Table of Contents
Preface
1
Marinduque Writers Biography
Mr. Eliseo “Eli” J. Obligacion
2
Mr. Ricardo ‘‘Dindo’’ L. Asuncion
5
Mr. Alfonso P. Santos
7
Mr. Saturnino D. Rogelio
8
Mr. Celeste Manrique Romulo
9
Preface
This book covers the compilation of biographies of prominent persons and individuals who are part of the Marinduque Culture ang Arts. It is a compilation of the writers who are recognized because of their literary works, pieces and masterpiece for Marinduque.
The choice of theme was based on the Marinduque Culture and Arts.
It is expected that everyone will find the biographies useful in reminiscing and honoring the individuals involved and to remember their life as a prominent one.
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BORN STANDING UP Marieneth L. Malubag
“Independent minded ako always. So whatever comes to me – I take, I accept. Hindi ako nawalan ng pag-asa.. Hindi e. Wala, wala sa akin yan. Never in my life. In fact, I never questioned anything sa buhay ko. Everything is a challenge for me. I never lost hope”, Mr. Eliseo J. Obligacion said in return as I asked him about giving-up on some point in his life. Mr. Eliseo Oblicacion, more commonly known as Eli Oblligacion, was born on June 24, 1952 at Philippine General Hospital in Manila, to Mr. Ramon Obligacion and Mrs. Leticia Jabat, a simple housekeeper. Sir Eli as a child wasn’t different – he dreamed of being a famous artist, and has a simple and innocent life. Not until his parents get separated on his 5th year – but no, this point of his life didn’t lead him and his mother in despair. They made and continued their lives to the peaceful district of Marinduque, where his mother raised him on her own. He had begun his turning-my-dreams-into-reality life so early, where he also honed everything in him – for he performs so much on his late elementary days. He showcased his voice, which he have been inherited from his mother, in classroom and school programs. He was taught and even more acquainted with music by Ms. Perla Mogol, the composer of the “Pulang Lupa Hymn”, actually he had composed his own “Labanan sa Pulang Lupa”. He will never forget his grade-four teacher – Justino Lazarte of Malusak, Boac, who plays violin very well. During leisure time, Sir Eli was asked to sing “Anak ng Dalita” while his teacher plays violin – “oh diba bongga” as he utter every details to me. He was also a contributor to their school organization, at Boac North Central School (the late Don Luis Hidalgo Memorial School), of his own-composed English poems and as well as to the “The Heart” of his high school Alma Matter, Marinduque High School, Class 70 (Marinduque National High School these days). He also eventually joined contests – won the gold in declamation, and silver in oratorical contest. And of course, the influence of radio dramas, which is according to him – taga-bukid’s kind of entertainment, won’t be absent as I asked him – where did everything began. 2|Page
During his high school life, he cannot help himself but to hate some of his teachers, who were, according to him, di marunong magturo. For that, he doesn’t come to class daily. In spite of his vagabondism and 2 out of 8 subjects passing grades, he still got his high school diploma from Marinduque High School, owing to the fact that he became the top-notcher as the result of the District Achievement Test came out in that time. Isn’t it admirable? As he and his mother have gone through many ups and downs, they’ve decided to move out to Manila, not for college, but for him to get a job. He once was about to be hired as a waiter on a famous restaurant, but something happened. The owner of the restaurant doesn’t want to hire him as a waiter, for the reason of Sir Eli – being too smart in the interview. But he still strived to get that job for their financial needs. The owner humorously said, “interview ulit, pero wag mo na galingan”. He then granted what Sir Eli wants – to get the job, but not only that. The restaurant owner believed in Sir Eli’s capabilities and that he would make the success in his life, that’s why he sent Sir Eli in school by the Foreign Diplomat. Sir Eli then went to the Lyceum of the Philippines and took up the Journalism course. But as part of his personality, he doesn’t admire the universities’ system – protests here and there against the government. And it was the reason why he dropped out. He tried to take the Interior Design course but he also dropped out, thinking of “ay, di ako bagay dito, mga sosyal nakapaligid sa’kin”. Philippine Women’s University, School of Music is the last school he had taken up. He had a good grades record but decided to stop schooling. The Foreign Diplomat then settled Sir Eli as a utility boy in the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Manila, but soon, appointed as the Office Manager. On that time, he could save money and support his mother well. In his spare time, since he loves music and arts, he performed musical productions at Manila’s Metropolitan Theatre and he also goes to discos, concerts, and even contests. He attended, one time, a non-stop dance contest, which was forcedly stopped and lasted for 38 hours, because from the 200 participants, 180 got eliminated and 20 has remained. And since those 20 are the ones who were determined to win, the judges have to pick one from them. Sir Eli was announced as a winner. His friends cheered, saying, “Eliii, ikaw ang nanalo!” and Sir Eli replied, “may iba pa ba?”. As he knew in his self that he performed well among the others. After a decade and a half, being the Office Manager and having his well-off life, he noticed that something has change in him – his personality. “Nag-iba ako, yumabang ako. Na parang magkakasakit ako kapag di ako umalis sa trabahong ‘yon”. He then filed a resignation letter but the head did not accept it, several times. Not until Sir Eli was so firm about ending the job, “tanggapin niyo man o hindi,I’ll leave”. Tired of Manila’s fast-paced mix of work and play, Sir Eli and his mother returned to Marinduque, for good in 1990. By his savings, he built a wooden house on a plot of land his mother owned. In 1992, Sir Eli was inspired to form a theatre group of his own, together with his three friends, because of the performance of an Orlando Nadres play in Boac by a visiting theatre group from Tayabas, a town near Lucena. He named his community theatre group – Teatro Balangaw. “Balangaw means rainbow. Rainbows appear here periodically. A rainbow represents harmony of colours, beliefs, and many kinds of people. It symbolizes what we are and what our purpose is: bridging differences between people.” “I’ve started writing dahil sa pangangailangan”. He built the theatre, where he decided, at the very start, that every plays they should perform will be based on local materials, such as legend, story and theme as well. Among the group, he was the only one who has the ability to write the scripts and stories, since he is fond of writing poems when he was a child, and later articles, historical researches and anything. Overall, he wrote twelve admirable scripts: “Mara Unduk”, a dance drama about the island’s mythical origins. Fifty students from MNHS participated and performed on the eve of the 3|Page
annual Boac fiesta in December, 1992. Second is the “Saan Nanggaling ang Moryon?” followed by the “Moryonan: Ikalawang Yugto”, which was became controversial because of some political issues. But due to political pressure on community leaders, only 350 people participated instead of the 1,000 participants who had initially signed up. “Labanan sa Paye”, a musical play, was the fourth script he had written. A historical retrospect script – “Isang Araw sa Paye” was the fifth. “Kasaysayan ni Longhino”, followed by the “Mis Lagrimas a Ti”, which means ‘my tears to thee’, and was performed at Daupan Festival. His 8th written script was the “Himagsik ng Budhi”, a revision of ‘Mis Lagrimas a Ti”, entered as a drama competition entry for the DepEd Southern Tagalog Performing Arts competition project with MNHS students in connection with Phil Centennial, in Batangas City, and won the 2nd place. “Arko” was the next written script. It is, again, an entry to the Southern Tagalog Performing Arts competition, organized by DA with the students of Cawit National High School, and also won the second place. “Bulong” was the tenth, a dance-drama play, and followed by the “Sukat Ipag-alab and Damdamin”. And last but surely not the least, the “Ang Kristo: Pasyon-Dula”, which is according to him, the piece that is dominant, and will never to be forgotten. It is because every scene is intensely great and had received applauses. This was his play where the actors have this friendly competition to improve and habilitate their theatricals to receive even more grand applauses after their each scene. He composed, as well, the all-time favourite song - "Marinduque Akin Ka". He initiated some significant and historical events and festivals in Marinduque. He was also an active blogger – talks about Marinduque and broadcasts everyday news. Sir Eli, todays, is still a self-styled local cultural organizer and has many pending projects to organize and conduct. As I sit in front of Sir Eli, and watch him talk, my smile refuses to vanish. It will be a forever-fresh remembrance that will enkindle my life. I admire him for being tough and resilient on everything. I admire his personality. I love the way he says – being humble is 100% bullsh*t. Because for him, being humble is a cop-out for not admitting you’re lack of self-empowerment and self-discipline. I asked Sir Eli about his feeling – being the person behind the significant theatre plays of Marinduque. But he refused to answer and rather let me read all the comments of the late members of Teatro Balangaw on his FB post – remembering their plays. I can easily find out what was the feeling. They kept on thanking their “kuya Eli” for the discipline, for the memories, for the love and kindness that he has shown off to them. I admire the way he puts colour in the district of Marinduque. It's such an honour for me to hear the admirable and praiseworthy story of one of the most prominent person here in Marinduque, when it comes in the domain of culture and arts. People have loads of interesting facts to know about Marinduque, especially on its culture and arts. We must give thanks to people like Sir Eli, who puts Marinduque even more in the spotlight.
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“Sir Dindo” by Xyryn Jayne Magalang ‘‘You will never know that impossible things turn into possible unless you try and you believed in yourself that you can do it.’’ - Ricardo ‘‘Dindo’’ L. Asuncion His story began the day Mr. Anghel and Mrs. Remejos Asuncion gave birth to him on January 2, 1954. He spent his childhood days in Murallion Boac, Marinduque. He love to play piano since he was a kid. He took piano lesson for almost a year but decided to study it by his own because he wanted to try other genre. He also love to write but he never ambition to become a writer and he never consider himself a writer. He graduated with the course Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering at UST but he did not use his degree of being mechanical engineering. His first job was the Chief Tax Mapping in the Assessor Office Division of Marinduque. Beside of doing graphics and documentations, designing brochures, posters and being fun of photography. Would you believe that he has skills and talents that even himself don’t believed about but other people does?
He was the author of the book ‘‘Marinduque, Heart of the Philippines.’’ The idea of crafting a book started in 2001 and publish on 2004; its concept- a cover full of light reading, visually entertaining yet informative, focused on Marinduque. Prodded by the belief that Marinduque deserves its own place in library shelves and archives and a conviction that it could be done despite the odds, the second thoughts turned to a first-rate dream and that dream is now a coffee-table book- Marinduque’s first ever. ‘‘That book should have been written by Rey Alejandro, I was to be one of his research team to help complete the book, but because he is in New York Governor Carmencita Reyes challenge me to finish the book, and I said Gov. I’m not a writer’’ ‘‘I believed in you, you can do this’’ governor said.
Later on the book was finally completed. He retired early after writing the book and decided to go to America with his wife, when he came back. Six months before returning back to America governor challenge him again to compose a song for the celebration of Marinduque day, a song for the youth to encourage them, to develop their love and to be proud to our province through that song.
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‘‘Gov. I’m not a composer’’ he said ‘‘Just give it a try, I know if you like it, you can make it.’’ ‘‘Okay I give it a try’’ he said.
One week before the celebration of Marinduque day he forgot his promise. He came to Biglang Awa shrine to ask for help but he still couldn’t think of any notes so he went to sleep. 3 a.m. in the morning when he dreamed of one note in his head, he woke up and continued the note he called pentatonic note and in thirty-minutes he completed the notes.
‘‘I was inspired, I had the ability but I still consider my inspiration was Mama Mary’’ he said.
He put an accompaniment and recorded it. The lyrics was completed during his travel, two stanzas of the lyrics was written when he was in the airplane and the chorus was written when he was in the taxi and the rest. The title of the song he composed was ‘Sige Marinduque’ it is not just a title but also his slogan.
Currently he is the Provincial Tourism Officer (OIC) of Marinduque and the Nominator of Pangkat Kalutang for the Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan (GAMABA) National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) proposal.
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Alfonso P. Santos
The Legend of Marinduque was popularly known by the Marinduquenos, where Maring and Duque’s love story was introduced and how it was related in the creation of Marinduque Island. Behind this tale is a man that is worth to be known and recognized. He is Alfonso P. Santos. He had finished and published several numbers of books with different genres such as biography, poetry, history and humor. According to Worldcat Identities he das 31 works in 76 publications in 2 languages and 343 library holdings. The most highly widely held works by Alfonso P. Santos were Philippine-Nippon tales: a collection of incidents showing the sunny side of Japanese occupation in the Philippines, Rizal in life and legends, Poems for the new society, Marcos: Man of hour, Santang Buds, Heroic Virgins and Women Patriots during the Japanese Occupation, Diliman Echoes, Etude in Blue, Sadly Mourns my Heart and Romance in Philippine names: mythical origin of Philippines place names and objects. All of his works were published as a book and you can still browse it is google to see the pdf form. He had first published the 1st edition of the Tale of Marinduque on 1978 under the Romance in Philippine names. He had done a master piece for Marinduque as part of Southern Luzon. He was worth to be recognized and became prominent for he has done a worthy and such master piece. He is a man who had a great work in the Philippine culture and arts.
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Saturnino D. Rogelio
“The origin of our towns’ name can be traced to some local historical developments in the past which were woven into local folk tales and stories.”
Every man deserves to be known and be recognized by his fellows especially if he have done something great in the history.
Saturnino D. Rogelio was known by many people living in Santa Cruz, Marinduque for he had done such great master piece. According to the persons whom I’ve met and ask for their help and assistance told me that he is a native of Santa Cruz and his house was located in Brgy. Banahaw, Santa Cruz, Marinduque. He had a wife but they didn’t have a son/daughter. According to other people he had adopted a child and after Mr. and Mrs. Rogelio’s death he moved and now currently living in other country.
He had such a great work for he had done the story entitled “The Legend of Santa Cruz and How the Town Got its Name”. This story was published and featured in the book of Santa Cruz during the celebration of the town’s fiesta year 2014. His work had a great impact for he was able to tell the story behind our towns’ identity. It was such a great honor and privilege that I was able to read his work; he had enlightened me and gives me a glimpse of the history of our town. In his work he featured several land marks in Santa Cruz that has a great account in the towns’ history.
Writing his biography is such a great privilege for I was able to write the story of a man who was worth to be recognized and became a prominent for he had done a great work. He is a man who had a great work in the Santa Cruz Culture and Arts and at the same time a wonderful master piece for the Marinduque culture and arts.
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Celeste Manrique Romolo
My famous writer that I write her biography was named Celeste Manrique Romolo. Her family has a house in Tampus Boac Marinduque but they lived in Lucena City Philippines. She has two sons, named Ryan Romolo and Celestine Romolo, and also she has one daughter named Arci Romolo. Her husband was a seaman. They have a school, for students who want to learn about music. They build that school and in that school they teach like, piano lesson, guitar lesson, voice lesson and dance lesson for the kids. They also teach four major subjects, Math, English, Science and Filipino. They hire some teachers for those particular subjects. She was a famous writer because she was the one who arrange the lyrics of the Alma Mater song and she also arranges the lyrics of the song for MNHS @ 100 of Marinduque National High School. She also arrange the lyrics the song “Ang Pangarap ng batang Boacqueño”. Even if she was staying in Lucena, she still works or participate in the activities that being happened here in Marinduque. She was prominent for me because she share her knowledge in writing and also her writings was known by the person here in Marinduque specially the person who study at Marinduque National High School and who lived in Boac.
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