By Manny Piñol
Cabatuan, Iloilo – Shortly after Davao City Mayor Rody Duterte flew out of the Iloilo Airport in Cabatuan this morning ending a two-day visit to the province, my brother, M’lang Mayor Lito Piñol, and I decided to embark on our sentimental journey to the birth places of our parents.
Our destinations were the village of Tularucan in Janiuay town where our mother, Efigenia Colloquio Fantin, was born 86 years ago and where she spent her childhood, and Liboo in Dingle town the birthplace of our father, the late Bernardo Magbanua Piñol.
It was a trip I had long wanted to take but did not have the opportunity to do so.
In fact, when my mother was still hale and healthy, she invited me to join her in several trips to Janiuay but those were the times when I was Governor of North Cotabato and was tied down by my official duties.
On the way to Janiuay, we dropped by the town of Cabatuan to take our lunch in a small eatery which is famous for its specialty, native chicken wrapped in banana leaves and cooked in earthen pots known locally as “tinoum.”
The lunch for four persons cost us P600 and that included four “tinoum,” four pork barbecue and three fried fish known locally as “lagao.”
The added bonus was the knowledge that the owner of the eatery belonged to the huge Adelantar family of Janiuay, a clan which my mother once said her family belonged to.
The unique Ilonggo clannishness was shown by our new found relatives as they attended to us very well, just like we were long lost cousins.
There was no discount on the food but the kindness and the warmth they showed was more than enough to make that simple lunch memorable.
Next: The century old mango trees of Tularucan, Janiuay where our mother played as a child.
(Photos: Mayor Lito and I in the “tinoum” specialty restaurant in
Cabatuan. Romirose Boloron)
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