Here's a link to Jose Bravo Sibayan's online obituary.
http://www.veteransfuneralcare.com/veteransfuneralhome/obituaryDetail.cfm?idObituary=1290§ionId=3
Monday, January 31, 2011
Friday, January 28, 2011
Memorial Mass for Jose Bravo Sibayan - 2/5/2011
St. Paul's Catholic Church
12708 N. Dale Mabry Hwy
Tampa, FL 33618
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
History of My Life - Part H: Mother's Death
Mother's death when I was 14 was the most traumatic experience I had. I visited her grave almost every day after school hours because the cemetery was close to the Abra H.S. where I enrolled as 2nd year student. There I cried, I prayed, I wished... she were still alive. I learned how to sing the Ilocano song entitled "Kanta ti Ulila" (Song of an Orpan):
Idi payla ubingac - When I was still young
Ni inak inolilana - My mother orphaned me (literal)
Itan ta domakelac - Now that I am big
Sapolek deyoi inak - I looked for my mother
Awan ti makaammo - Nobody knows
Sadinno ti ayanna - Where she is
Timek ti meysa nga angel - The voice of an angel
Konana a natay. - Said: "She is dead."
No agarobos luluac - When my tears flow freely
O nasamit nga inac - O sweet mother of mine
Nalibnos a ladawam - Your clear image
Ti agparang caniac - Appears before me
Deyta ti naganac kenca - This is your mother
Yan tandan kararuac - My soul remembers
Diac kenca malipat - Never will I forget you
Ingat tong paltoy biag - Until my life ends.
I always cried when I sang this song. I guess I was very much attached to my mother. I was at her bedside until she died. I saw her suddenly get up, kneel before a big cross with Jesus crucified, made the sign of the cross, then went back, lie down quietly, and died. Her last thought at the point of death was Jesus! Praise the Lord. How I wish to be like her when my time comes to return this borrowed life from God back to Him through Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior! JBS. Amen.
Idi payla ubingac - When I was still young
Ni inak inolilana - My mother orphaned me (literal)
Itan ta domakelac - Now that I am big
Sapolek deyoi inak - I looked for my mother
Awan ti makaammo - Nobody knows
Sadinno ti ayanna - Where she is
Timek ti meysa nga angel - The voice of an angel
Konana a natay. - Said: "She is dead."
No agarobos luluac - When my tears flow freely
O nasamit nga inac - O sweet mother of mine
Nalibnos a ladawam - Your clear image
Ti agparang caniac - Appears before me
Deyta ti naganac kenca - This is your mother
Yan tandan kararuac - My soul remembers
Diac kenca malipat - Never will I forget you
Ingat tong paltoy biag - Until my life ends.
I always cried when I sang this song. I guess I was very much attached to my mother. I was at her bedside until she died. I saw her suddenly get up, kneel before a big cross with Jesus crucified, made the sign of the cross, then went back, lie down quietly, and died. Her last thought at the point of death was Jesus! Praise the Lord. How I wish to be like her when my time comes to return this borrowed life from God back to Him through Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior! JBS. Amen.
History of My Life - Part G: 6 - Across the Mountains & 7. Caddy & Bike
6. As a child I was full of imagination and ambitions or "dreams." For lack of anything to do or play with because then we had no TV or radio set or even papers to read, I used to lie down under a tree, our Asimas tree, and watch the clouds. I imagined a lot of things formed by the clouds above. I used to see now and then a pair of KALI, or native hawks, gliding up and down or sometimes having a "dog-fight." As they floated in the air across the mountains, I followed them, wondering what could be beyond those tall mountains. And so my wish was to go beyond those physical barriers and see other places.
These dreams were later on realized when my uncle, Lt. Antonio Bravo, was stationed in Laoag, Ilocos Norte. My mother visited him with us during our Christmas vacation. There, for the first time in my life, did I have the best Christmas experience. Before we went to sleep we were given big new stockings and hung them on nails on the wall. We were told that Santa Claus will give us gifts as we sleep.
My younger brother and our young cousins about our age were excited to find out the following morning our socks full of apples, oranges, raisins, cookies and candies! I also got an airplane that flies round and round as it hangs with a long string to the ceiling. My joy was beyond measure! Across those high forbidding mountains west of Bangued was a "pot of gold."
It was also there in Laoag, Ilocos Norte that my brother and I learned how to use spoons and forks. I was around seven and my brother five years old. I can still remember our well-to-do cousins laughing at us awkwardly handling those glistening silvers, even quite scared to soil them.
From then on we always urged our mother to visit her rich brother in other provinces as Ilocos Sur and La Union. We always experienced new things like eating in a LURIAT party of a rich Chinese merchant where around ten different courses were served in Vigan, Ilocos Sur; going swimming in the beach of San Fernando, La Union and riding a Constabulary Jeepney. And we always got gifts like roller skates, wooden wagon and alphabet blocks too. Mother brought home lots of old newspapers which were very useful in wrapping new slippers for customers. I didn't know how to read the La Vanguardia Spanish newspaper, but I liked looking at the pictures printed in them.
7. In Vigan I learned how to hit the ball with golf clubs as I served as Caddy for my uncle. My auntie won a bike in a raffle, but nobody used it, as my girl cousins about my age are not supposed to ride a bicycle, only boys do! How I wished I had a bike of my own. I learned how to bike in Vigan.
These dreams were later on realized when my uncle, Lt. Antonio Bravo, was stationed in Laoag, Ilocos Norte. My mother visited him with us during our Christmas vacation. There, for the first time in my life, did I have the best Christmas experience. Before we went to sleep we were given big new stockings and hung them on nails on the wall. We were told that Santa Claus will give us gifts as we sleep.
My younger brother and our young cousins about our age were excited to find out the following morning our socks full of apples, oranges, raisins, cookies and candies! I also got an airplane that flies round and round as it hangs with a long string to the ceiling. My joy was beyond measure! Across those high forbidding mountains west of Bangued was a "pot of gold."
It was also there in Laoag, Ilocos Norte that my brother and I learned how to use spoons and forks. I was around seven and my brother five years old. I can still remember our well-to-do cousins laughing at us awkwardly handling those glistening silvers, even quite scared to soil them.
From then on we always urged our mother to visit her rich brother in other provinces as Ilocos Sur and La Union. We always experienced new things like eating in a LURIAT party of a rich Chinese merchant where around ten different courses were served in Vigan, Ilocos Sur; going swimming in the beach of San Fernando, La Union and riding a Constabulary Jeepney. And we always got gifts like roller skates, wooden wagon and alphabet blocks too. Mother brought home lots of old newspapers which were very useful in wrapping new slippers for customers. I didn't know how to read the La Vanguardia Spanish newspaper, but I liked looking at the pictures printed in them.
7. In Vigan I learned how to hit the ball with golf clubs as I served as Caddy for my uncle. My auntie won a bike in a raffle, but nobody used it, as my girl cousins about my age are not supposed to ride a bicycle, only boys do! How I wished I had a bike of my own. I learned how to bike in Vigan.
History of My Life - Part G: 4 - Teacher & 5 - America!
4. Our first theme writing in 1st year H.S. was entitled: "My Ambition." Ho I admired and envied our H.S. teachers who were immaculately dressed with coat and tie and shoes, all white from head to foot. And so my ambition was to become a teacher!
Mr. Silverio Gutierrez was my English Teacher. he gave me a good grade. I might have flattered his ego. In 1952 I was assigned as Law Instructor in the Philippine Constabulatory School in Camp Crame by Gen. Florencio Solga. Then in 1957 I was transferred to the Philippine Military Academy in Baguio City to teach Law and other Social Science subjects.
At night time I also taught Biology, Economics, and Philippine History in the AFPSEM (Armed Forces School for Enlisted Men) in Fort Gregorio del Pilar. It was there where I retired in 1965 with the rank of Major.
5. Our teacher in 2nd year H.S., Miss Lea Bringas, for Science subject, told us to submit a project of any kind that is useful. I saw a MISAL (bookstand) for placing a book like the one used for the Bible in church and I asked my mother who owned it as it was lying idle under our house in our store room. She said that it belonged to my cousin, Loreto Bravo, who left for America and she said that when he saw a shooting star at night he pointed at it and shouted AMERICA!
Since then I watched for a shooting star because I wanted very much to see America. At that time the influence of the movies and magazines to young people in Abra was very great. Miss Bringas gave me a good grade for my project of a hand-made MISAL or bookstand, saying that I did it myself unlike those of others which were made by carpenters.
I was about to be sent to the M.P. School in U.S.A. as a military “pensionado” or student-officer in 1951 buy my alternate, who was a finance officer, was sent instead of me. I was very much disappointed because I saw my dream burst like an air bubble! After my alternate returned to Manila from the M.P. School in U.S.A. he went on AWOL. It was found out that he had mismanaged so much money and he was suspected of malversation. Then I made my own conclusions why I, the Principal, did not get it.
After my retirement my only remaining unfulfilled ambition before I die was to see America. Then came my chance in 1971 when I came to America as a tourist to see my American-born grandson, Chris, the first child of Jojo.
When my visa expired I filed my application for American citizenship in 1972 after hiring a lawyer in New York who raised his fees to $3,000 from $400 after I showed him a newspaper clipping that a Filipino, an ex-USAFFE like me, was granted citizenship in California. Because I can’t afford his fees, I said: “Lord you are the best lawyer up there. Nothing is impossible with you. With your help I can be an American citizen.”
I got my papers from the New York lawyer and filed my application with the Immigration and Naturalization Office in Philadelphia where I lived with my daughters Betty and Jojo. To make the story short, my petition was granted and I became an American citizen in 1973. Aside from the $25 filing fee, I only spent a $1 fine for over-parking in front of the courthouse in Tampa where I took my oath before a judge. PTL! And so with the help of God I realized my ambition to see America and also became an American citizen. Had I seen America in 1951 I could have lost my desire to see it again, but God has a plan for everyone.
It is said that the long wait before a prayer is answered is to make us prepared to receive, with a bigger basket, the greater blessings he has prepared for us. I did not only see America, I became an American citizen, organized the Pilipino-American Association of Tampa, of which I became its founder and first President. The Lord also used me to help build a chapel of the Philippine Independent Church in Tampa as its first President for two terms. When my wife, Pat of Bangued, died in 1982, the Lord gave me a beautiful, loving and faithful second wife who is of Italian-Spanish ancestry from Chile, S.A. In 1983 we went to South America where we stayed for two months with the relatives there.
Mr. Silverio Gutierrez was my English Teacher. he gave me a good grade. I might have flattered his ego. In 1952 I was assigned as Law Instructor in the Philippine Constabulatory School in Camp Crame by Gen. Florencio Solga. Then in 1957 I was transferred to the Philippine Military Academy in Baguio City to teach Law and other Social Science subjects.
At night time I also taught Biology, Economics, and Philippine History in the AFPSEM (Armed Forces School for Enlisted Men) in Fort Gregorio del Pilar. It was there where I retired in 1965 with the rank of Major.
5. Our teacher in 2nd year H.S., Miss Lea Bringas, for Science subject, told us to submit a project of any kind that is useful. I saw a MISAL (bookstand) for placing a book like the one used for the Bible in church and I asked my mother who owned it as it was lying idle under our house in our store room. She said that it belonged to my cousin, Loreto Bravo, who left for America and she said that when he saw a shooting star at night he pointed at it and shouted AMERICA!
Since then I watched for a shooting star because I wanted very much to see America. At that time the influence of the movies and magazines to young people in Abra was very great. Miss Bringas gave me a good grade for my project of a hand-made MISAL or bookstand, saying that I did it myself unlike those of others which were made by carpenters.
I was about to be sent to the M.P. School in U.S.A. as a military “pensionado” or student-officer in 1951 buy my alternate, who was a finance officer, was sent instead of me. I was very much disappointed because I saw my dream burst like an air bubble! After my alternate returned to Manila from the M.P. School in U.S.A. he went on AWOL. It was found out that he had mismanaged so much money and he was suspected of malversation. Then I made my own conclusions why I, the Principal, did not get it.
After my retirement my only remaining unfulfilled ambition before I die was to see America. Then came my chance in 1971 when I came to America as a tourist to see my American-born grandson, Chris, the first child of Jojo.
When my visa expired I filed my application for American citizenship in 1972 after hiring a lawyer in New York who raised his fees to $3,000 from $400 after I showed him a newspaper clipping that a Filipino, an ex-USAFFE like me, was granted citizenship in California. Because I can’t afford his fees, I said: “Lord you are the best lawyer up there. Nothing is impossible with you. With your help I can be an American citizen.”
I got my papers from the New York lawyer and filed my application with the Immigration and Naturalization Office in Philadelphia where I lived with my daughters Betty and Jojo. To make the story short, my petition was granted and I became an American citizen in 1973. Aside from the $25 filing fee, I only spent a $1 fine for over-parking in front of the courthouse in Tampa where I took my oath before a judge. PTL! And so with the help of God I realized my ambition to see America and also became an American citizen. Had I seen America in 1951 I could have lost my desire to see it again, but God has a plan for everyone.
It is said that the long wait before a prayer is answered is to make us prepared to receive, with a bigger basket, the greater blessings he has prepared for us. I did not only see America, I became an American citizen, organized the Pilipino-American Association of Tampa, of which I became its founder and first President. The Lord also used me to help build a chapel of the Philippine Independent Church in Tampa as its first President for two terms. When my wife, Pat of Bangued, died in 1982, the Lord gave me a beautiful, loving and faithful second wife who is of Italian-Spanish ancestry from Chile, S.A. In 1983 we went to South America where we stayed for two months with the relatives there.
What more can I ask for from God?
"This is my story, this is my song
Praising my savior all the day long,
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my savior all the day long."
In this connection, I would like to add that it was when I was making my devotion to St. Joseph that he interceded for me to realize my ambition to see America, that I came to America. When I visited New York City I asked my nephew-in-law to buy me a Bible. He bought one from the St. Patrick's Cathedral, a Catholic Bible, St. Joseph Edition.
It was in that church where I concluded my devotion to St. Joseph. Somebody in Manila told me that St. Joseph is a strong intercessor for the fulfillment of an ambition. It was in Stella Maris in Cubao, Quezon City where I started my devotion to St. Joseph.
Two unusual incidents happened there. One early morning on my way to the six o'clock mass I saw a UFO hovering over the Ateneo de Manila like a brightly-lighted football, then it shot up perpendicularly with a great burst of speed and disappeared. During the part of the mass wherein we extend our greeting of "Peace be with you" inside the church, I saw across the aisle my former girlfriend in H.S. whom I haven't seen since the Japanese occupation of Manila. We had a short conversation before I left for U.S.A.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
History of My Life - Part G: 3 - Lawyer
3. Father told me that the only way we can restore the boundaries or fences of our property on the West and North sides and to prevent our neighbor's rainwater from falling off its roof into our property on the East side is for me to become a LAWYER. But he could not send me to college after my graduation from H.S. in 1935. That year I worked as a laborer in the Bureau of public Works of Mountain Province earning P0.45 or less than $0.25 (a quarter) a day because I was below 18 years old. When I became 18 in May 1936, I enrolled as a Private in the 39th P.C. Company in Kiangan, Ifugao.
That same year I was transferred to the Headquarters, P.C. in Manila as the orderly of Gen. Paulino Santos. I went to a night school taking up stenography, typewriting and bookkeeping the next day after my arrival in Manila. Then I enrolled in the Far Eastern University in 1937, taking a course of Pre-Law.
That same year an incident that led to my uninterrupted night studies without being detailed on guard duty happened in a most unusual way. Major Dwight D. Eisenhower, Staff Officer of Gen. Douglas MacArthur came to Hq. Phil. Army for copies of a staff meeting from my boss, Major Elias Dioquino, Sec. Gen. Staff, P.A. I was the only enlisted man in the S.G.S. office charged with filing all TOP SECRET, SECRET, CONFIDENTIAL & RESTRICTED files of the Phil. Army. I was the only one holding the keys to the filing cabinets.
That day I went to sleep in my Boarding House immediately after I was relieved from Guard Duty at 6 AM. I did not wake up until noon time to take my meal, put on my uniform and walked to the APA near the Manila City Hall. Right away I was placed under arrest and brought to Major Dioquino, who gave me a bawling out for being AWOL. He said that Major Eisenhower was there to get copies of the General Staff Meeting for Gen. MacArthur and I was not there to open our classified files cabinet. I told him that I went to sleep after my night guard duty.
He called for my C.O. and told him, "From now on remove the name of Sibayan from your duty rosters, including your guard roster. He is my only enlisted man in this office and I need him every day."
My C.O. said, "Yes sir!", saluted then left.
From 1937 to 1941 when the war broke out, I was free to go to school after office hours. I got a free scholarship in the Arellano Law College for having an average over 85% in my report card. Hence, I finished my law course on scholarship because after the War I got a Veteran's Educational Benefit, including my Review Course for the Bar Examination in 1949. The results of the Exams were released in 1950.
And so, my father's wish, like that of my mother's, was fulfilled in that year when I became a full-fledged LAWYER and a CAPTAIN at the same time. Thanks be to God!
That same year I was transferred to the Headquarters, P.C. in Manila as the orderly of Gen. Paulino Santos. I went to a night school taking up stenography, typewriting and bookkeeping the next day after my arrival in Manila. Then I enrolled in the Far Eastern University in 1937, taking a course of Pre-Law.
That same year an incident that led to my uninterrupted night studies without being detailed on guard duty happened in a most unusual way. Major Dwight D. Eisenhower, Staff Officer of Gen. Douglas MacArthur came to Hq. Phil. Army for copies of a staff meeting from my boss, Major Elias Dioquino, Sec. Gen. Staff, P.A. I was the only enlisted man in the S.G.S. office charged with filing all TOP SECRET, SECRET, CONFIDENTIAL & RESTRICTED files of the Phil. Army. I was the only one holding the keys to the filing cabinets.
That day I went to sleep in my Boarding House immediately after I was relieved from Guard Duty at 6 AM. I did not wake up until noon time to take my meal, put on my uniform and walked to the APA near the Manila City Hall. Right away I was placed under arrest and brought to Major Dioquino, who gave me a bawling out for being AWOL. He said that Major Eisenhower was there to get copies of the General Staff Meeting for Gen. MacArthur and I was not there to open our classified files cabinet. I told him that I went to sleep after my night guard duty.
He called for my C.O. and told him, "From now on remove the name of Sibayan from your duty rosters, including your guard roster. He is my only enlisted man in this office and I need him every day."
My C.O. said, "Yes sir!", saluted then left.
From 1937 to 1941 when the war broke out, I was free to go to school after office hours. I got a free scholarship in the Arellano Law College for having an average over 85% in my report card. Hence, I finished my law course on scholarship because after the War I got a Veteran's Educational Benefit, including my Review Course for the Bar Examination in 1949. The results of the Exams were released in 1950.
And so, my father's wish, like that of my mother's, was fulfilled in that year when I became a full-fledged LAWYER and a CAPTAIN at the same time. Thanks be to God!
Jose Bravo Sibayan - 5/8/1918 - 1/25/2011
My grandfather died today at 11:45 am. My mother and father, Jocelyn & Luis Lontok, were with him along with my brother and his family: Manny Lontok, Maricris Lontok, and their two children Maia (7) and Marcus (5). The kids had just sung him a song: Marcus sang "A Child is Born in Bethlehem" and Maia sang "Do-Re-Mi" (Doe a deer, a female deer) and he passed with my brother's hands on him.
His eyes were open at the end, he knew they were there, he knew he was loved, and then he was gone.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Jose Sibayan - Feeding Tube Removed
After my grandfather was placed in the nursing home, they determined that he isn't digesting food anymore. His living will states that he doesn't want to be revived in such circumstances, so he has been put on pain meds and his feeding tube has been removed. They say that he has 3-10 days left on this Earth, but it depends on him and when he's ready to go.
Please pray for his peaceful and comfortable passing.
"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me." - Psalm 23:4
Please pray for his peaceful and comfortable passing.
"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me." - Psalm 23:4
Jose Sibayan Moved to Royal Oaks Manor
My grandfather was moved into Royal Oaks Manor from my mother's house on January 20, 2011. The address is 1833 Seminole Boulevard, Largo, FL 33778, his room number is 15.
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