ILONGGO POLITICAL TRIVIA

This was in the THE NEWS TODAY, written by Atty. Rex Salvilla.

 

The list does not include PEOPLE WE KNOW - who are: PABLITO ARANETA (Provincial Board Member), GERMAN GONZALES (Iloilo City Councilor), FRANKLIN DRILON (Senate President) and MIRIAM DEFENSOR (various). Anyone else I forgot? Oh and of course ARTHUR DEFENSOR - Edward's brother, and PERLA SUCAYAN - was she mayor of Oton?

 

1.    Our very first assemblymen were members of the first Philippine Legislature elected in 1907. They were Amado Avanceña of the first district, Nicolas Jalandoni of the second district, Salvador Laguda of the third district, Adriano Hernandez of the fourth district and Regino Dorillo of the fifth district.

 

2.         Nicolas Jalandoni was the first Speaker pro tempore in history and the youngest in the First Philippine Legislature.

 

3.         Adriano Hernandez was a general of the Revolution and first Filipino director (now secretary) of agriculture. He was also the commander of the Second Regiment of the Philippine National Guard about to be sent to Germany during World War I had the war not ended earlier.

 

4.         Amando Avanceña became governor.

 

5.         Two brothers – Jose Evangelista of the first district and Daniel Evangelista of the fourth district served in the Legislature simultaneously.

 

6.         Tiburcio Lutero had been assemblyman in two districts – third and fourth. At that time, the residence requirement was in the province, not in the district. He was also delegate to the 1935 Constitutional Convention.

 

7.         Assemblyman Jose Ma. Arroyo of the second district became senator. His brother Mariano Arroyo was governor. His grandson Ignacio Arroyo is a present congressman in Negros Occidental and Miguel Arroyo, the present First Gentleman of the Philippines. A great grandson, Mikey Arroyo is congressman in Pampanga.

 

8.         Assemblyman Ruperto Montinola of the second district became governor, delegate and vice president of the 1935 Constitutional Convention and senator. His daughter, Gloria Montinola Tabiana became congresswoman. President Manuel Quezon called him El Coloso del Sur (Colossus of the South) for being a principled oppositionist.

 

9.         Assemblyman Tomas Confesor of the third district was governor, delegate to the 1935 Constitutional Convention, first Filipino director (now secretary) of commerce, wartime governor of Panay and Romblon, secretary of interior and senator. He was known as the Stormy Petrel in the Legislature.

 

10.     Congressman Patricio Confesor, a brother of Senator Tomas Confesor was also governor.

 

11.    

Assemblyman Jose Ma. Lopez Vito Sr. of the second district was governor, justice of the Supreme Court and first chairman of the Commission on Elections. His grandson, Rafael Lopez Vito is the first congressman of the lone district of Iloilo City.

 

12.     There was a time when three Tomases served simultaneously in the Legislature – Tomas Confesor of the third district, Tomas Buenaflor of the fourth district and Tomas Vargas of the fifth district. Confesor later became senator and Vargas governor. A grandson of Buenaflor, Roberto Armada is now the vice governor.

 

13.     Congresswoman Gloria Montinola-Tabiana of the third district is the first Ilongga lawmaker. She succeeded her husband, Ramon C. Tabiana, a second termer. She was a daughter of Senator Ruperto Montinola.

 

14.     Congressman Ricardo Y. Ladrido of the fourth district was the only dentist lawmaker in Iloilo.

 

15.     Congressman Pedro G. Trono of the first district was the only pharmacist-doctor legislator in Iloilo. His wife Lourdes Trono was delegate to the 1973 Constitutional Convention.

 

16.     Congressman Licurgo Tirador of the third district was delegate to the 1973 Constitutional Convention, governor, mayor and provincial broad member. His father, Federico Tirador, Sr. was assemblyman of the fourth district.

 

17.     Congressman Jose C. Zulueta of the first district was the President of the Senate. He was also governor.

 

18.     Fernando Lopez was senator and the only three-termer Vice President of the Philippines, city mayor and secretary of natural resources. His son, Alberto Lopez was congressman of the third district and daughter-in-law, Emily Lopez was governor and first congressman of Guimaras.

 

19.     Congressman Oscar Ledesma of the second district was senator, governor and ambassador to the United States. He was one of those who refused to receive his backpay as assemblyman after the war.

 

20.     Congressman Fermin Caram, Jr. of the second district was the son of Fermin Caram, Sr. - governor and delegate to the 1973 Constitutional Convention. His daughter-in-law Tita Caram was city mayor.

 

21.     Congressman Pascual Espinosa of the second district was the only labor leader lawmaker of Iloilo.

 

22.     Assemblyman Venancio Cudilla of the fifth district opened northern Iloilo by building the San Nicholas mountain road from Barotac Viejo to Ajuy. Before this, people from the northern towns go to Iloilo City by a circuitous route via Roxas City or by sailboat from various ports of Ajuy.

 

23.     Assemblyman Atanacio Ampig of the third district died during the sinking of SS Corregidor in Manila Bay at the outbreak of the war.

 

24.     Assemblyman Esperidion Guanco of the fourth district became senator.

 

25.     Assemblyman Francisco Villanueva of the second district was a high ranking official of the Estado Federal de Bisayas during the Philippine Revolution and later, senator. 

YOU ARE A TRUE-BLUE ILONGGO IF (sent by a friend)

Your one peso is pisos,

You take a bath using a tabo which you call Caltex,

Your bathroom has at least one lugod

(some homes have one for each family member),

and you don't flinch at taking a bath in cold water from the tap.

Your nanay used to make you drink Mirinda or Royal

Tru- Orange when you had a fever, you believe illnesses

are curable with labatiba, and luya is needed for fussy babies.

Sinamak is a staple on your dining table (the best

Ilonggo invention, banned on airplanes even before

911), going with uga - especially abo.

You say tabagak, not tuyo , and guinamos, not bagoong,

kalo-kalo not sinangag,

and binuro makes your mouth water.

Your toyo is patis and your patis is toyo,

You use atsuete for your adobo and pinamalhan,

For lunch you like laswa, kbl ( kadyos, baboy, langka),

guinat-an nga tambo with tugabang and mais,

ginat-an nga munggo, apan apan, and pangat .

"Bilong bilong" is not a song but a fish.

November 1 means eating ibus, suman, suman latik,

kalamay-hati, mwasi, bayi-bayi, valenciana or other native

delicacies with glutinous rice and coconut milk.

You remember making bibingka with your playmates in the backyard,

and you dream of dark purple or black tikoy;

You remember Wong Yee Long for ensaymada and bitsukoy,

Buho for teren-teren or pan de siosa and

Paa near the Jaro plaza for pan de sal; and

being awakened from your afternoon nap by

"Puto lanson!!!"

You don't care for Jollibee, Mr. Donut, and Chow King.

Instead you think Kong Kee for siopao, and

you have cravings for Dainty pancit, pinsek prito, and bola-bola ;

When you think groceries you think Campos or Pendy's,

or Washington Supermarket, not SM City.

For school supplies you think Commoner, and for gifts

Art Shop; or the sinamay dealers at Hoskyns, where you also go

for salted peanuts and Sam's shoes.

Aldegeuer is what you think of when you think

fresh fruit.

You call those you love palangga, pangga, langga or

ga , you call your siblings or cousins inday, nonoy or

toto ...You call those who are older than you manang or

manong, You catch the attention of sales attendants by calling

them Day or To, and the jeepney drivers Tiyoy.

Your childhood games include tumba patis, taksi, piko, bagol, pityaw,

tubiganay, hole-ins, panagu-ay , balay-balay, ins, tin-tin baka,

sikyu.

You scared yourself silly talking about aswang,

tik-tik, tayhu, kapre, kama-kama, morto , etc at night;

You played Spirit of the Glass on a regular basis;

You used to listen (or still listen) to Sin-o Ang May

Sala, Lain Siya Sa Iban , and Toyang Ermitanya,

Your grandparents read Yuhum magazine and

Hiligaynon;

You call a person, thing, place and event kwan when

you forget it ( si kwan, ang kwan, sa kwan),

You used to sleep in an aboy-aboy made of patadyong

when you were a baby (probably applies only to us below the

poverty line),

You understand that "Particulars Keep Out" sign means

outsiders keep out (believe me, this sign may look and sound

English but only Ilonggos use it),

You use words such as ahay (expression of pity,

grief, empathy), yuga (expression of disbelief, surprise), and

ambot ah (to say you don't know, expression of impatience)..

You often start your sentence with ti,

You say goodbye by saying halong, or andam.

For you the mayor of Iloilo will always be Roding Ganzon,

and the governor - Norada;

Villa is still pristine beach, and Fort is your idea of a nice Sunday afternoon, with chicken barbecue; and

you remember rushing to catch Dona Florentina to go

to Bacolod or Don Julio to go to Manila, bringing

with you guinamos, Panaderia de Molo, barquillos or pinasugbo for the relatives up North.