Lakay Campos

Title

Lakay Campos

Creator

Desmet, O.

Language

English

Source

The Little Apostle of the Mountain Province XIX (10) June 1950

Year

1950

Subject

Baptism

Short stories, Philippine (English)

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Abstract

[Lakay Campos is the leader and elected Mayor on his barrio, Mankayan. He has five children with his wife Kinya. Father Jose de Haes, the missionary in charge of Mankayan, heard that Lakay Campos was very sick and went to him. With this, both Lakay Campos and Kinya was baptized. ]

Fulltext

LAKAY CAMPOS by Rev. 0. Desmet He is man with great prestige ,.HoTo A. LAMMtNEUR among his people. His deeply lined their dogs. The buck aware of the face, showing that he is very old, danger dashed toward the edge of gives credit to his assertions, his the level ridge and ... disappeared. pronouncements in connection with They heard a rustling of bushes and the historical facts of his tribe, his a clash: it had fallen into a deep prestatements and decisions in all mat- cipice. The dogs wildly running in ters of controversy regarding in- circles, stopped their pursuit and heritance of lands and heirlooms, barking excitedly called their masfor Lakay Campos is the living ters. The hunters, when they ararchive, the living cadastral register rived at the border of the precipice of Mankayan. saw that there was no way down to"ln the very long ago," so he tells, ward the buck, which lay there at the "no people lived here in this region bottom, seemingly dead. They walkwhich is now called Mankayan. No ed to the left over Casigugan and one had ever thought to put up his finely succeeded in reaching their house in this inhospitable mountains, game making a perilous descent where thick jungle and an abun- where the slope was less abrupt. dance of tall pine trees warded off all Amidst a multitude of stones of all possible immigrants. sizes they found the buck. Soon The nearest settlements were then they had gathered some dry pitchy the villages of Awa and Asin, parts branches and having arranged a of Buguias. fireplace with three stones placed The people over there were skilled in the form of dalikan they made a hunters. One day, after they had fire to roast the deer meat. The trailed a strong, old buck with enor- pitchy pine made a hot fire. And mous antlers, for four days, and had as they were holding the meat with passed through Ubanga, and Loo, improvised spits above the fire they and Gubang (which is now Gina- noticed a thick black liquid oozing wang) they reached Aban. They from the 'dalikan' stones. What's saw the dear quietly grazing in an this?, they exclaimed, a bad omen! open place of the forest and let loose Bad luck! We will die!' -17LAKA Y CAMPOS BAKET KINYA But after their meal. they were no longer frightened and inspected the molten mass: it covered the ground about the fire place, and was hard again. They took a stone and hammered: it could be molded into shape. They made a small pot that would serve for cooking and brought it home with them. Their strange discovery drove many others to the place, who all returned with lumps, great and small. From morning to night stones hammered and hammered, pots were made, dishes, tools, enough to replace all their wooden stuff. They went on getting lumps, melting them and hammering and when they had made quite a number of pots and dishes they decided to go down to the lowlands in order to barter them for jars, blankets, knives and what not. They knocked at the door of the wealthy Spaniards. "It's copper", these exclaimed. "Where did you find the stones out of which you made these dishes." They pointed towards the mountains saying something that sounded like 'mankayang', meaning to say that they got those lumps from the mountain ridge. And so the Spaniards called the place whence they came: Mankayan. They made good business and returned with heavy loads to their villages. Soon they moved to Mankayan in great numbers and settled down there. Many Chinese came up and began to buy the copper, sending it to China. The Spaniards, in the meantime decided to organize the working of the copper mine and to increase the production. One day a certain Don Miguel and Don Tomas arrived at Mankayan and called all the prominent men of the settlements there about for a meeting. "Let us be friends", they said, "we bring you money, look, three full gantas, we bring you salt, all kinds of foodstuffs, and here these two carabaos are also for you. Now, come, sign this paper". So, the old men of the hunters signed away the copper mine. But, the first effort to establish a mine was a failure, for the natives were unwilling to be bossed about by the Spaniards and would not work. Then Chinese laborers were called in for whom houses were built: they were given five Pesos as they arrived. and were promised a salary of fifty centavos a day as well as their daily food. When the Spaniards, later on, cut the rations, the Chinese, in revolt threatened. to kill the Spaniards. These in order to keep peace called in a platoon of soldiers. Yet, the mine failed entirely as a money making thing. Don Miguel and Don Tomas, the original prospectors and managers were called back. A few Spaniards, however, did not leave but stayed behind at the mine. Among them were Don Angel Moreno and Don Antonio Bona who later purchased with salt a large ranch from the natives of Cervantes. Now, this is where Lakay Campos comes in. His father, Amoy, a Chinaman, was attracted by the offer of the Spaniards and decided to stay on in Mankayan. He soon married a native girl and they had two sons; Lakay Campos was the youngest Later on, Amoy, longing for his own land, gathered up his belongings and taking his eldest son with him left his wife and his youngest son in Mankayan, and went his·way. The little boy grew up like any other boy among the natives. He worked hard and was respected by all there; soon he became a leader and was made concejal of his barrio. -20After the revolution passed, he was accepted again as a leader for they elected him first as vice-mayor and then twice as mayor of Mankayan. "I was the only one who spoke a little Ilocano", he says, "so they had to elect me. In those days elections were very free and fair. The Americans called us all for a general meeting. Then they introduced the candidates and said, 'Now, stand behind the candidate you want for your mayor'. Campos' first marriage, in the days preceding the revolution, was unhappy for he had no children. Later, he married Kinya and she bore him five children. He is a happy old man now with his many descendants: children, grandchildren, great grand children, all are his, they will carry on his name. Father Jose de Haes, the missionary in charge of Mankayan, heard that Lakay Campos was very sick and went to him. This was very recently, in 1946, and the Father was sure the poor old Lakay was not long for this world. He instructed him in his patient way and soon the old man wanted to be baptized. Father poured the saving waters over his head and called him by the beautiful name of Calixto. But he did not die. He is alive and well. "I thank God. My Baptism has made me strong and well", he says. "Kinya, my faithful wife", he said, "must be with me in heaven. We cannot be parted there'', so on April the third, Kinya too was baptized. Now both are ready to meet the Good God. Lakay Campos, we salute you! We are proud of your many good works among us. We cherish your advice and your teaching, and we thank you for keeping alive the stories of the early days. As our dear Lord has blessed you with many years on earth, may He welcome you and Kinya into heaven when your day comes. SEE US FOR FIR-TEX INSULATING BOARD AND TILE IT INSULATESIT DECORATES Exclusive Distributor J.P. Beilhroaa Co. 575 Atlanta Street, Port Area MANILA Tel. 3-36-17 and 3-36-18 Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather. RUSKIN -21

pages

17-21

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