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