The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
We got lost along the way, getting as far and away, off the right track as Baras, Morong, and Cardona until Nerika Navarro-Piamonte and I finally hit Cableway Resort in Calumpang, Binangonan.
It was where our friend and classmate from the University of Santo Tomas’ journalism school, Hermie Gonzaga-Galang, was to rise and shine.
Occasion was the recent launch of her first book, Binangonan, Sagisag, Sining at Saysay ng Aking Sinilangang Bayan 1950-2020, a historical account, folklore and mythology included, of this Rizal town on the fringes of Laguna de Bay known equally for its rich culture in arts and letters as well as for its cuisine.
Hermie’s book, all of 208 pages, is a chronicle, both personal and historical, of her childhood and adulthood spent in this beloved hometown of hers, with ample annotations on events of historic impact. It is well researched, the product of many years of conception, recollection, and reflection.
The book is introduced by Prof. Clarence M. Batan, Ph.D, head of UST’s Sociology Department and himself a Binangonan native.
What makes it easy reading for young and old alike is the way Hermie captures important events in her beloved town where she has lived all her life, 7 decades and counting, through vignettes. These are short, readable, reliable essays on, for instance, the filming of Ishmael Bernal’s Nunal sa Tubig in 1976 in barangay Talim island.
Binangonan has a lighthouse (parola) or what remains of it, over 100 years of it. The town has also woven its own legend or belief in encanto, who goes by the name Mercedita, she who has unique powers not limited to love. Oldtimers swear by Mercedita and her powers, mindful not to cross her or earn her ire. She is also described by the author as someone playful.
There are pieces under umbrellas titled Sabi-sabi, Haka-haka, at Nakakabahalang Akala, about supposedly buried Yamashita treasure next to the Parola and under the close watch of Mercedita; Tanghalan Din ang Sabungan, about a famous cockpit arena in town where a nude show once prefaced an actual cock fight, leading to its closure. Nude show and cockfight, what a great combination, don’t you think so?
These little essays are written in a relaxed, entertaining manner, making it easy for readers to absorb them, identify themselves with them. They are also interspersed with paintings and other artworks by local artisans.
Hermie may not be aware of it, but she has written a rich cultural artifact of her hometown.
The book is teeming with facts and figures, milestones and landmarks, data upon data, that Binangonan natives could easily recognize, empathize with.
They will either laugh or cry or do both at the flood of memories these vignettes unfold. It is the same feeling when you read about all other towns in the Philippines.
Every Rizaleno, every library, every school in Rizal province and beyond should get a copy of this book for the enlightenment of the younger generation.