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Showing posts with label Sisican. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sisican. Show all posts
2.6.11
26.7.09
Playing Tennis With Dad
My father taught me to play lawn tennis. Now it's my turn to teach my sons.
I started playing tennis when I was 9 (or 10) years old. At that time, it was only me and my eldest brother who were interested (forced and obliged?) to play the game.
DBP tennis club
My first home court was the DBP tennis court located in CPG North Avenue in Tagbilaran. Dad was a retired accountant from that bank; incidentally, our former house was also conveniently located close to it.
There were so few of Dad's colleagues who play tennis back then. So, I played a lot of tennis when I was starting out. The tennis court surface, which is hard court, was great to play in. It was much better than some of the tennis courts I have played.
I started playing tennis when I was 9 (or 10) years old. At that time, it was only me and my eldest brother who were interested (forced and obliged?) to play the game.
DBP tennis club
My first home court was the DBP tennis court located in CPG North Avenue in Tagbilaran. Dad was a retired accountant from that bank; incidentally, our former house was also conveniently located close to it.
There were so few of Dad's colleagues who play tennis back then. So, I played a lot of tennis when I was starting out. The tennis court surface, which is hard court, was great to play in. It was much better than some of the tennis courts I have played.
7.3.08
Itinerant Bol-anon
You have heard about the enterprising Bol-anon. There is another equally famous trait Bol-anons are known for; oftentimes, it goes together with their being enterprising. Bol-anons are known for being itinerant. Mention any place in the Philippines, especially in the Visayas and Mindanao, and chances are you will find us there. Where usually? In the town markets doing business selling just about anything.
Let me cite my father’s family as an example of showing both traits of an itinerant and enterprising Bol-anon. He said the Sisicans are originally from the coastal town of Baclayon, Bohol. His father who is an artisanal fisherman is locally famous for his expertise in catching the iito (marine catfish). My grandfather has relatives who are also fishermen who have migrated and settled in the towns of Toboso and Calatrava, Negros Oriental. Some relatives have settled in Davao City and neighbouring towns as well.
I was once a team member in a UP project on municipal development in Lopez Jaena, Misamis Occidental. During the pre-project workshop I was surprised when approached by one of the barangay secretaries who introduced himself as a Sisican whose origin is from the neighbouring barangay of Guiwanon in Baclayon.
Although not closely related to them, imagine my amazement and deep appreciation to their wonderful hospitality when I went to their barangay the next day during one of the assessment workshops we held. Several of them greeted me when I arrived and obviously quite thrilled to find a relative. We exchange few stories about each other’s side of the clan.
After the workshop, as we are readying ourselves back to our quarters in Poblacion my relative (barangay secretary) came up to me and gave me a chicken as a gift. I was thrilled and thanked him profusely for it! Not to be outdone, however, was another team member who is from Dauis, Bohol. He, too, have relatives in Lopez Jaena to which he already knew. But he was still greatly surprised to be given a goat as present!
Going back to my family, one of my uncles was an astute businessman. It was he who started a successful business that led to their family partly relocating in Pagadian, Zamboanga del Sur. The whole family was involved which eventually led to some of them permanently settling there. My father used to live there for awhile. There he met my mother and four of us older siblings were born in the city.
I still have lots of close relatives in Pagadian and nearby towns. In fact, my older brother is living in Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay after marrying a local lass. They have two young children. Itinerant that we are, my generation have gone international. Some of us are working and living in Europe, USA, Middle East and South Korea.
I always thought that a major reason why the Bol-anon emigrates is economic. Yes, Bohol is idyllically beautiful but it does not really provide a lot of economic opportunities during my father’s time. In my case, I was convinced that if I want to make it in life it has to be outside of Bohol. I went to university in Cebu and then worked for several years in Metro Manila, parts of Mindanao and Palawan. And now I am in the United Kingdom still trying to make it in life. Still, I long for the day I will go back to Bohol and contribute to its development starting by just living there. But that will not be soon, I suspect.
Let me cite my father’s family as an example of showing both traits of an itinerant and enterprising Bol-anon. He said the Sisicans are originally from the coastal town of Baclayon, Bohol. His father who is an artisanal fisherman is locally famous for his expertise in catching the iito (marine catfish). My grandfather has relatives who are also fishermen who have migrated and settled in the towns of Toboso and Calatrava, Negros Oriental. Some relatives have settled in Davao City and neighbouring towns as well.
I was once a team member in a UP project on municipal development in Lopez Jaena, Misamis Occidental. During the pre-project workshop I was surprised when approached by one of the barangay secretaries who introduced himself as a Sisican whose origin is from the neighbouring barangay of Guiwanon in Baclayon.
Although not closely related to them, imagine my amazement and deep appreciation to their wonderful hospitality when I went to their barangay the next day during one of the assessment workshops we held. Several of them greeted me when I arrived and obviously quite thrilled to find a relative. We exchange few stories about each other’s side of the clan.
After the workshop, as we are readying ourselves back to our quarters in Poblacion my relative (barangay secretary) came up to me and gave me a chicken as a gift. I was thrilled and thanked him profusely for it! Not to be outdone, however, was another team member who is from Dauis, Bohol. He, too, have relatives in Lopez Jaena to which he already knew. But he was still greatly surprised to be given a goat as present!
Going back to my family, one of my uncles was an astute businessman. It was he who started a successful business that led to their family partly relocating in Pagadian, Zamboanga del Sur. The whole family was involved which eventually led to some of them permanently settling there. My father used to live there for awhile. There he met my mother and four of us older siblings were born in the city.
I still have lots of close relatives in Pagadian and nearby towns. In fact, my older brother is living in Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay after marrying a local lass. They have two young children. Itinerant that we are, my generation have gone international. Some of us are working and living in Europe, USA, Middle East and South Korea.
I always thought that a major reason why the Bol-anon emigrates is economic. Yes, Bohol is idyllically beautiful but it does not really provide a lot of economic opportunities during my father’s time. In my case, I was convinced that if I want to make it in life it has to be outside of Bohol. I went to university in Cebu and then worked for several years in Metro Manila, parts of Mindanao and Palawan. And now I am in the United Kingdom still trying to make it in life. Still, I long for the day I will go back to Bohol and contribute to its development starting by just living there. But that will not be soon, I suspect.
28.2.08
Bol-anon
Bol-non refers to the native of Bohol, the tenth largest island in the Philippine archipelago. Surprisingly, I have found out another meaning to the word. In Lianga, Surigao del Sur it refers to the whole building in the city centre that housed the store spaces rented out from the local government by enterprising residents of Bol-anon descent. Described as fiercely entrepreneurial, these businessmen dominated the dry goods retail market during the height of Lianga's fame as a market town.
I came across this rather bizarre definition while Googling blogs about Bohol or Bol-anon. The search led me to a post entitled Bol-anon in A Lianga Diary, a blog by Benjie Otagan about life and living in a small remote town on the eastern coast of Mindanao in southern Philippines. I have not been to the town but if I am not mistaken I had a high school classmate who was from the town and surnamed Mercado.
I read the article and cannot help but feel nostalgic as well. Somehow it struck an emotional chord inside of me because I can identify with these entrepreneurial Bol-anons in Lianga. My father's family is of similar kind but they set up their retail trading business in the city of Pagadian, Zamboanga del Sur. In this city, my father met and married my mother (originally a Manila girl who migrated together with her father and sister). I and three other brothers were all born in the city. I still have lots of close relatives living there who are mostly professionals. The family business had long been folded up and sold because nobody in my generation seemed to have the fierce entrepreneurial spirit to carry it on.
You have to read Benjie's post in order to appreciate it. I have since read other posts in his blog. I do aspire to write as clearly and plainly as him as I tend to be wordy and long winded, use jargon and write as if I am talking. I do not mind being influenced by his blog in developing this blog.
So there, a new meaning to the word Bol-anon, one that describes one aspect of his character, that of having a fierce entrepreneurial spirit that leads to a successful business practice. Mabuhi ka Bol-anon!
I came across this rather bizarre definition while Googling blogs about Bohol or Bol-anon. The search led me to a post entitled Bol-anon in A Lianga Diary, a blog by Benjie Otagan about life and living in a small remote town on the eastern coast of Mindanao in southern Philippines. I have not been to the town but if I am not mistaken I had a high school classmate who was from the town and surnamed Mercado.
I read the article and cannot help but feel nostalgic as well. Somehow it struck an emotional chord inside of me because I can identify with these entrepreneurial Bol-anons in Lianga. My father's family is of similar kind but they set up their retail trading business in the city of Pagadian, Zamboanga del Sur. In this city, my father met and married my mother (originally a Manila girl who migrated together with her father and sister). I and three other brothers were all born in the city. I still have lots of close relatives living there who are mostly professionals. The family business had long been folded up and sold because nobody in my generation seemed to have the fierce entrepreneurial spirit to carry it on.
You have to read Benjie's post in order to appreciate it. I have since read other posts in his blog. I do aspire to write as clearly and plainly as him as I tend to be wordy and long winded, use jargon and write as if I am talking. I do not mind being influenced by his blog in developing this blog.
So there, a new meaning to the word Bol-anon, one that describes one aspect of his character, that of having a fierce entrepreneurial spirit that leads to a successful business practice. Mabuhi ka Bol-anon!
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