By KATHLEEN T. OKUBO
www.nordis.net

Born October 13, 1959, Edward, the fifth child of Ferry Cuilan Tagley and Bernardo Cariño Okubo. When our parents arrived from the hospital with him in tow, we his siblings, gathered around him to introduce ourselves, excited we had a new brother. I remember Patrick asserting his manongship and maybe by way of passing the position of “youngest” to him, he held his hand and directed the question to our watchful mother, “What is his name?!” “Edward,” says mom. “Why Edward?” No answer, and Patrick declares, why not Wowee? Wowee nalang, Mama, let us call him Wowee! Patrick declared when he saw my mom smile amusedly. Whatever which way you say it or spell it, Wowee, or wawi was his name since.

From Guisad (Leonor Rivera) we moved to Belshang, a three hectare piece of land our parents acquired and divided with our late Auntie Cecile, from Lolo Mawini’s (one name) Estancia that spanned then from Coyeesan to the present Sta. Lucia including the Crystal Cave area. Wawi arrived here as a baby and grew up to the ‘wild’ new frontier of Belshang. When he was almost one year old our father brought home a baby monkey orphaned from a hunt in Mindoro where he went for sometime to open a goldmine for his older brother, the late Sinai. I was in grade two and the late Butch, our brother next to me, was grade one, Andrew would be in UCCP kindergarten and Patrick was already allowed to go out of the house on his own. Wawi had to be home with the monkey named Number 31 to compete with. They fought over food, toys and attention for years until Wawi was old enough to carry a shovel and leave the house as early as the older ones had to leave for school.

The shovel was still a foot taller than him and he would walk up to the hill behind the house to dig-up whatever. At around lunchtime, he would arrive to declare he was tired and thristy and had to eat. In his baby-talk, he would tell of his adventure “up in the mountain, there” (pointing where). Once in a while 31 would go with him. Their fight over food, toys and attention became bad, 31 started biting. So Dad sent 31 “away to PBurgos until he (31) is old enough.” Wawi missed him until he realized he could visit him when Dad drove out in the morning. He went for awhile then went back to his usual, “up there in the mountain.”

He came home early one time crying loudly with his shovel in tow. Mama met him with a wet towel to wipe his teary and grimy face, asking why? What happened? Sulking, he said, “the girls up there (in the mountain) they said ngay mehehe.” He got cookies and milk and all the comfort of the women who were there in the house. He met the women who were tasked to clean the kaingin up there, they asked him what he was doing in Fontok and were giggling amused at a three-year old’s lone industry. I think he was not able to communicate with them and he cried in frustration and ran home to Mama – some 100 meters away.

Our neighbors were almost a kilometer away and that time you had to go through the brush and brook. He was barely three years old when he would be up very early and started exploring all the nearby mountains and rivers. # nordis.netBorn October 13, 1959, Edward, the fifth child of Ferry Cuilan Tagley and Bernardo Cariño Okubo. When our parents arrived from the hospital with him in tow, we his siblings, gathered around him to introduce ourselves, excited we had a new brother. I remember Patrick asserting his manongship and maybe by way of passing the position of “youngest” to him, he held his hand and directed the question to our watchful mother, “What is his name?!” “Edward,” says mom. “Why Edward?” No answer, and Patrick declares, why not Wowee? Wowee nalang, Mama, let us call him Wowee! Patrick declared when he saw my mom smile amusedly. Whatever which way you say it or spell it, Wowee, or wawi was his name since.

From Guisad (Leonor Rivera) we moved to Belshang, a three hectare piece of land our parents acquired and divided with our late Auntie Cecile, from Lolo Mawini’s (one name) Estancia that spanned then from Coyeesan to the present Sta. Lucia including the Crystal Cave area. Wawi arrived here as a baby and grew up to the ‘wild’ new frontier of Belshang. When he was almost one year old our father brought home a baby monkey orphaned from a hunt in Mindoro where he went for sometime to open a goldmine for his older brother, the late Sinai. I was in grade two and the late Butch, our brother next to me, was grade one, Andrew would be in UCCP kindergarten and Patrick was already allowed to go out of the house on his own. Wawi had to be home with the monkey named Number 31 to compete with. They fought over food, toys and attention for years until Wawi was old enough to carry a shovel and leave the house as early as the older ones had to leave for school.

The shovel was still a foot taller than him and he would walk up to the hill behind the house to dig-up whatever. At around lunchtime, he would arrive to declare he was tired and thristy and had to eat. In his baby-talk, he would tell of his adventure “up in the mountain, there” (pointing where). Once in a while 31 would go with him. Their fight over food, toys and attention became bad, 31 started biting. So Dad sent 31 “away to PBurgos until he (31) is old enough.” Wawi missed him until he realized he could visit him when Dad drove out in the morning. He went for awhile then went back to his usual, “up there in the mountain.”

He came home early one time crying loudly with his shovel in tow. Mama met him with a wet towel to wipe his teary and grimy face, asking why? What happened? Sulking, he said, “the girls up there (in the mountain) they said ngay mehehe.” He got cookies and milk and all the comfort of the women who were there in the house. He met the women who were tasked to clean the kaingin up there, they asked him what he was doing in Fontok and were giggling amused at a three-year old’s lone industry. I think he was not able to communicate with them and he cried in frustration and ran home to Mama – some 100 meters away.

Our neighbors were almost a kilometer away and that time you had to go through the brush and brook. He was barely three years old when he would be up very early and started exploring all the nearby mountains and rivers. # nordis.net