We’d always hover on the line between doubt and complete faith when it came to Dad’s stories.
Growing up, the Philippines sounded very magical and mysterious to us, his Filipino American children, who were more familiar with baseball and barbecues, than the tikbalang or aswang. How much of it was it true? How much was hearsay?
Read MorePerhaps the Señor knew everyone’s secrets. My uncles said that sometimes, when the moment came to carry the Señor from the chapel to the carriage, the figure wouldn’t budge. The men of my family tend to be rather large, and one of them could easily carry the Señor by himself. But sometimes, even with three or four of them, the Señor refused to be carried. The figure seemed heavier. They said maybe one of them had sinned, and so they would call a different group of menfolk to lift the Señor.
Read MoreI could only imagine how confused she was. Here was a pleasant young man, a handsome mestizo, her best friend’s brother no less, and he wanted to marry her. But she wanted to devote her life to the Lord. What was a young woman of the 1950s supposed to do?
Read MoreMaybe because I grew up attending many funerals in Iligan, I've developed a rather strange fascination with how people cope with the death of a loved one. Eventually, one masters the do's and don'ts of attending funerals. In doing so, I have realized that while the pain and grief over the loss of someone close is natural, a certain set of rituals, stories, and superstitions can help salve the wounds of those who have been left behind. Even if it involves removing the dead's shoes.
Read MoreThere was a boy, my grandmother said. She and her classmates were celebrating the end of a school year at the beach, not unusual given they lived near the seaside. There were girls and boys, some eating, some dancing, some swimming in the water.
Read More“Every Pista Minatay, our dearly departed come back to visit us, the living. It is during Tigkalalag, All Souls’ Day, that the spirits of our ancestors come back and roam the earth,” she said, her hands busy with the spatula, stirring the rice constantly.
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