Why bother with this web site, with its list, pictures and stories that would bore the youngest generation? To preserve our heritage, that's why. The early Orosas were one of a kind. What makes the early generation of the Orosas unique? The eight children of Simplicio and Juliana, aka Lola Kanang, were overachievers, back when the word hadn't yet been invented. Raised by a young widow with meager resources, they all completed college, three of them in the United States. This would be exceptional even today, but think of this achievement in the period starting in 1906! Yes, ninety six years ago. Among the eight children, there would be a lawyer (Nicolas,) engineer (Vicente,) physician (Sixto,) business executive (Jose,) two pharmacists (Maria and Felisa,) school teacher (Simplicia,) businessman and educator (Rafael.) From a tiny municipality in Batangas.
The period of the 1950's was easily the halcyon years of the growing Orosa clan. All seven of Lola Kanang's surviving children were then in their 50's and 60's, occupying positions of responsibility and respect, at the peak of their careers. Sixto was the writer of the family, a trait he passed along generously to his daughters Leonor, Rosalinda and Helen. Sixto became a physician, married to another physician, Severina Luna, making a formidable partnership. How many women do you know became physicians in the period before WW I? Not many I bet. Sixto wrote a book, "the Sulu Archipelago and its People," published by World Book Co. of New York in 1923. With the turmoil going on in that region today, Sixto's book reveals timeless insight. He knew, served and earned the respect of the Muslim leaders of those days. Leonor and Rosalinda still write regularly to this day, the former for the Manila Bulletin and the latter for the Philippine Star. Helen authored the biography of Maria.
Graduated from the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana in 1911, Vicente served continuously in the Philippine government for a almost five decades, rising to cabinet level, serving under Presidents Manuel Roxas, Elpidio Quirino, Ramon Magsaysay and finally Carlos Garcia. In the 1950's he was winding down a government career that would span 47 years. The University of Illinois awarded him a Distinguished Alumnus Award, joining an elite company of University awardees that included Nobel prize laureates. Vicente was only sixteen years old when he went from Bauan to faraway Cincinnati, Ohio to finish his high school study in 1906.
Maria was the second of Juliana's children to receive an American education, first receiving a Pharmaceutical Chemistry degree in 1918, followed by a Bachelor of Science in 1920 and Master of Science in Pharmacy degree in 1921, all from the University of Washington in Seattle. She received a posthumous award from the American Red Cross immediately after World War II for her services in helping American prisoners of war and internees. Many literally owe their lives to Maria's supplying food. Ironically, Maria lost her life during the liberation of Manila in early 1945. Additional honors for Maria came by having a street in Manila named after her in 1969, the only Orosa ever so honored. The Orosa's hometown of Aplaya also named a street after Maria.
Jose was the third of the siblings to graduate from a U.S. institution, first receiving a business degree from the University of Washington in Seattle in 1923 and then earning a Master of Business Administration from Columbia University in New York in 1925. Jose rose to become the general manager of H. E. Heacock, an upscale store on the Escolta, the premier shopping street of Manila before the advent of the mega malls. If you wanted whatever the Rolex watch was of the 50's, Heacock's is where you shopped. Later on he was called into public service to head the government's National Marketing Corp. or Namarco. He became President of the Manila Rotary Club, perhaps the most prestigious of all Philippine Rotary clubs.
Nicolas was a corporate lawyer for the Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corp., a blockbuster of a bank then and now. Nicolas was admitted to the Philippine Bar in 1927.
Most of the family lived in the Manila area, the only exceptions being Rafael and his family who lived in Aplaya, and Felisa, who lived with her physician husband in Calaoag, Quezon. Lola Kanang had supported her young family by operating a small store or almacen, akin to the sari-sari store of today. Rafael continued operating the store, perhaps more for sentimental than commercial reasons. Rafael co-founded a private high school in Bauan that has one of the country's top folk dance ensembles, rivaling the fabled Bayanihan. Felisa and her husband operated a pharmacy in Calaoag and owned land devoted to copra production.
Living in close proximity, the family could call for a family powwow on a moment's notice. There was an occasional grandson or granddaughter who was abroad for studies, training or touring, but it was not common. No one had yet immigrated. The grandchildren were also making their own mark. Cesar O. Ilagan (son of Simplicia) became a physician. Sixto L. Jr. or "Ting" founded the bank that later became Equitable PCIB. Apolinario or "Naring" (son of Rafael) studied at the London School of Economics and was appointed to the Presidential Economic Staff during the early 70's by no less than Ferdinand Marcos. Augusto or "Toto" (son of Vicente) capped almost five decades of banking by becoming Executive Vice President of the Philippine National Bank. Leonor (daughter of Sixto) was named National Artist for Dance in 1976. Conrado O. "Dado" Ilagan studied engineering at the University of Seattle and became a building contractor, and helped construct the Philippine Village near the airport. Rosalinda was awarded the Premio Zobel, awarded to Filipinos for their Spanish writing.
The Orosa family reunion was a regular annual event, usually held in January. With the clan numbering less than a hundred (vs.300 today,) reunions were held alternatively in the homes of those in Manila, or in restaurants like the Selecta on what was then Dewey Boulevard. Selecta was a favorite, owned by a fellow Batangueno. As our numbers grew, they began to be held exclusively in restaurants. Lola Kanang dispensed silver coins to the young grandchildren. If I remember correctly, we each received 3 silver pesos, more than half a day's wage for a factory worker at that time.
Another annual event was the birthday of Lola Kanang in August. She always picked a "panciteria" in the heart of Manila, down in Quiapo or Binondo. We loved those dinners. Seven, eight, nine or more courses, one after another. I don't recall a cake or singing Happy Birthday. We just made "mano" to Lola and ate heartily.
Today we are scattered all over the globe. Perhaps 10% permanently live abroad today vs. none back then. Getting together for a 1950's style reunion would be a virtual impossibility. We live in Australia (Sydney and Brisbane,) Canada (Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver,) Singapore; United Kingdom (London and Edinburgh,) and United States (California, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Virginia, Wisconsin.) Previously there were some in the Middle East, Africa, Indonesia and Japan. Of course the overwhelming majority still live in the Philippines but opportunities have compelled many of us to immigrate and take citizenship elsewhere, an unforeseen and heretical thought back in the 1950's. How about a reunion via virtual reality, teleconferencing, web cams!
But for the Orosa clan of Juliana and her seven surviving children, life during the period of the 1950's was sweet.
To support his family, Simplicio worked as a ship captain of a "batel" that traded between Batangas, Mindoro and points beyond. There is little information regarding this phase of Simplicio's life. Sixto provides a brief account of Simplicio's seafaring activities in "I Remember My Father." Sixto talked about Simplicio going to Manila to purchase merchandise for distribution in Aplaya after Simplicio's transition from a seafaring career to merchandising. Simplicio's stores were referred to by Sixto as "sari-sari" or the same terminology we use today for those ubiquitous Philippines institution that is part and parcel of the Filipino's daily life. However, in the story of Aplaya titled "Window on the Sea" written by the late Mr. Eugenio C. Ingco, Simplicio's stores were referred to as "almacines" which is a cut above the sari-sari.. The two accounts are consistent in describing Simplicio's previous maritime life, Ingco referring to him as a retired sea captain. Ingco described how the Orosa couple "acquired vast tracts of land in Mindoro1." I have no recollection of anyone mentioning these holdings unless they were sold or disposed of shortly after Simplicio's passing. Sixto would have definitely noted such holdings. If Ingco's contention was true, then Simplicio must've been very very successful in the years between the end of the Philippine-American War and his passing in 1910.
The father of Juliana merits a brief mention at this point. I say brief because all I've been able to find are some records of Pedro Ylagan selling carabaos on a number of occasions. So, either he was a farmer disposing of extra livestock or raising carabaos for a living.
After Simplicio passed away, Juliana supported herself and her young brood by continuing to operate the sari-sari or almacen started by her husband. At Simplicio's death in 1910, the children ranged in age from six to twenty two. The three eldest were already out of the house. Vicente was in the United States, working on his engineering degree, Sixto was training at the University of the Philippines in Manila to become a physician and Simplicia had married. But undoubtedly it would be a struggle to raise the remaining five on no regular income. No social security then! Within a few years, Maria, the fourth child, would leave to study in the United Stated, followed by Jose. But Juliana still had three to take care of, Felisa, Nicolas and Rafael.
The new American administration of the Philippines had started to undertake a campaign of universal education under an educator named Dr. David P. Barrows, from the University of California. As part of this program, young Filipinos were selected and sent to the United States for collegiate studies. This was called the "pensionado" program and in 1906, sixteen year old Vicente was admitted to the program. Imagine, sixteen years old, Tagalog and Spanish speaking, with limited English, going to a far away and alien land to study. His first stop was Cincinnati, Ohio. The contrast between Cincinnati and Aplaya must've been stark. The "Queen City" was then the sixth largest in the U.S., San Francisco and Los Angeles were much smaller, the reverse of today. From Cincinnati, you could travel throughout the U.S. by railroad or via steamer on the Ohio river. Not having finished high school, Vicente was sent to the Cincinnati Technical School, a preparatory school for technical disciplines such as engineering. After finishing there in 1907, he was sent to the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana to study civil engineering. He took extra courses during the summer at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, 400 kilometers or so to the north. After finishing in 1911, Vicente returned to Manila to start a government career that would take him to Cabinet level position under several presidents, retiring after 47 years. In 1959, the University of Illinois honored Vicente by naming him an Outstanding Alumnus and his portrait hangs in the Union Building of the University. Vicente was a man of very few words and didn't leave any writings regarding his experience in America or about his career as a government civil engineer. But some interesting correspondence remains from his student days, which we'll save for another section.
Vicente was already back in the Philippines when Maria became the second of the children to study in the United States. Besides Sixto, Maria is the only one with a formal biography, written by our cousin Helen Orosa del Rosario, so we won't cover the same ground here. Although Maria's purpose in coming to America was to further her education, her presence in Seattle must have been a boon to the family finances. Maria wrote a lot of letters to her mother, the only significant correspondence between any of the children and Juliana that have been preserved. The two had a business operation going, Lola sending merchandise to Maria for resale. Lola sent "babera ng bata", " bata de dornier", "vestidos", "kamison," "abaka", "kustal" and "ternos", even "bayong", "langis", and "sombreros". In one letter sent in 1919, Maria enclosed $850!. That's right, eight hundred fifty dollars. The average American family income annually during that era was about $1,000 so they didn't do too badly. Of course they had to deduct their "puhunan" and pay freight but it was not a small operation. Maria's letters to her mother have been preserved, and Maria's Tagalog reflects the formality and respectfulness of a bygone era. No Taglish, short cuts or such absurdities. I have transcribed Maria's handwritten letters, they make for interesting reading. They will be published. At some point Maria was communicating with her mother about importing copra by the hundreds of tons! No small undertaking! These two women were undoubtedly the entrepreneurs of our family. In addition to her studies and importing business, she had to worry about her kid brother Jose, who followed her to Seattle, Washington in 1919. Like Vicente before him, Jose was still a teenager when he arrived in the U.S. So Maria balanced her studies, the import operation with Lola, and mentoring Jose, seven years her junior. We have a few letters from Jose to his mother, referred to as "Inang." No mommy, mom, mama or whatever. It is interesting that Maria discouraged sending Jose to the United States. He was too young, there were a lot of Filipinos in Seattle that could be a bad influence, they were carousing instead of studying, etc. Obviously, Jose made it without a misstep.
But by the late 1920's, with the return of Jose from New York, most of the family was all back together. But not completely. Vicente was assigned to various regions of the country as an engineer, building roads, bridges, irrigation systems, etc. for the government. During this period, Vicente, wife Rosario and three children (my sister Charito and I weren't around yet) were in Malolos, Bulacan. Dr. Sixto and his family were in Negros Occidental.
It may have been an early family reunion in Manila, but we'll never know. They would have numbered less than 50 then including the spouses. The family posed for a formal photograph in 1932, the photo2 that is on our home page. With the exception of Maria, all were married, ranging in age from 44 (Simplicia) to 28 (Rafael.) Nearly 70, there is a hint of a smile on Juliana's face. She had done her job. Against great odds, she raised that family whose achievement will be difficult to equal, not in terms of wealth, but in terms of excellence in their undertakings. Without reading any how to books, they had pursued excellence, and overtook it. And their integrity was beyond question.
Diaspora: To be continued.
Footnotes:
1 A branch of the Orosas, cousins of Simplicio from his uncle Basilio, did
migrate to Mindoro and reportedly did well. But Ingco's statement is emphatic,
it was Simplicio and Juliana that acquired the land, not otherOrosas.
2 I am indebted to the late Sixto "Ting" Orosa Jr. for this family photograph which he sent me during his retirement years in Vancouver, Canada. Ting said he was sure 1932 was the year it was taken. Incidentally, Ting graduated as Valedictorian of the Negros Occidental High School in 1932.