The BINOYA's - Rosario and Aniceto

When Aniceto Binoya and I got married in 1938, the whole nation was still the stage of recovery and rehabilitation from the ravages of war. National issues like repair of infrastructure, setting up of new political systems, and hastening the development of the economy were addressed. The reestablishment of educational systems in all levels of did much in restarting the people’s confidence and ambitions.

The Zambales Rural High School where we both taught was a national agricultural school of secondary level, established on a hectare reservation in Nagbayto, San Marcelino, Zambales several years before World War 2. The war, however, left only a Gabaldon type building, so when schools reopened, the former instructors and other staff members operated in temporary buildings on a borrowed portion of the San Marcelino Elementary School site north of the Poblacion.

Father had donated a large portion of this site. Our parents had bought several parcels of farm lots through their industry and thrift. Most probably, they foresaw the expansion of the town and the lots would become residential, possibly for their own children. Rightly, so far now, the area is a bristling community known as “Amianan ti Ili” with good homes and laid out streets.

These lots were willed to the six of us in a document prepared by then Judge Artemio Manglicmot, one of the closest friends of father. Sadly, the winds of fate carried away the shoots of the bamboo to distant lands; not one of the children chose to live in the old hometown.

In the early 50’s, the ZRHS returned to its original site. School buildings were rehabilitated and new ones constructed under the Philippine War Damage Commission. Machines , equipment and books arrived too from the U.S. Aid. Staff and students worked hard cleaning the area and cultivating the neglected farms. In a number of years, the school progressed in population and production and became the Zambales National Agricultural College.

During this period the Binoya family lived in a cottage on the reservation like all other members of the staff. The children: Seth, Charito, Daniel and Joy were born and spent their childhood in this environment. They commuted to town for their elementary education. Aniceto was appointed Farm Manager. With our combined salaries and supply of rice from produce of a farm north of the reservation, we envisioned a stable future and growth on this spot throughout our lives.

But it was not to be. Aniceto accepted the position of principal of an agricultural school in Can-avid, a remote town in Eastern Samar in 1962. Because going to this school entailed a 12-hour boat trip from Manila to Catbalogan and another 12-hour bus across the big island, we decided to be left in Zambales while he worked in Samar. After five years in Samar, he got a transfer to the Camarines Norte Agricultural School in Bicol. The whole family moved to Labo, Camarines Norte. That was the start of our life-long love of the Bicol Region and although we left the joys and comforts of being with our parents and other family members, we have never regretted the move.

In 1970, the family again transferred to the Camarines Sur Agricultural College in Pili, Camarines Sur. The children were now in high school and in a few years went to college. Seth finished at the U. P. Los Baños with a degree in Agri-business. After working with the Vocational Education Division in outreach programs, he joined the faculty of the Western Luzon Agricultural College, now one of the campuses of the Ramon Magsaysay Technological University. He married Nerissa Gaddi, a Forestry graduate with the DENR, and they have two daughters, Iren Ayla and Anna Gabrielle. They reside in Balaybay , Castillejos, Zambales.

An interesting incident in Seth’s career on the administrative staff of the college revealed his inherited streak of Apong Meliton’s unwavering loyalty to one’s principles, giving no room to compromise. As a member of the Board of Canvassers on school Purchases, he reacted negatively to the Administrator’s transactions without the prior action of the committee. After presenting his stand on the issue, he resigned from his designation as a member. Other members followed suit. He was to pay dearly for his obstinacy. When we heard of this from others, we were not surprised.

After graduating from Nursing, Charito had a brief stint as extension worker of CSSAC then left for overseas work in hospitals in Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates. She is married to Lino Cepe and they have five children: Leo, Rio, June Ann, Andi Jedd, and Carlo Franco. The whole family now permanently resides in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Leo, his wife Enerosa, and son Charles were the last to migrate joining their Beltran relatives there.

Daniel and his wife Cely are both with the Extension Division of CSSAC. They have four children: Danielle Grace, a nurse; Rayel, an Information Technology graduate; An Francis and Carl, both still in high school. They live in a two-story home surrounded with well-tended gardens in Central Park Subdivision near the Provincial Capitol Site.

Joy, a faculty member of CSSAC, and her husband, Pablito R. Chy Jr. occupy a cottage an the campus. Their children- Jan Patrick, Anne Pauline, Jon, and Allysa- go to Universities in Naga. Jun (short for junior) works in Saudi Arabia and comes home for vacation between contracts. They have their eyes on migrating to Canada too when the children will have graduated from college courses.