By: Telly Gonzaga-Ocampo
Remembering the landmarks of my youth
Last week a friend called me. Naluoy kuno siya sa usa ka rider kay nagbalikbalik pangutana ug asa ang Landican. Ang delivery boy rider na ang ngalan karon. And this one rider delivery boy was bringing a gernalda – ang buwak para sa patay. Gernalda man gud ang tawag ana sa among henerasyon. Iya kunong ihatud ang maong gernalda sa Landican.
In my youth Landican was better described as the place surrounding the chapel of Triumfo. The road going to the mountain at the back of the merkado leads to the road uphill until you are near Kahoy Daku. Makalibog bitaw ang Landican as a barangay. Going up that road, as you make a turn, is already Landican San Vicente. And going to the cemetery, straight uphill is still Landican. That’s on the left side. But on the right side of the road is Landican San Roque.
Baclayon now is becoming a little metropolis. There are now many residents there who are new to the place and whose family members are not from Baclayon. Ang mga tominongnong sa Baclayon mao ang mga Ayaay, Batoy, Iyog, Caballo, Mahinay, Paman, Revil, Real, Oppus, Realista, Alas, Taladua, Gatal, Pancito, Ahat, Andoy ug uban pa.
Going back to the motorcycle rider, it would have been better if the customer and sender of any item would specify the exact address so these messengers would not have any difficulty as they “tour” the place of destination. Are we aware of our landmarks? In my case when I’m in Taguihon, my landmark is “just across Aproniana” with the tugas and the blue gate.
The landmarks of my youth are the barrios where I frequently went to. One was Campatok ibabao sa Taguihon where we used to gather some ubi. I think Campatok is now part of Libertad. Another one is Cambuwang – the place where we would pick an an, the black berries. At times we gathered firewood as we reached Baliaut, another landmark. Sungogon mi nga ug magdala na mi ug kahoy kay maghimo kuno mi ug sag sa uwak. Mag-uban ming mga neighborhood children nga moadto sa lagkaw ni Iyo Mundo. Then there was Canggawa – a place where you would see the bougainvilleas. The women there are known for their production of nigo, sarok ug princess. Canggawa is now called Tanday, Baclayon.
For dry picnics and lamaw we went to Laya. Its white beach reaches to Bahi which is already part of Albur. But the white beach is gone. Wala nay malamaw ug wala nay mga lubi. Its land area is filled with houses of different architecture. The character of the place is gone.
Cambanac is another landmark – a barangay that used to be the ubi capital of Baclayon. That’s where we would go to get our share of the panglin aboard the ford fiera. Today, the land is still there but the ubi is gone. Ang nagbantay sa yuta ug nagtanum sa ubi are all gone. The younger generation is no longer interested to till the land. Tunga, another landmark, is now Juan San Buenaventura, a mountain barangay adjacent to a barrio in Albur. My mother’s family went there during the war aron mobakwit. And they went farther to Calunasan, Loboc, where our eldest sister, Aurora, was born. All I could remember were the hanlilika brought to us every December after the bakwit season when my parents returned home. Hanlilika is like a Christmas cactus. We used to blow the petals of the flowers and we enjoyed doing it until our lips would protrude out of the pressure we exerted as we blew the petals. As the old woman from Tunga would come to the Karaang Balay to bring the hanlilika, she would go back to her house with all the mga tinubuan from Lola Danday. A strong bond is etched in their hearts kay didto silang mama mobakwit panahon sa guerra.
Eskyurnem – is a landmark located at the eskina in Taguihon when one would go to Campatok. Ug mosakay ka ug thames mohunong ka sa Taguihon padulong sa Campatoc. The landmark now is called eskina ka Mimoy. Naalisdan na pud ang ngalan because there’s already a Caltex station across the street. Adto na pud na sa eskina ka mimoy atbang sa Caltex.
I’m hoping old names of places must be taught in our schools. I’m wondering what kind of landmarks are developed in the minds of the present generation.
I miss the landmarks of my youth,
Map of Municipality of Baclayon