Recollections From D'Bugoys

Inside the house of Julian, Omar and Papoose.


top to bottom: Julian and Bobbit pretending they can read. Papoose and Omar talking about the future; Dining room ;

Papoose and Omar; Erpat waiting by the phone; Papoose in the library.

Calamba St. going to Metrica from Washington.

At left, an apartment (formerly bahay in Iglesia where Joe "Paa" and Jess lived. Next to Julian, Omar and Papoose Oteyza's house.

The next house is the tindahan of"Ching" Everyone who owned the store was named "Ching" notknowing that we were actually calling them "Chink" and insulting them.

It's fiesta time!

Pats "Lolo Pogi" looks back: ang sipag ng tutubi.....ADROITS (para sa mga hindi nakakaalaam) this was the first combo or band joined by me with the following as members: Bote Bautista(R.I.P.) as leadguitarist/manager), Rogie-duling drummer, his cousin Junior-rythm, at ako Bass, music nuon puro instrumental, Bote can't play without first drinking beer para maalis nerbiyos niya, lagi sabit ang nota, ng mauso na ang beatles, Berting(Ngipin or Rabbit in English because of his big protruding teeth) joined in, hindi naman taga metrica ito hindi ko alam kung saan lupalop nangaling, kapitbahay yata ni Junior sa Gelinos street malapit sa family clinic.
Then, wala ng matugtog si bote kasi puro kanta na uso, dito naman nag-umpisa ang Rainmakers na nagsimula rin sa D'Bugoys(coined by mang Pedring) sa balcon ng house ni julio-Tutubi, Adroits then was disbanded. Boy Matsuda joined the Adroits as part-time kasi pareho sila ni Bote leadguitarist, discovery siya ni Don Loy sa Sisa St. malapit sa simbahan.
Old house nni Deng was demolished and a duplex-apartment now stands, si Peter at mga anak ni deng ang nakatira.
Ang Pilay na bassplayer sa craig ay si Erning Tirona, kapatid ni Nonong na napangasawa ni Chachi Dionisio na pinsan ni Ed at Monching Pamolar na pinsan din nila Bobby Zabala na nakatira rin sa craig.....tutuloy ko pa ba ito mahaba ito nasa year 1964 palang ako(thin-agers na tayo noon).Si vino(mike) mas maraming recollection ng ating childhood days.

Nuong late fifties nauso ang mga gang, naghari si Craig ang "Cuban Boys" na pinamumunuan ni Egong, sa metrica may lumabas rin na junior gang "ATOM BOYS na pinamunuan naman ni Baby de Leon(ako ang sidekick niya), wala pa sa metrica nuon ang mga Oteyzas', kalaban ng ATOM boys ay iyong mga taga Makiling, anak ni aling pepita ang lider. Nag-umpisa sa barilan ng baril-KATIKBI at tiraduran ng rubberband and ang bala ay folded paper, iyong iba may mga palaman na alambre o pako para mas matigas and harmful....
Hanggang dito na muna pagod na ako....(at iinterviewhin ko pa si loy kung ano pa ang natatandaan niya.

Omar remembers: like balok (short for baluktot, the guy who played basketball with pats and talked in barely understandable sentences)
boy austria,
nes espiritu (who lived in the same house as boy austria), he was my classmate in highschool
corey, i think what the grand daughter of mang aping(the very political guy) whom i thought was very cute.
mang pedro, who pinned you down with his pre-war and world war 2 stories,
there was mang bubut, who had a sexy wife who worked for hahn-manila
and of course bing (now bobby) poblador, his cousins vic and bojic (he changed it to ernie),
and that guy in craig whom we called spy, was that ed?
and that guy who insisted on playing a guitar that sounded like a trumpet("torotot") and had a hairdo of a chicken, which we called "palong ng manok"...i can't remember his name.
and i remember when boy crisologo used to go to court one of those sisters(was it chachi) in craig.
and what was the name of that guy who paid us to go and play in dipolog with 2 former actresses.
and of course, nardo alias ponga and his brother whom we called "playboy"
and deng yumol who owned a big pig that danny aso's brother ambok used to ride like a jockey
and benny pusa who terrorized just about anybody by just showing that big scar on his gut.
and eli kalawang, who's teeth were a dentist's worst nightmare. it was so bad even toothpaste would melt on its own.
then there's "baby surot" who was the number one groupie for the checkmates. she even wore the teams colors on game days.
there was emy rivera's brother narding who was a druggie and tried to steal a juaning's (a policeman at that) jeep to support his habit.
there was eming palakol (who became a policeman was kicked out and ws killed in a billiard hall)
there was ben dakma who lived in the corner of metrica and the street after calamba towards dapitan
and of course the one and only "putol", the one armed man who liked to sweep peoples front yards for a few centavos so he could get drunk on "shokhoctong".
then there was marisel and her sister(can't remember her name). but manolo, bing and i followed them one time to a resort and we broke our cars axle and boy did we get in trouble.

let me keep thinking and i think i can come up with a few more. in the mean time...enjoy...the trip down memory lane.

Vino recalls: Bote is your lead guitarist - Adroits. Barkada ni Emy Rivera.

Eric Dimson is son of Dimson Construction owner, corner of Calamba and Washington. When he was still a small boy, he had a Ludwig drums set na inaamuyong nyo. He later became a recording artist, Yamaha organ player (instrumental) in the early 1970's.

I didn't expect you to know Bubut Quicho. But I was surprised you know Villamor. Villamor and Edgar Perez. Quicho I think used to live in the same house that burned down. Then they moved to across Dimson's and Poblete's car dealer lot. Quicho's house was demolished and apartment was built and tenant was Alfaro, sastreng balbonero.

Jack I think still gets in contact with Bojic Tarugo once in a while.

You remember Ning Tirona, pilay. Across the Marzans. Beside Sachi.
Across Bojic's apartment are the Lims. Magagandang taga Maryknoll.

Meron pang Allan which we used to call Japok, next to Yarisantos pharmacy.

How about Saguindan? Josie Saguindan, matangkad, maganda - Sa Craig din.

Sa craig naman, si Reuel Macam, Nesto Bato and Rico and Reggie Gallares. On of them died. I don't know who.

Sa calamba, si Ponga kapatid ni Nesi or Mesi.

More from Vino: Mga taga Washington(A. Maceda)
Iyung mga nagtitinda ng chicharon na kapitbahay namin - sila Eddie Baka. Nandito sa Oregon.

Si Boy Ingka, anak ni Aling Ingka at utol ni Cora Mariano nasa Denver sila (as of 1986).

You forgot Manolo Bulaong and Manny Intsik. Napanood na raw niya lahat ng sine, pati ang Lonely Bull ng Ventures.

Si Eric Dimson.

Do you remember Bubut Quicho, kapatid ni Imelda?

Papoose Olizon jumps in: hi this is papoose olmedo, now olizon. nice to hear from all of you...but part of growing old is forgetting...may i know na nga who is arturo? kilala ko ba siya? will try to look for pictures nuong panahon natin..i know i have several...i showed to Mrs. de Leon a photo at Babes de Leon's wedding where Pats was veil sponsor yata...but since that was a quiet wedding, wala silang pictures and Tita Chedeng tuwang-tuwa brought it home with her...quite difficult to look for pictures kasi not everyone has camera pa that time...but it's sure nice to see old photos...julian, ang husay mo sa computer...aliw na aliw ako reading your tutubi productions..si clemens does not know who to use computer? hindi niya kasi panahon...ako nga so glad i learned to email...hope to hear from all of you again.

Arturo Macasinag lives! Kumusta ? Thanks for including me in your list. I am just in awe with
what you've accomplished and how full and colorful a life you are living!
As I have mentioned in another email, Nanette (my wife) and I recently moved to
California for a change of pace and lifestyle after having worked full time in
SC for 26 years. I am still working as a part-time hospital-based radiologist
(one to two weeks a month) and trying to pursue other avocations.
I have taken up sailing, playing a little more golf and am thinking of getting
back into flying.

We moved from our place in Santa Monica and we're permanently
residing in Pacific Grove, CA near Carmel/Monterey.
It would be great if we can get together if you take a trip this way.

Regards to everyone, Art

Lolo Pogi remembers... Penpen di sarapen di kutsilyo di almasen,haw haw di karabao batuten.I dont whatr it means either.Dont you remember how we played the Kalog? Well the game starts by placing a bet,the players have either two "tansan" each(or sometimes, one tansan each and one neutralizer o panggulo is added,the face of the tansan have different designs, mga kinuskos iyong mga pintura-label ng tansan, then the banker (o kung sino iyong kumakalog ng mga tansan in his palms) makes kalog and releases them afterwards, pag iyong face ng tansan mo lands up and your opponents tansan are faced -down, panalo ka, then kabig mo lahat ng taya which are also tansans Pag siniwerte ka uuwi ka with a box full of tansan.Pag talo ka naman , usually you will replace your tansans and make another one with different face-design from different brands of softderinks.Text? I dont need to explain alam mo na iyon.
The vacant lot with talahibs was next to the DE Jesus residence(where Kunchiong family lived), now a long apartment stands over there, letty's how is just infront of that vacant lot, si letty nakasama natin sa Lido beach na may crush sa akin(heheheh)pero type ni julian...
Yes tonyboy, and the family usually visit the grave of their dad every late-in the afternoon(malapit ng dumilim), it was then boy discovered na naglalabasan at nagkalat ang mga palaka sa pagsapit ng dilim, so one time sinama tayo to catch frogs, npinagsusuot pa tayo ng butas na medyas para huwag tayo maihian ng palaka at kasi daw pag naihian ka ay magkaka-kulugo ka.(remember si aling kulugo sa metrica? iyong mga maraming big bukols protruding all around her face and body, etc)ayaw natin maging ganuon.Then we would place the frogs sa balde and bring to your house and let them get loose in your fishpond, at pagdating ng hatinggabi, they were all "cracking kokakokak, hindi makatulog si mang pedring at aling chayong,remember that... I missed our childhood days, we dont need computers and expensive toys, we can let the day pass playing patintero o tumbang preso sa kalsado, then kalog, text, jolens, rubberband in the sand (we call it sungkit), susungkitin mo ang mga rubberbands imbedded sa ilalim ng sand. I told my children about all these things , tawa sila ng tawa at enjoy na enjoy, they were fascinated by the creativity ng ating mga kabataan during our times. Like we make our own toys, tanks made from lata ng sardinas at lata ng gatas. Bangka made from kaha ng posoporo nilalagyan natin ng blade and soap na nakaipit sa blade to make it run, the blade serves as the control to make it run straight.

Pards dapat punta kayong lahat dito para makapagkwentuhan tayo ng mahaba, I cant type it all in the email,hehehe.

now they call me here ..LoloPogi

Omar was on his way to being a mass murderer: used to do all of that except we used to let the big tutubi eat the little tutubi... the only talahib i remember was the one behind nanding bakal's apartment. we used to try and catch bubulis in that lot.

sometimes you wonder what today's kids are missing....

hi tony and the rest of the gang,

the game with the tin can is called "tumbang preso". i remember when we really made it difficult for any kid to get out of being "taya". sometimes relief only came if his mother called them in for dinner. isn't that what we used to call "bagong".
we also used to play "tex" with those bubble gum cards, and "holens" with marbles and of course one of my favorites was "turumpo" specially when one got the chance to "bat" "bat" the other guys top and try to cut it in half. another one of my favorites and i used to do this with pip also was to fly kites and try to cut the other kids line with "bubog".

those were the days... now kids just stare at a stupid monitor and click the controls with their thumbs. where's the imagination in that?

Patchochay remembers: title : one of my unforgettable childhood experience with tonyboy de leon.

During summertime (april to may) in our early childhood(i was between 5 to 8 yrs then), ang mga batang-kalye would fly kites in the street, lots of kites got entangled in the electric wires of meralco and looked like banners in fiestas. Alam niyo naman ang labanan at tembangan ng kite like dogfights ng airplanes, matira matibay who will lord the sky. One time, tonyboy ( came up with an idea of using a strong different type of "pisi"para hindi siya matembang,) he got a spool of "pisi" for his kite and asked me to hold it as he flew his kite and probably thinking that he will be the king of kite-fighting. Smoothsailing na sana lagpas poste na ang taas ng kite when the "pisi" touched the meralco wires, there was a sudden spark, we both felt electrical shock, luckily the "pisi" snapped instantly, otherwise we could have been both electrocuted. Why the spark? Eh because the "pisi" he used was a spool of bare electric-copper wire( used for rewinding transformer) which probably came into contact with a open meralco wire at the post. My gosh hindi nga tumembang ang kite pero kami almost ang tumembang. This kite-fighting went on even mga teen-agers na kami, Titong(who later became a barber) lorded the sky with his skills not only in kite-fighting but also in his preparation for it,i.e., he has the longest "pisi" extending to about half-a kilometer long and the fine bubog ( glass na pinasagasaan pa sa riles ng tren) that he applies to his "pisi".
I don't know if tonyboy would still remember this. pats

Julian adds: I remember we tied our kite to our roof and left it up all night. We woke up the following morning and it was still flying. The wind had shifted so the kite was on the other side of the roof. I remember we used to try all kinds of bubug. I think we found out that light bulbs and fluorescent were the finest. We also learned that too much glue and bubog made the string brittle and easily broke. I remember our barber making the best gurion. All the kites here are made of fabric and need a lot of wind to fly. It's no fun because you don't have to build them.

More from Omar:here are some more...

the enriquez brothers... emy (eming palakol because of his 2 big front teeth), crisologo aka junior was papoose's (oteyza) classmate at UP High, luis (we also called him "taruc" after the communist founder),
filino(the guy who would go on a rampage when he didn't get his way on anything, we also called him "pikon") and the only one who amounted to anything was their brother danny who i believe became a doctor. their father was called "kilya" because his head was always tilted to one side.
last time i heared the whole family converted to "iglesia ni cristo".

oh now i remember the guy with the "palong ng manok" haircut...domeng !!!!!!

then there is also "aling chayong" later on also called "commander chayong"

then there was erning "kuarta" because he said his mother was offered money and he said "kuarta din iyan" which became his namesake.

there also was this guy we used to call "multo", can't remember his real name but he lived in craig behind nesto bato's house.

and then there was estrella, the sister of ben serranilla's wife. she was very pretty but her teeth were starting to rot. they lived between craig and the next street over towards p. leoncio.

and the mighty dukes and grand duchesses of p. leoncio... you cannot believe how many laughs i get about mentioning this 2 groups to my filipino friends here.

and theirs totoy kalbo, the sastre who is better known for never deilivering on time...laging bitin.

more to come...

Omar

Pats has more recollections: I am sure some of you cant recall or dont know some people mentioned, kasi medyo may konti gap sa timing. I would say na two groups ang mga events, that is, iyong mga original metrica boys (BC) wet migrated when the oteyzas' and de gomas' have not yet migrated to metrica. The first batch in the fiftyies and mid-sixties were composed of : tonyde leon, chibu(my sister), BOy Malaki(cousin of Tonyboy)now Father JOey, then the de leons(baby, azon, pip & effie),dejesus(eric, maryvi,pamela)Lina Pulot,olmedos(Pats,papoose,mike,jack, cousins ollie,christiine and carol)),pobladors(joe,bing & albert), Pedro & Boy Austria(his real family name is alcazar),Clemens&Marissa, the kanto boys : Don Loy, Tikboy & pante, Landong Patakla& sister we call Baho,Rudy barako, engak,rene,nesto bato. dalusongs,tige,egong,rene,mami,dedo, Bido. Then came the Oteyzas' and the degomas' ,pepito & arthur macasinag, lino edralin, balok,danny aso & ambok (who moved in the house vacated by the family of landong patakla besides loy's house).Serranillas,manolo bulaong, domeng palong,zabalas,ed and monching pamular.just to name a few.
and many mmore characters (some became police characters), at marami pang iba.
Nakakapagod pala magrecall.

Boy Maliit: Hi Mike, pinsan ni Boy malake, kapatid ni Babe, Azon Effie and Pip. You do remember us, I remember you very well. Are you still in Seatle? I haven't seen you since 67 but 2 years ago I was in Manila at Onib's paintings exhibit and I saw Lito, Pulong, Jovi, Papoose, Patsy, Jack, and your cousins Nena and Charito. They were all looking fine. The thing I remember most about you aws when I saw you riding a jeep on your way to school, carrying a "bayong" with books in it . I think I saw also attending a party in a white tights and T shirt likke Superman. Those were the days of beatniks and Onib was acting like one. Did I hear right that you serenaded or "harana" someone in Seatle and they called the police? Your experience sounds very exciting. I wish you could tell us more thru the e-mails. Regards, Tony{Boy maliit}

Art: Hi Tony, I remember you and your family quite well too. My brother Pepito passed away several years ago from intracranial hemorrhage. Sad to say that it was one of my rare trips back home. My father passed away a few months after I graduated from med school. My entire family including four sisters, a brother and my mother, who turned 90 this year, are all here in California. Tony, unbeknownst to you, you were one of my inspiration to pursue a medical career here in the US. I was in UST Class of 71, centennial graduates (UST Faculty of Medicine being founded in 1871). I started with Surgical residency @ Chinese General, left for US in 73 (under Martial Law), did my rotating internship in NJ, one year of OB-GYN, and finally decided on Diagnostic Radiology in NY. I was in practice in SC for 26 years until I moved here in CA last month. You seem to have engaged in a very interesting transition in your career. ENT, Plastic & Cosmetic surgery are indeed very lucrative fields of endeavor. I had two ENT friends in Myrtle Beach, SC who probably spent more time at the Country Club than in their offices on a weekly basis. A plastic surgeon friend spent half his time on his other passion, sculpture, and is quite renowned for both of his avocation! I am sure you will be very busy if you really get serious about this business of phalloplasty. You will be booked solid for months in advance! On second thought, augmentation mammoplasty is probably a lot more interesting.