I wish to come home to our town fiesta in Ronda

COVID or not, it has been our culture and customary wish to come home for our town fiesta. It’s the time to pray to our patroness and to visit the tombs of our parents and grandparents. It’s also time to break bread with long-lost friends and relatives, to eat one more time Ronda's famous humba and torta and to hear the voice of Inday Linda Sia-Villanueva, Ronda's singing diva.

It has been my fortune to have three hometowns, as I was born in Argao, my late dad was from Dumanjug, my late mom from Argao, and I grew up in the Langin, Ronda. Tomorrow is the town of fiesta and today is the bisperas and it’s the dream of every Rondahanon, whether in New York, LA, Europe, Middle East, or in Metro Manila, to come home to pay homage to our Lady of Sorrows, our beloved and revered patroness. The incumbent mayor, Mariano Terence Yap Blanco is my close relative, and our roots both come from our village in Langin, bordering the villages of Anahaw and Tulang, Argao. The vice mayor is Rocky Gabatan from Cansalonoy, and the first councilor is the young and pretty, Ann Marie, the daughter of the former mayor, the late Nonie Blanco.

Ronda is listed by Wikipedia as a fifth-class municipality but to us Rondahanons, it’s a first-class paradise of friendly people with simple lives and an amazing sense of joy, for there is no place like home. Ronda is home to 15,360 people, the biggest age group being aged 10 to 14 comprising 2,090. Ronda is bound in the north by the more prosperous, much bigger town of Dumanjug, home of the Garcias. Ronda is bound in the south by the smaller town of Alcantara. The three named towns are part of the 7th Congressional District, composed of DRAMMBAG (an acronym I coined); Dumanjug, Ronda, Alcantara, Moalboal, Malabuyoc, Badian, Alegria, and Ginatilan.

The eight towns of this district used to be components of the 15-town second district which used to be represented by Congressman Sim Kintanar, Pabling Garcia, and Willy Caminero. The Garcias and the Camineros created a modus vivendi so as not to collide again, and so the seven towns of ADABOSS (another acronym I also coined), Argao, Dalaguete, Alcoy, Boljoon, Oslob, Santander, and Samboan which remained as part of the Caminero empire. DRAMMBAG was supposed to be the Garcia turf, but a scion of the famous Durano-Calderon political clan, Peter John, ran and trounced the Garcia candidates, both brothers of Governor Gwen, first Pablo John who transferred to the fourth district, and former Dumanjug mayor, Nelson.

Ronda is the home of the Blancos who held the political reins for the last 30 years unbroken. The original patriarch was my late grand uncle Major Mariano, then his wife Victoria Yap Blanco, followed by Mariano Nonie Blanco III, and now Mariano Terence Blanco V. This is also the town of the Villagonzalos (the biggest clan), the Maribaos, the Gimarinos, the Villalons, the Diamas, the Sias, the Yus, the Chiongs, the Gimenas, the Vergaras, the Gabatans, the Taypins, the Bucogs, the Carreons, the Camiguings, the Bacutots, the Tomaosdos, and in our village up in Langin, the Famors, the Birondos, the Omboys, the Aballes, and the Sarmientos, whose forefathers all came from Argao and migrated to Langin and other villages.

COVID or no COVID, pandemic or no pandemic, I'm gonna sneak into my beloved Ronda, perhaps from the backdoor, via Dumaguete, then I shall cross the channel from San Jose to Bato, Santander, and then take a Ceres to Ronda. I miss the people, the humba, and the torta. But I shall go to church and the mayor first to pay my respects.