As we passed by each barrangay in Mogpog, Espie Logatoc somehow amazed me with her knowledge of the surrounding towns. She and Dr. Mauro Larracas knew the boundaries of each town even a narrow path going to Bokbok. I couldn't believe it. I kept it to myself though. I can understand why Mauro still remember those towns - he crossed plenty of rivers, climbed steep mountains, and met many parents (and daughters) in parties and serenading. But Espie? Maybe she attended lots of dance parties too during her teen years. Aah, I was right. I learned later on from Lucy, her sister-in-law, that they used to walk late at night from dance parties in Boac going home to Mogpog. Lag-i lamang ang ilaw pauwi. During those days, jeepneys were not available anymore late at night - even going to nearby Barangay Sawi, there were no transportations late at night.
   Steve requested the driver to stop by at the Marinduque Provincial Hos-
pital to get some stethoscopes (or forceps baga) to be donated to the Gasan Puericulture Center, and then off we went to Gasan.
At Lupac where few missioners were staying, Ben & Remy Magahis, Dr. Homer Bunag, Flo Apeles, Udes Belmonte and myself were contented and enjoying the beautiful air-conditioned cottages, Governor Carmencita O. Reyes offered for the missioners.
   I was already awake at four o'clock in the morning, so I went out and walked back and forth by the beach. I met a man with his dog he called "soo" (maybe short for aso) waiting for his brother-in-law who was out in the sea fishing. We talked about life by the sea and how difficult it was for them to earn a living just by fishing. No more fish to catch, he said. After a while, he noticed some darkness on the horizon and the clouds were moving differently (it was 5am. of course it's dark). He told me that it was going to rain hard because of "habagat".
|MARINDUQUE INTERNATIONAL, INC.
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MI, INC
Less then 20 people were in the vicinity when we arrived at 2:30pm. Dr. & Mrs. Peping Lopez were in the covered court that morning. Dr. Rudy Jao and Dr. Efren Labay were there too ahead of us. We were told that the people came early in the morning with bigger expectations of seeing the mis-sioners from America and Canada. We regret that this incident happened in Gasan. Call it miscommunication, mis-managed or what not. The MI., Inc.  organization has certainly done its best
and served the people with all its sincerity and dedication but again sad to say that we missed the opportunity to help the people of Gasan in this mission. It doesn't mean that we failed, we simply didn't do our job well in Gasan.
    The group of missioners that came from Sta. Cruz stayed in Gasan covered court until 4pm.
Tagalog and English old favorites were on the air after a couple of bottles of beer.
   I don't remember now how and what time I went home to Lupac. My nephew must have dropped me off that night with his tricycle.
| GASAN  2:30pm.
The Quarts
Atty. Ton Hidalgo, Rey Muhi,
Fred Leano, & Flo Apeles
| WEDNESDAY, Rest Day
| WEDNESDAY, Rest Day
Tueday's dinner at Kusina Sa Plaza located across the street from the Boac covered court, were hosted by Atty. Augusto Hidalgo, Jr., a retired insurance executive in Manila and used to be my boss when I was still in the Philippines, and Mr. Fred Leano, a member of the Board of Directors of MACA who just retired from his job in Maryland, now enjoying his retirement pension. The missioners who came from Gasan arrived intact.
   I like the food they served in the restaurant, real Marinduque taste. Bust most of all, I enjoyed the atmosphere at the adjacent room where the sing-along machine was located, courtesy of Flo Apeles of MASC.
Volume 5.1                                                                                                                                                                     Fall 2001
continued on page 7
MARINDUQUENEWS International