Family History

I don't really know a lot about my relatives from the side of my father. Never met either of my grandparents from his side. Didn't meet my grandfather coz he died when my dad was 10. And the only memory I really have that relates to my grandmother was when in my early elementary days, my dad had to leave for Samar(I think) for her burial. Though my father had other siblings(he was the youngest), there was a silent rule in the house that asking about them was a no-no.

Anyhow, that was the way things were and I haven't given it much thought since, but on the long trip to our in-laws resort in a place called Sambuan for the holy week, we got to talk little on the subject.

"Do you know our greatgrandfather was a Guardia Civil?", my brother announces.

"Where did you hear that?" I ask.

"From papa. Ask him." And since dad was driving up front, I asked.

I find out it's true. My greatgrandfather was a Spaniard, and a Guardia Civil...and a very rich one at that. Owned vast hectares of land, and supposedly was the head of that area(forgot to ask where). Sadly though, he was executed by Katipuneros by manner of being hanged on a boat...don't ask me how. Though I'm totally for the big K, being a supporter for the Bonifacio-should-be-the-National-Hero Movement (fyi, no such movement really exists), I was still saddened by the thought that he died that way...he was my greatgrandfather afterall. Maybe he was a good Spaniard, i mean he did have a Filipina for his wife...or maybe not.

When he died, he only had two sons, my grandfather(the first Fruto) being the younger. He couldn't quite take the harsh treatment from his older brother, so one night, he went to his father's stable and took his horse- a white stallion(dig that!)- to gallop away only to return decades later.

Now my grandfather reportedly had quite an adventuruous life moving from one place to another. He had two wives, both of them named Isabelle. And he supposedly also had 5 other lovers, all of them named Isabelle too, I just don't know if he entertained them before or during his marriage. I guess it takes an Isabelle to bring out the bad boy in a Fruto,haha. (Now I don't know if I should be happy or sad that I haven't met an Isabelle...:P)

Anyway, among the adventures my granddad had, the one about him being a puppet mayor during the Japanese occupation (he was a vice-mayor before the japs came) stuck to me. At one time, the rebels approached him to share their plans to ambush some of the Japanese squads patrolling the area. With their bright idea, my lolo who had to accompany some of the patrols would lead the japs into a remote trail and there they would be ambushed. My lolo thought it through and on the planned day of the ambush, just before they would reach the spot of the planned ambush, he feigned having a very upset stomach. The Japanese soldiers had no choice but to head back into town, preventing them from falling into the rebels trap. In the mind of my lolo, it would have been a graver disaster if he pushed through with the plan. The remaining Japs would have known that he aligned himself with the rebels if he had not been killed in the ambush and they would slaughter the townsfolk to expose the resistance. So he probably thought it was for the greater good. On the day the Japs realized they were losing the war, some retreated into the sea trying to swim away with futile effort and they were butchered with bolos by some of the townsfolk on the beach. Though my dad did say that the Japs weren't that bad when they were around, in fact the town improved a lot during their stay.

Then we asked mom, "Hey ma, what about our greatgrandfather from your side, what did he do during the war?"

"Hmm...well,...uhm...what do you call that person...uhm, the one whose close to the Japanese? Hmmm...what do you call...hmmm...", my mom tries to think and rememeber hard.

"Close to the Japanese? Uhm...a traitor?" I suggested.

And everyone just laughed in the car.

....

"I don't have to look up my family tree, because I know that I'm the sap." -Fred Allen