Part 3: Dad in La Trinidad
Thomas Batong was born in La Trinidad, Benguet in 1935. It was where he grew up before evacuating back to Guinzadan at the onset of World War 2 in 1941. Dad was the eldest of nine children to Isidro Batong and Agripina Pasngadan from Guinzadan, Bauko, Mt. Province. He had wanted to join the Air Force as a pilot or as a nurse but as twist of fate, he was asked by American missionaries in the Cordillera to be their translator. A few years after, he joined the Lutheran ministry.
Dad had kept a regular diary since the 1950's. Here is an excerpt from his autobiography he had been working on since last year:
While tending to his farm, Isidro married Agripina Pasngadan also from Guinzadan. They settled in a house built within the farm. When the Delsons came, an annex was built for them. It was in this house that Thomas was born on January 29, 1935, the first child of Isidro and Agripina. Isidro’s readings of American books may have given him the idea to name their son Thomas, thinking that he might grow up to be like Thomas Edison, the famous American inventor. Three more children followed: Frank born 1936, Catherine born 1939, and Bado born in 1941. Frank may have been named after the famous American botanist, Frank Burbank, while Catherine was named after an Ibaloi girl friend. Bado was named after Bado Dangwa who happened to be visiting when the baby was just born.
Meanwhile, the Delsons started having children. Their first-born was Marcelino, followed by a girl named Bel or Bella, and a boy named Crisanto. Farm workers of Isidro (mostly from Guinzadan) were occupying a small house just behind the outdoor kitchen. Later they were joined by students from Guinzadan who on week-ends work on Isidro’s farm. The female students from Guinzadan were staying in the dormitory. Some of the students then were Abad Abnasan, Lorenzo Dalang, Alfredo Cagayan, Domingo Dalasen, Luis Palangdan, Basing-at Tica-a, Pablo Awisan, Melecia Tuazon, Flora Cagayan, Agapito Cadwising, and Maximo Batong (brother of Isidro). Calixto Batong would occasionally visit since he was attending high school at the Normal School for teachers in Teachers’ Camp, Baguio City, the same school where earlier Alfredo Andaya (uncle of Isidro) took up teaching and finished at the Phil. Normal School in Manila.
