Manuel Antonio Padilla Gallego III

Sounds long-winded.  That’s the label my parents decided to give me at around the time I was born, which was on February 22, 1968--that's 44 years ago today. Mom said she had a miscarriage before and after I was born, as if to herald the coming of a special child. Unlike her first two births, mine was an easy pregnancy. No trouble at all, according to Mom. It was Dad who was constantly having food cravings of hilaw na mangga at bagoong (that’s green mangoes with shrimp paste). I was certainly different from the rest of my siblings—I was the only boy.

My nickname is Tutu--quite the opposite of long-winded.  Up to this day, I don’t know how this came about exactly.  My father’s nickname is Manoling.  So, when Mom suggested Manolo as my nickname, my Lola Ego (as we fondly called Dad’s mom) objected, saying that I would sound older than Dad.  Manolito, little Manuel or little Manoling, sounded just right and that was open season for all the indiscriminate variations of my nickname that Filipinos are famous for creating with nary a regard for the subject individual’s preference.  Manuelito, Martoto, Marsoto, Manolet, Manoling, Manoleng, Manny, Man Well, Well Man, Manuel, Miguel and so on.

To or Toto (pronounced with the short vowel “o”) is a common (almost generic) Filipino nickname for boys—just like Ne or Nene (pronounced with the short vowel "e") for girls.  The last syllable of my nickname (Manolito) probably facilitated my being called To or Toto and, therefore, it was no wonder that Toto to some would become Tutu (pronounced with the short vowel “u”) to others.

Mom and Tutu

Puttering around the little wall fountain at Villa Caridad

Monique is being carried by Lola Caridad

This was the basis of our portrait by Hidalgo

In a rambunctious mood at the driveway of Silencio

Always liked 2-door convertibles; at a car show in the San Francisco Bay Area
(during our stay with Tita Grace at Atherton, Palo Alto)

. . . in Hong Kong 

 . . . in Venice

 . . . in Paris

2nd year high school

3rd year high school with buddies; Moi, DD, JP, Jun Jun (Atom), Arturo

At DD's home after a study session; DD was really tutoring me

4th year high school


High School Graduation

Crashing at the Isada's in Blacksburg, after a home-cooked meal by Tita Amy

Christmas Party with IIE Buddies, Maria Bothwell and Claire Spino

Patrick Borders as Santa Claus

With Joe Loving, Van Elliot among others at the Rockville, Maryland Package Car Center, Burtonsville Hub

With Gil, Twilight Hub Manager, giving the "finger" to the hot shot engineering college graduate

 
With feeder control

 . . . in Tuscany

Betta's Wedding 

Family Picture at Maite's Wedding

Escorting Mom at Maite's Wedding

That's Me in College . . . a long time ago ("BEFORE")

This resume would kill an Ongsiako (male) . . . off to less stressful pastures!

(http://www.flickr.com/photos/65007685@N08/6069122247/sizes/l/in/set-72157627492500678/)

One of My Favorite Things . . . Singing ("AFTER")

Above are some pictures growing up, including a picture at around the time I graduated from college (before working full-time), my resumé up until I retired from employment in mid-2009 and my picture in 2011 (after I retired from employment).  Talk about the indelible marks of all those years of abuse at work.  It also validates a long-standing observation that Ongsiako men (and I am a fraction Ongsiako) can't handle stress.  I recently found out that my paternal grandmother (Caridad Ongsiako or Lola Ego) may have been bipolar.  Psychological evaluations were not exactly in vogue those days.  I think Dad is a bit bipolar too . . . and so am I.  All in all, I suppose work was fun (to the extent I had to work and put food on the table, among other mundane tasks) but, alas, there is more to life.  In the meantime, . . .

“I fly because it releases my mind from the tyranny of petty things.” Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

This leads me to my other favorite quotes . . .

“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.” George Bernard Shaw

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” Mark Twain

"For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards, for there you have been and there you will long to return." Leonardo da Vinci

"Perfection is reached, not when there is no longer anything to add, but when there is no longer anything to take away." Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

“There is only one success – to be able to spend your own life in your own way.” Christopher Morley

"When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down 'happy'. They told me I didn't understand the assignment, and I told them they didn't understand life." John Lennon

“I think we have more machinery of government than is necessary, too many parasites living on the labor of the industrious.” Thomas Jefferson

“The ideal form of government is democracy tempered with assassination." Voltaire

" I would rather hear the approving voice of one judicious intelligent, and enlightened mind, than be greeted by the loud huzzas of the whole host of ignorance." Thaddeus Stevens

"The lion doesn't concern himself with the opinions of the sheep." Tywin Lannister, Game of Thrones

"There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God." Ecclesiastes 2:24

"When a crime goes unpunished, the world is unbalanced. When a wrong is unavenged, the heavens look down on us in shame.” Oishi, 47 Ronin

"Mejorar la raza" (To improve the race)


"La cabra siempre tira al monte." (The goat of course lives in the mountain.)

"K.I.S.S." (Keep it simple stupid.)

"A.B.C." (Attitude before Beauty before Competence.)

“Il bel far niente" means 'the beauty of doing nothing'

“It's better to do a little harm for a whole lotta good, than to do no harm for jack shit." Mariah Dillard in Luke Cage

Just haven't gotten around to photographing myself riding the machine 

Life is a Joyride!

. . . if it isn't, then it should be.  Happy New Year to All!  The rainy season in 2011 has been unusually long, with rain showers occurring regularly right up to December. I had a steam roller smoothen the airstrip in December, when I thought there was (a) still enough moisture in the soil to massage the hoof marks and creases out of the earth and (b) little chance of additional precipitation that would muddy the airstrip again. You guessed it!  It rained after the steam rolling was done. Fortunately, the airstrip held up and it's probably in the best condition it has been ever been. Still far from the condition I would like it to be but it'll have to wait until we have funds to spare! In the meantime, I've been getting plenty of traction on my Kawasaki Vulcan 900 Custom Special Edition (flat black) going to and from the farm.  It's been a joyride!

In a recent trip, I decided to take a detour to Sibul Springs and, after taking a long and leisurely dip (I thought, much like Mom and her siblings during their summer excursions to Sibul Springs way back before World War 2), proceeded to Biak na Bato National Park--both located in San Miguel, Bulacan.

"To give you a little historical background, Biak na Bato had once been the headquarters of the Philippine Revolution. Its numerous caves and springs made it the perfect hideout for the rebel groups. It was here that Emilio Aguinaldo established the short-lived Biak-na-Bato Republic. It's a little-known fact that this place was once declared as the country's capital by Aguinaldo's proclamation when he established the first Philippine Republic."

After a simple mid-afternoon lunch of tinolang manok, adobong pusit and rice at a local eatery beside the road and a lengthy conversation with the head of the local guides, I decided to go on my way and reserve another trip to explore the trails and caves of Biak na Bato.

Gallego Family Stories

Julio Gallego--My Great Grandfather

Manuel Viola Gallego--My Grandfather

Manuel Ongsiaco Gallego--My Father

Manuel Padilla Gallego--Moi

Here, I recount the stories of my father about my paternal family line. It starts with a bastard son of a Spanish nobleman in Galicia, northwest Spain. As the boy was growing up, living-off the land, his father took pity on him. The nobleman said to his son, "I cannot give you my title but I shall give you my sword. Go and seek your fortune in the colonies." The father assisted his son in joining the Spanish Navy and the son eventually served as an ordinary Spanish soldier in the Philippines, with hardly more than his karsonsilyo to his name. He is the original Manuel Gallego, my great-great grandfather, the quintessential Spanish aventurero.

Over time, Manuel Gallego (the original) rose through the ranks of the Spanish military establishment in the Philippines and distinguished himself to the point of being awarded a Spanish royal land grant of approximately 4,000 hectares in the vicinity of Guimba, Nueva Ecija. This was according to his son, Julio Gallego (my great grandfather), who gave his son, Manuel Viola Gallego (my grandfather), the title of such Spanish royal land grant at the time when Guimba had already an established community.

Manuel Gallego (the original) did not live long. He was planning to send his son, Julio Gallego, to Spain for a military education. However, he became seriously ill and died before Julio had the chance to leave for Spain. Hence, Julio was deprived of a proper military education. This was personally expressed by Julio to his grandson, Manuel Ongsiaco Gallego (my father), when he gave his 38 caliber Colt revolver to Dad upon returning from the US after graduating from the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) in the 1950's.

Colt 38 given by Lolo Julio to Dad after he graduated from VMI
(which happens to be the favorite gun of Al Capone--see picture below)

Al Capone's Handgun

Julio Gallego was married twice--both times to sisters (Juliana and Inocencia) of Maximo Viola, a friend of Jose Rizal, who would later become the patron of Rizal's first novel--the Noli Me Tangere. My family line is descended from Julio's second marriage, which was to Inocencia Viola and which appeared to have been under less than upstanding circumstances. So the story goes . . . Julio (then a widower of Juliana; they had one daughter, Amalia, who married Antonio Lamson; hence, Mang Boy Lamson (one of about 17 children of Antonio and Amalia) was the second cousin of Dad) climbed into the room of unsuspecting Inocencia (then only a teenager and truly an innocent country lass) and spent the night there, knowing full well that Inocencia would be a disgraced woman in the eyes of the entire town on the morning of the following day--unless, of course, he married Inocencia.

Manuel Viola Gallego was the eldest and only boy among the children of Julio and Inocencia. He often mentioned how he could not have pursued higher education if not for the sacrifice of his sisters, who were unable to pursue college to enable their brother to do so. In spite of this, Lolo Ego still needed to work while pursuing college and, later on, his graduate studies. In the future, Lolo Ego integrated an extensive working student program in the educational institutions he established--clearly having an appreciation of the strong work ethic he imbibed as a former working student himself.

In line with the age-old Filipino custom of helping siblings "complete" their higher education, Lolo Ego helped fund the education of his youngest sister, Purificacion Viola Gallego or Tia Cion (as Dad would call her), who completed her degree in pharmacy at the Manila College of Pharmacy in 1925. The following year, at the age of 25, Tia Cion married Filemon Tanchoco, then the Secretary-Treasurer of the Manila College of Pharmacy, the precursor of the Manila Central University (MCU).

Lolo Ego was handsome, intelligent and industrious. Most of all, he was a people-person. Even the few times I had encountered old-timers in Nampicuan who had interacted with Lolo Ego, they would describe him as a gentle individual who got along nicely with the townsfolk. He was almost what we would call a self-made man. I say "almost" because he could not have achieved or helped others as much if not for his wife. Caridad Ongsiaco, who we affectionately call Lola Ego, belonged to an affluent family, thereby relieving Lolo Ego, at least partially, of the drudgery of "putting food on the table" in pursuit of higher level aspirations.

Sidebar on MCU
In 1941, the Manila College of Pharmacy (MCP) suspended its operations as the Japanese forces occupied and looted its facilities, leaving only the shell of its two buildings in the City of Manila. After the liberation from the Japanese occupation in 1945, Filemon Tanchoco was the only remaining individual at MCP who could revive the institution but not without the help of his wife, Tia Cion, who, in turn, sought the help of her brother, Lolo Ego.

Not coincidentally, MCP's transformation and expansion was unprecedented during the years that Lolo Ego was the Secretary of Public Instruction (1946 to 1948). In light of the extensiveness and diversity of courses offered by then Manila Central Colleges (MCC), it was granted the authority to become a university. In 1948, the institution was known as Manila Central University with Filemon Tanchoco as its first president.

After Lolo Ego stepped down as the Secretary of Public Instruction, Tia Cion asked him if he would invest in the expansion of MCU.  After consulting his wife (Lola Ego, who would fund the investment from the proceeds of Rancho Caridad), Lolo Ego undertook the most ambitious initiative of MCU to date, which was to acquire the 10-hectare property of the Jesuit Novitiate of San Jose in Caloocan to serve as the new campus of MCU.

According to Dad, the only other serious buyer of the Jesuit property was Don Salvador Araneta, who had far more financial means to consummate the transaction. Yet, Lolo Ego's modest and gentle approach to negotiations persuaded the Jesuits to sell the property to MCU on installment!

For a number of years, Lolo Ego remained a shareholder of MCU. Early on, Tia Cion indicated the need to establish a cafeteria to serve meals to the students. This enterprise was assumed by Lola Ego with her cousin, Tia Itang, until it eventually grew to a substantial establishment. When Filemon Jr. (son of Filemon and Tia Cion) got married, his wife wanted to take over the operations of the cafeteria. When this was conveyed by Tia Cion to Lolo Ego, Lola Ego felt betrayed. She told Lolo Ego to divest their ownership interest in MCU and Lolo Ego obliged. Henceforth, the relationship between Lolo Ego and his sister, Tia Cion, had become distant.

Lull

Since my first cross-country flight to the Angeles Flying Club in September, this rainy season has grounded me for the most part, which has been rather anti-climactic. Even today (mid-November), regular rainfall keeps the airstrip too muddy for pleasant (not to mention safe) take-offs and landings. I get splattered with too much mud when I take-off and land my aircraft. Because we have a bit of cattle grazing the farm, the mud is really a combination of soil, pipi and poo-poo. You get the picture.

The parts I had ordered for the overhaul of my first Rotax 582 engine have arrived. My friend, Ricky Aguas, lent me certain specialty tools to remove the piston and the magneto. I just need to disassemble the engine (easier said than done for a first timer) and have the crankshaft inspected and redone by Bert Padua, who (I have been informed) is the definitive machinist for Rotax crankshafts in the Philippines. Thereafter, I will reassemble the engine (now overhauled) and have a second airworthy aircraft. Target completion by end of March 2012.

Life Starts Somewhere Between 43 and 44

The often quoted statement “Life starts at 40” didn’t mean much to me. In the first place, I didn’t give it much thought . . . until recently. I retired from employment after I turned 41. Mom was diagnosed with leukemia shortly after that and life switched to suspended animation. It was the most painful time of my life, even though it was Mom who was suffering. After nearly a year, Mom passed away.

She was a presence in our lives, so it had been difficult to resume without her physical presence—although we are certain of her spiritual presence and guidance as we move on today.  And so another year or so has past and life seems to be normalizing; hence, life (for me at least) appears to start somewhere between 43 and 44.

I am fortunate and infinitely grateful that I am not compelled to think of “putting food on the table.”  Instead, I can think of . . . fun stuff.  Like enjoying the company of loved ones, flying and assembling more planes, riding my motorcycle, pursuing new things (like paragliding, scuba diving, growing vegetables and cooking), experimenting at the farm, traveling, among other things. Moreover, I am abundantly blessed in my desire to simplify every aspect of my life . . . in due course.  To simplify until there is nothing more to take away.  And so my journey begins . . . 

The Early Days . . . Flights on Video!

Thanks again to Erik.  Without his conscientious record keeping, these videos, which he filmed in December 2006, would have been lost.  In the course of posting the videos on You Tube this afternoon, I learned to convert from one video format to another and trim and edit the same.  Neat stuff.  All for free and within the immediate realm of your computer . . . with internet access of course.  Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxApb4EothM&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_JDrP0Ll-g&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmfbiyzFHqc&feature=BFa&list=ULUnBTw3LVcBM&index=3

A couple of fly-bys . . .

The Early Days with my Nephew, Sijbren

Courtesy of my brother-in-law, Erik Kramer, an avid photographer and very organized record keeper, the following are photographs of my nephew, Sijbren, visiting the farm and checking out the microlight.  Photos were taken in December 2006, when I was accumulating my solo flight hours.  Sijbren is twice as big now . . . how time flies!

Sijbren getting comfy at the pilot's seat

Sijbren checking-out the helmet

Sijbren talking shop with Tito Tutu 

Sijbren posing for the shot