Accents
A love story
(I call it a love story, this narrative titled The Reddest Rose, flying with cyberwings to snuggle in my cybernest here in the U.S. of A. Sender May Wan was requesting a favor to help somehow assuage their grief—hers and that of her sister Tamara. The girls are daughters of Maria Luisa Posa Dominado, who was abducted by unknown elements April 12, 2007, and Tomas Dominado, our relative. The story is a weepie, and I think you'll need a hankie, or perhaps just a prayer for a silver lining that the family life they're missing is not completely lost in the dark clouds of these uncertain times.)
March 28, 1977 was not a day that stood out among the rest of the days of March. Not the least among detainees of martial rule who were detained indefinitely when freedom from prison would be the day of days. For the military camp, it was the eve of the NPA's eighth anniversary and thus the soldiers and Constabulary were on red alert for possible NPA attacks.
The number 8 in the 28 was auspicious for a wedding according to the transcribed almanake in the possession of the Legislador family's resident serhuano because of the two round holes of the number 8. The to-be-wed couple preferred the 29thof March but were prevailed upon by the sponsors to opt for the preceding day as the 29thhas only one hole representing money and thus prosperity. Its not good form arguing with do-gooders over one or two holes when one is getting married under the circumstances then.
A church wedding was the idea of the groom's Tiyay Ping, that is Mrs. Fe Legislador-Ticao. Having convinced her husband Tay Manuel, the then Director of NIA-WV, she got the consent of the bride-to-be family, the Posa-Arches'. An ex-Colonel friend of Tay Manuel employed at NIA volunteered to broach the idea to the late Colonel Licup, then the Iloilo provincial commander of the Philippine Constabulary in Marcos' Martial Law regime. The ex-Colonel prevailed upon Colonel Licup to grant the request of the wedding couple's family for a pass to go to a church wedding arguing that such marital state would usher the couple to normal life of people in submission to the powers that be being more enmeshed in domestic life. The persuasive clincher that even made Colonel Licup to volunteer as sponsor was the fact namedropped that the groom's deceased father was the Dictator's classmate in UP Law. Of course Marcos, at the height of his power then, cannot be bothered by one obscure wedding of two of his enemies whoever they are related to.
In the detention cell's logbook, the day started with a pass-authorized letting out of the bride and groom at around 9 am and their return at around 4 pm. They were escorted by about four constabulary troops, although many other plainclothesmen were posted at other places that they went to and around the church as well as reception place. They started the day as separated detainees and ended the day detained together at the women's section of the Western Visayas Rehabilitation Center with another woman detainee to boot. But we are getting ahead of our story.
The groom had gotten a decent haircut in a barber shop under the watchful eyes of his escort before proceeding to the residence of Tiyay Ping for the customary bath and dressing up in barong before the ride to church. The bride was decked out in bridal finery made out from the old bridal gowns of her older sisters. The church and ceremony was austere but could stand muster for a wedding of two tight-budgetted couple. The wonder of it all was that the couple did not have any hand in all the preparations except for their decision to let their elders make all the arrangements and getting married in their church of younger days—The Santa Teresita.
Even the officiating priest was chosen by the groom's sister then already working in the US. Father Nabor was a classmate of the sister's husband and had to be brought in from Aklan to take the place of the parish priest. But first the former had to hear the confession of the couple. He was taken aback when the couple opted to make their confession together, sharing their thoughts of their individual wrongdoings according to the church's litany of sins. Surprisingly, they could not think of one mortal sin and only some venial ones committed in the recent past which they did not deign to bother the young priest of. It was more a moment of shared intimate thoughts with the newly acquainted priest on the reason why they were in jail which was no sin at all. The priest granted general absolutions for any sin not mentioned even as he was more impressed with the reason for the couple's detention.
The sponsors and the crowd were more thrilled by the wedding than the couple who were quite uncomfortable with tne wedding ceremony as with any ritual that made them the center of attention. The couple were much aware, however, that the occasion formalized their relationship in the eyes of people they personally care for and those who went through a lot of trouble (even managing to have the much maligned couple's detention suspended for a day in the midst of martial law). And then followed the unending photo sessions and indeterminate combinations of relatives and friend to be immortalized in photo pasted in albums of all relatives and friends. There were even ex-detainees in the crowd risking being associated once more with the couple.
The plainclothesmen were, all the while, getting more nervous with the big crowd's festive air that might distract their eyes from their prison wards. Both families of the bride and groom enjoyed sharing the occasion of marital celebration and bliss which spilled over to the reception.
The reception was held in the Legislador family's patriarch, the eldest uncle of the groom, at his residence in San Antonio, Oton. Everybody in the family of the couple, parents of the bride (the groom was already orphaned), uncles and aunts even of the second degree, cousins, a delegation from far away Roxas of the Arches Clan came. The Posa Clan of Pototan came around, led by the octogenarian Lolo Luis whose one of his favorite apo happened to be the bride. Of course, sumptious food and drinks, the one thing the Legisladors could not do witout on special occasions, was consumed all around. Even the nervous armed escorts let their guard down when they were plied with food and drinks.
There were the usual rituals, the high point of which was the couple's dance around the floor. To the delight of all and to the couple's discomfiture, of course, they have to go through the course. All the while, the relatives are pinning money on the bride's gown. They have no memory of the music they dance to nor to the fact that they ought to dance in step with the rhythm. And then the long moments of last moment advices on family affairs and relationship as well as interminable goodbyes. Many of them would not have the opportunity nor the courage to visit the couple individually under the glare of martial law white terror.
Finally after all the toasts and well-wishing, after the putting away of bridal fineries and the goodbyes, the couple were unceremoniously brought back to reality—a honeymoon inside the women detention cell. This time, their love nest was on the second tier of a frail double deck wooden bed that wobbles in consonance with any slight movement. Reminds one of an eggnest of robins swaying in the wind. (To be continued)
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