Since my friends left for Manila the day before my flight, I decided to spend my last day in Iloilo by visiting my mother's birthplace of Dumangas — a town approximately 30-45 minutes from Iloilo City. It was a special trip because I saw with my own eyes the place where my mom grew up. According to her, this was the place where she spent her happiest and formative years with my uncles, aunties, and my grandparents.
Visiting My Mother's Birthplace in Dumangas
Obviously, after 50 years — as my mom was only about 14 or 16 years old (she was born in 1944) when they left Dumangas for Manila — a lot has changed since. I took some photographs so I could show my mom what the place looks like nowadays.
Dumangas Cathedral & The Town Plaza
Upon looking at the images I took, she told me that the Dumangas Cathedral is still as splendid as ever. There have been a lot of interior improvements, but the high ceilings and original red brick walls were exactly as she remembered them.
However, gone is the vast grassy plaza where the Iloilo baseball team used to practice before. Today, it is the site of a smaller park outfitted with a covered basketball gymnasium.
Salas Street & The Old Neighborhood
I also took a photograph of the Dumangas public school where she attended her elementary years. The school is just a short walking distance from where they used to live on Salas Street.
As expected, there's nary a trace of their old house left. Today, a tight row of small residential houses occupies the entire street. With almost nothing physically remaining from the time when my mom spent her youth there, I still achieved a profound sense of joy within myself. Somehow, I have finally come and seen the exact geographic space where once upon a time my mom, uncles, aunties, and grandparents lived happily together.
The Fishing Pond & Moving to Manila
I grew up listening to my mother fondly tell stories of growing up in Dumangas. She always swears it was a place they found genuine happiness as a family, living one of the best eras of their lives there. It was that same happy, resilient outlook that they individually took when they started raising their own respective families.
My grandfather used to own a thriving fishing pond near the Dumangas port, and for years the business sustained and supported the whole family. That is, until a great flood wiped out most of the fishpens. Shortly afterward, my grandfather made the difficult choice to relocate his entire family to Manila to start over.
Since then, my mom has traveled to a lot of places but has not yet returned to Dumangas. I know she has deep plans of coming back in the future. Until that time comes, I am just glad to show her these photographs of present-day Dumangas to bridge the gap.
A Homage to the Past
My grandfather passed away in 1980, while my grandmother died in 1987. They had 8 children in total, with my mom being the youngest. Today, only three of them remain living. I deeply miss my other uncles and aunties who passed away through the years. Somehow, my visit to Dumangas was not only an homage to my mom, but to the memory of all of them as well.
My trip to my mother's hometown has shown me a thing or two about her past. Where before I could only listen to it through her colorful stories, today—even though many things have changed and people have come and gone within this sleepy and peaceful town—the feeling of seeing the place with my own eyes brings a powerful, tangible meaning to her stories.
Read about another incredible piece of history in the province through our feature on the Meticulous Art of the Bobbin Lace Makers of Santa Barbara.
