*398. A Reunion: PAMPANGA HIGH SCHOOL, CLASS OF 1933

PAMPANGA HIGH SCHOOL CLASS 1933 ALUMNI AND THEIR FAMILIES. Reunion. Brookside Swimming Pool, owned by Renato Tayag and family.  Dated April 13, 1952

Pampanga’s premiere high school was just a little over a decade old when it graduated its classes of over 240 senior students in 1933. Some two decades down the road, members of this batch gathered in a resort in Angeles to hold their grand reunion. By then, many had established careers that for some, would flourish even more in the near future.

 From this large 1933 class, we can single out a few distinguished alumni who are certainly worthy of a place in the school’s historic roll of honor.

 Leading the list is Renato "Katoks" Dayrit Tayag (b. 9 Oct. 1915/d.1985) who graduated as the class valedictorian (Rosalina Catap was the salutatorian). “Katoks” went to the University of the Philippines and earned a Law degree in 1939, where future president Ferdinand E. Marcos was a classmate. Tayag later joined his law firm as a partner. During World War II, he saw action in Bataan as a field artillery officer. He was sent off to the U.S.in 1945 to study at the Judge’s Advocate School in Michigan. Tayag is well-known for his writings and journalistic feats. His most daring accomplishment was going on a forbidden journey to Red China in 1964. Tayag's books include The Angeles Story, Sinners of Angeles, Farewell to Irian, Odyssey in Southeast Asia, At Home and Abroad and Recollections and Digression, published in 1985 while a director of the Philippine National Bank. Angeles City, his birthplace, celebrated his birthday centennial in 2015.

 A batchmate who also embarked on a career in law was, Moises Sevilla Ocampo (b.27 Feb. 1916/d.1997) who gained national fame as a brilliant trial lawyer.Not only did he enjoy a long legal practice but he was also found success in politics, having been elected as a member of the Provincial Board of Pampanga. He spent the rest of his life in California.

 Choosing a different path was Diosdado F. Garcia. He pursued a career in the military, and as war clouds gather in the Pacific in 1941, Garcia worked as an instructor in the Infantry School at Camp Murphy under Gen. Mateo Capinpin, tasked with training new military graduates. Garcia rose to the rank of a Brigadier General Commanding General of the Armed Forces of the Philippines from 1962-1963, during the term of fellow PHS alumni, Pres. Diosdado P. Macapagal.

 Two classmates from the same batch became respected figures in Philippine media arts. The first, Jose Luna Castro (4 Mar. 1915/d.?), finished his English degree at the Union Theological Seminary before going to Syracuse University in New York for his Master in Journalism and Political Science. At one time, he was the press officer of the Philippine Embassy in Peking. Castro rose to become the Executive Editor of the Manila Times Publishing Company, which put out Taliba, Daily Mirror, Sunday Time Magazine. In 1966, he authored the Manila Times Handbook of Journalism, which has become an indispensable style guide for mass communication and journalism students today.

 On the other hand, Liborio “Gat” Gatbonton made a mark in the field of cartooning during the 1940s and 1950s. he did not proceed to college after graduating from PHS at age 17. Adept with drawing, the imaginative Candaba teen submitted his first cartoons which saw print on the newspaper, Tribune. Before long, he created the popular series "Jappy Days," a comic book that satirized the Japanese rule in the Philippines. “Gat” became the chief cartoonist and art director of the Manila Chronicle owned by the Lopezes. He illustrated covers, did editorial/political cartoons and was the first Filipino to win in international cartooning competitions, winning the Stanvac Journalism award for 7 times!

 On the distaff side, Dr. Evangelina Hilario-Lacson, who counts nationalists, patriots , writers and poets among her family, became the leading light of the province in the promotion of Kapampangan writing and language. She taught English and Literature at the Far Eastern University for over twenty year before joining the government as a regional manager for the SSS. After her retirement, she returned to the academe, and held  key positions at the Pampanga Agricultural College and Angeles University. Her book, “Kapampangan Writing; A Selected Compendium and Critique”, published by the National Historical Institute in 1984, has become a major reference of scholars of Kapampangan Literature. 

There have been others from this batch who may have taken different career paths, whose lives today may not be as high-profile as others. But regardless, all are bound by a common experience of being educated at Pampanga’s foremost institution of learning, proud graduates all of the Class of 1933.

*397. LYDIA MONTAÑEZ: A Russian-Kapampangan Actress from Arayat

CALL HER TATIANA. Tatiana Simbulan Korionoff (aka Lydia Montañez) of Arayat was one of the most exotic faces of Philippine cinema in the 1950s, owing to her Russian-Kapampangan lineage.

 The bloody Bolshevik Revolution in 1917 led many thousands of Russians to flee their beleaguered country and seek refuge in other lands. One who escaped just in time was Victor Pavlov Korionoff (b. 28 April 1902) of the city of Perm, Russia. To escape the cruelty of the Red Russians, the 17 year-old decided to flee to Shanghai, via Manchuria, along with 2,000 czarists.

Victor was supposed to proceed to Australia by sea, but some ships sunk, leaving him stranded in Palawan. He had no recourse but to go back to Shanghai, where he established a cigar business whose success was short-lived.

 Back to square one,Victor decided to apply as a policeman but failed meet the height requirement. His next stop was a factory where he saved enough travel funds to seek his fortune in the Philippines.

He finally found work in Negros, at the Kabangkalan Sugar Central, where he got along very well with Tabacalera officials because of his ability to speak Spanish. With him was fellow Russian, Simeon Kibanoff, whom he met on a ship in Hong Kong and who would become his lifelong friend.

 Victor was assigned as a plant engineer at the Arayat Sugar Central in Pampanga in 1926. Simeon, who had by this time gotten married to Negrense Angela Parcon, tagged along with him and relocated his family to this mountain town.

 The next year, Victor  married a local 18 year-old lass named Marcelina Lising Simbulan, who gave him a firstborn son, Victor Jr. The rest of the brood would come in quick succession—Tatiana, Dimitri (Jim), Lydia, Jacob, Mary and Joseph (twins). Victor, a licensed electrical and mechanical engineer, built a large 2-storey house on the Lising ancestral land for his growing family, complete with a porch, a swimming pool and a bathroom with a flush toilet—a first in Arayat . At home, the family spoke in Kapampangan, a language also quickly learned by the patriarch.

 Of the Korionoff children, the natural artistic bent of eldest daughter Tatiana (“Tanya or Tani”), born in 28 April 1933, was apparent at an early age. Like her homegrown siblings, she attended Arayat Elementary School and Anderson Intermediate School. There, she learned how to sing and play the guitar. It was off to Arayat Institute for her college years, and although she admitted that she was not exactly a diligent student, she finished her studies and bagged a teaching stint at her elementary alma mater.

 The exotic mixed-race Tatiana never considered herself beautiful; in fact, when she joined a local beauty search—the Cinderella Contest—she placed a dismal 26th. But this paved the way for her entry into showbiz, with Royal Pictures (owned by Fernando Poe Sr.) signing her up, renaming her Lydia Montemayor and giving her small roles in “Tatlong Limbas” (1950), “Lihim ni Bathala “,“Mag-Inang Ulila” and “Maria Bonita” (1951).

 Thereafter, Benito Brothers Productions offered her a contract and turn her into a full-fledged star. She was rechristened Lydia Montañez—Lydia, in honor of her foster aunt, and Montañez, from the mountain town of her birth. Her launch film--“Irog, Paalam” (1951) directed by Jose Villafranca and with no less than the established matinee idol Leopoldo Salcedo as her leading man—proved to be a success at the box office tills. Their team-up would be repeated in “La Roca Trinidad”, produced by Salcedo himself.

 Her follow-up movie,”Isinanlang Pag-ibig”, in which she portrayed a woman wrongly accused of killing her loved one, was an even bigger hit and it was not long before Lydia Montañez became a byword among Filipino movie fans.

 With her father growing old and needing hospital attention, the dutiful Lydia helped in financing the education of her siblings though her showbiz earnings, enabling them to earn college degrees. She also took under her wing, Dolores Kibanoff, a niece of her father’s bosom friend, Simeon Kibanoff, who had been like family to them.

 On 2 April 1952, Lydia married Medardo Aquino, and gave birth to her first child, Nanette Ma. Socorro. She was followed by Medardo Jr., Agapito, Anatole, Maria Yasmine, Remegio, Katrina Grace and Gerardo. Even as a young mother, she would continue to make more movies in the first half of the 1950s, until she decided to leave showbiz behind in favor of family. Her family now lives in different parts of the U.S., and Lydia, who has reverted back to her original name Tanya, is settled with her husband in California.

*396. A SON'S LETTER TO A DYING FATHER

NOW THERE'S A WAY, AND I KNOW, THAT YOU HAVE TO GO AWAY.
Graduation photo of  Mateo Castro, youngest son of my grandfather, Gerardo. 1957

(Last year, a cousin of mine, knowing my interest in our family history, turned over some documents from my aunt’s possession. Among these were my grandfather’s 1968 medical records from San Juan de Dios Hospital, which revealed a dreadful illness—colon cancer. Also included was this letter from my Ingkung’s  son, Mateo Castro, then 31 years old,  married wth 2 kids and settled in Baguio. 

 “Tatang Matt” was my Ingkung Dando’s youngest of 4 living children, 10 years younger than his next coya. Frail and sickly as a child, he was doted on, favoured if you will, and always had his own way--"panusignan yu ne rugu", my Aou was wont to say when Tatang Matt had his tantrums. After graduation, he left Pampanga and hied off to Baguio to pursue a career as a university professor, and never left. Tatang Matt may have been far away from the crisis happening in our Pampanga home, but far removed—he was not, as this letter to his seriously-sick father shows. 

Learning that his father was scheduled for a critical operation, Tatang Matt sent him this letter, mostly in Kapampangan, expressing his urgent request that he make a confession and receive communion before surgery. His deep concern for his father could be sensed from his firm insistence and implorings to heed his wish. It was to be the last—and most important favour that my Ingkung granted his bunso, for just a month after, he succumbed to complications from his illness.)

*******

62 Bokawkan Road
Baguio City
November 14, 1968

 Dearest Father:

Mig long-distance cami cang atching Elsie uling angga ngeni e cami pa tinanggap call; emi balu nung capilan ca ma-opera ania minaus na cami. Queng ma-opera ca, carin na cami muling maca auto. Queng Lunes, mibuclat na ing clasi mi; pero maniauad cung leave of absence cabang ma-opera ca. 

Pagawa cune ing deed of sale na nitang lote Mabiga; pepacana queng P3,000.00, ban canita ditac mu ing bayaran cu quing registration. Paqui-firma mu niamo ban canita adala nalang Auring ding papeles at apa-register que.

 Bayu ca sana pa-opera buri cu mangumpisal ca at mag-comunion. Sinabi cu cang atching Elsie queng long distance quing panintun nacang pari a buri mung pipagcumpisalan. Masanting ing macasadia ca; talagang macanian at cailangan itamu ngan macasadia tamu nung nanu man ing maliari.

Panusignan mucu sana; iyan mu ing aduan cu queca. Enapa canu sinabing Atching Elsie queca pota eca bisa; ania acu na ing sasabi quening sulat cu. Cabud manaquit lang pari a capad mu, ilabas muna iyan at nung maliari, magcomunion ca aldo-aldo anggang datang ing aldo mung operacion. Siguradung atin lang capilia queng hospital; o caya atdanan dacang communion queng cuarto mu. 

Masalese cami queni. Cabud asigurado yu ing aldo ning quecang operacion, canita nacami datang maca auto.

Yanamu, magpacasican ca bang canita milabas na ing operacion mu.

 Matt

(POSTSCRIPT: Mateo "Tatang Matt" Castro y Razon passed away on 13 May 1997)

*395, THE MANY MARIES OF MABALACAT

MIPMU KA KING GRACIA. The ivory image of the Virgin carrying the Child Jesus, is displayed on the feast day of the Purification, February 2. The image is made to hold a candle on this day. Photo:Jude Belnas.

Mabalacat, formerly my town—and now a city—will celebrate its annual fiesta from February 1-2. All the festivities will revolve around our parish church, Our Lady of Divine Grace, which had its beginnings in the year 1768, although a more realistic date is around early 1830s. The Estado General of 1879 reports that the parish was elevated to a vicariate status under the titular patronage of  Nuestra Snra. De Guia most probably in 1836 .

There is a slight confusion as to who the real town patroness is. February 2, the traditional date of the town fiesta (piestang balen), is actually the Feast of the Purification of Our Lady or Nuestra Señora de Candelaria (also the patroness of the towns of Silang in Cavite and Jaro, Iloilo, where an ancient stone image of the Candelaria is venerated by the residents). There is, in fact, an old ivory image of the Virgin in the Parish, which is made to look iconographically like the Virgen de Candelaria by having her hold a candle. Surprisingly, this image is not displayed on the main altar.

However, a bell in the church tower dated 1846, has an inscription indicating that the church is dedicated to “Nuestra Señora de Grasia”( as spelled).  The Augustinians have always had an early devotion to the Nuestra Señora de las Gracias (Our Lady of Graces) and it is sure that they propagated this devotion among  Mabalaqueño converts; they had first established an original shrine in Guadalupe, which also shares our city’s fiesta date.

To add to the confusion, the feast of our Lady of Grace is observed every June 9 (piestang patron) according to the Catholic calendar. As late as 1930s, church records show that processions to our Lady of Grace were still being held in June, the expenses shouldered by a devout woman from Dau, Dña. Cecilia Samson.

There now seems to be a practical explanation to this date change, as explained by oldtimers. In the olden days, they recount, it was very inconvenient for the townsfolk to negotiate the dirt roads just to attend church service during June—the onset of the rainy season. So, a mutual agreement was reached between the townsfolk and the parish priest to move the date to February, when the weather was drier and better.

February 2 marks the date of the Purification or the Feast of Candlemas, to mark the obedience of Mary to the Mosaic law and the meeting of Her Child Jesus with the old man Simeon. By this event, Mary is known under the title Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria and is depicted as cradling the Child Jesus while holding a candle. The day is observed with the blessing and distribution of candles to be carried lighted in procession, a symbolic representation of the truth proclaimed in the Canticle of Simon: Our Lord is the “Light for the revelation of the Gentiles”.

The image of Our Lady of Divine Grace enshrined in the main altar was adapted by Fr. Felipe Roque  from a similar image venerated in the Capuchin Church of San Giovanni Rotonda, Foggia, Italy (home of the famous stigmatist-saint Padre Pio) which he had previously visited. There is a twin image in Popayan, Mexico with the same title and representation. Traditional iconography shows the Blessed Mother seated on a throne with the Infant Jesus on her lap, arms raised in blessing.

The title “Our Lady of Grace” today  is interchangeably used with  Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, as seen  in a vision by St. Catherine Labouré in 1830. A pre-war photo of the church interior shows a standing statue Mary in the main altar, circumscribed by 12 stars and topped by a large “M”,  consistent with the iconography of “Virgen de la Medalla Milagrosa”.

No matter the many titles, devout Mabalaqueños will always refer to their beloved Mary as “Apung Gracia”, who, through all these years, has showered their homes and their families with blessings and graces, while under the mantle of her protection.

Masayang piyesta  kabalen!

*394. Cuts Like A Knife: AVELINA TEODORO, PAMPANGA'S YOUNG MURDERESS, 16

A CASE OF BACK-STABBING.. The cold-blooded murder of Constancia Pineda was perpetrated by her neighbor and supposed-friend, Avelina Teodoro of San Fernando. Both were just 16 years old. Inspite of her youth, Avelina was meted out a life sentence. From Graphic Magazine, Dec. 1929.

Poring over the files of some of the most sensational crimes of the past decades, I could not help but notice the involvement of Kapampangans in several high-profile cases—both as victims and perpetrators. I was horrified at the 1964 kidnapping of Maryknoller Cosette Tanjuaquio of Guagua in the hands of Orador Pingol and Nomer Jingco, who hid her in a pit for 83 days, and appalled at the still- unsolved "chop-chop" murder of Lucial Lalu of Candaba. Then there’s Jaime Jose, son of a prominent Kapampangan doctor, who was electrocuted in 1972 along with 2 others, for the crime committed against actress Maggie dela Riva’s virtue.

 Going back even further, I dug up a 1929 news report of a gruesome murder committed by a Kapampangan. It was shocking enough that the offender was a woman, but worse still that she was but a girl of 16!

 The full account on a December issue of Graphic Magazine reads as follows:

Sixteen year old Avelina Teodoro, of San Fernando, self-confessed murderer of her classmate, Constancia Pineda, also 16 years old, broke down when the sentence sending her to prison for life was read to her. Last September, Constancia’s body was found on the grounds of the Arayat Elementary School, pierced with a score of knife wounds. 

After some difficulties in the tracing of the murderer, the fingerprints on the body and the blood stains on Avelina’s clothing and books point out to the author of the crime. At first, Avelina denied the crime, pointing to Hilario Lugtu as the murderer, but confronted with the clues discovered, she confessed to the crime.

 What drove Avelina to kill her classmate? What was the motive? Was she really capable of murder? 

There were so many information gaps in the news report that I did more sleuthing and searching for facts about the 86 year-old case. Surely, all the characters of the case have passed on, but my curiosity had to be satiated.

 An online search yielded a transcript of an appeal filed by the defendant-appellant Avelina Teodoro with the Supreme Court on 12 August 1930. The documentation carried details of the crime, as the court reviewed the sentence imposed by the Court of First Instance of Pampanga on Avelina-- life imprisonment, plus P1,000 indemnity to the deceased's heirs for the crime of murder.

 It appeared that Avelina had indeed held a grudge against Constancia—she had been spreading shameful rumors about her, and opening her letters without her permission. This, Avelina confided to Hilario Lugtu. Avelina alleged that Lugtu told her that “he will take care of Constancia”. Allegedly,  Lugtu also asked Avelina to take Constancia to the closed Anderson Intermediate School. It was inside the toilet of the school that Constancia’s body was found with 37 stab wounds on her body. 

Two witnesses however, provided unimpeachable eyewitness accounts to the events leading to the murder. The first, Cristino Reyes, testified that on 19 September 1929, appellant Avelina borrowed his single-edge penknife, which matched the size of the wounds on Constancia’s body. When he tried to retrieve the knife, Avelina told him it had been inadvertently lost.

 More damaging was the testimony of witness Maximo Bundoc, who saw Avelina and Constancia on the day of the murder. He heard “the smaller girl” Constancia saying “In this world there's no devil like one's neighbor." This, she repeated to Avelina, “the bigger girl”. Complaining of a stomach ache, Avelina convinced Constancia to go inside the water closet of the school. It was the last time Bundoc saw the “small girl” alive , for the next day, her body would be discovered.

 This testimony of Bundoc corroborated the defendant Avelina's admission that she, herself,  was with the victim on the day of the crime. It was likewise shown that a finger of the defendant's left hand had become stained with Constancia's blood, and that her notebook had also been stained. Avelina was also seen walking hurriedly away from the crime scene, and when she was arrested by the Chief of Police Mutuc, bloodstains were noted on her dress.

 The Supreme Court upheld the decision of the lower court without modifications for the crime of murder. It also upheld the imposed penalty of  medium degree as fixed by the law, because the culprit was a woman—life imprisonment. The judgment appealed from was affirmed, with the costs of both instances against poor Avelina.

 Thus ended the sad, sorry tale of the young Kapampangan murderess, Avelina Teodoro, who tried to get away with murder, but got life behind bars instead.

*393. TRAINS OF THOUGHT

CHOO-CHOO TRAIN, A-CHUGGING DOWN THE TRACK. Passengers at the Dau Station in Mabalacat, wait to board a a train to Magalang, via a spur railroad track. ca. early 1920s.

 Pampanga’s historic train stations have been in the news lately, most recently with the announcement that the old Angeles Station along Villanueva St. will be fully restored by 2016 through the generosity of a local benefactor. Much earlier, the heritage-conscious city government of San Fernando rebuilt their very own San Fernando Train Station located at the Brgy. Sto. Niño, with the assistance of the Tourism Insfrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA). Since then, the train station has become a must-see tourism landmark.

 The train stations of Angeles and San Fernando, along with those of Apalit, Sto. Tomas and Mabalacat, were part of the second portion of the Manila railroad line inaugurated on 22-23 February 1892 by Governor-General Eulogio Despujol and Manila Archbishop Bernardo Nozaleda . The province was thus connected to Manila and Bulacan through these “iron horses” that eventually were expanded all the way to Dagupan.

 By the 1920s and 30s, under the American regime, the Manila Railroad Co. had a flourishing transport business that promised safe travels on air-conditioned coaches at low-express charges. Connecting trips to Baguio were arranged through the Benguet Auto Lines at Damortis—for only Php 14.33, one way (1929 rate).

 Both San Fernando and Angeles stations hold special historical significance for Filipinos. San Fernando was where Dr.Jose Rizal debarked on 27 June 1892 for a quick visit of the town; it was where he also boarded a train to continue his trip to Bacolor.

The stations also figured prominently in the infamous Death March of World War II. The railway station in San Fernando was the end point of the march of Filipino and American soldiers. Here, on April 1942, they were loaded on trains that took them to Camp O’Donnel, Tarlac.

 On April 10, the packed trains reached the town of Angeles where patriotic residents were on hand to surreptitiously hand out food, water, sugar, medicines, milk, cigars and other provisions to the hungry and weary soldiers. Brave Angeleños showed their support by keeping pace with the trains up to Dau Station, some 4 kilometers away.

 After the War, the lines of the Manila Railroad Co. were rehabilitated and its major services restored. The trains were modernized, their steam engines replaced by diesel. By the mid 50s, one could enjoy all the cozy comforts and convenience of the railway from its clean berths to delightful meals either in the coach or in the dining car.

 I remember that as late as the 1960s, my father used to save on his car trips by taking the train at the Mabalacat Station near the Clark entrance, to visit my aunt in Manila. He would get off at the final stop in Tutuban, and just take a jeep to Herran, where my aunt resided. Sure, it took longer, but it was more cost-efficient, and definitely more scenic!

 Today, the Mabalacat Station still stands but the dilapidated structure is now home to informal settlers. Hopefully, the local government will find merit in restoring the station, in the same way that San Fernando has successfully rebuilt theirs and declared by the National Historical Institute as an “Important Cultural Property”.

Soon, Angeles, with the help of businessman Reghis Romero II, will have theirs too—complete with a glass-enclosed museum, an operational miniature railway, and a park. By saving these stations, we would also be saving a part of our national railway history

*392. THE AUGUSTINIANS AMONG US

FR. SANTIAGO BLANCO, the last Spanish Augustinian priest of Pampanga, as a young priest. He was sent to Pampanga upon his ordination in 1928 and stayed on, long after the Order let go of its parishes. H dies in Bamban in 1993. Courtesy of Monsgr. Gene Reyes. 

No other missionaries had more impact in the creation and development of provinces than the Augustinian frailes that first arrived with Miguel Lopez de Legazpi tour islands in 1565. Just 9 years later, 1575, the Provincia del Santissimo Nombre de Jesus de Filipinas was already in place to manage effectively the affairs of the missionaries in their pastoral turfs.

To their credit, the Augutinians founded 250 parishes—the most by any order, and 22 of these were in Pampanga. Some of these missions include Lubao (1572, founded by Fray Juan Gallegos), Betis (1572, Fray Fernando Pinto), Mexico (1581, with Fr. Bernardino de Quevedo and Fr. Pedro de Abuyoas as the first priests), Guagua (1590, Fray Bernardo de Quevedo), Candaba (1575, Fray Manrique) and Macabebe (1575, Fray Sebastian Molina).

 The product of their missionary zeal resulted in many achievements that contributed to the advancements of Pampanga towns. Great builders all, they designed and constructed some of the most beautiful churches in the country—Betis and its baroque decorations, Mexico and its cimborio, Bacolor—said to be the most beautiful in the province, and Lubao, the biggest of all Pampanga churches. 

From building grand churches, the Augustinians also founded th schools or escuelas—parochial centers of learning—in Bacolor, Betis, Lubao (Estudio Gramatica later Colegio de Lubao, 1596) and Candaba (Estudio Gramatica, 1596). They also became the first mentors of students, as they became more adept at the local language.

 It was the Order that put up the first Augustinian printing press in the country that published pioneering printed materials—from grammar books, dictionaries and novenas. Augustinian friars like Bacolor founder Fray Diego Ochoa, authored the first Arte, Vocabulario y Confesionario en Pampango while Macabebe’s Fray Tallada wrote the first published Kapampangan book--Vida de San Nicolas de Tolentino (1614). 

 Among the Augustinians were erudites like Fray Guillermo Masnou, who made a study and an inventory of the herbal plants in Pampanga. Fray Antonio Llanos was taken by Mount Arayat’s curious shape, its flora and fauna, and the rivers that flowed from its core, inspiring him to study Pampanga’s mythical mountain.

 As a result of their effective evangelical labors, the Augustinians were allowed some autonomy by the Vatican, with little interference from the diocesan bishops in the supervision of the fledgling churches and the administration of the sacraments. Pampanga thus became a showcase of the Augustinians’ missionary work all throughout the Spanish colonial period and beyond.

The parishes of Lubao, Betis, Sasmuan, Porac, Minalin and Sto. Tomas continued to be administered by the Augustinians well into the first half of the 1900s; the last town to go was Floridablanca, whose last Spanish parish priest was Fray Lucino Valles, founder of the St. Augustine Academy in 1951. Other chose to stay here permanently long after their order's duties were over. 

Such was the case of Fr. Santiago Blanco, a true blue Spaniard, fondly called Apung Tiago by his Kapampangan constituents. Ordained in 1928, Fr. Blanco was assigned to various towns in Pampanga, including SantoTomas, Betis and Porac. He was responsible for the repainting of the church interiors of Betis during his 1939-49 term. His next assignment was Porac where he served as parish priest and Spiritual Director from 1950-1959.

When the Augustinians let go of their last remaining parish in Pampanga, Fr. Blanco requested to be left behind. In 1963, his application to become a secular priest was granted by the Holy See. Fr. Blanco moved to the newly created Diocese of Tarlac and became an honorary Monsignor and an Episcopal Vicar.

Fr.Blanco took residence in Bamban until his passing in 1993, his lifeworks in Pampanga a testament to the unflagging Augustinian missionary heart and spirit.