the U.S. following the declaration of martial law in the Philippines and wrote of life as an immigrant and how she survived difficulties and challenges that came her way.

This collection of stories explores the rich and colorful life experiences from one shining shore in the Philippines to another in America.

This blog is a supplemental to the book where I will post other pictures not included in the book and perhaps provide more details. Gov, the editor, didn’t want the book to have the feel of a photo album, but mom wanted to have more pictures. More pictures! More pictures! Why can’t it be like Clinton’s autobiography where he put pictures from every stage of his life? And so the book is the negotiated result. The good thing is that I will now be able to post the pictures.

This blog will also be a forum for you to comment. Of course your comments would be more relevant if you’ve actually read the book – order your copy now! Here’s your chance to argue or disagree or add details to the stories. I urge you to share pictures (if you can; I'm still learning the details of blogging).

First things first – the book would never have been done without the labor of love, as he described it himself, of Gov Labrador. Mom recorded the stories and Gov painstakingly edited and put them to paper. He and spouse Jackie and son Carlo all took part in the task. Gov is the family historian especially on matters Labrador, so if you’re dying to get verification on facts, rumors, tsismis, ask him. You might be surprised to find that delectable, juicy stories that make good for telling around with that San Miguel in hand aren’t true at all. But back to the book. Thanks and appreciation are due to him and his team.

The front cover is a picture when she was 15 or 16, post WWII when Americans were still hanging around the country. They had jeeps and trucks, perfect for decorating for use in the town fiesta as a float. Must’ve been a generous officer to let the locals have use of military vehicles. The unidentified soldier was the driver of the truck. Mom was one of the princesses of the royal court in the town fiesta and the driver got to meet all of the young ladies. He also drove them around town taking pictures and this one he gave to mom. Looking back she thinks he was just interested in the young locals. I wasn’t there so I don’t know.

More later. To order the book, send me an email.