By: Telly Gonzaga-Ocampo
If I could only turn back the hands of time
I would like to turn back the hands of time and bring these to the SIXTIES. I find the ‘60s to be the best among the decades. Allow me to articulate some of the reasons for my choice. One is the scarcity of television stations in the country. There were no television stations in the provinces, then. If there were, these stations were found in major cities and all shows were in black and white. There were only a few tv relay stations which were dependent on the main source of the shows situated in Metro Manila. This situation allowed parents and children to bond with quality time and words. Today the different gadgets are pulling away parents from ther children and vice versa.
In those years, electric power in this province was available only from 6 in the morning to 6 in the evening. The only gadget (if you would call it one) that we had was the transistorized radio. But listening to the programs of these radio stations filled our life with satisfaction. We saw to it that and in the morning, we had to dry our radio batteries by exposing them to sunlight – yes, under the scorching heat of the sun. Kaniadto, amo-a gyud nga sigurohon nga ibuwad namo ang mga battery sa among radio sets inig ka buntag kay matud pa sa among mga katigulangan, ang pagbulad sa battery, makadugang sa gidugayon sa “kinabuhi” niini.
We had some favorite radio programs and these programs were very wholesome. They did not need any parental guidance while listening to such. The programs we heard over the radio were educational, entertaining, informative and full of wisdom. My grandmother would turn on the radio for Diego Salvador. That was entertainment to her. There were love stories which became the favorite among the teens together with love the songs popularized by very good singers.
Our playground was wide and did not have boundaries. Our parents made sure that once we were able to finish our household chores, we could play to our hearts’ content. But we had to follow one condition, which was to go home with only one sitsit from our parents. There was no 2nd call or 3rd call. Upon the first sitsit, we were supposed to run back home, wash ourselves for the 6:00 o’clock evening prayer.
We didn’t have liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) at that time. So, it was our duty to gather all the palwa, bokong, ug uban pang mga isugnoray nga among ma-agi-an nga nangapuwak sa kadalanan. Ang among pagluto, hujop-hujop gyud ug daghang aligato nga manglupad sa abuhan. We made sure our dapugan was always neat and clean.
I also remember that people were very hard working then. Every household had its own small farm which we called baow and this was used for the planting of lubi, saging, ubi, camote, apale, kamonggay, alugbate, kamatis, talong ug uban pa nga lagutmon. Children were very obedient to their parents, and the former were trained to do household chores. Yes, early in the morning, you could already see children sweeping the floor and helping the family keep its solidarity.
As to political parties, there were just two: the Nacionalista Party and the Liberal Party with their own party ideals. Liberal party personalities then were all capable politicians: Claro M. Recto, Teodoro Locsin, Yulo, Salonga, Quirino, Roxas, Benigno Aquino, Emmanuel Pelaez, Sergio Osmeña, Diosdado Macapagal, Ferdinand Marcos, Gil Puyat, and our very own Carlos P. Garcia. Kini sila mga banggi-itan nga politico. More names include Fernando Lopez and Amang Rodriguez. There was also a Daniel Romualdez with a Veloso from Leyte. Aside from being capable, they also deserved and still deserve to be called HONORABLE. And martial law came.
I like the election proceedings in those days because the names of your chosen candidates were written on the ballot. Isulat gayud namo sa balota ang ngalan sa mga candidato nga among iboto. We never had that practice of shading a circle to cast our votes. Para nako, kanang shading susama ra ug gakwenta ka ug masyaw. Unya, inig-ihap na sa mga boto panahon sa gitawag namo ug “eskotinyo”, mobati gyud ka sa pagka bililhon sa imong balota. Mahibalo-an gyud ug kinsa na ang ga-una ug asa na padulong ang dagan sa iphanay.
To me, this process erased all doubts of any form of “MAGIC” during the counting of votes because the name that was written on the ballot was the one that was announced and counted. As soon as the votes reached 5, the one reading the votes would say KAHON and that was for every five votes. Wasn’t that exciting? Harapharapan gyud ang iphanay ug walay gyu’y tago-ay.
At that time, Ramon Magsaysay was the president the people. He was called as “Pangulo sa masa”. He became popular because of his kindness and qualities as a leader. He was known for his favorite name: Mambo-mambo Magsaysay. Even his children were good-natured and humble. Dili gyud ka makadungog nga mga abusado sila. They worked in their own quiet ways and never used any of the resources of government to promote their business interests.
But how are things going today? In this modern world, almost everyone has the gadgets – all for the convenience. And where do all these lead us too.????
And news over the radio would tell us that our treasury is in deficit. For the end of 2025, the funds we are spending are already acquired from a loan, according to broadcaster Ted Ayeng. Can this be a repeat performance of what happened at Edsa 1986?
The answer is in our hands, my dear readers!
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