By:Telly G. Ocampo
The season of an-an, pajo, sineguelas and tambis
I remember that the season of many fruits falls on the months of April, May and June. I remember that when we were young, we used to wander around the nearby hills of our cementeryo in my hometown in Baclayon. I remember that, then, we treasured our time looking for an-an, the wild black berries. As we gathered these fruits, we would climb the trees bringing along an empty bottle of Tanduay or Añejo. Mao ni among gitawag ug lapad. We would tie these bottles to our waist and made these very handy containers of our harvested an-an.
Ahhh, what a beautiful childhood to remember! What a beautiful summer to remember!
And we were in groups in picking fruits from the trees. We were not afraid to get lost in the wilderness of our innocent joys. That’s what we always did during the summer season. We were not afraid of the sun and the rough roads. Pero diha gyud miy gikahadlokan, kadtong gitawag nila ug tirong. Whether the tirong was true or not, we were just scared of its name and of our imagination of its shape and ugly face. Yes, they existed only in our imagination. Kay wala man gyu’y nakakita bisag usa namo sa dagway sa tirong.
And there was this fruit called lomboy, Ang pagbaligya sa lomboy sa merkad kaniadto, dili pinaagi sa kilo ug dili usab tinapok. This was sold in a conainer called salmon – not the small can of salmon but the bigger one with the Hakone or Hokaido brand. Remember? Tag beinte kada Caltex was the standard price. Kutob ra mi sa sinalmon kay kadtong kinaltex tag beinte na man. At that time, our baon was only five centavos. It seemed as though we won the sweepstakes lottery if we had twenty centavos in our pockets.
I also remember that our mga suki nga magsuroy ug tinda sa lomboy kaniadto were from Albur and Loay. I don’t know why there’s no more lomboy in our town. Naa hinoon miy bugnay. Your grandmothers should know what bugnay is.
Last Sunday, we went around Panglao – the sineguelas and pajo country. We never found a single fruit of those kinds. Before, during the Agora days (along CPG avenue), daghang sineguelas ug pajo maglaray sa kilid sa kalsada. The sineguelas were sold via the Caltex container, while pajo were sold per tapok. Walay kinilo kaniadto. Surprisingly, children nowadays do not show excitement looking for sineguelas or pajo. They don’t have the eagerness to look at what’s sold on the sidewalk because they want to go to the malls. They don’t want to climb trees because their ascent is through the mobile phone. For them, everything could be found in the malls and in their phones. They don’t realize that the “joy of the experience” is the essence of fun.
Anyway, as we went around Panglao, we could count by our fingers the mango trees that used to be in abundance during our time. Sineguelas trees used to stand firm everywhere; but not anymore today. What we saw, taking over the place of the pajo trees and the sineguelas trees, are resorts, tall buildings and big houses. Seldom did we see ancestral homes defining the town and the stories of families who dwell on such abodes. But the Cloribel residence is still there. I’m always happy to see the Cloribel house still standing majestic in one area. It is still surrounded with chicos and other fruit trees. Nostalgia slowly crept into my heart as I passed by the Cloribel compound because Pilar Cloribel and I were classmates in high school. The Cloribel sisters were all internas at the then St. Joseph College, my alma mater. I remember that every Friday afternoon, they would be fetched from school by their driver and go back early Monday morning in time for the flag ceremony. Only very few students, during my time, were brought to school using a car, and the Cloribel sisters were few of the fortunate ones.
I also remember the tinuhog nga tambis. Tagsingko sentavos ra ang tuhog sa tambis. Seeing these in Panglao that Sunday during our visit, made me happy.
So, these fruits are still growing today in our province. I hope these will not become extinct.
Again, after the rain, I say and I urge everybody to plant as we go back to the hills of our youth. Let’s plant trees that are indigenous to our soil and let the birds scatter the seeds of the an-an, pajo, tambis, sineguelas and all others. Let the birds eat the fruits so the seeds come out. Let seeds spread like wild fire so they grow into plants and big trees. Let the earth be filled with big trees again.
God is slowly giving us back the rain. It’s our time give back to Mother Earth what’s due her. We have to love and protect Mother Earth. After all, it’s the only place we have!
