4/23/2002

HAROLD L LIBAN

4000 BAKER LANE APT B

RENO, NV 89509-5507

ANDRES L VELASCO

119 RAMSGATE WAY

VALLEJO, CA 94591

DEAR UNCLE ANDY,

GREETINGS IN THE NAME OF JESUS. THANK YOU FOR WRITING. I WAS GOING TO WRITE THIS POEM IN GADDANG AND ADD IT TO THE SYMPATHY CARD I MAILED TO YOU IN REMEMBRANCE OF AUNTIE GIN, BUT I WANTED TO GET THE CARD MAILED RIGHT AWAY. THIS IS THE SAME POEM TITLED, "INA, INA, INA" FROM MARIA LUISA LUMICAO'S BOOK TITLED, "GADDANG LITERATURE." I READ THIS POEM AT MY MOTHER'S EULOGY IN 1985.

INA, INA, INA

(MOTHER, MOTHER, MOTHER)

AY INA, INA. INA

ARANIEN A METCATWAY

SANNA DUMATTU

SE MADDUNDUN YO TIEMPO.

MAPPABALABALATAC

SITO NEADDAM SICUAC

A ASSODAG A TIEMPO

A MATRURC SI WALUFULU.

E ILLIAWANCU IMMAN SICUAM

NA LAYOD E GAUAUAYAN

TAQESI MACANTOC IMMAN

TO DAHUN A MACCATAM.

E ILLIAWANCU SICUAM

PACOMMANNAC SI NALLIAWATAN

TAQUESI INNAC SO GLORIA

ANTUENO CAPALEAN.

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UNCLE ANDY, YOUR HANDWRITING PENMANSHIP IS STILL AS GOOD IN THE LETTER YOU WROTE ME IN 1991. IN FACT YOUR PENMANSHIP LOOKS LIKE HOW MY MOM WROTE ME LETTERS. MINERVA SAID THAT'S WHAT HER MOM'S PENMANSHIP LOOKED LIKE TOO.

I TRIED EMAILING TO AS MANY OF THE KNOWN RELATIVES EMAIL ADDRESSES I HAVE TO GET THE WORD OUT ABOUT AUNTIE GIN'S PASSING. I'M GLAD THAT CONSUELO AND CHADING WERE ABLE TO ATTEND, AND TO RENEW THE FAMILY KINSHIP WITH YOU, YOUR SONS AND OTHER RELATIVES THAT ATTENDED. IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME TRYING TO KEEP IN TOUCH WITH EACH OTHER. THE LAST TIME I SAW YOU AND AUNTIE GIN WAS AT YOUR APARTMENT AT EDDY OR OFFAREL ST IN SAN FRANCISCO. I TRIED TO MAKE CONTACT, BUT NOBODY IN OUR FAMILY KNEW WHERE YOU WERE AT UNTIL AS RECENT AS THE PAST TWO YEARS. IT SEEMS LIKE IT WAS OVER TEN YEARS. NOW WE KNOW THAT YOU LIVE IN VALLEJO.

BACK IN 1991, I BEGAN WRITING A GADDANG - ENGLISH DICTIONARY WHEN I COULDN'T LOCATE A SOURCE WHERE TO OBTAIN ONE. THERE WAS A GADDANG FROM BAYOMBONG BY THE NAME OF AVE TAEZA, A DISTANT RELATIVE WITH THE NAME OF GAUUAN. THIS SPELLING IS DIFFERENT FROM THE GAUAN IN THE LIBAN FAMILY TREE, BUT I BELIEVE THERE IS A RELATION THERE WAY BACK WHEN. AVE HELPED ME GET STARTED WITH THE TRANSLATIONS, THEN I PUT IT ON THE SHELF FOR MANY YEARS, UNTIL THE YEAR 2000 WHEN DANNY CABANAG, THE SON OF THE LATE DIMAS LAUAGAN CABANAG MADE CONTACT WITH ME. AT THAT TIME MY DICTIONARY PROJECT WAS ALIVE AGAIN. DANNY PROVIDED MANY GADDANG - ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS TO ADD TO MY BOOK. EBENEZER (BEN) I. DANGUILAN, ALSO ADDED MORE WORDS AND TRANSLATIONS. WE WERE CORRESPONDING ON OUR EMAILS. WHEN I PHONED DANNY IN CHEYENNE, WYOMING WE HAD A VERY UNIQUE CONVERSATION. HE WAS TALKING TO ME IN GADDANG, AND I WAS ANSWERING HIM IN ENGLISH. HE WAS SURPRISED HOW MUCH GADDANG I KNEW, BUT IN REALITY I DIDN'T KNOW MUCH. MAYBE A FEW FAMILIAR WORDS, BUT NOTHING TO SAY IN CONVERSATIONAL GADDANG. I SURE DO MISS HEARING THE SPOKEN WORDS OF GADDANG. DID YOU TEACH YOUR SONS GADDANG? I HAD AN IDEA IF GADDANG COULD BE TAUGHT ON THE INTERNET. I WAS GOING TO NAME THE COURSE, GADDANG 101 - BEGINNING GADDANG. AFTER DISCUSSING MY PLANS WITH BEN AND DANNY, MY COMPUTER WAS DESTROYED IN A POWER SURGE AT MY TRAILER HOME IN MESA, ARIZONA, WHERE MY NEXT DOOR NEIGHBOR COUSIN, EMILIE CORREOS KLASSEN, THE DAUGHTER OF THE LATE CLOTILDE GUIMBAN CORREOS AND I RESIDE.

TO GIVE YOU AN UPDATE OVER THE PAST TEN OR SO YEARS, THESE ARE SOME THINGS I'VE DONE SINCE STARTING OUR FAMILY TREES BACK IN 1976, AFTER MY DADDY DIED. I WISH I HAD STARTED MY PROJECT BEFORE HE DIED. IMAGINE ALL OF THE STORIES I COULD HAVE WRITTEN ABOUT HIS LIFE. UNCLE EUSTUS LUMICAO LAUAGAN WAS THE DRIVING FORCE TO GET ME STARTED ON THIS GADDANG QUEST, WHICH NOT ONLY INVOLVES THE LIBANS AND THE LUMICAOS. THE MORE I DUG DEEPER INTO OUR GADDANG ROOTS I SAW THAT MANY FAMILIES CROSSED PATHS, SO I EXTENDED MY RESEARCH TO COVER MORE GADDANG SURNAMES AND HOW THEY RELATED TO ONE ANOTHER. I HAVE DONE WORK CONNECTING THE DOTS, SO TO SPEAK, FOR THE FAMILIES OF ABESAMIS - AGATON - ALAYU - ALCOBER - ALINDADA - AMBATALI - BALASSU - BALLAD - BALUNSAT - BALTAZAR - BANIQUED - BANTA - BAQUIRAN - BAYAUA - BELET - BELLO - BINALEY - BULAN - BUNANIG - BUSA - CABANAG - CALATA - CARUB - DANGUILAN - DE LOS SANTOS -DUMELOD - DUMON - GABBUAT - GADDUANG - GATAN - GAUAN - GAYAGOY - GOLLABA - GUIAB - GUIMBAN - GUZOM - LAUAGAN - LAYUHAN - LIBAN - LIGGAYU - LOGAN - LUDAN - LUMATUN - LUMICAO - MACABADBAD - MACADET - MADDELA - MADDELAT - MAGALUED - MAMURIC - MANGADAP - MARAGGAY - PADILLA - PANGANIBAN - PATAWEG - PIGGANGAY - SAGABAYEN - SAGAYADAN - SEVILLA - SORIANO - TOTTOC - TUBBAN - TUMANUT - VALDEZ. THAT'S 64 OR MORE FAMILY NAMES.

UNCLE ANDY, I JUST SAW THE FILE I HAVE ON AUNTIE TIQUING. HER BIRTHDATE IS DECEMBER 1910. SO YOU ARE OLDER THAN HER BY 5 MONTHS. I DIDN'T REALIZE AUNTIE TIQUING WAS THAT OLD. MANY BIRTHDAYS TO YOU BOTH. I HOPE I CAN REACH YOUR AGE GOD WILLING. THAT WOULD MAKE MINERVA VERY HAPPY BECAUSE WHEN WE GOT MARRIED ON JULY 10, 2001 I WAS 69 YEARS OLD AND SHE IS 58 YEARS OLD.

WHEN I VISITED MY CORITA'S SISTER METHYL IN MANILA. I WAS LOOKING THROUGH THE TELEPHONE BOOK AND I SAW MANY LIBAN NAMES. I PHONED ONE DANTE VENTURA LIBAN WHO WAS A BUSINESSMAN IN QUIAPO AND I VISITED HIM. THE NEXT TIME I VISITED HIM A FEW YEARS LATER I FOUND OUT HE WAS THE CONGRESSMAN OF QUEZON CITY. WE USE TO KEEP IN TOUCH, BUT HAVEN'T FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS NOW. I ALSO VISITED SISTER MARIA EUSABIA DE LOS SANTOS LIBAN WHERE SHE WAS A NUN AT A CATHOLIC SCHOOL NEAR WHERE MY IN-LAWS RESIDED IN THE ESPANYA DISTRICT. I VISITED CIRILO LIBAN, AND SAW PAULITA BAYAUA AT HIS HOUSE IN MANILA. UNCLE JOVITO AND I VISITED AUNTIE EMAY VELASQUEZ AND A SALLY, I THINK PANGANIBAN WAS HER LAST NAME.

IN APRIL 1997, PHOEBE CABOTAJE ANDES (PRESIDENT OF THE SOLANO USA ORGANIZATION) INVITED ME TO BE HER ESCORT AT THEIR SOLANO USA INSTALLATION OF OFFICERS IN NEW JERSEY. I FLEW THERE WITH EMILIE CORREOS KLASSEN. EMILIE'S SISTERS. ROSIE CORREOS JOHNSON, AND YVONNIE CORREOS GATCHECO, GLORIA TUMANUT SORIANO (DAUGHTER OF FRANK AND MELENCIA SORIANO), LITA PANGANIBAN FLEW IN FROM SEATTLE. IT WAS A REUNION FOR THE GIRLS. I DIDN'T KNOW ANYONE THERE EXCEPT FOR PHOEBE AND I HADN'T SEEN PHOEBE IN NEARLY 50 YEARS. IT WAS A GOOD SOCIAL GATHERING AND I MET MERCY AND HER MOTHER, MAXIMA BULAN, AND A GODOFREDO BUNANIG. I PICKED THE BRAINS OF SOME OF THE PEOPLE THERE THAT HAD GADDANG ROOTS AND DIAGRAMED THEIR TREE ON PAPER. I ALSO MET ALICE BAHIA'S SISTER, ZENITH AGUILAR.

I AM HAPPY THAT GENO IS TAKING AN INTEREST IN PRESERVING OUR GADDANG FAMILY TREES. TOGETHER WE CAN SHARE AND LEARN FROM EACH OTHER HOW TO PROVIDE THE GENEALOGIES TO GADDANGS AROUND THE WORLD. GENO HAS A VERY GOOD VISION ABOUT OUR PROJECT. HE HAS CREATED A PRELIMINARY WEBSITE WHERE GADDANG DESCENDENTS CAN VISIT AND FIND OUT ABOUT THEIR FAMILY AFU'S. A DREAM I HAD 28 YEARS AGO, BUT AT THAT TIME MY VISION WAS SMALLER, BUT NOW WITH THE INTERNET WE CAN CIRCUMNAVIGATE THE WORLD WITH THE DATA BASE I HAVE DIAGRAMED.

UNCLE ANDY, DO YOU REMEMBER THE FAMILY TREE OF ALEJANDRO BINALEY LIBAN? YOUR BROTHER IN-LAW? YOU KNOW BEFORE WHEN I WAS A KID, I DIDN'T KNOW UNCLE ANDREW WAS YOUR BROTHER IN-LAW. WHAT WAS UNCLE ANDREW'S FATHER'S FIRST NAME, AND HIS MOTHER'S FIRST NAME? HIS GRAND FATHER'S AND GRANDMOTHER'S FIRST AND LAST NAMES?

IN CLOSING MAY GOD CONTINUE TO BLESS YOU AND YOUR FAMILY. OUR PRAYERS ARE WITH YOU AT THIS TIME OF YOUR GRIEF, AND LOSS OF AUNTIE GIN.

LOVE,

HAROLD