Sibayan Clan Archive

Maria Sibayan - Memorial Service 8/31/2009

2009-08-30T09:46:00.002-04:00

My grandfather's wife passed away a week ago today. We had the wake yesterday, the memorial service will be tomorrow at 6 pm at St Paul Catholic Church. Her obituary is here.SIBAYAN, Maria Lydia, 91, of Tampa, who was born in Valparaiso, Chile, passed away peacefully Sunday, August 23, 2009. She is survived by her husband, Jose; children, Luis and Ernesto Riquelme, Kamiamia, Malena and Hermes

History of My Life - Part F: Detour to 1970 – Miss Red Feather Part B

2009-07-23T20:09:00.011-04:00

TAYUM was our first stop on our motorcade to the northern towns. Mayor Carino also delivered a DANIW for Jojo in the Provincial building during her reception in Bangued, had all the school children and town's people turned out to meet us. We were invited by the Catholic priest to see his new organ and have a sister play it for us. He also showed us a baptismal font made of hard wood around four

History of My Life - Part F: Detour to 1970 – Miss Red Feather Part A

2009-07-23T17:36:00.006-04:00

It was there in 1970 when my daughter, Jocelyn, was being honored for winning the beauty contest as Miss Red Feather Philippines as Abra’s representative that I got an accolade from a beautiful daughter of our late neighbor, Ex-Governor Bienvenido Valera, saying: “Magpintas laketdin ta anacyon, Momon Siniong!”It was the late Tata Benid, her father, who said to me in 1950, upon meeting me in

Memorial Day - May 29, 1995 - Felix Sibayan

2009-05-24T10:55:00.007-04:00

Let me digress from my topic and write something about Memorial Day. I am thinking about my not half-, but full-brother, Felix, who died in the Capas Concentration Camp in May 1942. He was born May 18, 1920. He was single.When I went to Manila in 1993 to attend my son Tony's promotion to Commodore, I visited Elix's grave in Ft. Bonifacio. On the cross marking his grave was a name Benigno

Darkest Christmas Night

2009-05-20T00:51:00.001-04:00

Instead of Christmas carol, the radio was blaring with martial music, making the war jitters more intense. We hardly slept that night planning what to do after I left for Bataan. I promised Pat that I will go back for her as soon as I find a lodging place and get settled in our new Headquarters, not being aware of the fact that we were headed for the jungles of Bataan where there were no homes

World War II Broke Out

2009-05-19T01:43:00.003-04:00

Pat's mother and her older sister, Aning, with her two children Rudy & Ruth spent their weekend with us from their apartment in Rizal Avenue, Manila.I left them for my work on Monday morning of December 8, 1941 not knowing that Pearl Harbor had been attacked by the Japs.Upon arrival in the Army Hq., the news about the surprise Jap attack surprised all of us and so I went to the PX, bought a sack

Hello Again

2009-05-17T13:58:00.003-04:00

It's been 10 months since I've posted, but life has a way of getting in the way of our most cherished projects. I'm even busier than ever nowadays, but these stories need to get out and no one else is going to do them except me.So I'm starting again and that picture up there is why. That's my mom and my lolo and my youngest son Tristan. Tristan needs to know about his great-grandfather and

Nanay Part 4

2008-07-14T08:08:00.015-04:00

One day upon arriving home, I found three young men talking with my mother. I soon learned that they wanted to board with us. My mother accepted them because they were all employed and had better chances of being good payers. She told them to come back three days later as we had to look for a new place so they could be accommodated. The place we saw was in Mayhalique, next door to where

1939- How Pat & I Fell In Love

2008-07-12T11:17:00.006-04:00

Editor's Note: I got a copy of my grandfather's diary from my aunt. (Thanks Tita Bing!) He wrote it in the mid-90's while he was doing security guard work around Tampa Bay and it's full of daily anecdotes and even more stories than the memoir that I'm working on now. This one is 304 handwritten pages and my brain goes a little numb and my fingers want to hide at the thought of transcribing

Jose B Sibayan Documentary

2008-07-12T10:44:00.002-04:00

I've been talking to my cousin Brandy and she's going to be working on the final cut of the documentary on our grandfather this weekend. She wants to bring it for the Barrio Fiesta next weekend and she wants it to be completely done.It's been a long time coming and we're all very proud of her. We're coming together as a family to get the last bit of funding that she needs for the editor and to

PAAT Barrio Fiesta 2008

2008-07-10T12:10:00.003-04:00

The Philippine American Association of Tampa's annual Barrio Fiesta is coming up on July 20, 2008 from Noon to 6 pm. Admission is $5, free for children 5 and under. This is the organization that my grandfather founded back in the 1970's and this year they are dedicating the Barrio Fiesta to him. We're planning on making it a mini family reunion, so come out if you can! Brandy is finishing up

Update From the Editor

2008-07-10T11:56:00.002-04:00

Just a quick update for you guys. After the blistering pace of updates a couple of weeks ago, I haven't been able to get anything up for a while. Sorry about that, I got a full-time job and started working on a project with my brother and the blog got sidetracked. However, the Barrio Fiesta is coming up in two weeks and I want to have my grandfather's memoirs completely transcribed for him by

Bangued - Your Ultimate Online Guide

2008-06-25T23:07:00.002-04:00

I was just doing a little online research about Bangued and came across a very cool website called, you guessed it, "Bangued - Your Ultimate Online Guide." It has recent pictures and videos of places like Victoria Park, the Valera House, the Torrijos House, churches, buildings, the Abra River and more.It's one thing to copy Lolo's words onto a computer and posting these blogs. Actually seeing

Nanay - Part 3

2008-06-25T20:44:00.001-04:00

III.The following days were blank ones for me. I even became lax in my studies as all sorts of things came into my mind. First it was Vestre then Siniong. And added to this was our very serious financial condition. I contemplated to tell my mother about Siniong’s revelation of his love but I was also afraid. I didn’t know why. The following Sunday he came again and stayed for lunch. My

History of My Life - Part E: Bangued Part 2

2008-06-25T11:06:00.002-04:00

“History of My Life”By Jose (Patrocinio) B. Sibayan1990E. Bangued, Part 2The Provincial Governor, Don Virgilio Valera, always wore a white suit, white shoes and white PANAMA or straw hat from Panama. He also wore white hair as there was no dying of hair then. The same is also true with the Presidente (Mayor) Don Bienvenido Valera who was of Spanish ancestry, hence, had white skin like Don

Nanay - Part 2

2008-06-23T00:22:00.001-04:00

We went back to Bayombong just in time for me to enroll for the next school year. We had new classmates and new teachers. Among my teachers was Miss Natividad Inocentes who was our Home Economics and English Instructor. We struck such a nice friendship with one another and when later that year she was transferred to the La Union High School, I was heartbroken. I told her so in my letters, which

History of My Life - Part D: Bangued

2008-06-23T00:18:00.001-04:00

“History of My Life”By Jose (Patrocinio) B. Sibayan1990D. Bangued1. Biag - Social LifeSocial life revolved around religious activities such as baptisms, marriages, birthdays, deaths, fiestas and church going on Sundays and Holidays. The church was, therefore, the hub of social interactions. There friends, enemies, lovers and strangers met on Sundays and Holidays. No doubt the people were peaceful

Nanay - Part 1

2008-06-19T21:22:00.002-04:00

“Nanay”By Patricia Enrile Sibayan“Of all the music that reached farthest into Heaven,It is the beating of a loving heart.”- Jose B. SibayanPat, my lovely darling, sublimated her personal ambitions into the caring of her family. She sacrificed her life for the love of her children and her husband. “Nanay” is truly a saint!- Jose B. SibayanThis story of my life was written by Nanay – Patricia

A Note From the Transcriber

2008-06-19T20:06:00.002-04:00

Ok, that last entry was pretty harrowing! I had no idea what I was getting into when I typed it up. Let me tell you a little bit about my process. I have not read the "History of My Life" that Lolo wrote. I'm just typing it up as I read it and 90% of the time I'm in a public place as I'm typing.Tuesday, as I typed up the famous "sheted" line, I was sitting in a Barnes & Noble failing to

History of My Life - Part C: Sanitation

2008-06-19T18:46:00.006-04:00

Editor's Warning!If you're uncomfortable hearing about sanitary conditions in a Third World country in the 1920's do not continue reading! My grandfather goes into pretty graphic detail here: disease, parasites, toilet habits, the whole 9 yards. I would not recommend reading this anywhere around mealtime. It does get better towards the end when running water, culverts, and sanitary methods are

History of My Life - Part B: Social Life

2008-06-17T18:20:00.004-04:00

“History of My Life”by Jose (Patrocinio) B. Sibayan1990B. Social1. KOMEDIAKomedia or “moro-moro” was then the BIG town entertainment. It took several weeks to prepare the actors, the stage, the PALCOs (grandstands), the clothes and props before the show went public. Most “comediantes” (actors) and “comedianteas” (actresses) were from the East side (TAGA DAYDAYA) of the town. Fina’s grandpa, Don

History of My Life - Part A: Family and Religion

2008-06-16T19:43:00.001-04:00

“History of My Life”by Jose (Patrocinio) B. Sibayan1990A. Family & Religion1. BirthBangued, Abra is my birthplace. My parents were Florencio Sibayan and Victoriana Bravo. I was baptized Patrocinio in an Aglipayan Church in 1918 and again baptized Jose in a Catholic Church in 1920 when my brother, Felix, was born. We were baptized together. My godmother was Nana Titing Lizardo and

1936 - Arrival in Manila

2008-06-16T13:55:00.003-04:00

by Jose B. SibayanI arrived in Manila in August, 1936 by train from Nueva Ecija to the Tutuban Station, then took a caretela to Mabolo Street where the house of Mg. Loling was located near Avenida Rizal and Azcarraga Streets. Most of the vehicles were the street car and horse drawn carriages called caretela and calesa. There were no buses then, but there were lots of private cars. I saw young

1949 - Passing the Bar

2008-06-14T10:22:00.001-04:00

Story of My Lifeby Jose B. Sibayan12/7/1991This story is written to give glory to God who has a plan for everyone. I was born on May 8, 1918 and at my present age as I write this story on December 7, 1991, my experiences and observations conclusively prove the truth about God’s plan for everyone. (Today is the 50th anniversary of Pearl Harbor.)It was during my lunch session with Atty. Dallas

Hello!

2008-06-14T10:18:00.000-04:00

Over the years, my grandfather and grandmother, my lolo and lola, were prolific writers. I have quite a few of their writings and not everyone in my family has had a chance to read them. My goal with this blog is to transcribe everything I have of theirs, to get it into wider circulation.