THE DATANIAN WEBMASTER All about ...
[As a tribute to my late wife Mary Mangagil Basingat, I left most of the original wordings intact as I wrote them before her death on April 10, 2006. Mary was not only a wife and mother to our four beautiful children. She was everything a family could ask for. A very tireless woman who only lived for the love of God, her family, her friends, and fellowmen. She loved life so much that she left for the great beyond having lived it to the fullest as she knew too well that it was just a matter of time that God will call on her. My family and I still suffer for the lack of her physical presence... but life is slowly moving on quite well for all of us despite occasional, emotional flashbacks. With God's constant guidance, we know in time we shall overcome. - hpb2008]
To my dearest wife, four awesome children, relatives, friends and valuable viewers
who may by chance find this page and of course find time to peruse . . .
This page is specially created to tell an abbreviated story of the creator of this website. I wish I have something more spectacular to relate but no, this is to simply illustrate how my very simple and ofttimes rocky life found its way to this day.
I was born in my late father's tiny, remote barrio called Data which is located in the municipality of Sabangan, province of Bontoc in the northern part of the Philippines. My mother was the late Paulina 'Didian' Perez (Peles) from Payeo, Besao, Mt. Province. Less than a year after my birth, my parents decided to haul their family down from this mountain abode to yet another mountain but this time it's a city, the city of Baguio. In a place called Loakan which is about seven kilometers from downtown Baguio, my parents and their four children started a brand new life together.
I am the youngest of the four. I have two older brothers, Felix and Henry (God bless your soul manong Felix) and a lone sister, Rose. I finished my elementary education at Loakan Elementary School which is located adjacent to the Baguio Airport.
I left home and lived away from my parents and siblings at a very young age. After graduating from grade school, my parents thought that it would be best for me to enroll in an agricultural school and so I did just that. My four years of secondary education at the Mountain State Agricultural College (now Benguet State University) were by far the most memorable and the best years of my educational journey. The farms, animals, sports competitions, oratorical contests, spelling bees, school organ, student body elections, PMT, junior & senior's proms, the crushes, puppy loves, serenades, booze, love affairs, and everything that I've been a part of always create beautiful visions of the past. Yes, those love rivalries, the intrigues, the heartaches ... how can I forget all those? I've always lost to the other guys for obvious reasons I thought were (thanks for the memories Esther, Edith, Noemi, Leticia, Gloria, Rose and others who I either pursued or had crush on. I hope you are all living the good lives as I've always wished for despite the heartaches that I had to contend with). Oh ... the group circumcision just after graduation, how could I ever forget that too? Cesario de Guzman, you were the man, the great circumciser. I should have kept that guava twig and your razor as souvenirs. Thanks for the free surgery anyway.
College life was a little bit different and there's nothing much to tell. After weighing all my options, I defied my parent's wishes that I would someday become an agriculturist. I wanted to be an engineer instead so I left MSAC for good after my high school graduation. I had brief stints at the engineering department of Saint Louis University, Lyceum Of Baguio and University of Baguio. I was on my third year as a Civil Engineering student at UB when I was faced with a very tough decision to make. Two more years and I could have possibly been an engineering graduate (if I was lucky with those not-so-impressive grades). My other choice came when I was one of only three Baguio City applicants who passed an entrance examination given by the then Civil Aeronautics Administration, the air transportation branch of the Philippine government. The test qualified me for a free training in Aeronautical Engineering in Pasay City, Philippines. Sounds classy but well, I graduated with a title of Airways Technician I. Yes, "tech only" and I was very proud of it. The compelling reasons why I chose to take the training over finishing college were, first, the government guaranteed me a job after graduation, which true to their commitment, I did get it. Second, my hardworking parents (God bless your soul dad, I love you.) were obviously struggling to steer me through the finish line of my engineering career. Two more years in the university to me meant two more grueling years for my very hopeful but weakening parents. The deteriorating health of my father was a huge factor that influenced my decision. There was a good lengthy debate between them and me but at the end, I prevailed. Of course being one of only three making the qualifying exam was my best convincing tool. I told them that it was a big opportunity in life that rarely comes by. I either had to take the spot or gave it up for the next qualifier in line. So off I went to Nichol's Air Force Base in Pasay City adequately armed with the blessings of my beloved parents.
After graduation, all successful trainees were given the privilege of choosing three Philippine airports to be assigned to according to priorities. Manila International Airport (MIA now NAIA), being the largest and most prestigious airport in the Philippines, was my first choice, my home Baguio City was my second then third was beautiful Zamboanga City. Incidentally, my friend Rolando Tioaquen also listed down Manila International Airport as his first choice. Since Rolando was a better student than me during the course of our training, he was given the Manila assignment while I settled for my second choice which was Baguio Airport. Quite a disappointment for me but I managed. Glad to be back home nevertheless.
What's the significance of my telling this, one might wonder. Well, it's everything in my existence in this world right now. In January of 1972, which was exactly a year after we started working at our respective assignments, Manila International Airport was burned down to the ground. Rolando Tioaquen was one of the fatalities. He was trapped while on duty at the MIA Control Tower that dusk of the towering inferno. That could have been me but no, the good Lord wanted me to live instead for reasons only HIM knows (Dole, God bless you my friend). Yes, this is a very personal and clear testimony to God's mysterious works and reasons. So even with a not-so-easy life up to this day, how can I complain?
My soon-to-be wife Mary, who was here in America finally decided on who to live the rest of her life with. She came home to the Philippines to tie the knot with me on August 18, 1974 at the legendary Baguio City Catholic Cathedral. Yeah, that was the year when the Miss Universe beauty pageant was held in the Philippines. I remember when Mary arrived at the Baguio Airport just a few minutes before the plane carrying the beauty contestants also touched down. Miss Aruba flew away from the Philippines with the most coveted crown. She later went back to the Philippines to portray some bold roles for the Philippine big silver screens. That's all I can remember aside from my wedding day of course. Okay, so I did watch one of her steamy movies ... maybe two ... ah, that is time long gone but what a beautiful body Miss Aruba really had.
Life as a government employee and a bachelor at the same time had its many highlights but "nothing stays forever" is right. I really wanted to stay home in the Philippines for as long as I was having fun and Martial Law was just lifted up. Mary had to endure two years of husband-less days and nights after our marriage as I stayed behind when she flew back to America. She grew impatient understandably so she finally gave me two choices. One was, "fly to America now" and the other was "or else". Whatever that "or else" meant certainly was one of the most dreadful pair of words that I ever had to deal with. I tendered my resignation and boarded a PAL boeing jet 747 bound to Los Angeles Airport, USA on June 16, 1976 all because of family necessity. Shocks! I think I just ran out of alibis.
Coming to America at first was both wonderful and frustrating. The frequent job denials were vicious killers. You wonder many times how you could be denied a position when you can swear to God that you came close to perfecting a given test and have done well in the interview. On several occasions, I told my wife that I wanted to go back home to my old job. Well, so much was learned as days went by. Patience, maintaining self-confidence and that ever-mentioned faith in God really pay off in time. For most companies here in the USA, they require an established time of residency. I found this out when after a year here, companies that have been turning me down in the past started calling me for job offers. By then, I was already in the best position to do the declining myself.
I did almost anything to help foot the bill. I've been a/an aluminum can collector (still am), gas pump operator, handyman, warehouseman, shipper & receiver, auto body repairman, machinist, cable puller, electronic technician, computer technologist, telecommunications testing technician and then as a telecommunications specialist for Pacific Bell/Southwestern Bell/General Telephone/AT&T (names constantly changing)... but let no one get fooled because I usually had to do the dirtiest jobs of climbing poles, crawling on attics and under buildings, pulling wires and cables just to get the job done.
The birth of my first child Harriet May was probably the most defining moment of my life. The births of my three successive boys Arnold, Dale Adrian and Neal Theodore of course each matched the joyous feeling of fatherhood afterwards. I realized along the way that life of being a husband and a parent has its own shares of rough and pleasant roads. The constant struggle to negotiate these roads the best way possible is a nagging reality. Despite all these, I have no regrets. Life with it's ups and downs is very challenging but beautiful and interesting. My children are now 23, 22, 18, and 15 years old. While they are not perfect, there are so many things about them that Mary and I can not trade for anything. At least ... to this point.
Harry Perez Basingat/ 2000
E-mail:
Table of Contents
