By: Telly Gonzaga-Ocampo
Pago Destino
I’m just wondering if there is still this mode of transportation called PAGO DESTINO. This means, the passenger will pay his fare as soon as he arrives at his destination. This was the practice before. Kaniadto mahimo ka mosakay ug barko labi na ug padulong ka sa Manila ug sa Mindanao. Unya adto kana mubayad sa imong plete inig abot nimo sa imong destinasyon.
And we took the slow boat – as in S L O W boat. Just imagine, travelling to Manila from Cebu took us 3 nights and 2 days, as far as I can remember. So if you took the boat on a PAGO DESTINO style, you didn’t have to pay for your ticket in advance. Moadto lang ka sa barko ug mopili lang ka sa imong teheras. Unya mohangyo ka nga PAGO DESTINO. Sayon ra gyud ang paghangyo sa PAGO DESTINO kaniadto.
Now, in the modern times, is there still such a thing as PAGO DESTINO?
At present, travel is done by air, land and sea. Sea travel is no longer using the steamship. Kanang steamship makita nimo nga ga-as-aso ang panghaw sa barko. What was good then was the fact that the teheras were not the double-deck type. When I was a college student in Cebu, our sea fare was only P2.50 and we always took the Sweet Lines ships. Why? Wala may lain.
At that time, too, air transportation was dominated by PAL (Philippine Air Lines) and Filipinas Air Ways from Cebu to Tagbilaran and back. Mahalmahal gyud ang plete sa PAL kay tag P4.50 man kada byahe kung itandi nimo sa Filipanias Air Ways. But the price difference was worth it because ice cream was served on board during the 15-minute trip to Cebu.
Traveling by air then, had its own demands. You really had to appear smart, prim and proper. In fact, there were ladies who wore their high-heeled shoes as they took the plane. At that time, airport in Cebu was still at Lahug and on your way to the airport, you will pass by a mansion on a hill where flocks of sheep and herds of cows glazed on a flatland. The place, surrounded with kalachuchi, was called: El Retiro. I was always awed every time I passed by El Retiro.
Then I came across a book of memories: Outside of Parian by Gavin Sanson Bagares. Gavin was one journalist sent
to Bohol by Senorita Beatriz Zobel to write about and document Bohol’s heritage houses, My great grandparents’ house was one of the venues for the photo shoots. It was a memory worth remembering.
I’m now in my late 70’s and have realized that one of the panaceas for loneliness is living on the memories of our youth. Reading thru the pages of Gavin’s book brought me back to my beautiful life in Cebu. It was through my reading of Gavin’s book when I discovered that El Retiro is owned by the grandparents of my friend Ming of the Paulin-Velez family, I also discovered that Gavin is a relative of my son-in-law on the Jakosalem side of the Fernandezes whose great grandfather was a former governor. There were the Escanos, too. One of them was Dr. Mamerto the founder of Visayan Electric Company (VECO). He was the doctor of my Oyong Ando. Then, there was Dr. Max Boromeo, the dentist. And thru them, Oyong Ando invested my Oyang Tiva’s money in Veco in 1948.
There was also Casa Gorordo now owned by the Rafi Foundation of the Aboitizes. When I taught at the University of San Carlos, I had a co teacher, Josefa Revilles, who lived at Casa Gorordo. We called her PITPIT. I found out in Gavin’s book that PITPIT was the sole heir of Casa Gorordo.
Indeed, life also becomes meaningful when shared with true friends. Last Tuesday evening, our triumvirate gathered for a meeting with no agenda. By triumvirate, I mean Dory Penales of Coco Grove Tourist Inn, Ardy Batoy of The Bohol Tribune and dyTR and me of The Blue Apartelle. We had our meeting at the newly renovated and refurbished COCO GROVE TOURIST INN and RESORT. It is a very beautiful structure located in a place where the fireflies hover over the mangrove plantation sturdily standing on a silvery stretch of seawater that captures the light of the moon as the tiny waves try to beckon you, Ardy is very much younger than us but we share common memories of yore. That evening, the 5 hours of laughing together was more than enough to make us forget our Atorvastatin, and Losartan, and food supplements to brace us up.
And we never paid any amount for such joy we felt. We only told ourselves to do it, the PAGO DESTINO.style. Walay bayad inig sakay aron kita malipay.
photo credit: from Google