What I Remember Of My Brother Fabian


Although there were four boys in the family: Pascual, myself, Fabian, and Manuel (the youngest, who died at less than 2 years of age), it was Fabian who was my companion until we separated. (Fabian went to Manila in 1946 to continue with high school and work.)

Pascual, our oldest brother, died of sickness before reaching seven years of age. Our youngest brother Manuel also died of sickness. Both were interred at the same time.

Pascual was slim and "banlag". Manuel was a very handsome boy. Fabian had a picture where he was clutching a "pipino." He was cute.

Together, Fabian and I would go swimming at a small pool at the back of a rice mill near our place in Sangitan.

Together we would go to a nearby woodland and gather guavas, mangoes, siniguelas, tamarind, and other fruits.

Together, we would join other kids in draining canals and other small bodies of water to catch fish. Together we would catch ricefield crabs by inserting our arms into crab "holes" along the sides of rice paddies, or gather snails (kuhol) in ricefields.

Also, together, Fabian and I would catch grasshoppers by running after them and beating with a piece of bamboo stick whose one end was expanded.

We would roast the grasshoppers over fire.

Grasshoppers and the salagubang were good tasting. Adobo salagubang is a delicacy in Nueva Ecija and Bulacan.

Field frogs were also our favorite prey and Fabian and I would try to catch frogs at night with the use of a lamp and a metal spear.

Skinned, dried, and fried, frogs tasted like chicken. Fabian and I used to gather firewood (there was no LPG yet) and at times would travel up to Valdefuente to cut, bundle, and bring home firewood.

The two of us would spend the night at somebody's house and would often communicate silently with the use of our fingers. (We had learned the alphabet of the deaf-mute.)

We knew how to ride the carabao and hold its tail. Fabian knew more about plowing, harrowing, and other field chores. One time, the two of us joined a crew for planting rice. It was a good experience. We earned money and had free lunch and merienda. Many times too, we enjoyed working in the ricefields, making sleeping huts out of rice straw and enjoying sleeping under the stars!

Fabian and I learned how to shine shoes; we would go from one dormitory to another, soliciting shoes for cleaning and polishing.

The Nueva Ecija High School was the only secondary school in the province at the time and students from towns outside Cabanatuan had to board in private houses and dormitories.

We also had to sell newspapers - Bulletin, Tribune, Free Press; and Magnolia products like lollipops, popsicles and tidbits, poprice, popcorn and ice drops in order to earn money.

There was a time when Fabian, after a day of selling Magnolia products, had to rest and count the money he made from selling. He sat on a park bench, counted the money, and after deciding the porsyento he would get, pocketed the porsyento and stood up, leaving behind the rest of the money on the bench, and proceeded to the store to remit his sales money.

Learning that he had left the money on the park bench, he immediately went back. Fortunately no one else had passed by and the money was still there for him to retrieve.

Pinawisan daw siya! (How he sweated!) He had no way of refunding the money had he lost it.

There were other ways by which Fabian and I earned money for some of our needs.

We would climb any sampaloc tree, gather its very young leaves or talbos or its flowers, young and ripe fruit, fill up the front of our shirts and deliver them to any market vendor and exchange them for money.

Fabian and I learned what old and discarded things like pop bottles, newspapers, metal, batteries, etc could become money. As we walked the streets, our eyes were fixed on what we could possibly find useful on the way. We hoped we could find a dropped coin.

We also learned which flower (like the "violets") could be sipped for its sweetness.

Fabian, I remember, was a very honest boy. He often borrowed things from other pupils, took good care of things he borrowed and always returned them.

Fabian spent much of his youth (especially during the war years from 1941 to 1944) in Anias, Talavera, where he helped Sangkong Menggoy in his farm. In Anias, he learned how to plow and other farm work.

One remarkable thing about Fabian was his strength. Had be been trained as a boxer, he would have beaten many opponents.

There was a time Fabian was dared to a fisticuffs at a sports event in school. His opponent, a classmate, was bigger and heavier. The bout didn't last one round as Fabian knocked out his opponent with a straight jab to the jaw.

After that, nobody ever dared Fabian to a fisticuff.

Another remarkable trait of Fabian was that he never tried to work on anything unless he knew how to do it.

Here's a story he related to me with pride:

As a worker - whether as a tinsmith or a panel technician or latero - he encountered numerous people who often demanded his attention and services. There was a client who wanted him to put up the steel structure of a factory in Nueva Ecija. The work required welding of structural components using a welding machine. Fabian requested the client to bring him to the job site to see what needed to be done, the materials needed, and the equipment to be used.

He was amazed to see the welding machine of which he had no experience using as it was his first time to see it! He told the client that he be given time to finish his work in Manila and asked for a thirty day time after which he would start with the job. The start date was agreed upon.

Back in Manila, Fabian contacted his friends and colleagues in the welding profession to find out where such a welding machine was being used.

Upon being informed that one welding machine (the same brand of equipment he would be using in Nueva Ecija) was available in Malabon, he immediately went there and requested the supervisor to allow him to help for free in the welding work with the use of the machine.

He helped worked for free for two weeks until he was confident enough in the use of the equipment. Back in Manila, he finished the jobs assigned to him, filed a leave of absence, and called the client that he was ready to take up the welding job in Nueva Ecija.

When he thought that he could not finish the job within the specified time, he requested a friend from the welding shop where he trained to help him and paid this friend a salary higher than what he was getting.

The welding job was satisfactorily completed on time.

When he was head of the motor pool section at the IRRI, he saw to it or made a practice to hire new mechanics with better knowledge than he had.