*411. En Grande: THE BUYSON-EUSEBIO NUPTIALS, 1936

YOU BY MY SIDE, THAT'S HOW I SEE US. Dr. Jesus Eusebio, noted opthalmologist from San Fernando, and wife Josefina Buyson of Bacolor, at their fabulous wedding in 1936.

If one wants to see an occasion that best shows the Kapampangan spirit and his all-out lust for life, then one has to go to milestone celebrations of family members—debuts, birthdays, graduations, funerals, and weddings. 

In the glory days of the 1920s and 30s, thanks to the booming sugar industry that made millionaires out of sugar planters and agricultural land owners, Kapampangans could very well hold events that were also virtual displays of affluence, power, social status, pomp and splendor, with a bit of braggadocio and ostentation thrown in.

Such was what characterized the legendary wedding that united the accomplished Dr. Jesus Eusebio of San Fernando and the beautiful Josefina Buyson of Bacolor in 1936, both children of two well-landed Pampanga families.

Dr. Jesus Eusebio was the eldest son of Don Andres Eusebio,  a prominent sugar planter and businessman. The older Eusebio also sat on the board of directors of Pampanga Sugar Development Co. (PASUDECO) and San Fernando Electric Light and Power Co. (SFELAPCO). Married to Asuncion Santos, his other sons included Eugenio, Amando, and Alfonso. Jesus, who finished his Associate in Arts at Ateneo,  was already a practicing ophthalmologist when he proposed to his lovely fiancee, Josefina Buyson.

Pitang, as she was called,  was one of the children of Mariano Buyson y Lampa of Bacolor, with his wife Dña. Maria de la Paz Miranda Angeles.  She and her sisters (Carmen, Luz, Emiliana, Asuncion and Pilar) were considered socialites of the town, and they grew up all accomplished—Carmen became an ambassador while Emiliana, a lawyer. But Pitang was the star, especially during the Mancomunidad Pampangueña balls, where her elegant fashion style came to fore—she was always dressed by high society couturier, Ramon Valera.

On April 12, 1936, at the ancient San Guillermo Church of Bacolor,  Jesus and Josefina were united in matrimony by the parish priest, Padre Andres Bituin. The church was decorated with flowers especially brought in a day before by Manila’s foremost florist, Mr. Francisco Hilario.

The bride was resplendent in a wedding gown made by Pacita Longos, the most famous couturier of the era who dressed up Manila’s crème de la crème and Philippine Carnival beauties.

Her  retinue included her sister, Carmen, as her Maid of Honor. Pitang’s close friends,  Rosario Puno, Ester Lazatin, Aurora Hizon, Gloria Dizon and Maria Joven Ramirez, were her Bridesmaids.

Jesus, smartly dressed in a black tailcoat, was attended by his groomsmen, brithers Eugenio, Amando, Alfonso,  brother-in-law Antonino Buyson, and Rodolfo Hizon, future San Fernando mayor.

Standing as principal sponsors were Dña. Mercedes Paras, Dña. Bartola S. de Dizon, along with the bride’s father. Completing the entourage was Master Tomas Dizon, the ring bearer, and Corona Eusebio, flower girl.

Reception followed at the expansive residence of the Buysons in Bacolor, which was dressed up for the occasion. Music and food overflowed, with entertainment provided by Serafin Payawal and Tirso Cruz, Manila’s best big bands.

After their wedding, the couple left on the liner President  Hoover, to honeymoon  in Europe and the U.S. For days, the en grande wedding was the talk of the town, with their wedding pictures splashed on the pages of national magazines. There would be other weddings after that, involving scions and daughters of other rich Kapampangan families, but none was raved and talked about in the same breadth as the Buyson-Eusebio nuptials, held at the height of Pampanga’s age of prosperity and plenty.