UP prof pines for times gone by
FORMER English and Comparative Literature professor Helen Mendoza of the University of the Philippines-diliman grew up in a pristine setting in Zamboanga City. There, she experienced momentous events worth documenting in a book ....
A PHD holder and now at 94, Mendoza grew up in the said city where she finished her elementary and some of her secondary studies, at a time it was still an idyllic and serene environment. For her, they are now just memories.
The former educator told the Businessmirror in an e-mail interview that the Zamboanga City of today is quite different compared to what’s was in the 1920s and 1930s.
“Before, our elders on some nights would treat us to an evening merienda by sending the houseboy to buy pancit from the Chinese restaurant,” the former department chair of Literature in UP Diliman said. “It was [simple, but we enjoyed it. Now, people just go out to quick-serve restaurants]. It is not the same .... ”
Mendoza also recalled their favorite pastime of taking a walk at Pettit Barracks—the headquarters of the American Army under General James Pershing during the American Occupation. As a little girl, she used to hear the sound of a bugle at 9 p.m. and the wake-up call at 7 a.m. the next day.
“Unfortunately, the government today destroyed the buildings and the big acacia trees that used to line the streets,” she lamented. “[In their stead, the government built edifices] at random.”
Nevertheless, there’s a bright spot as Fort Pilar, which the Spaniards erected during the Spanish era, is still there and now a world heritage site.
While Zamboanga City today shows the reality of urbanization, one place has also remained untouched: Pasonanca Park, up on the hills facing Mt. Pulong Bato.
There is a natural swimming pool, the water of which comes trickling down from the mountain. She said there are many trees and paths where one can take a walk among the trees. The park also has many green hills with trees artfully arranged, where one can have picnic with friends.
“I was told Daniel Burnham designed Pasonanca Park—the same man who designed [the park that bears his name] in Baguio,” she said.
With rapid urbanization taking over Zamboanga City, Mendoza said the quiet streets and the little Chinese restaurants which sold mongo con hielo are but just a memory: “I used to listen at night to the sound of horses as calesas drove by. But...the sounds and sights of my childhood are gone .... ”
War years, liberation
JUST before the World War 2 broke out, Mendoza’s father was assigned to Iloilo City, where armed conflict caught up with them. Her family evacuated to the mountains when the Japanese invaded the Philippines, then returned to the city when a civilian government was established. They stayed there for about a couple of years.
When the family experienced a dearth of resources, her father decided to go to Manila where they rented an apartment. It was small, so some family members decided to just stay in Mendoza’s father’s hometown of Balagtas, Bulacan. She chose to remain in that town because of its more laidback lifestyle.
“I was there when the United States’s forces came back to liberate us from the Japanese,” she recalled. “The 37th Infantry Division came to town and waited, while engineers of the US Army were constructing the pontoon bridge that the Japanese blew up.”
One day, while watching engineers work, she noticed a jeep stop beside her. To her surprise, it was General Douglas Macarthur in the vehicle. Her uncle Badong Constantino told her to sing “God Bless America” to the famous American military commander, and she obliged.
For the younger generation to be aware of these experiences, Mendoza poignantly captured these recollections in her books Childhood Memories of Zamboanga and Memories of the War Years (Based on my Diary during the Japanese Occupation and the Liberation of the Philippines). Both are published by and sold at Popular Bookstore.
Street parliamentarian
MENDOZA took up summer studies on Norwegian language and literature at the Oslo University, as well as the said subjects in German at the Freiburg University in Germany. She also pursued graduate studies abroad, finishing her Master of Arts degree in English Literature at Stanford University in California, and her PHD in American Literature at the University of Minnesota, where she also worked as a resident counselor at Comstock Hall girls’ dormitory.
The former UP professor had also traveled extensively, having set foot on Austria, Spain, Bulgaria, Greece, India, Malaysia, Italy, Japan, Indonesia and Taiwan.
As a socially aware citizen, Mendoza was also a street parliamentarian during the Marcos dictatorship. She joined various protest marches and fora: from Mendiola, to the Welcome Rotonda and Liwasang Bonifacio.
Moreover, she was active in the confetti marches along Ayala Avenue in Makati City in the tumultuous years of the 1980s. As a member of Women for the Ouster of Marcos and the Bases or WOMB, she joined fellow progressives in the campaign for the removal of American bases in the Philippines.
Mendoza also opposed the construction of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant. “Since I was a member of NO NUKES, I was invited by a large Japanese organization to speak during the anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.”
”I also was active in the environmental movement. It goes without saying that I support women’s issues,” she stressed.
To sum it up, Mendoza’s recollection of the country’s history is nothing short of colorful, as she was given the opportunity to witness changes that swept Philippine society.