In Dinalupihan, Bataan like any other town in the Philippines there is a catholic town church and of course a priest. We do not know the name of the priest or even if he is Filipino or mestizo or spanish. This particular town priest has gotten one of the maidens in the town pregnant. Her name was Maria Reyes, daughter of Capitan Andres Reyes. By his title he must be an important figure in the town. This is a big scandal Maria being not married. The priest need to protect not only himself but Maria and her family. He was able to convince one of the sancristan in the church to marry Maria. The priest promised him money and lands. The sancristan, Nonong married Maria. They have three daughters, Tansing, Menay and Abe. Tansing must be the daughter of the town priest. Tansing got plenty of lands around Dinalupihan and around Bataan. Menay was my grandmother. Maria died giving birth to Abe. Despondent Nonong was married to the youngest sister of Maria and her name was Dorang. They have two children Ige and Nena.
Such is the legend of the family. That story bears similarity to the novel by Dr. Jose Rizal's Noli Me Tangere. Even the girl involved in the novel has the same name Maria.
My Mother's Parents
Lola Menay always lived with us since I can remember. She is my mother's mother. Her formal name was Filomena Socca vda. Diaz. The vda is viuda meaning widow as her husband died very young. I always knew lola Menay when she is already old. I have a photo of her when she was young, perhaps 25 years old. But I am still looking for that photo. In that photo, she is wearing a nice formal dress sitting on a chair.
Lola Menay cooked in our house with the help of the maid. Sometimes my mother will cook but only on special occasion or special dinner. I don't know why Lola Menay always cook fried pork that is very well done. As if she is trying to kill every germ in that meat. The two boys in our family,
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| Lola Menay |
Fred and I always get the best food in the house. Lola Menay made sure as she would put away that food and serve it only when we are earting. Poor Thelma and Cynthia. They get whatever is next but sometimes there is good food for everybody. Lola Menay eats sparingly. She likes to eat banana with her rice. She also sleeps sparingly. She would sit on a corner and you wouldn't know if she is sleeping or praying. Lola Menay seldom gets sick. On a few times, she would get indigestion for eating bibingka or some hard to digest food. You would know if she is sick as she will stay in bed in the morning. My mother will get in her case and scolds her for eating that food. She cooks merienda food too which will be available in the afternoon.
Lola Menay has several idiosyncrasies. When she walk, specially on the street, she would sometimes stop and backtrack her steps. Once I asked her why does she do that? She said never mind. She also collects rubber bands and pandasal paper wrapper. Her cabinet at the kitchen is full of these items including strings wound up into a ball.
But all in all she is a wonderful woman. I am glad she lived with us in our growing years. She is a hardworking person, never gets angry and cares for all of her grandchildren which she had a lot of. I wonder what kind of life she had when she was young? All I know is that she is the second eldest daughter of Paulino (Inkong Nonong) and Maria Reyes. And that Maria died giving birth to the youngest Isabel (Lola Abe). Nonong married the youngest daughter from the same family Dorang. Lola Menay's father was somebody called Capitan Andres Reyes of Dinalupihan. He was refuted to have a lightning of a temper. I don't know his wife.
This funeral photo was the funeral of Inkong Nonong, my great great grandfather. The people in this photo are all decease except one person, tiyong Miglon. The coffin looks very nice and expensive which shows they must be well to do. Since my mother is still single at this time this photo was taken before 1945. My best guess is before WWII. Impong Nonong or Paulino Socco was a landowner and mayor of Dinalupihan.
I put a number on top of the person in the photo to identify them. Some person I do not have any idea who they are but they must be a relative to attend the funeral.
7. This is my mother Leonila Diaz Calimbas also known as Nelly. She must be in her twenties. She went to attend the Normal College in Manila and graduated with a BS in Education. She also went to graduate school at UE.
6. Sergio Diaz or Tiyong Ser, my uncle and younger brother of Nelly. He was a good natured man, honest, hard working. He and his family lived near us in Manuguit. They have a house at the end of Hermosa and later moved to my mother's apartment in Molave. He was married to Tiyang Pruding and they have four sons: Dan, Gerardo, Michael and Chito. T. Ser played tennis. He always visited us in our house. All of his boys immigrated to the US. Dan and Chito lived in California, Gerardo or Boying lived in Texas and Michael in North Carolina. Chito lived for a while in San Antonio, Texas where Tiyong Ser died of stroke. Dan married while in the Philippines and had a daughter Susan. They later separated and Dan went to the US. Boying married Olive and had two sons. Michael married a doctor. Chito was married and got separated soon after that. 5. Lola Menay, Filomena Socco vda. Diaz my grandmother and mother of Nelly, t. Ser and t. Celia. The dead man Inkong Nonong is the father of Lola Menay (her photo above).
12. Celia Diaz Calvario or Tiyang Celia the youngest children of Lola Menay. She was married to Tiyong Pabling, Pablo Calvario. The children are Merlina who died young, Carding, Pauly, Rebecca, Merlina and Baby. Tiyang Celia lived in my mother's apartment with the children. Carding, Pauly lived in Chicago. Rebecca lived near Los Angeles and Merlina and Baby in San Diego. Tiyang Celia died in LA.
10. Lola Abe is Isabel Socco Hipolito, Lola Menay's younger sister. Their mother Maria died giving birth to Isabel. When we go on vacation in Dinalupihan, Bataan we always stay at Lola Abe's house. I have wonderful memories of those vacations taken in the summer. They have a large house and an even larger lot. I like to frolicked in the backyard playing in the sandy soil and large trees like the santol tree in the back and the kamachili tree in front of their house. Her husband is Lolo Ipe or Felipe Hipolito. He is a landowner in Dinalupihan. 
8. Lola Tansing or Constancia Socco. She is the oldest between Lola Menay and Lola Abe. Married to a well-to-do hacindero M. Lacquian. She died when I was very young. The legend is that Lola Tansing was the daughter of the town priest. To avoid a scandal the priest managed to convinced Inkong Nonong, who was a sancristan, to marry Maria with the promise of giving him land and money. Nonong married Maria. Lola Tansing must be that baby then. The two sisters Menay and Abe and Lolo Ige inherited properties from Lola Tansing estate. Lola Abe and her haciendero husband Lacquian were very well to do and have many properties. When she died young, there were some disputes on the ownership of those properties. Even today, the land are still in dispute. There is a Pangga property that is 21 hectares. It was given in equal shares to Lola Menay, Lola Abe and Lolo Ipe. Today the land is still in dispute with the heirs trying to divide the property to individual owners. 
3. Impong Dorang. When Maria died giving birth to Abe, Nonong married Dorang who is the younger sister of Maria. Their marriage produce two children Lola Ige and Lola Nena. I met Lola Dorang. She was fair in complexion with white hair and she likes to sit on a rocking chair. She was living in a house with Lola Nena, her daughter. I did not feel she welcome me at all and that I am a nuisance. Since I am not a direct heir and not her direct greatgrandchild, now I understand why she is not affectionate to me. In this funeral she is the widow of Nonong. After she died, I look at that rocking chair. There is an indentation of her head on the wall above the chair where she rests her head. 
4. Lolo Ige or Miguel Socco. He is the eldest son of Nonong and Dorang. He studied at the Univerisity of the Philippines and graduated with a law degree. He was the editor-in-chief of the university's newspaper. He showed much promise at that time. He married Lola Purita who was every much sought after by outstanding men but Lolo Ige won her over. There seems to be some quarel between Lolo Ige and Tiyong Nico. Everytime they met, there is shouting. I do not know the detail of such quarel but from family conversations, it is about the inherited properties from Lola Tansing. It seems that Lolo Ige sold or took over some of these properties and is now the subject of dispute. Tiyong Nico designated himself the champion of Lola Abe and Lola Menay against Lolo Ige. When we were living in Washington, the house we were living in was owned by Lola Tansing. When she died, Lolo Ige decided to sell it. I am not sure if he is really the rightful inheritor but my mother that we have to leave. At that time there were three families living there: Tiyong Ser, Tiyang Celia and us. My father hastily had a house built in Hermosa in Manuguit and we moved there.
Lolo Ige built a big house in Pasay. I was able to visit there once. It is almost like a palatial home full of bricks and large rooms. Later on I learned that he have to sell the house because he can not afford it. Such is Lolo Ige's finances. He does not handle it good at all. Once I heard they built a school and was designated the principal. He lost that school too. Later in life, he was by himself (Lola Purita died) and he lived nearby in Manuguit. He would come by in the evening and eat dinner. He always call Lola Menay "kapatid" meaning sister. I realized later that that is true. They are brother in sister having the same father but different mothers. He did not practice much while in Manuguit perhaps he retired.
9. Lola Nena or Elena Socco. She was the younger sister of Lolo Ige. Lola Nena was single for a long time but finally got married to Lolo Tommy Beltran when she was much older. They lived in a big house in Dinalupihan where Impong Dorang also lived. The property is big. She constructed an ice making plant in the back which never ran. I used to go there and kiss her hand during our vacation. She occasionally make trips to Manila and she would stay with us for a few days. She would asked me to get a taxi for her. And for that errand she gave me five centavos. I savor the time when Lola Nena comes to our Hermosa house and have a conversation with Ma Nelly and Lola Menay. It is always punctuated with laughter. They reminisced the days gone by. I specially like the stories during WWII, their suffering during the japanese occupation, where they evacuated to the mountain when the japs came over, japanese soldiers coming to town to harass the inhabitants and rape the women and so on.
13. Lola Purita wife of Lolo Ige. I was told she was a beauty at UP where Lolo Ige met here. And that she was being courted by rich eligibal bachelors including high officals in the government. But Lola Ige won her over. She died early and I attended her funeral.
11. Tiyong Nico or Nicolas Hipolito. He was the eldest son of Lola Abe and Lolo Ipe. He studied and graduated with a maritime degree. I am not sure what job he had but he did work for the Bataan provincial government. He was my confirmation godfather. I looked up to Tiyong Nico. He is always good natured and when he comes to Hermosa to visit he always give me a one peso bill. He married Tiyang Doring and had numerous children. He must have some business in Manila as he travel from Dinalupihan to Manila and stayed with us. It will be a blasted day if Tiyong Nico meet with Lolo Ige in our house. Tempers flared and there were loud shouting. Nico died of a stroke. 
15. Tiyang Petang is the daughter of Lola Abe and Lolo Ipe. She was single for a long time and finally married late. Unfortunately her only son has a disability or health problem as he never stood up nor walk nor did he ever talk. Although he lived up to 7 or 9 years old I have never seen him. Curse with this burden all her life, she led an unhappy one. She was a good natured caring woman. She died of a stroke.
1. Lolo Ipe or Felipe Hipolito is the husband of Lola Abe. He was a farmer owning lands in Dinalupihan. I remember they would stored rice under the house in a huge container made of rattan. I supposed the rice is there to dry out before removing the husk. He was not close to me and looks at me with indifference or maybe an irritant. I don't have much recollection of Lolo Ipe. He would come home in their house in Dinalupihan after a day's work in the fields. He owns the land so he has many workers and tenants working for him. He died of a stroke.
21. Inkong Talyo or Natalio Socco. He was the brother of Nonong. Both men came from Hagonoy, Bulacan and were working as sancristan in the church of Dinalupihan. I did not see Talyo since he was gone before I was born. He has four children: Lola Bina, Lola Gaya, Lola Lumen and Lolo Gerardo. The three sisters have a restaurant in the plaza at Dinalupihan. Lolo Gerardo lived in Manila.
2. Lola Bina, Lola Lumen and Lola Gaya are the three sisters with a restaurant in the Dinalupihan plaza with the name Three Sisters. Only Gaya married. Their father was Impong Talyo. During WWII when the Japanese occupied Bataan, there was a military parade. The Japanese soldiers were marching on the street when somebody threw a grenade at them. Inkong Talyo and Lola Bina were hit with sharpnel. Talyo died and Bina sustained some injuries.The woman in front of Lola Bina is Monica Dychauco wife of Inkong Talyo.
22. Marcelo Lacquian husband of Lola Tansing. They are the well-to-do couple of the family. Marcelo had many lands in Bataan. One day after the war, he was gunned down by one of the tenants who probably had a grudge on him. He died from it. My father who was district engineer saw him still alive in the middle of the street. I attended his wake. I was around five years old at the time. I saw the coffin but couldn't see much. So Tiyong Ser lifted me to see. I saw the head of the dead man. There were holes in his face which is red probably from the blood. There is a white handkerchief tied around from his chin to the top of the head. It was kind of traumatic for a 5 year old to see a dead head with bullet holes in it. 
16. Tiyong Entoy is the middle son of Lola Abe and Lolo Ipe. He operated their gasoline station in Dinalupihan. He married Tiyang Patring. For a while they could not have children. They would go to Manila, stayed with us to see a doctor for help. Finally they started having children. I do not know all of the names but I know Ed Hipolito, Vicky, Bongbong. They have many children. Tiyong Entoy was a good-natured simple man. He enjoyed reading Liwayway comics to his wife in the afternoon. But he like cockfighting. One day he showed up in our house in Hermosa. It turned out he went to Manila to buy gasoline but lost of his money in cockfighting bets. He went to Ma Nelly to ask for help.
14. Tiyong Miglon or Miguel Socco is a son of Lolo Ige and Lola Purita. To this writing (July 2019) he is the only surviving member of my mother's clan. I would meet with Tiyong Miglon when I visit the Philippines. We seldom see him when I was young as he was always assigned by their company to work on assignment. He rose to be a vice-president of that company. He married Isabera and had five children. One of the daughter is Ana who lived in Houston, Texas. As we were living in Sugar Land, Tx I see her from time to time. Tiyong Miglon told me stories during WWII where as a young man he did business around Manila. One of them was to bring rice from Bataan to Manila and how they are scrutinized closely by the japanese soldiers. When we met we eat at this chinese restaurant near his house in Quezon City. Even at that age he bought a new car and was driving it himself. I met his oldest son in one of our lunches. Today I heard he is quite frail and do not drive anymore.
19. Tiyong Monet is a son of Lolo Ige. He always visit us in Hermosa although his house is in Pasay. We played pingpong several times. I beat him. Tiyong Monet is noise and had a loud voice. He is quite a character and always the center of attention. He worked for the ambassador of the Philippines to the US as a personal secretary and traveled to the US. One day he had a car accident in the US. He went back home and never return.
18. Lolo Gerardo is a brother of the three sisters Bina, Gaya and Lumen and the son of Inkong Talyo. He lived in Manila and worked for the Land Transportation Commission. I remember him smoking a cigar. When he came to visit us, he would extend his hand for me to kiss it and then he would pinch my nose with it. What is wrong with this guy?Gerry Socco is his oldest con. Gerry lives in San Bruno, Ca. His hobby is his band. Gerry is also interested in doing geneology and he gave me a copy of the Socco clan geneology list.
20. Tiyang Myrna is the daughter of Lolo Ige. She graduated in a private college but never worked. She then immigrated to the US and married a guy named Tony. We met Tiyang Myrna in Chicago and met Tony and Erwin her son. They divorced later. Tiyang Myrna went back to the Philippines and lived in Dinalupihan in the old house of Lola Nena. She spend her time managing some of the properties. Tiyong Tito is the youngest son of Lolo Ige and Lola Purita. He worked with Esso as a salesman or maketing rep. Once Tiyong Tito took me to a collegiate basketball game. He is the only one in their family who did that. He married Aurora. His wife Aurora moved to Houston, Tx. Derrick, his son, married in Houston. Tiyang Myrna came to attend the wedding and she stayed with us. Unfortunately on the day of the wedding we got a phone call telling us the bad news that Tiyong Tito died in Manila. The story is that he was replacing a light bulb and was standing on a chair. He fell either from an accident or had a stroke.
The photo below was taken much later. It probably was the funeral of Lola Gaya. I only know some of the people in the photo. They are Tiyong Ser, Tiyong Entoy, Lolo Gerardo, Lola Lumen, my mother Ma Nelly, and Tiyong Nico.
Not in the photo is Tiyong Miglon son of Lolo Ige. When I was growing up I have never seen Tiyong Miglon as he was always away on a job. However lately I got to meet him. When I visit Manila, I make it a point to meet him for lunch. He was the only surviving member of the Socco family. I first met him during Fred's wake. From then on we meet for lunch whenever I visit Manila from the US. He told me some stories specially during WWII when the Japanese occupied Manila. He was bring supplies from Manila to Dinalupihan. Shortly thereafter Tiyong Miglon also passed. He had a daughter named Ana who lived in Houston, Tx. Amazingly Ana is working for SAE a company I used to work for.
