During the month-long activities, Artacho Elementary School’s Sabayang Pagbigkas Group garnered third place honor during the Buwan ng Wika Celebration at the municipal level. The Sabayang Pagbigkas is a group oration competition where these talented young students from Artacho competed against 25 schools.

 

 

Some background information about the National Language of the Philippines
The national languate of the Philippines, if you didn’t know, is PILIPINO. It is not Tagalog as some people still mistakenly think. This is an understandable and common mistake though so don’t feel bad if you didn’t know that. It was only as recent as the 1973 and 1987 Constitutions that Pilipino was declared the official language and not Tagalog. What is Pilipino exactly? Pilipino is an amalgamation of Tagalog and all the other Philippine dialects including some words derived from foreign languages like Spanish and English.

When I was five years old, I was introduced to one of my two uncles named “Felimon”. I could not easily memorize the names of my three aunts who came to visit us occasionally in Makati, but the uncle my Nanay presented to me had a greater impact on my young mind for I could easily compare his character to the ones I often saw on black and white TV. Oh yes, he looked like Sampaguita’s Eddie Gutierrez or Eddie Mesa, no kidding! Uncle Felimon’s image was an epitome of a young man in those times, what with his well sculptured hair shimmering with sweet scented pomade and his matching pointed shoes that seemed to have gotten a million times of brushing. They were like little mirrors. Why, I could even see my big teeth’s reflection on the shiny tip of his shoes. And as he told us stories while sitting in his favorite “de quatro” position, he would speak with eagerness and punctuate his every sentence with a giggle. His vibrant personality would mean he was the happiest 25-year-old bachelor among my relatives.

I was right. The root of his infectious giggles and excitement could have been caused by the woman he fancied. He interestingly spoke about her between his job stories working as a security guard. One weekend, my Uncle Felimon invited us to visit the beautiful woman he wanted to marry. Her name was “Teresita Agustin”. Their house was surrounded by several guava trees, that when my uncle asked me to come inside the house to greet my future auntie, I whispered to him to marry her right away. I was thinking about the guava trees and their sweet fruits I could often visit if he married her. I was five years old, remember. Her family was so hospitable. I took home some jars of guava jelly and a canister of guava candies. I was so fond of my new Aunt Teresita. But that was the last time I saw them in Manila before we moved to Sagunto. My father changed jobs, and so we had to give up our apartment in Makati to move to Pangasinan. Uncle Felimon and his new family settled somewhere else, and we stayed a bit more in Makati before I started my first grade in Artacho.

Living for some years in Sagunto, I finally got reunited with uncle’s growing family, now with their three little children: my cousins Hector (Bobong), Maybell and Camilo. We became the noisiest children in the neighborhood as we often danced to the tunes of My Sharona. My Lolo Ricardo was so proud to see his grandchildren showing off their many talents with their non-stop dancing as long as there were candies that came out of Lolo’s tin canister. Those years were the start of Uncle Felimon’s life as a farmer after working as a security guard for several years in Manila. Eventually, he would take over Lolo Cardo’s plow and carabao, and would begin every day’s toil with a five o’clock march to Macoco.

Uncle Felimon was a hardworking and silent worker. If Lolo Cardo often called his carabao numerous names and curses depending on his mood and task for the day, Uncle Felimon would work silently but whistle a tune while plowing; you would hear his loud voice only when he calls for Spot, his dog companion. But as days turned years, and farming became a lot harder in Sagunto, Uncle Felimon gradually lost his grins and giggles. We finally moved back to Manila and would spend the rest of our schooling there. We lived for two years in San Pedro, Laguna while the apartment we’d occupy in Pasay was being renovated. At last, Uncle Felimon and my grandfather could regularly visit us when we moved to Pasay City. On their visits, it was evident Uncle Felimon had regained his gentle image. The usual giggles punctuating his short sentences were such a spectacle to me, I could sit in the background for hours just listening to uncle’s and grandpa’s jokes and bragging. As if run by genetics, boastfulness is an innate talent. I could have inherited some nasty sense of humor from these two big men of the Castillos while constantly listening to their exchanges. At every news story they could read from newspapers or watch from our TV, Uncle and Lolo would exchange witty remarks and analysis of the events in politics, moving from one topic to another with ease. I hated it when each time they concluded a conversation, they were the heroes. I realized that Uncle Felimon may have acquired that same interest in politics Lolo had, and could have been equally eloquent as Lolo Cardo had he finished his education. That regret, eventually, would drag him to his future habit of drinking. Both father and son smoked a lot, and although drinking for them was already a part of after office hours and improved their social skills, it could be worrying to some especially to my little mind.

On summer vacations in high school, we’d always visit the province and enjoy the company of our cousins, uncles and aunts. Uncle Felimon would boast of his crops, and we’d always tour his farm catching frogs, picking “birabid” and climbing at guava and “duhat” trees. The old and small “bahay kubo” my grandfather occupied in his farming years became as big as a normal barrio house where my cousins would go home to, and surprisingly, even my grandmother, Lola Peling would often spend the night in. Uncle Felimon’ crops yielded very good vegetables that my grandmother, a market vendor would often get her supply from. The “upo” climbers became a lot wider and taller too. It looked like a palace of giant icicles where the longest and biggest “upo” fruits I had ever seen were hanging, and the most delicious rice and “iruban” you could ever taste would come from. If there were wise investors around and they spotted Uncle’s ability, Uncle Felimon could have been one of our best agricultural entrepreneurs. Husband and wife’s work partnership seemed to be one of the ideal families in Sagunto, until Aunt Teresita left for Hongkong to work as a domestic helper. That was the start of the years of uncle’s uneasiness and very challenging life.

On one vacation, I began to see how a superman worked. Uncle Felimon could be seen as hustling between housework, farm work, and child rearing. I was sad, that the image of my tv idols had left him, and he had lost his usual captivating smile too. Sometimes, he could not easily recognize us nephews and nieces of his anymore, and he seemed to have lost friendly communication with his children as well. It was when his children had reached their teenage life, and molding the minds of adolescent children was a mammoth job since he was the lone parent facing all the hurdles in their home. Daily tensions rose, and his friendly attitude would just naturally come out at drinking sessions with his friends. At some instances, I could hear his drunk lamentations of his unfinished schooling, and his guilt for not going back to school and try his best to graduate at least in high school. His frustration to be a good example to motivate his children to finish a college degree, and his dream to raise educated children was a usual predicament, this I could feel in his wailings. He toiled to send some of his children to school while his wife continued to add more support for their education. Uncle Felimon was trying to be an ideal parent those times…but what a good life in the decades that followed; his children would then take him abroad and would open another life path for their father.

“I have never earned this much in my life!”, he would often boast of his wages after a few years of work in Canada. As if telling his fellow farmers and friends in Sagunto that being an agriculturist in our town was a hopeless case with farmers always overwhelmed with tons of problems, pests, lack of water and scarce resources, working in an overseas land like Canada is a dream solution. Doing almost the same task as a farmer back home, although this time, he was growing ornamental plants and gardening at wide lawns and backyards in the beautiful communities of Vancouver, uncle beamed with his usual grins. It was good to see his jolly self back. Thank God for His kindness; uncle felt great joys towards the last years of his life. He would recall his first few years in Canada and would narrate how he was “reborn” as a better man, now a member of a Baptist Church.

Maybell showed me one of uncle’s garden projects during my visit in 2000. Seeing one of his landscaping ideas, I could sense his renewed love for earth and plants, as if he found those big gardens as his playground. Although we never met often after that, we could sometimes chance upon each on family gatherings back home for Christmas, weddings, or funerals, after a few years or a decade.

Towards the last decade of his life, his favorite topics changed, and now he’d have time to chat with me about history and WWII, as well as about caves, treasures and secret dwelling places. He would tell stories of his childhood when he experienced being treated as a son of the Japanese soldier stationed in Sagunto during the Japanese Occupation. The soldier would often feed him and play with him imagining he was the son he left with his wife in Japan. At some point, uncle made me promise to him to find the family of that soldier he believed was killed in the battle in “turod”. This same story and promise somewhat reminded me of uncle just a few week’s ago, on the very same day of his death in Canada. While no one in uncle’s family ever mentioned to me that he was already in the hospital for two weeks due to an advanced lung cancer, thoughts of him and stories of WWII flashed in my mind instantly as I was telling to my Japanese students about my uncle and my mother’s experiences during the war. A few hours after my class, Gijet emailed me the bad news about uncle’s death.

Had I decided to call him again several hours earlier, I could have heard at least his groans and whispers, and I could have chatted with him back about our favorite topics. He was the most eager of the treasure hunters I have ever heard of. Like inspired by Raiders of the Lost Ark, or National Treasure, Uncle Felimon was a true lover of adventure, and I am just a beginner. Now, wherever he is, he could venture freely and without limitations. In the afterlife though, he will not need any adventure anymore.

Uncle Felimon died while letting sweet melodies play in his ears, the songs his grandchildren sang to him in the last hours of his life. Maybel and Arlene recounted the last days of their father as wonderful moments of listening to children’s voices, while pressing the telephone receiver hard on his ears to savor the melody the chorus back home in Sagunto gleefully sent to him long distance. While listening deeply to Gilbert’s children’s songs, he would move his mouth and lips as if singing with the young ones the tunes of yesteryears, like the times of his innocence, or while playing in his playground, or when whistling tunes while plowing in his farm, or singing to his child a lullaby….At last, he was back to the same uncle I first met him in my childhood; his sweet smile…his peaceful face…But no longer to life; it’s now to face his maker. Now he is gone, but his dreams of good life, wishes of good future for his family, and vision for a wonderful adventure for everyone is something to keep and remember. We love you Uncle Felimon! We bid you travel with the Lord in Peace.

The Castillo Clan:

Mr. Felimon La Madrid Castillo died of lung cancer on August 13, 2010 in Vancouver, Canada.
He leaves behind his wife, Theresita (Tessie) Castillo and five children: Hector, Maybell, Camilo(deceased), Arlene, Gilbert, and Gijet. Grandchildren are Angelica Mae, Hubert Castillo, Jethro and Jan Edward Flores.

His two sons are still in the Philippines awaiting visas to be able to attend their father’s funeral service. His sister, Tessie Alboukharey from London England, has already joined the family in Vancouver. Mr. Felimon La Madrid Castillo was preceded in death by his parents, Mr. Ricardo and Feliza Castillo, and siblings Luz and Wilma. Surviving siblings in the Philippines: Pacita, Harry, Flora, Arsenia, Tessie, and a host of relatives and friends collectively mourn the passing of their brother, uncle and friend.

Viewing and visitation is scheduled this evening, August 26th from 5-9 p.m. at the Hamilton Funeral Home, Vancouver, BC.

Funeral service will be on Friday, August 27th at 2 p.m. at the Forest Lawn Cemetery (Burnaby, BC) and a memorial service will be held on Saturday, August 28th at 2 p.m. at the Trinity Baptist Church, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Read more about the congresswoman’s visit in the articles below.

References/Related Articles:
5th District Lady Solon Visits Alcala Floodway, Sison Bued Dike
Sunday Punch - Flooding Problem in 5th District Prioritized

If you have someone that you’d like to be included in these birthday lists, just send their name and date of birth to saguntostar@gmail.com OR leave a comment here.

Rest in peace Mrs. Constancia Busacay and Mrs. Elpidia Baiguen.
 
 
Note: We will add more to this as we get additional details.

Dengue fever is typically characterized as a benign and non-fatal febrile disease similar to influenza. However, like influenza, Dengue fever has different types and levels.

Classic Dengue Fever presents with what is considered to be flu-like symptoms: fever, headache, exhaustion, rashes, and severe muscle pain, frequently accompanied by sore throat, dizziness, loss of appetite, vomiting, and diarrhea. These symptoms typically last for 5-7 days with fever usually not exceeding 40.5°C which “may subside only to return, reaching its peak on the last day of the febrile phase.”

Dengue Haemorrhagic Fever (DHF) is a more severe, more lethal form of infection. DHF symptoms include: fever, abdominal pain, vomiting and bleeding. Complications from DHF can lead to internal bleeding, pneumonia and inflammation of the heart. Approximately 30% of Classic Dengue Fever cases can progress to DHF (as is the case of several known cases in Sagunto and Artacho).

Dengue Shock Syndrome (DSS) can develop in patients with severe DHF. DSS is a extremely dangerous and lethal. Patients without proper treatment can die within 12-24 hours. DSS manifests suddenly and often unexpectedly as it comes on after the fever has subsided and is often accompanied by acute abdominal pain. Subsequent symptoms are: sweating, cold extremities, restlessness, subnormal temperature, blotchy, cold and clammy skin and rapid and weak pulse.

There is no specific treatment or medication to treat Dengue fever. At most, medical providers only manage and suppress the symptoms. Fever reducers like paracetamol are administered. However, aspirin and ibuprofen are strongly discouraged as they increase bleeding complications. Fluid replacement through oral hydration or intravenous fluid therapy is very effective in combating most of the symptoms of Dengue fever. More severe cases, those experiencing bleeding, may require blood transfusions.

Several patients from Sagunto and Artacho are severe enough to require blood transfusions. If you would like to help, please consider donating blood.

PREVENTING DENGUE FEVER
The best way to prevent Dengue fever is to eradicate the breeding grounds of the Aedes mosquitoes which carry the virus. Fogging, the common solution against the Aedes only kills the adult mosquitoes not their larvae. The most effective of preventing the mosquitoes from breeding is to make sure that they do not have any place to lay their eggs. Here are a few more steps everyone can take to reduce infestation:

1. Destroy Breeding Grounds - mosquitoes do not need a lot of water to multiply. All they need is a standing body of water such as trash containers, empty bottles and cans, old tires, roof gutters, ditches, and anything that can hold water stagnant long enough for the mosquito’s breeding cycle.

2. Avoid outdoors at dusk - since the Aedes is a daytime biter, they tend to be most active at just before dark and are most likely to bite at this time

3. Protective clothing - cover up your arms and legs if you have to be outdoors.

4. Chemical Control - indiscriminate use of pesticides to kill mosquitoes is discouraged as they develop immunities to certain chemicals. Make sure to apply the appropriate chemical that is effective against the Aedes mosquito.

Children are most susceptible to Dengue fever. Please do your part and clean your surroundings, remove all possible mosquito breeding grounds.

And if you are able, please seriously consider donating blood. The shortage is not only in Sison, it’s nationwide.

Reference: http://www.panbiodengue.com/