Construction and Child Actor-Santino Of Amoingon

While driving from downtown Boac to downtown Gasan, I noticed there were more than a dozen building construction in various stages yesterday. This is in spite of the high prices of cement and building materials. The price of cement is now 235 pesos per bag, one truck load of sand is 1000 pesos and a #4 hollow block is 7.50 pesos each. So where is the money coming from? I believe from OFW ( Overseas Filippino Workers) and from Balikbayans like me. One of the most talked construction here in Amoingon is the vacation home of Santino, Sanjee Jaranilla, child actor of the soap opera "May Bukas Pa", which just recently finished after being #1 TV show for the last two years. Last Christmas, Sanjee spent a couple of days of vacation here in Boac. He was mobbed wherever he goes. He was in Macrine's newphew computer shoppe for an hour, but I was not able to meet him personally. Sanjee's Dad and my nephew were classmates and Sanjee is very closed to my nephew. I have not seen Sanjee's vacation house, but I heard it will cost around a million pesos. This is an average price for a modern home in MDQ. So, Santino is not showing off or "mayabang". I also heard that Sanjee's parents have now reconciled and his younger brother is being trained/groomed as another child actor by TV producers in Manila.

The other construction that is now almost complete and very impressive is the Roman Catholic Cathedral in Gasan. Construction started about three years ago and mostly funded by balikbayan donation from US and Canada. My dear friend Linda Sevilla Sotto is spearheading the funding and management of the construction. The location of the cathedral at the top of the Hill is perfect. The meditation garden at the side of cathedral is fantastic. The Gothic architecture is beautiful and appropriate for a cathedral. So, if you have not seen the cathedral yet, I suggest you visit it even for just 10 minutes. It will be worth your time.

Lastly, as in the past, I have been encouraging all my balikbayan friends to invest their retirement funds here in Marinduque -my Island Paradise. Have a Good Day to All!

Sarswela- Filipino Musical Play or Drama

The Sarswela Flyer

Last night Macrine and I attended a Sarswela, Walang Sugat ( Not Wounded) in the open-air amphitheater at the Moriones River Bed Park in Boac. This event reminded me of the first filipino musical (in Ilonggo) that I had attended during my childhood years in Iloilo. It also reminded with of the Starlight Theater in Kansas City, Missouri in the late 1960's when we had annual summer subscriptions to Broadway musicals, such as West Side Story, Bye Bye Birdie or The Sound of Music.

For those of you who are not familiar with word Sarswela. It is just a musical play or drama in Tagalog or any of the major languages in the Philippines. It is sometimes a comedy, sometimes a tragedy, but usually had a happy ending. Last night "Walang Sugat" was written by Severino Reyes, The Father of the Sarswela. Below is Eli Obligacion posting regarding this event.

"Severino Reyes' sarswela masterpiece goes on stage in Marinduque. Performed by Barasoain Kalinangan Foundation, Inc., awarded CCP Gawad para sa Sining as Best Theater Group in the country.

A component of the Philippine International Arts Festival 2010. Directed by Armand Sta. Ana. It stars Rey Clement Maaliao as TENYONG, Karren Uaje as JULIA, Ron Mariano as MIGUEL with Maria Ireen Crisostomo, Rowel Escalante, Crystal Mendonza, James Dimagiba, Joseph Rejoso, Melandro Pascual, Wilfredo Alberto, Christopher Adriano, Lemuel Galman, Egie Boy Galman, Ryan Managbanag, and 12 koro members.

In the production are Joseph Cristobal, Armando Sta. Ana, Estelita Dela Cruz, Consolacion Gamboa, Jose Ruel Paguiligan and Glen de Jesus. Lights and sound by the CCP Technical Crew.

The BKFI "Walang Sugat" production was originally mounted as part of “Sarsuwela Festival 2009” held at the U.P. Theater. It was the Father of Filipino Sarswela's statement against imperialism and oppression.

It depicts the cruelty of the Spanish friars and the experience of Filipinos in their hands. The story revolves around the hero Tenyong and how he outwits people trying to separate him from Julia, his love interest. The many twists and turns of this sarsuwela, made into a movie twice, has made it very popular among theater audiences.

This sarswela returns to Marinduque after 108 years, when "Gran Compania de Manila" the original production, presented it in Boac on Dec. 8, 1902 in celebration of the town fiesta with future president, Manuel L. Quezon as special guest".

The actors and actresses had beautiful voices, but sometimes the background tape orchestration music was so loud you could hardly heard the words and lyrics. I enjoyed the patriotic song, Ang BAYAN KO ( My Country). The costumes and scenes were beautiful depicting the time during the Spanish colonization of the Philippines. The show opened with the shooting of Dr. Jose Rizal, Philippine National Hero. The play had several comedic moments which made the crowd laugh. The duets of the lead actors were beautiful and their voices blended harmoniously. Macrine and I enjoyed the evening very much. Thank you Eli for inviting us and seating us in the front seats. My congratulations to the commiteee for starting right on time.

Construction and Reforestation at Chateau Du Mer

Beach House-Photo taken 1/10/10
A Multi-Purpose 27 sq.meters air conditioned room is under construction in the first floor of the beach house with an adjacent 18 sq.meters patio facing the ocean. Photo taken during Garden Wedding, 1/30/10

With several tourist groups from Manila inquiring about accommodations at the CDM beach house, I decided to continue the finishing of the first floor of the beach house. First construction is underway for a 27 square meters air conditioned room with an accompanying 18 sq.meters adjoining pation on the side of the western MDQ sea. The room will also served as a meeting room for a party of 30 to 50 attendees. The second phase of the construction will be the kitchen area with spaces for sink and gas stove. The expected completion date will be the third week of March, just in time for our busy Easter tourist season. The beach house will now easily accommodate from 10 to 12 persons. The rent for the whole house will be 8000 pesos per day. This will turn out to be less than 700 pesos per day per person if there are 12 in the group. This an affordable rental considering there is air conditioning, hot water shower and cooking facilities if desired.

Regarding reforestation, Edwin and I just planted 13 narra tree seedlings last month. This will provide the needed shade at the Conference Hall during the summer months in the years to come. Currently MDQ is also suffering from the drought. Luckily I have 3 deep wells that provide the needed water for my gardens, I am still hoping for rain though. Have a good day and hope to see you in MDQ soon.

Selected Pictures from the Garden Wedding of Sena-Dacumos at CDM

The following are selected pictures from the first garden wedding at Chateau Du Mer. The bride was Rheziel Sena and the groom was Ramon Chito Dacumos. The wedding took place on January 30. 2010. This was a historic event in the Beach resort.

Filipino Time is still in style in Marinduque

Garden Wedding Site, Boac, Marinduque, Philippines, where the wedding ceremony started only one hour late

Macrine's nephew is getting married next month. We will be one of the three pairs of sponsors for the wedding. Today, he formally introduced his future wife to us. Both of them are college graduates. During their visit, he mentioned that it is now a requirement to attend a seminar on FAMILY Planning, before the couple could be married besides the one required by the catholic church. The seminar will be given by an employee from the Health and Social Services in conjunction with the municipal government of Boac. Macrine's nephew and future wife were told that the seminar will be at 1:00PM. They were at the office at 12:50PM. They waited until 1:45PM but there was no seminar. So they went directly to the office of the employee who was supposed to give the seminar. They were told, the seminar will not start until 4 couples are present. It was not until 3:00PM that THE SEMINAR started. When my nephew complained that this wait was a waste of time, the lady giving the seminar blurted out in tagalog " We are all Filipinos, so there is no reason why you are complaining, why this seminar is two hours late". The comment made my nephew fuming with anger, but he did not say anything. This incident is an example why the Philippines will never be as progressive as the US. If all our government employees has this attitude, I feel sorry for the Philippines and its future.

Post Garden Wedding Reception at CDM

My Brand New Picnic Table

It has been very quiet here after a week of hectic and chaotic preparation for the first Garden Wedding of Chateau Du Mer. I missed the excitement and adrenalin rush of hosting last week historic event in this resort. This week, life here is relaxing and even depressing. I could only hear the sounds of mowing, vendors selling balut, fish and bread and occasional jeepneys and tricycles (except during rush hours). Do you have any suggestion what I can do to relieve this feeling of depression? Oh, yes, I could go swimming in the ocean or do snorkeling. I could do gardening by mouth and I could supervise maintenance projects in the resort. Oh well, just thinking about this already gave me an adrenalin rush and my depression is gone. Anyway, if you want to view the latest pictures of our activities here at CDM since December 2009 to the present, please visit my Face Book page and album, MDQ 2010. Good Day to All! From Your GrandPa Blogger!

The First Garden Wedding at Chateau Du Mer

The bride with Parents on her Wedding March





The wedding ceremony started with the bride transported by a white horse-drawn open carriage from the nearby beach resort. This reminds me of Cinderilla riding in her golden carriage on her way to the Ball. The open carriage was decorated with wedding colors of light red, white and blue. On her arrival she was met by the groom and her entourage( includes 6 pairs of primary sponsors) at the balcony of the beach house. The groom stayed overnight in the beach house. The wedding ceremony then began with a ballet dance on the bridge, followed by songs, prayers and homily. It lasted for two hours. The wedding vows and ritual ( cord, veil and candle sponsors) is similar to the Roman Catholic Church, except for presentation of gifts to the parents of bride and groom. In addition all the primary sponsors were required to give public advice to the newly weds. The pastor is from the Born Again Christian Church from Manila.

The reception in the hall had a printed program distributed to around 200 guests. It included several musical and dancing exhibition as well as public dancing. Music was provided by a live band of 10 musicians. At the end of the reception 4 hours later, the newly weds spent another hour at the beach house and ocean just relaxing and taking more pictures. There was a videographer and several photographers.

The ceremony ended with the bride and groom riding the open horse-drawn carriage back to the nearby resort where the bride stayed. The next day, I was told, they are flying to Hongkong for their honeymoon. A most memorable and grand wedding event -the first event here at Chateau Du Mer. I hope more garden weddings in the future.