Today is the feastday of Cagayan de Oro City, where I grew up. I lived there until I transferred here in Manila after high school. Here is a rundown of posts I have written that has some connection to my City.

The Coalition of the Willing

A friend of mine (who used to be my classmate in high school), is now in the Intensive Care Unit of a hospital in Cagayan de Oro City. He was confined after he contracted a disease called Landry’s Ascending Paralysis or Guillain Barré Syndrome. This disease is caused by a virus which causes paralysis, starting from the feet moving towards the upper body progressively until the whole body is paralyzed. It can paralyze all the internal organs and can cause death due to respiratory arrest— when the lungs are paralyzed. The process can be arrested with intensive doses of an antibiotic that is very expensive. He also needs to go through a procedure called Plasma Exchange (blood “cleansing”). Read more…

Christmas Memories

When I was younger, Christmas started quite early. I remember my mom would start shopping for Christmas presents as early as October. She also bought parols* from the City Jail. These parols were made by inmates of the jail as their additional source of income.

We used to live near the jail, and I remember that when I was growing up, my friends and I would watch the inmates construct these beautiful parols. We would stand—a flimsy chicken wire separating us from the inmates— in awe and wide-eyed wonder at how these supposed criminals could make something so beautiful with their hands. Read more…

Of Jeepneys and the City of Golden Friendship

In Cagayan de Oro City, where I grew up, our jeepneys have character.

I’m not talking about outrageous colors- blue, red, orange, pink, jet black (although our jeepneys do have outrageous colors). I am not talking about the “borloloys” – little thingmajigs like crosses, beads, laces, horse-replicas (although our jeepneys also have that). I am not talking about loud speakers specially fitted (although our jeepneys also have that; sometimes the speakers cost more than the jeepney itself!). I am talking simply about character. Our jeepneys are treated like they have a character. Ok. Ok. Let me illustrate. All over the Philippines, the jeepney is decorated with borloloys, and painted different colors and outfitted with different speakers. That’s normal jeepney fare (pardon the pun). But our jeepneys in Cagayan de Oro have names. And they are called and known by their names. Read more…

An Ode to the Humanity of Heroes

In my highschool back in Cagayan de Oro, there is an award called the Xavier Award. The Xavier Award is given to someone who is able to embody in himself the values that Xavier University High School (also known as Ateneo de Cagayan) stands for.

The introduction to the award goes like this:“If the school finds a graduating student worthy, and they are convinced that the student embodies in his person the ideals Xavier University High School- Ateneo de Cagayan holds dear, they may decide to give the Xavier Award for that year.” Read more…