Dance time for the kapitanes

By Al S. Mendoza

TODAY, Jan. 31, marks the barangay day in my hometown (Mangatarem).

To commemorate it, all the 82 kapitanes and their kagawads will hold a grand ball at the plaza auditorium.

Everybody will come dressed-to-kill, so to speak.

Dance for all.

Dance up to the wee hours of the morning.

Sayawan all the way.

We know when to relax, fellas.

We adhere to the saying, “Work and no play make Juan a dull boy.”

Work and no wine can make us senile.

And so tonight, Ceferino “Kuya Pino” Tengasantos, my revered balikbayan-friend from Hawaii (we call each other Kanor for one reason or another), will dance the night away again.

A former kapitan himself of Barangay Quezon before he migrated to Honolulu, Kuya Pino will strut his dancing savvy one last time.  From reggae to rhumba, from cha-cha to tango – he is the best, our proud version of Fred Astaire.

Atchie Ancing, his kindly wife, will also be there as Kuya Pino’s beloved partner, capping a week of their nightly dances by way of showing their unity with the townsfolk in celebrating my town’s fiesta.

When it comes to dancing, Kuya Pino and Atchie Ancing are tops.

We are a happy folk, you know, as all Pangasinenses are.

Actually, our town fiesta was yesterday, Jan. 30, but Mayor Teddy Cruz ignited fireworks by leading the town’s commemoration on Jan. 7 of St. Raymund de Penafort, our patron saint.

You know who St. Raymund de Penafort is?

He is the saint of lawyers.

On Jan. 24, the cycling race sponsored by General Pol Bataoil and supervised successfully by biking legend Jesus A. Garcia Jr. was fired off in Mangatarem.

It travelled to my district’s (second) 7 other towns before the race had its rousing finish in Mangatarem.

It received thunderous cheers from my kailyans at its momentous conclusion, even as not one of my kailyans finished among Top 10 from a starting field of 60.

I’m proud of them because they did their best, anyway.

Thank you, Pareng Jess.  Thank you, Primo Pol.  You both made us all happy with your generosity and kindness.

And although this time, I didn’t make it to my town’s fiesta due to the death of my mother-in-law (her remains will be laid to rest today), I was with my town mates both in heart and in spirit.

Surely, they understood – as they always do.

Surely, Guv Spines will understand that I will not be with him tonight for dinner at Mayor Ted Cruz’s home before trooping to the auditorium.

Sadly, I will miss the special dinner featuring Mareng Lourdes’ bagnet-spiked pinakbet, teeming with allocon and ampalaya.

Ah, to be away from home.

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