Venting!!!!

      For the last few days, I have been furious over articles that appeared on the local newspapers in Cebu about a Pasyon organized by, I am ashame to say, an uncle (my father's cousin) of mine. He wants to sell my great grandparent's legacy for 30 pieces of silver, and yes, he did it on a Good Friday too, how apt.

     I have found two blog entries written about this event by a father and son. Both say basically the same things, giving only my uncle's side. It is not surprising though because it was their family that promoted this event. I have no quarrel with them,  but I have decided that the time to give the other side of the story. The post below was my reply to one of the blogs mentioned above.

     I am posting this here for those who know my family and have read the newspapers.

Hi Karlo,

     You seem like a decent and intelligent guy.I am writing this comment in the interest of fairness and truth and I hope that you will not censor it.

     I just saw this and the other articles written about the event in Mantalongon. I am the sister of Roel (your father missplelled his name) Reynes the barangay captain. We have been asked not to speak out in order to avoid further controversy, but I cannot keep quiet anymore. I have to admit, I was seething with anger when I read the articles written in the newspapers.I know your father, we used to hire him to do some writing in my former office (I am now U.S. based) and I saw you a few times as a young boy, how quickly time passes.

     “The holding of the Good Friday event faced stiff opposition from a reactionary local official who sent goons to threaten local residents from participating in the Pasyon, absurdly thinking that it would diminish his feudal influence in the area. This, however, did not prevent more than 15,000 people from witnessing the affair”.

Here are a few facts you may not be aware of:

     When I learned that Joe was going to organize the Pasyon, I lobbied for it to be stopped, yes me. The rest of the family did not want this event to push through but opted to keep quiet to avoid embarassment. As you may have noticed, there was not one single family member of Joe who came to support him.

     Not Conrada Almagro whose name he shamelessly used when it was convenient, and who he mockingly insulted infront of the people. The same Conrada Almagro who built the Christo Rey. By the way, that is not Christo Rey Mountain Park, that is just called Christo Rey. Joe cannot just decide to call it as such because he wants to. He is one of the owners (being an heir of Crispin Almagro) but he is not the sole owner and, unless the other owners would agree that it be called as such, that name holds squat (and he is no longer the administrator, he was impeached).

Joe’s siblings and immediate family were not there either. In fact, from the news articles, I got the impression it was your family that became his closest support group. What does that imply? I am not at odds with you, I am only trying to get the facts straight.

     Roel Reynes is not a reactionary politician, neither does he have goons, and most of all he does not have a feudal mentality.

     Years ago, we knew there were developers interested in Mantalongon. We were concerned that these businessmen and developers, who have no love for Mantalongon and are only there to make a profit, would connive with some goverment officials and turn her into a tourist spot. We did not want to see hotels rising on the land which our farmers, and their families, have tilled since the time of our great grandfather. We know our farmers by name, I have been godmother to some of their children, I have slept in their houses. We could not bear to see them become waiters, bellboys, caddies, and maids serving tourists. We were concerned that the negative side of tourism, especially prostition, would emerge in this place that had given us so much. We wanted to preserve our farmers’ dignity. You see, as land owners, it would be in our interest to connive with these developers and make ourselves rich, but that would be treason to our farmers. So, when we became aware of this problem, we met with the people (I facilitated the meeting) and told them that there was a threat to Mantalongon. We told them that as a family, we were not going to sell them to the highest bidder.

     The farmers said that they would fight with us. I can still remember the ideas they came up with, from blocking the bulldozer to physically beating the construction workers.

     Conrada Almagro’s legacy is that she was loyal to our farmers and they were fiercely loyal to her. I was her assistant for many years and I learned this style of leadership from her. Most members of my family, including Roel, are of the same mind set. That is why people are loyal to him too, he does not need goons. People support him because he is the grand son of Conrada Almagro.

     Sadly, Joe is of a different mind set. He wants to turn Mantalongon into a tourist attraction. He has no ties to the land and to the people. His sidekicks are the undesirables of the place, addicted to drugs, and became abusive. Under Joe’s orders, they uprooted expensive anthurium flowers and cut down the trees of Christo Rey. Trees that have been there since we were children. That was why my other brother, in a fit of anger, hit one of them.

     Joe saw an opportunity to make money out of Mantalongon at the expense of our farmers. That is why we are opposing his efforts. That is why my brothers openly opposed him. We are afraid that he will sell Mantalongon to the highest bidder. Why? Because he has already sold his mother’s land in Alcoy (and did not give his siblings a share of the money). Our great grandparent’s gave very clear instructions that the land should not be sold, except to family members. We are only following the instructions of our ancestors who gave this land to us in the first place.

     Joe is a smooth talker and can be charming when he wants to be. He can even give you a sad story about how his family had been unjustly treated, forgetting that the Reyneses, who he had been attacking, are the same Reyneses who took him and his siblings when their newly widowed mother could not take care of them. He cajoled the family into making him an administrator and in less than a month caused so much damage. That is why he got impeached.

     So you see, things are not what they seem.

     Here is an article I wrote in my blog years ago about Mantalongon: http://mgcr168.bravejournal.com/entry/19512

     This is what I have to say for now. I hope you will give us this space after using a lot of space giving Joe’s side. Thank you