No matter how long we have lived outside the Philippines, no matter how much we have achieved and no matter how much some of us may deny it. The Filipino in us will always be there. Some of us take every opportunity that we have to go back whenever we can. We save and try to accumulate our vacation days for a “balikbayan, especially if we still have close family members in our native land. Our expression is “Uuwi ako,” I am going home. Philippines is home. There are a few and I repeat, few, who have not gone back for decades, for one reason or another. I just met someone in a party several weeks ago who has been in Canada for forty-five years and has not even once gone back, but is planning to visit one of these days.
Whether you go back to the Philippines often or not at all, you will recall and feel the pulse and the heartbeat of Filipino life by reading a collection of short stories by Rene Calalang, a Filipino Canadian who came and has lived in Toronto since 1971. The book “Sa Aking Dalawang Daigdig” was published only a few months ago right in Toronto.
Rene Calalang is a master of characterization and local colour that through his words you can vividly picture the Philippine scenery, most especially the rural areas. And recall some intrinsic characteristics of our people that only Filipinos would fully understand and appreciate.
Each story portrays a particular character or event that will make the Filipino reader nostalgic and draws him or her back like a magnet to the homeland. If you came from the rural area, you would envision the rice paddies, the water wells that are emptied to catch “hito, dalag, gurami or liwalu”, the golden rice stalks that softly wave in the gentle breeze, the feel of the rain on your skin, the pitter-patter of water on the “salakot” and scorching heat of the sun on summer days.
There is the fierce pride, satisfaction and happiness in a frugal life wherein everything came from sweat and hard work. There is the joy and fun of children playing with hand made toys of bamboo and wood, the excitement of playing “taguan” in shadowy places wherein the only light comes from the moon.
Like almost all of us, Rene Calalang left the Philippines for a better life. And he did achieve his goals through hard work and innate intellectual capacity. He, his wife and three sons have carved their place under the sun here in Canada. And yet in this collection of stories he wrote, he has clearly demonstrated that he does not at all feel more superior than the friends he left behind. He shows his respect and admiration for the achievements and success in their own ways of the men who were his contemporaries in the village where he came from.
He looks back and recalls those people who had been kind to him. In his “Ate Consuelo”, he portrays the admirable traits of the extended family wherein a second cousin took in an orphan and considered him a member of her own family, sent him to school and sought ways to give him a break in the work force. Many Filipinos help even distant relatives. We have brought that trait with us here in Canada. We go even further than relatives. Many Filipino organizations here help schools or towns in the Philippines through sending money, used clothes, books and other things in kind.
Rene Calalang also touches on how Filipinos would sacrifice for their children to the extent of selling their meager property to give them higher education.
Filipinos usually do not forget a debt of gratitude, which we term “utang na loob.” This is the reason behind the feeling of responsibility that those who are abroad always carry and keep them from not forgetting to send money to family in the Philippines or giving presents to people who have done them a favour.
Rene did not all dwell on the admirable Filipino traits. Some of the stories touch on some traditions and practices that have been kept for ages, which have made the economic circumstances of some families worse and have given opportunists the chance to take advantage of them. One is the lavish fiestas wherein some families give huge feasts that they cannot afford, to the extent that they borrow money from loan sharks. Another is the practice of giving presents to people in power in the hope that they will grant a favour.
He also narrates the story of a Filipino who migrated to Canada and then came home to visit the Philippines and boast around of how he became a “somebody”. Do you know of someone like him?
One of the stories points out the parallelisms in the circumstances of some young people in the Philippines and those here in Canada who became juvenile delinquents not because they choose to be, but due to dire situations in their lives beyond their control.
Each story grips the reader’s interest that keeps one reading up to the end, and then turning to the next for more. You will laugh and at times feel like crying, as you go through this book. To this reader, the stories go beyond pleasure and information. The author was able to incorporate social and political issues in the Philippines that need to be addressed.
Rene Calalang for example points out in one of the stories how difficult it is to get medical assistance in the Philippines if one has no money. That is why some of them turn to quack doctors when they are ill. He did not neglect to point out that some doctors in the Philippines do not get paid for services to very poor patient except with some fresh produce and chickens.
There is also the heart-touching story of one police officer that resisted the temptation of bribes and remained upright and honest. He got commended when he died in the line of duty, and never before that.
This article is hoped to whet your appetite to get a copy of this book, read it and recommend it to the younger generation of Filipino origin, to give them a taste of what the Philippines and its people are like. For these young people who often do not speak Filipino (Tagalog) very well, the English translations comprise half of the book.
To the author, Rene Calalang, my sincere congratulations for writing and having this book published. This collection is a labour of love for that country he physically left but kept in his heart and soul.
Indeed, Rene Calalang, you are living in your “Two Worlds”.