An Patrun sa Calbayog

Hi there! We are 3 days way to the City Fiesta. On Thursday Calbayognons will once again thank the Almighty through Nuestra Señora De La Natividad for the graces He has always bestowed upon Calbayog. The day’s main activity is Pontifical Mass at the Sts. Peter and Paul Cathedral. Bishop Isabelo Abarquez will preside over the said celebration. Leading the Calbayog faithful are this year’s hermanas mayores namely, Thelma Diomangay – Manaog, Delia Corrales – Diomangay, Tomasa Corsiga - Antivo and Sheila So Seng - Montagot.

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Fiesta Events performers to go onstage at the Nijaga Park:

• September 5: Joey Ayala at Ang Bagong Lumad.
• September 6: it’s going to be a night for dance enthusiasts with the group called Dance Aficionados.
• On September 7: the Pinoy rock band Asin

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I first did this in 2008 and I’m doing it again in today’s column. I would like to feature an old account, a very old account - 1912 to be exact – of the fiesta celebration in Calbayog. I got this from the September 1912 issue of the Eco de Samar y Leyte. It was written by someone who called himself “namatron”.

The account also mentioned the name of one Señora Trinidad Camilon. If one is to check the list of the hermanas pasadas in the Calbayog Fiesta souvenir programs, that name is the first entry in the said list. The copy I got was not a clear one and that explains the blanks in this feature.

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Here’s that article entitled “An Patrun sa Calbayog”

“Masadya, maribhung, malinao an cadagatan, mahayag an langit, mapaua an adlao sama san daguay sin usa nga Angel, amo _______ san ca-adlauan sadto san mahal nga Patrona dinhe sa Calbayog nga guinsalinorog sadton 8 sini nga bulan. Ngatanan mga binohat dao nabuñog san cahayag ni Maria Santissima dida san adlao san iya pagcatauo. Tubtob san ante vispera, nag ticang an pag-abut san magcalainlain nga domoro-ong, labi na an Cat_____on. San mga balay, mga cadalanan nacarahibut an tauo guican sa magkalain-lain nga dapit. San visperas san aga, nag suot na an tauo dinhi sa ciudad nga tungod san cadamo, macuri magpaca-agui an mga caleza. San pag a las doce catapos pagpahibaro san linganay sa Catedral san mahal nga Patron. Pagcabuas an mga musico san Parroquia ug sa Ipao nag libot san bungto. Ug san pagcaculop, nag canta san visperas an _____ nga cura san Catedral R. P. Jose Diaznes. Pag ca aga _______, san may mga a las 4 nag Diana an mga musico nga _______ san pagtauagtauag sa Catedral, sin usa cadali napuno san maniringba san siapa nga misa san Señora nga may mga lima nga mga babayi lalaqui bata tigurang nga dinara-on sa pag _____ san mahal nga lauas ni Jesucrisdto. Ug hasta san a las 7 nga eguin repique sa misa Mayor, waray pahuway an tauo nga maniringba san damo nga capadian nga nagmisa. San mga a las 8 amo an eguin ticang san misa cantada nga dinoyogan san ma ranog nga Organo, sa Catedral paroc san Señor Obispo. An misa nga guin canta an guin ngangaranan Pedro de las Heras, an masabut ug bantugan nga organista si Sr. Malaquias Nonato, Professor san musica sa Seminario eguin paquita an iya quina-adman dida san pag doyog niya san organo, cay pacasiring namon dao nahimomotang cami sin Paraiso san pagbati namon sadto nga mga awit. An nagcanta amo an mga capadian sa Seminario nga alagad san ira cabatiran ug maluay nga tingog inabutan an mga maniringba sin cahinoclob. An nag misa an Cura san Catedral linoyoloyohan san mga ministros nga si D. Ignacio Arganda, Diacono ug si D. Ramon Codilla Subd. Catapos san Evangelio nag wali si P. Conrado Maga, Coadjutor sa Catedral.”

“An Señora opod an mga magtoto-on sa Seminario ug mga Seminarista, nag tambong didto san iya trono. Sugadman an mga Colegialas opod an mga Madres naray caculang. Catapos san misa, nagsugod na liwat an aringasa ngan ribhong, cay an mga estudiantes sa Colegio sa San Vicente nga guican sa Singbahan vinistihan sin mga cadete, nag ejercicio ug nag parada sira sa cadalanan nga nacalingao san mga tauo. Pagcacolop may mga a las 3 pinangolohan san Presidente Sr. Malaquias Nonato, nag tiroc an mga sacop san Sociedad Milagrosa ug nag buhat sin rumba, carrera de bicecleta, juego de anillos y Cintas canan bag-ong tubo mga hatag hasta magcalainlain nga premio. San pagca a las 5 guin himua an macaserendac nga Procesion nga inopdan ni P. Bonifacio Villora Cura sa Oquendo, linoloyohan san mga Seminaristas inopod man an Señora nga guin lilibutan san mga capadian. An carro matahum caupay, mapaua, tacos ug angay nga nahimomotangan sen mahal nga Patrona, halad san ma-abiabihon nga Hermana Mayor si Sra. Trinidad Camilon. An ira balay pono pono sin tauo ticang pa san tinicangan san novena nga guin solemne sa ira. Diri hicalimtan an camapuanguron san mga anac, labi na si Sra. Lolay ug si Loling nga uaray hingan san cahago, paglipay san ira mga dapit.”

“Sa tuig tuig ngatanan quinita nga an pagto-o sini nga bungto ug an ira pag alagad sa Dios nag titidogang la lugod, bisan con guin tatalingoha san iba an pag parong condao calayo, cay an ira an pag contra sa Dios ug pag supil san mga mahi___lo nga pamatasan, cay basi matumanan san ira mga maraut nga guinaui-an ug hunahuna, condi sa Dios uaray magtatamay, may adlao san pag panodia, cay polong pa nga an tinonto mo, intoy, sa lauas mo o-oli.” (namatron)

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This is it for now. Have a nice week everyone! Ciao!

Death of a Bishop

(This column appears in today's edition of the Leyte-Samar Daily Express)

Hi there! It’s another weekend and we are less than a week away to the City Fiesta. I have decided that my usual acerbic comments about the world around me will have to wait until after the fiesta. In the meantime it will be about some fiesta events.

The novena masses have started, the City Hall has been given a facelift and some of you might have seen the mayor in the streets of Calbayog as he made rounds to check and ensure that the city (especially at the commercial area) is clean.

Tomorrow night Calbayog will be in for the annual Search for Miss Anyag. This will be held at the Calbayog City Sports Center. Confirmed as judges in the said pageant are Congresswoman Lucy Torres and Richard Gomez.

On Sunday, Bishop Isabelo Abarquez will preside over the confirmation ceremony of a good number of young Calbayognons the Sts. Peter and Paul Cathedral.

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And what’s with today’s title? You might want to ask. Nope, no bishop died today. Last August 10, 2011 we commemorated the 91st anniversary of the death Bishop Pablo Singzon, the first Bishop of Calbayog.

The following item was supposed to have come out in the August 12 edition of this paper. But I did not make it to the deadline. This is my annual tribute to the first bishop of the Diocese of Calbayog. Blame it on the history buff in me and my interest in materials that are old, in this case a very old material dating back to August 14, 1920. It’s among the copies of the Eco de Samar y Leyte which I got sometime in 2008, as our team prepared for the Calbayog coffee table book.

That particular issue on August 14, 1920 had in its English section this headline: “Mgr. Pablo Singzon, first Bishop of Calbayog died last Tuesday morning”. Let me give you that old account which was written by someone who went by the name of “PLOPE”.

“It was a melancholic and sorrowful Monday at about six o’clock when our Illustrious Prelate Mgr. Pablo Singzon in the modest parlor of the Episcopal palace was attended by his familiars among whom was Dr. Tomas Gomez. His weary respiration and the paleness of his face moved the hearts of those who were present and caused them a painful feeling of separation. The pain of his sickness was becoming more and more painful which called him to stay in bed.

At 10:00 o’clock p.m. when Mgr. Singzon found out that he did not feel a better repose nor even a rest from the pain of his sickness in his bed, wanted to sit on a chair – the chair where he received the spiritual consolations last November when he was attacked severely by the same sickness. In this chair he decided to die. Tears that roll from my eyes prevent not my pen to communicate my pain!

When the clock knocked its eleven strikes Mgr. Singzon was becoming weaker and weaker. From the neck of our illustrious patient hanged a bead of rosary, the Escapulary of the Third Order of Saint Francis and the Miraculous Medal. Around him were his favorite Auxiliary Bishop Mgr. Sofronio Hacbang, RR. FF. Jose Diasnes, Teodoro Robredo, Luis Egeda, Dr. Tomas Gomez, RR. FF. Pedro Pampliega, Santos Saldaña, the Seminarians Bernardo Bacsal, Lesmes Ricalde, and behind the chair were RR. FF. Felix Sabenicio and Crispin Singzon. It was indeed a sorrowful occasion! All those who were present observed firmly to the patient and watched his movements whose weary and painful respiration cooled their hearts. Mgr. Singzon was not as active as he used to be: his activity, attention and application were changed: Mgr. Singzon was transformed struggling between the existence of life and death.

Mgr. Sofronio Hacbang his Auxiliary Bishop and who had never left him read the profession of the faith, the recommendation of the soul; whose voice in the midst of that tranquility and in the midst of that struggling pain called his attention to listen. Rev. F. Jose Diasnes neared to the patient by order of the Auxiliary Bishop to give him a confession. How great and how sublime is to die in the name of the Catholic Religion, though in the midst of pain.

The illustrious patient was losing gradually his movements the coolness of his body began to cover him with its veil, his paleness was becoming more and more pale. Then all those who were present knelt down with lighted candles before a crucifix near the patient and said the following words: “PROFESU ERE ANIMA CRISTIANA”

Mgr. Singzon gave up his last breath in the morning of the sorrowful Tuesday when the clock knocked its 3:20 strikes” (PLOPE)

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In memoriam. Tomorrow we remember Bishop Sincero Lucero on his death anniversary.

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This is it for now. Have a nice weekend everyone! Ciao!