Through small breaks in a dark glass we peep By bit and piece we try to make whole what our eyes
can glimpse and our minds seek to know
dark shades of blue mixed with red flames burn and seep in and tend to shape and form but it is not yet time just a peep here a taste there sip by sip not gulp by gulp we can't take it all at once
but in time we will see all and drink the whole cup and in the end we will grasp the truth that we have sinned and we have to own them all
sometimes you ask why sometimes you reminisce, remember things sometimes you think of heaven or hell other times you don't think at all but suffer
and feel the pain sometimes small things matter, other times
nothing does you surrender but also cling but you know you can't do anything
Yesterday afternoon, while walking towards our office after attending Holy Mass, Che-che and I, saw a woman lying on the floor in front of the Blessed Calungsod Hall.
“ Ngano man ni ? ” Che-che sort of grasped.
The woman looked like she was in pain. She was shivering, lying sideways on the semi-wet floor for it was just a few minutes ago since the rain had stopped. It had rained for about an hour.
“Tugnaw man, higda ko.”...she said.
Without doing anything to help, we walked past her as I told her to transfer to a drier spot at the side of the building.
She looked just like all the other homeless ones who sometimes take shelter in that place - the wandering street children, the madmen and women, beggars and scavengers.
Moments past and the unknown woman was forgotten as we went through our own business...Che-che has to finish distributing copies of the Hamiling Parokyano Newsletter to the different chapel communities tomorrow and she has yet to buy milk for her children , and i have to go home to be with my family for dinner.
I couldn’t remember if she was still there when we got out of our office. She might have blended well with the vicinity.
Busy as we were with our own affairs, we didn’t find time to even think of her.
It was just this morning as I was praying and thanking God for another gift of life that the image of that shivering woman crossed my mind.
“ Oh my God ! why didn't we do something?"
Skipping breakfast, I went hurriedly back to the place where we found her. She wasn't there anymore.
I went home carrying a guilty conscience, and it's still with me even as I write this...
( Note: This version of the history of Minglanilla is culled from a website ( pls click above).. The reader may note some differences from another version which I posted here earlier ( see archives, September 9, 2009) where the first parish priest was named Fr. Fernando Sanchez not Fernando Lopez. This version also has the date of the Fiesta wrong. The parish celebrates its Fiesta on August 21 and 22, not August 22- 23. the 21st in honor f the parish's 2nd patron Sr. San Roque and on the 22nd in honor of the Immaculate Heart of Mary its patroness, not Sacred Heart of Mary as written below... As I have learned from the parish's records, the First Parish priest was Fr. Fernando Sanchez, who came from Minglanilla, Spain... As of this date, the town and the parish still has to come up with an authentic, well researched official version of its history...)
Location: 15.4 kms.
Area: 7,196 hectares No. of Barangays: 19 Town Fiesta: August 22 - 23 Patron Saint: Sacred Heart of Mary Places of Interest: Old parish church - classic, neo-Roman in design, Campo Siete forestral area, White caves
Historical Notes
Father Fernando Lopez, Minglanilla’s first parish priest, is credited as the founder of the town in 1858. Nicolas Lopez, Miguel de Burgo and Jose Alonso worked together in the construction of the church and the cemetery. It roads and bridges were built by the same Fr. Lopez together with Fr. Magaz.
There were a number of capitanes who headed the town during the Spanish era. The first capitan was Hilario Castañares. During the American regime when the town headsman was called president, the first to serve as such was Canuto Larrobis. The first to be elected municipal mayor was Gregorio de la Calzada.
Buat was the former name of Minglanilla. It was probably due to the fact that it was the place where early settlers dried (buad/buat) their sea catches. But in 1858, it was renamed Minglanilla by Fr. Lopez, after a place in Spain.
The town suffered setbacks, among them during the Philppine Revolution and World War II. In January 18, 1905, insurrectos burned down its municipal building and looted many houses. This unforgettable and lamentable event is commemorated by a street named 18 de Julio (18th of July). In 1942, its poblacion was razed to the ground by the Japanese in retaliation of the presence of the guerrillas in the town.
A popular legend explains the name of a barangay in Minglanilla. It is puzzling that Barrio Linao is so-called when there is no body of water in this locality. Linao in Cebuano means lake/bay. The legend goes:
It is told that Linao before was a bay, favorite place for Chinese traders to anchor their frigates. At first the natives were afraid of the slit-eyed, fair-complexioned foreigners that they fled inland.
To attract the inhabitants to trade with them, the Chinese left their merchandise on the shore and sailed away. Soon enough, the natives got the wares and exchanged them with precious stones. The barter went on with honest natives always repaying the goods with valuables.
On days, because there was no wind at all, the boats could not set sail. To raise wind, the boat’s captain decided to make his dog dance. This was an act of sacrilege on the part of the anitos or native gods, who sent strong winds, lightning, thunder and heavy rains which inundated the place. The frigates sunk and all the Chinese drowned.
The following day, the bay was no more. Instead, there was a wide plain where Linao stands today.
A big socio-religious event in Minglanilla which attracts not only people from adjacent towns but also from CebuCity and farther, is the Sugat. Sugat in Cebuano means meeting. On Black Saturday night, a public dance is held at the ChurchPlaza to witness the re-enactment of the “meeting” of the risen Christ and his mother. Their images, borne on richly-decorated carrozas, meet amidst joyous songs and the presence of child angels suspended by wires.
Reprinted from the book: Cebu In Legend and History
By: Lavilles de Paula