“Ang hindi marunong lumingon sa kanyang pinanggagalingan ay hindi makararating sa kanyang paruruunan”. (If one doesn’t look back at where he came from, he won’t make it to his destination.)
– Jose Rizal
It’s a strange adage, Jose. I never really took it seriously but from your point of view, it looks like I’m headed towards the right direction.
Despite several Agrarian Reforms, there is still so much land in the province from both our parents and grandparents. I remember back in college, one my best friends, Caloy Campos, told me that his lola (grandmother), the former First Lady of the Philippines, Leonila Garcia, recounted memories of our family. She said that the Moores were one of the most well-landed families in Samar. It may have meant something to the old folks and to the locals (even till now) but I guess we never really did care for it.
For one, we didn’t grow up in the province. Papa and Mama moved to Manila in the 60s’ to start a life here with their children. Samar was a destination, memories of which were limited to childhood summers with our grandparents. Admittedly, those were the times when we were able to grow up with and know more about our other cousins. Deaths in the family would also bring us home. I remember that funeral marches of Daddy and Mommy and vaguely Papa, were of epic proportions. Kilometer long black queues, the singing, the wailing. The whole province practically went on mourning. It was those memories that made me realize that the town cared so much for our family and yet, we really didn’t care much for the town.
