My Christmas Childhood Memories

Christmas - my most awaited part of the year. Di ubing ak, (we lived in Midway, Banget) the signs that tell me it is christmas are those lanterns nga isab-it diay purok me in every houses. Ni nanang ko met ket gumatang iti walis ting-ting santo tulungak isuna nga i-cover ti green nga crepe paper (one by one) tapos itugkel na iti lata ti BONA nga adda daga na. Gumatang kami ti kendis (lips, rabbit etc.) ken ikan mi ti sinulid tapos isab-it me then decoreytan me pay nu maminsan ti babasit nga ay-ayam (free ti zum-zum nga cheez curls)... ito ang Christmas tree namin nung bata. Mayaten ah piman, basta adda decorasyon ti balay mo ta maibaga nga christmas.

I remember too, nagbibigay si Philex ng christmas bags (diay red ti color na ken adda pay ti logo na… duwa nga oblong shape nga nag cross? ) Pasensiya na, I can’t describe it well, but I clearly remember it though. Inside these are bags of candies tied with colorful ribbons. Maalala ko pa, ayaw na ayaw ko yung green apple na candy, nag madi raman na ngay. But still, I was so happy with those Christmas candies back then. Basit nga banag, ngem great source of joy.

Enjoy ti ag caroling nu rabii , malpas pinangan, my manong and I would gather with the rest of our kaaruba nga ubing then we group ourselves in 4s and sometimes 6 tapos kanya kanyang lakad na, From Bunkhouse 1 to 4, hanggang Upper Riverside to Motorpool (idiay check point) Pag pag naen mi laeng dayta. Kahit gano pa kalayo, sulit naman pag ang hatian namin is 5 pesos each. Malaking amount na yun. Tuwing patapos na kaming mag carol, we have this finale song we used to sing. It goes something like this….

Ni anti agkuti-kuti
Ni uncle adda diay suli
Agbir-biruk ti salapi
Ta ited na kinya mi

Ngem nu maminsan, haan nga kwarta ti ited da, nu haan ket inlambong nga kamote. Ket uray nu pay ah, naragsak ladta, gamin adda pay take out mi.

some philex views to share

more pics again next time ......

our unforgettable alma mater

some pics of Saint Louis High School-Philex, the school where we all proud to be an alumni.....

My Beloved Philex Mines

every time i take a look at this pic, it reminds me of my 4 years of daily walking to and from our alma mater. During those untiring walks, i often say, when will this walking end? magna tayo manen! but now that those days are over, how i miss to go back and take a walk again...

Service Nga Libre

No mapan kayo ditoy Philex...You'll miss half of your life no pumanaw kayo nga han pay nga nakasakay ti service...Malagip ko di first time ni antik ditoy Philex ket pinasakay mi isuna diyay service , usto ng abumaba kami kuma ket inmasedeg isuna diyay driver ken inyawat na ti plete mi kanu...syempre kinatawaan da isuna ta ti amun ti amin nga taga Philex ket libre. Di napasamak daydiyay ket hanen nga sinmaksakay ni antik...no syak pay ti saludsoden yo ket kaykayat ko nga sumakay madik lang nga agtugaw diyay likod tani pirme nga nalagto..Sapay kuma ta mabalin met met nga pasreken da kami idyay underground tani dinmakelakon ket han ko pay nga napadasan nga makita dagiti aramid ti minero ti Philex..saludo nga pala ako sa mga minero dyan sapay kuma ta bumayag pay ti Philex....Paalala lang sa gustong makapasok sa Philex ...Kailangan na may ID kayong isusurender sa checkpoint..at sa mga dependents tulad ko eh pagagawa na kayo ng ID nung 2006 pa pala naimplement un ..

Balkon ti Bunkhouse 17 Central Saddle

I was born in Philex Mines. I knew that balcon in Bunkhouse 17 in Central Saddle on top of Alipio's Store formerly a tailoring shop, besides the Abalos Store of the adjacent bunkhouse and on the other side the rolling store that never rolled of Ventura.

My mom made us a cape and a mask, for me and my brother, ( I was 6 and my bro is 4) with lables of batman and robin.... I was batman but our cap and masks are same, only lables on top differs.... Me and my bro will be proudly wearing these and come out of our room and shout Batman! and my bro will say Robin! We all have poses for the superheroes. Older boys will be laughing at us.... Tik Olan da kami.... Naturally, both of us ran home crying and tell our mom. After 30 minutes, we forget about the failed mission of batman and robin and start another mission.... So we go out and start.... Batman! Robin!

We left the Bunkhouse for a new home in Lower Capitol. When my sister got married, the couple had a room in the same Bunkhouse, so I use to go there and make tambay. I got a crush on the daughter of a storeowner across the street. So I stand on this Balcony to catch a glimpse of her.

Later when my younger brother got hired and had a family, he got a room in this Bunkhouse. This time, the Balcony was our favorite drinking spot. Ay apo, uray ak la agsarwa met a kinabartek ko met idyay.

Numerous Christmas and New Years were spent in that balcony.... My ultimate tambayan... Nakita nak siguro idyay iddi anya...

The Legend of Kudkudangos and Aring Aring

My childhood days were not a time for internet, ps2's, online gaming, mario brothers, game boys.... instead we had jolens, text cards, kites ( which we made our own), kampuso (tops), ukis kendi, lastiko, sha-tong, tumbang preso and a lot more. Like all children I never tire of playing and my mom has some way to woo me away from overplaying if not, sleep for the siesta....

Kudkudangos, I never met him, but his aura is shared by many of the children of my time. Seemingly all parents knows him, and all children knows him too. When garbage collectors come to collect their ration for the day, adults has a way to inflict discipline to us, they will say ' Dont be a bad child, otherwise Kudkudangos will get you and put u in the garbage truck and put you away for good'.... Shocking! Isnt it... So we dutifully follow our parents wish. Including a nap in the afternoon, eat your vegies (sayote manen), get a bath ( naglammin apo) and lot and lot more because we dont want that Kudkudangos will get us to his garbage truck and take us away.

Another legend is Aring Aring, whom I had seen... He walks through the streets naked... Sometimes he holds two Family Sized Coke and consume them in public... Gosh! all children were either happy to see him or afraid of the two, either or he has an aura that makes him very very popular. He also was a tool of parents to woo children to their wishes, saying that Aring Aring will get them, if not they will end up just like him if the child does not want to do their errands...

As we grew up, we realize that these are not true, and we used same tricks to our immediate younger brothers and sisters until they had the comprehension that all of it wer just a trick. Amazingly these two characters had contributed to the well being of a lot of us... Would you agree?

The Long and Winding Road

Way back in high school, our school is situated on top of a mountain. Of course we also live on top of a mountain but this road will be about 400 to 500 meters at an average angle of 25 degrees. It gives me a lot of memories seeing a picture of this road because I had to cross this 4 times a day in my whole 4 years of high school. I remember it was still dusty for two years then it was then filled with concrete afterwards. Every day right after the sun rises students come and cross this road like runners of a marathon trying to beat the time for the the flag ceremony. Then again at around 12 noon students dash their way home for a 50 minute lunch break. You will see the same scene again at 1 pm. After 5, the story begins. At age of puberty or teen age, me included, we become more attracted to the opposite sex. Here you will find couples walking home together. Some even bolder, holding hands. Some other will settle a dispute, and have a brawl in this road. Some will create a mile of dust by running their motorcycles as fast down and up this road, (although it seems it is very difficult to climb this with a conventional bicycle). For those years I was amongst the crowd of going up and down this road, same question we ask, when can we stop coming up and down this road? It is even worse when typhoon comes, the regular umbrella would have one broken strand and still use it for the rest of the school year, or maybe a raincoat which is a standard issue to the employees ( father's use) but now an apparrel to the son or daughter. It does not matter too if your bag is a philex bag because around 30 to 40 per cent of the students have the same. And for the boys and even some girls the standard miner's boots are a part of this philex fashion. And to top it all skull guards are part of it too. This had been a part of my memory lane. I do not wish to cross Wall Street, or go to Planet Hollywood, or maybe a walk on the moon.... I just wish that I could walk this road again

Canao Special Philex Edition

Philex Barrio Fiesta celebration comes every 3rd Saturday and Sunday of January every year in celebration of the Sto Nino, our patron saint. Since time immemorial, I had one event that specifically makes every fiesta a special one, the Canao. Canao is with enye, sorry I cannot find the special character for that at the time I was writing this, is typically a cordelleran tradition that is a very large eating session. Imagine the whole community, to feed all at the same time, that is something! I dont remember also if it was done on a Saturday or a Sunday... but the night before hundreds of pigs are butchered, cavans of rice are cooked, all sorts of pig related menu was prepared and packed into meals ready to be released and distributed for the public the next day. I was so young then, we flock to the distribution centers to get our share.... It was a crowded experience keeping our lines intact so that we can hav our turn. Once we have our price we happily bring home our treasure only to find out that ate, kuya, mama and papa had their own too.... Of course your arm will be marked with a stamp pad to signify that you had your lunch... After eating the first round, we wash our hands and remove the mark... And again go to the lines not in the same distribution center and get another one.... Every family, every one goes into this experience.... Later, it was modified to just giving a kilo of pork to every family so that the father is the only recipient of this... OHHHHHH! I missed the crowded lines and take twos.... But the spirit lives.... Did you went and get your share? Tell me.... He he...

The Forgotten Department

I dreamt that I went to Heaven and an angel was showing me around. We walked side-by-side inside a large workroom filled with angels.

My angel guide stopped in front of the first section and said, " This is the Receiving Section. Here, all petitions to God said in prayer are received."

I looked around in this area, and it was terribly busy with so many angels sorting out petitions written on voluminous paper sheets and scraps from people all over the world.

Then we moved on down a long corridor until we reached the second section. The angel then said to me, "This is the Packaging and Delivery Section. Here , the graces and blessings the people asked for are processed and delivered to the living persons who asked for them."

I noticed again how busy it was there. There were many angels working hard at that station, since so many blessings had been requested and were being packaged for delivery to Earth.

Finally at the farthest end of the long corridor we stopped at the door of a very small station. To my great surprise, only one angel was seated there, idly doing nothing.

"This is the Acknowledgment Section, " my angel friend quietly admitted to me. He seemed embarrassed."How is it that there's no work going on here?" I asked. "So sad," the angel sighed.

"After people receive the blessings that they asked for, very few send back acknowledgments.

"How does one acknowledge God's blessings?" I asked. "Simple," the angel answered. "Just say, " Thank you, Lord."

"What blessings should they acknowledge?" I asked.

"If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep ... You are richer than 75% of this world .

"If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish, you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy. "And if you get this on your own computer, you are part of the 1% in the world who has that opportunity."

Also ......

"If you woke up this morning with more health than illness ...... You are more blessed than the many who will not even survive this day. "If you have never experienced the fear in battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation .. You are ahead of 700 million people in the world.

"If you can attend a place of worship without the fear of harassment, arrest, torture or death ... You are envied by, and more blessed than three billion people in the world.

If you can read this message, you just received a double blessing in that someone was thinking of you as very special and you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world who cannot read at all.

Have a good day, count your blessings, and if you want, pass this along to remind everyone else how blessed we all are.


Attn: Acknowledge Dept.: Thank You Lord! " Thank you Lord, for giving me the ability to share this message and for giving me so many wonderful people to share it with."

Sayote Can Cause High Blood Pressure

Sayote, a green vegetable that grows freely in Philex. It is a vine and grown over a a web of wires. It is edible from the tip to the leaves (the tender ones), flower, the vegetable, the seed but not the roots. You can mix it with all to come up with a dish, sardines with sayote, egg with sayote, pork with sayote, beef with sayote, chicken with sayote, shrimp with sayote, fish with sayote, sayote with sayote... etc. etc.... You may grill, boil, fry, if not bake it, just use ur imagination. I also tried sayote as sweets. Sayote was a source of income for me and my brothers back then, we go to the kasayotian and gather the vegetable with ulnos, and sell it to the stores who buy them per kilo. The magic of this plant is that it is a source of high blood pressure. Though it is mainly made up of water, when cooked with pork, beef and chicken it can cause high blood. Or when a father comes home from work and asks his wife what is in store for dinner , wife says, 'Inlambong nga sayote'.... Husband goes high blood and says 'Sayote manen?'... But this wonderful vegetable, who had been a part of my meals at Philex, from breakfast, lunch, dinner, merienda, pulutan and all.... Everyone of us knows this because this wonderful vegetable had extended our meals so that it will feed everyone in the family. Beside I owe what I am now to this amazing vegetable....

Reminiscing Memories

I am actually born at 745 Ml. yet I stayed half of my life in Philex. We transferred there when the mine at 745 was closed.I was very glad on my first day there, knowing that when I was living at 745 we only got to visit Philex at Fiestas ,and there my father would buy us toys and cotton candies. It was like a dream come true,the place I'm dreaming to live with is actually my home already. My parents bought a lot at Phoenix Subdivision overlooking two dams,green mountains URT,Capitol and the Eastern, Central and Western Saddles(beautiful right....).I finished my elementary at PMES and had only my first year at SLHS because I transferred on the next year, from then on I only visit Philex maybe once a year or two.

Share your Philex Photos

It was 1985 when I left Philex Mines to find other jobs in Baguio City and Manila, but Philex Mines occupied a big corner of my heart and mind. I can't find any other place better than Philex Mines. While it's true that Baguio City and Manila are full of night life, fun and many recreational facilities, Philex still reigned and ranked as number 1.

22 years after, I have thought of creating this website to bring back the memories of Philex Mines, and to connect and unite all the Philexians around the world, and make this website our common place to communicate and share our views, comments and experiences.

Sapay kuma ta mapaw-itan dak iti pictures or any materials nga mabalin nga ikabil tayo dituy website tayo tapnu malagip tayo dagidiay nararagsak, rigrigat ken nawadwad nga panagbiyag tayo before.

Please email them to batangphilexmines@yahoo.com. Thank you very much.

SLAZH
The Webmaster

My Children: Made in Philex

Mayat ti climate nga talaga idiay Philex, nasapa nga maturog ti tattao idiay. Alas otso pay laeng ti rabii ket manmano ti makitam nga tao idiay ruwar, manggeg mo laeng dagidiay uni iti magmagna nga peter bilt. Adda da met ti makitam nga lallaki ken babbae nga magmagna ken agin-inistoryaan, kasla nga pelikula met ah ta mayat ti iiseman da nga duwa ken agin-innarasaas da laeng, kasla met nga matartarusan da ti ibagbaga da ket awan met ti mang-manggeg ko hehehe.

Kasta kami met ni baket ko, nakilala ko sya sa Philex Mines and na-experience mi met ah dagidiay makitkita tayo itatta nga ubbing nga agin-innarem met. Duwa ti anak ko nga inaramid ko idiay Philex Mines. Adda metten ti as-asawa dan nga duwa. Diay inuunak nga lalaki ket idiay Philex na met nga inaramid my first apo isunga mayat iti ubing nga MADE IN PHILEX, natibker, naragsak, naparagsit, malambing ken matalino da.

Sika ngay gayyem, mano ti annak mo nga Made in Philex?

Nangina ti Gin

Back in 1981 to 1985 and after the day's work, malagip ko ti uminom ti gin. Awan pay ti karaoke, internet, cellphone, videoke or anything that time tapnu maikkat ti bannog. Adda metten ti betamax idin, ngem nagadayo met ti pagbuludan ti tape, mas asideg dyay garita nga panggatangan ti arak, isunga inaybak dagidiay gagayyem ko and we went to buy gin, uray nu 3 times pay ti ngina nan. Kunak man la nu umanayen ti maysa nga gin, ngem nagkurang latta ta simmangpet dagidiay dadduma nga karrubak ket nakantyawan ak, isu nga nanayunan nga nanayunan, pati utang ko ket nanayunan hehehehe. LIFE ROCKS in Philex!!!!

The 1990 Earthquake

It was July 16, 1990 and I was in Philex Mines that time when I first experienced this strong earthquake recorded at intensity 7.70 at Richter scale. My 2 kids were still in Philex Elementary School that time and I was just waiting for them at home before I leave for Manila. The first time the earthquake struck, I immediately run to the school to get my kids, and I could see the bunkhouses, cars, mountains and trees shaking and falling.

At the sight of my 2 crying and frightened kids, I immediately grabbed and carried them both on my arms and run back to Main Camp. Along the way, people were crying, shouting, running for their lives and gathering on the streets carrying their children, religious images, bags, clothes and many others. The aftershocks were so scary that we could hear a thunderstorm-like sound under the ground.

It was a very horrifying experience indeed and we spent a week at the Main Camp Basketball Court, drinking rainwater, eating noodles and bread. I really thought that will be the end of the world. Thank God coz He just shook our heads to come closer to Him.

After 10 days in Philex, I decided to return back to Manila, however, I walked from Philex to Baguio City because the roads were not passable due to landslides. Please check some photos which I published in our website to see the ruined buildings in Baguio City.

Finally, upon my arrival in Manila, my employer deducted 10 days from my salary because of this fortuitous event, that's outrageous!!!

Can you share us your experiences also....

SLAZH,
The Webmaster