1939 - Birthyear of Edgardo Salvador Roda Irigo

In 1939 Europe rumors of war was flying thick and fast. And Adolf Hitler was planning to invade Poland. But thousands of miles away, in that little known place on earth called the Far East, in a country named after a European King, war was farthest from the people's mind. Romance was in the air as the romantic pairing of two screen giants, Fernando Poe, Sr. and Mila del Sol, was being shown in the silver screen in a movie titled "Giliw Ko" in the Philippine capital city of Manila. At about the same time, a similar romantic fever was spreading wildly in the US with the release of what would prove to be one of the greatest movies of all time - "Gone With The Wind."

And in a small rural town of Libmanan, in the diocese of Camarines Sur, a cute and adorable boy was born to simple folks, the couple Conching and Pabling. Their first born. Some people say that the first born is a product of pure love. Soon to be named Edgardo Salvador, this little darling was indeed lovable.

Little Eddie was the apple of his parents' eyes and their attention and love was totally focused on this adorable little boy that they almost forgot to make a baby again (his sister Tita came five years later). They endearingly called him Nonoy. Aside from the love between Conching and Pabling, Nonoy was the other reason why the couple stood against the odds life threw at them, e.g. working as school teachers in some remote and god-forsaken-like places. By today's standards, Nonoy was cute but it is to Conching's credit that he grew up to be a healthy little boy. (As far as I know, Manoy, as I call him now, never suffered from anything worse than a cold during his childhood and boyhood days). In those days, powdered milk was quite non-existent and babies were fed almost exclusively on mother's milk.In addition, Conching never failed to give Nonoy his daily dose of what was locally known as "Am" - the water scooped out of the pot of boiling rice which folk wisdom says is rich in nutrients and vitamins.

He completed his grade school in the local parish school named Naga Parochial School and finished his high school at the local Jesuit school called Ateneo de Naga, one of the several schools established by the Philippine Jesuits (the others in Luzon were the Ateneo de Manila, Ateneo de San Pablo in Laguna, and Ateneo de Tuguegarao in Cagayan. The last two were closed down due financial constraints sometime in the late 70s, I think). In Mindanao, there was the Ateneo de Zamboanga, the Ateneo de Davao, and the Ateneo de Cagayan de Oro which was renamed Xavier University. There are, I think, other Jesuit organized schools in the Visayas, one in Cebu and the other in Iloilo. But both did not carry the name Ateneo. I don't really know why.

After high school Eddie went to pursue a degree in agriculture at the UP Los Baños. He, however, finished the degree in Araneta University. After earning his diploma, he went to hunt for a job (just like the hundred others who graduated that same year). My Manila-based Aunts told us stories of how their handsome pamangkin always looked forlorn and dead-tired coming from a fruitless day of job-hunting (which would last for months). The bashful provinciano kid that he was, he would leave the house of my Aunts where he was staying, very early in the morning skipping breakfast, and coming home late at night and going directly to bed only to repeat the same thing over again the following day. My Aunts suspected that he was not eating because he had no money and leaves and returns to the house before and after meals. And they could tell that he had gone through a lot of walking by the condition of the sole of his one and only pair of shoes. 

Then one day, untypical of the previous days, he went home early and caught the family dinner. My puzzled Aunts could not keep their silence and curiosity and had to ask the question - did you find a job today? My brother, who is silent most of the time, (and who had a flair for drama), slowly looked up from the plate, poured himself and drank a glass of water, smiled at them and said in Tagalog, "Yes, I was accepted at the Menzi Agricultural Corporation today!" After a split second of silence (as the dramatic way by which Eddie broke the news kept them stunned for a while), they broke into cheers. Then tears (of joy and happiness). One of my Aunts quickly recovered and asked one of her children to go and buy a family-sized bottle of Coca Cola, to celebrate the good news. After a while, my brother told them that there was a catch, however, to that good news. He was leaving immediately the following day - on a plane - with his new boss, someone named General Hans Menzi - to report for work in the company's plantation - in Mati, Davao Oriental - a place nobody in the family knew and ever heard of! And he was riding a plane! No one among the family members have ever seen an airport, much less rode in a plane! And he's leaving tomorrow! What about his clothing, his shoes, etc. etc. Excitement turned to puzzlement, then anxiety and worry. Then after short while more - into loneliness. And tears began to flow again.

We, my brother's family in Naga, were quite oblivious of all these at that time. Actually, I don't remember my brother bidding us, and my father and mother, goodbye. I think there never was a proper farewell when my brother left us to work in some distant unknown land - the 60s version of an OFW. I will not see him again until some ten years later when another unnatural circumstance - the declaration of Martial Law - will force me to leave Naga and spend some time with my brother in Davao. 

Eddie did more than better in his new found environment. He was the one who successfully introduced grapes cultivation at the Menzi Plantation - the first ever source of locally produced grapes. He stayed in the plantation's bachelors' dorm and was almost 24/7 in the field. This somehow cost him his health. By the end of the 60s, he was diagnosed as having a strange allergy from pesticides which could be fatal if his exposure continues. But by then, the handsome and engagingly funny Eddie has already caught the eye of a local beaute, the daughter of a local politico and heir to vast agricultural properties in the area. It was in fact the local politico who was really eager that Eddie takes his daughter for a bride. The politico had only three children, all of them girls and all of whom studied in Manila schools, e.g. UP, UST, CEU and had no inclination at all or interest in business specifically agriculture. And in Eddie, the local politico saw the son he never had - a good looking young man, driven by ambition, full of dreams, courageous enough to go on an adventure in  a far-away land, and most of all, an expert agriculturist - just the right man to manage his wide and varied business interests in agriculture and the best man for his eldest smart and beautiful daughter, Erlinda, a graduate of U.P. Diliman and a licensed Dietitian. This recalls to my mind how uncanny the similarities are between how my father Pablo came to be my Mom's groom (see their story here).

When Eddie was married to the politico's daughter, he finally retired from the Menzi farm. He got a nice financial package just enough for him to start a small business. And irony of ironies, he started a pesticide dealership - the first of it's kind in the place - the ESSO Pesticide Dealership. In no time, his small business expanded. He knew the place, what it lacked and what it needed. He then invested on a gasoline station. Again the very first in the area. He too successfully managed the gasoline station from a single pump to a whole complex of fuel supply operations. There were stories told by others in the local community which portrayed Eddie as a very hard-working individual. They particularly relate how Eddie at 4 o'clock early in the morning, would already be awake (even ahead of his helpers) and was already cleaning with a bucket of water and a broom the premises of his small gas station. When competition started to significantly cut his profit from the gasoline station business, he smartly decided to sell it and started a hotel business. First named as Jade Hotel (after his son's nickname), he renamed it as Irigo Hotel later. Again, this was the first ever modern and clean lodging for many visitors to the place, tourists and businessmen alike. All told, Eddie's success story is a typical one - complete with elements of early struggle, hard-work, dedication, just the right measure of ambition, a bit of luck, strong sense of (but calculated) risk and a very strong faith in God.

Eddie is now 70 years old and happily retired. He's never had any major operation except a gall stone extraction in the late 70s. He's bothered constantly by a weak knee and random attacks of arthritis but otherwise, he's still up and about and is still the funny man that he was of long ago.

This is Edgardo Salvador Roda Irigo. Born in that year that preceded the Second World War. The eldest son of spouses Pablo Irigo and Concepcion Roda. Older brother to me and my sister Teresita. Dedicated husband to Erlinda. Father to Marybeth, Ayele and Jade. Grandfather to Pauline, Jaymee, and Tisoy, and Miguel, and Lorenzo, Rafael and Chloie.

(NOTE: Photo above shows the Irigo family with son Eddie towering at the back, and chubby daughter Tita next to her Mom and the cute little boy who wrote this story.