LINO SISON Y PANGILINAN

THE GRAND OLD MAN OF PENARANDA
By Leopoldo M. Serrano

Because he became blind, John Milton, a great English poet, once felt so worried that, in one of his immortal sonnets, he asked: “Doth God exact day-labor, light denied?” He was however consoled by the thought, the assurance, that “they also serve who only stand and wait.”
But in the little town of Penaranda Nueva Ecija, there lives a blind old man who never takes the trouble of asking himself that question that, for a time bothered the mind of God-fearing Milton. Neither does he believe that blindness serves as a serious handicap in serving God and his fellowmen. He is Mr. Lino Sison y Pangilinan, the grand old man of Penaranda.
Totally blind, but feeling himself still capable, at eighty-five of going around and doing good, he frowns upon wasting his remaining days in his invalid chair and waiting for the summon to him to “join the innumerable caravan.” Having three and a half decades of continuous public service behind him, he never believes that he is morally and physically tired, as a popular political leader often remarks, and should begin to enjoy complete retirement from the hustle and bustle of life. Not Mr. Sison. Like the famous Hellen Keller, physical handicap and the burden of old age are no reasons at all to prevent him from performing the role of a good and active citizen. Like Ulysses, he believes that “old age hath yet honor and his toil,” and it is “dull to pause, to make an end, to rust unburnished, (and) not to shine in use.”
Almost daily, with Rene Cruz, his grandson and the town’s popular midget, leading him by the hand or riding with him on a specially-made bicycle. Mr. Sison, sporting a pair of smoked glasses to conceal his blindness, is often seen in the streets of the town usually on his way to attend a purok meeting or a gathering of the members of a religious organization, see a friend, visit classes in a public school, or interest several prominent persons in a certain project of importance to the public.
When not engaged in any of these activities, he stays at home or passes several quiet hours in his small rest house on the south bank of the Penaranda River, just a stone’s throw from the dam of the well-known Penaranda River Irrigation System, the town’s chief beauty spot. There, he relaxes and waits for any one who may desire to see him.
The sixth child of the eight children of Fabian Sison and Francisca Pangilinan, Mr. Lino Sison saw the first light of day in the barrio of San Jose Malinao, Mexico, Pampanga, on September 23, 1876. He belonged to a poor family. They were not originally from Mexico. A certain family trouble forced the father to leave his native town, Baliwag, Bulacan. For seventeen years, they lived in their new town, where three of the Sison children were born. But a family problem drove them back to their native town.
Old Fabian knew the value of sending children to school. As much as his limited means allowed, he did his best to have his children enjoy the benefit of education. One of his sons, Braulio became a physician. And young Lito had also his turn.
He received his early education in Baliwag from 1887 to 1891. He first attended a private school, then a public school under Justo Ortiz, a be-moustached mentor known in Baliwag for his good command of Spanish. Seing a bright prospect in Lino, this school master advised him to continue his studies in Manila.
Lino’s father was agreeable to the suggestion, and he asked his son if he wanted to be a doctor. But realizing their poverty and the hardship that the medical course would bring to the family, he told his father that he would be happy if, like Mr. Ortiz, he could be a public school teacher. The idea pleased Mr. Ortiz, and when the school year began in 1891, he accompanied his favorite pupil to Manila to see the director of the Escuela Normal Superior de Maestros, the country’s teacher training institution for male teachers under the Jesuit fathers.
Lino was examined on El Mentor de los Ninos, a textbook used in the upper elementary grades for boys and written by Ascisclo F. Valin Bustillo. As his teacher had expected, he satisfied the director of the Normal School, and this saved him from being required to attend the preparatory class or even the clase inferior (lower class), which was the usual lot of students having average intelligence. Classified as a bright student he was put in the first year of the normal course. This enabled him to avoid a delay of a year or more in completing the prescribed three-year normal course for male teachers of the country’s public primary schools.
The three years that he spent in the Normal School were characterized by hardship and triumph, heartache and satisfaction.
He came to know the disadvantages of being poor and the gap separating the students born with the proverbial silver spoons in their mouths and those brought up in humble nipa shacks. As a non boarding student, he lived outside the school, first in the house of a relative in Santo Cristo Street and later in the house of a fish-vendor on Calle Real. He has to walk to the school morning and afternoon. At lunch-hour, he ate in a small eatery where he was charged seven centavos for his meal. Unlike the boarding students, who could be distinguished by their canamo pants and rayadillo coat, Lino went to school dressed like an ordinary country boy – in long calzoncillos and camisa de chino and with a pair of slippers. He could not afford the luxury of a pair of shoes, which then cost Php2.50.
How he envied the internos, who could afford to appear in uniform and live in the school’s dormitory at twelve pesos a month! In the classroom, they sat in a row of benches at the left of the stern professor, a Jesuit friar (all the professors were friars), whose chair and table rested on a platform in front of the class. The externos sat on a row at the right. How often was he irritated by this undemocratic arrangement, by the school regulation strictly forbidding the two groups to mix together in the class and to talk to each other!
But this inspired him to work hard and improve his lot. If he could be a teacher, he was sure to be among the town’s principales and later, to have children who could afford to be boarding students in Manila.
Lino had some consolation and found that his lot was not exactly deplorable. After a month in the Normal School, he was assigned as lector (reader) in the school’s chapel. On Saturday, there was the usual contest between the two rival groups: the internos and the externos. Sitting opposite each other, they were asked questions by the professor. In this display of talents and achievements in school, Lino often had the honor of becoming “emperor.” The “emperor” could be changed only after he made three mistakes in answering the professor’s questions.
To be acquainted with the work of a primary school teacher, beginning the second year, Lino’s class visited and observed the clase inferior.
While he was in second year, a decree was issued, allowing bright and deserving students to pursue a four-year course in the Normal School. Those who completed it had the distinction of being maestro superior and they could teach even in the schools in the peninsula. But financial problem prevented Lino from working toward it.
The titulo elemental (elementary certificate), which was awarded to him by the Civil Administration in the graduation exercises on March 16, 1894 was good enough for him. He could not forget his graduation: it was on that occasion when, for the first time in his life, he wore a pair of shoes. That certificate, the only one received by him from an institution of higher learning, is one of the priceless possessions he has in his collection. On it appears sobre-saliente (excellent) the grade he obtained in the revalida (final examination), which he passed after two months of intensive preparation. The certificate qualified him “to teach in any of the public schools on the Island, with the rank of de ascenso” (the classification of a school in a town with a population of at least 10,000).
He was still young when he graduated. He was seventeen and a half years old. But fate seemed to smile early on him. In the same year he graduated, he was given a teaching assignment. A friend named Juancho, who was employed in the Direccion Civil, managed to have him assigned in Santor, a small town in Eastern Nueva Ecija. Of course, it was a difficult assignment. But by accepting an assignment in a distant town inhabited by less than four thousand souls, although he was entitled to a big town, he showed his willingness to begin his carreer from the lowest rung of his teaching carreer.
The distance between Baliwag and Santor was great, and because the trip was done during the rainy season and the means of transportation were very inadequate, a man lacking courage and the pioneering spirit would at once give up, raise his hands in despair. But he did not. Accompanied by his brother Guillermo, he used every available means: carromata, sled, horse or carabao. He first went to San Isidro, the capital of the province. For the first time, in the presence of the governor, D. Antonio Diaz de Cendreras, he wore a coat. He had to impress this worthy, the head of the provincial education committee and representative of the Catholic Majesty in the province. Aided by a Spanish resident of Cabanatuan and the corporal of the civil guards at Cabu, a barrio east of Cabanatuan, they finally reached Santor.
Bibiano Aquino, gobernadorcillo of Santor, might have felt a little disappointed when he first met the young teacher assigned to teach the boys in his town. Thin and diminutive, during the months he stayed in Santor, he was called by the people “the small teacher.”
Unfortunately, his youth and delicate constitution made him easy victim of malaria, a malady that always preyed mercilessly upon every new-comer in Santor. Thinking that he might die in a place far from his family, he informed his parents about his sad condition. Guillermo arrived to fetch him. But Mr. Sison was too sick to risk a long journey.
When the new capitan municipal, Alfonso Albea, was preparing to go to San Isidro to be inducted into office on January 16, 1895, he was asked if he would go with him. Desiring to leave the place, he answered affirmatively, resigned as he was God’s will. Horses were provided for him and his brother. They were escorted by several cuadrilleros (municipal police).
Did his experience in Santor make him think of giving up teaching? Not at all! The cavalcade had to pass through Penaranda before reaching the capital. As they drew closer to the town, the galvanized palatial home of Pablo Padilla, gobernadorcillo of the town from 1885 to 1887, which was made bright by the sun, attracted Mr. Sison’s attention. He was convinced that it was the right place for him. And this thought was always in his mind, and it gave him strength to be able to reach Baliwag.
When he had sufficiently recovered, the first thing he did was to go to Manila to see his friend in the Direcion Civil and work for his transfer to the town which, compared with Santor, was a kind of promised land to him, what of the many houses and the big church at the central part of the town. But he was told that Eulogio Mendoza, public school teacher of Penaranda for twenty years, was still on the job. However, after several weeks, maestrong Logio submitted his resignation. And so, he obtained the position he coveted on March 15, 1895.
A letter from a friend introduced him to Ambrosio Abesamis, gobernadorcillo of Penaranda from 1887 to 1889. This member of the local aristocracy allowed him to board in his house, which was opposite the house rented for the school by the Spanish colonial government.
He had 30 pupils. Although the school was classified as de entrada, he was satisfied with his salary of Php 15.30 a month.
The Guia Oficial de Filipinas for 1896 gave the following list of officials of Penaranda in 1895: Fr. Valentin Gato, parish priest; Ponciano Abesamis, municipal captain; Pablo Padilla, justice of the peace; Lino sison, teacher of boys: and Magdalena Asuncion, teacher of girls. Since that year, Mr. Sison has been considered one of the prominent leaders or maginoos of his town.
His teacher assistant was Juan Becy, a clerk in the provincial capital, receiving Php5.00 a month, in addition to his salary as a clek. But the assistant teacher never had a chance to take his place temporarily. Serious in, and devoted to his work, Mr. Sison never asked for a leave of absence.
An event in the early part of 1896 demonstrated his great love for, and devotion to his work as a teacher. On the day he was informed that the superior civil governor was to visit his school, he was expected to be in Baliwag to attend the burial of his father. Notwithstanding the tearful entreaty of his brother, he had to be in the school on the day scheduled for the visit. The coming of the head of the superior Board of Primary Instruction was an occasion that might not happen in the foreseeable future. It is an opportunity to show that he is doing a splendid job in the town where he wanted to serve as mentor of the youth. And the distinguished visitor from Manila appeared satisfied with the way he was running the school. The only suggestion he gave was more emphasis on the teaching of religion and arithmetic. The visit over, he rushed to Baliwag to share in the great sorrow of the family.
Young as Mr. Sison was, the many belles in the town and the proddings of several friends of the local aristocracy made him think of the affairs of his heart. Was he not a welcome guest in every home graced by the presence of a sweet dalaga? Like the town’s Augustinian curate, the alferez, the justice of the peace, and the directorcillo (municipal secretary), he spoke Spanish. Like the commander of the civil guards, he wielded, and had use, for a whip. On the first day of every month, people saw him riding a carromata to San Isidro to receive his salary. He had enviable prestige, dignified position, and sure income. No wonder, there came a time when three girls, belonging to prominent families, fell for him.
On Sunday morning, during the early part of the Revolution, the curate unexpectedly reprimanded him in the presence of the town’s headmen. Reason: the man of God had heard that the town’s teacher often stayed late in the house of his sweetheart. He was told to be in his boarding-house at the sound of the bugle at eight o’clock in the evening.
In those days, in the question of marriage, the parents had always the final say. Amd when Mr. Sison’s mother, for a justifiable ground, told him to marry Adela Abesamis, daughter of Jose abesamis and Marcelina Calungcaguin, he found himself in a helpless situation. Bowing to parental wish, he was married on January 12, 1898.
The prevailing violence and disorders caused by the Revolution interrupted his teaching. In January, 1897, he was made interpreter of the Spanish military court under Captain Carlos Belloto of the civil guards. It was impossible to refuse. But the job gave him a chance to have a hand, though indirectly, in having several persons arbitrarily arrested set free.
The Filipino leaders, after having defeated the Spaniards, established their own independent government. In Malolos, Bulacan, General Emilio Aguinaldo issued a decree on November 4, 1898, ordering the public school teachers employed during the Spanish regime to reopen their schools. In deference to the presidential order, Mr. Sison opened his school. But he had no chance to serve long the First Philippine Republic. The Filipino-American war broke out, and soon the victorious division of General Arthur MacArthur was overrunning the towns of Central Luzon. The Americans occupied Penaranda in May, 1899.
Because of the chaotic condition in Penaranda, he took his family to Baliwag. He had his first child. In this town, he taught in a private school in 1900. He returned to Penaranda when the situation improved. To keep both ends meet, he worked in his betel-leaf garden and kept a small store. Though belonging to the illustrado class, he never shunned manual labor or earning a living the hard way.
Then the Americans noticed him. They employed him as an interpreter. He was first assigned in Santa Rosa and later in Cabiao, two towns in Nueva Ecija. In this job, he contributed to the pacification campaign in the war torn towns of Southern Nueva Ecija, which suffered heavily as a result of guerilla activities of our forces, first under General Pantaleon Garcia, and later under General Urbano Lacuna. Also in explaining to his countrymen the motive of the Americans in coming to our shores and the advantage of the return of peace and order all over the province of Nueva Ecija.
Would the change in masters, who spoke another alien tongue, alter the teaching career of Mr. Sison? Would he serve the youth of the town under the new regime and have the distinction of being called Penaranda’s teacher of three epochs?
In every town occupied by the American forces, a school was established with an American civilian as the organizer or first teacher. Mr. Stoling came to Penaranda for the same purpose. He established the first American school in the town. But he needed a Filipino assistant. And who could qualify better than Mr. Sison? Recommended by Pedro Padilla, the first municipal president of the town under the new regime, he agreed to teach under Mr. Stoling in September 1901. The first school under the Americans was in his former boarding house. Perhaps it was a good omen, and encouragement to him.
As English was the medium of instruction, at first, Mr. Sison found some difficulty. But he was helped by Mr. Stoling. To know the lesson he was to teach to his class the next day, after his class in the afternoon, he studied the Baldwin Primer under the patient guidance of Mr. Stoling. It took him fifteen to thirty minutes to master a lesson. With the help of a chart, he could master five pages. He showed unusual progress in grammar, specially in diagramming. Petronillo Villanueva was the other Filipino assistant of Mr. Stoling. Often these three teachers had to force the school children to attend their classes. It was not infrequent that policemen fetched some children from their homes. At first, they thought that going to school was an ordeal, something to be avoided. Mr. Sison had to convince them that they were wrong.
In December 1901, Mr. Stoling left Penaranda. Mr. W. W. Kirtland succeeded him. He came to Penaranda with his wife. In 1903, Mr. Kirtland was replaced by Mr. Harry Seaver. Mr. Seaver was principal of Penaranda until 1905. Mr. Sison had, therefore , the privilege of serving under three American principals within a period of four years.
How did he perform his work? What did his early American colleagues say about him? Did he live up to their expectations? On October 20, 1903, Kirtland had the following to say:
Mr. Lino Sison has taught in Penaranda for more than two years. He has made very satisfactory progress in acquiring English, has devoted himself to his work, and has been very successful in imparting instruction.
He is punctual, regular, and reliable in his habits of work. He is neat in penmanship and is orderly in arranging and taking care of supplies. He speaks Tagalog, Pampango, Spanish and English.
It was a rare honor for a Filipino to receive such commendation in 1903, or two years after the introduction of the American public school system here.
Mr. Seaver in far away America, never forgot his teacher to whom he entrusted the work of principal of the school of Penaranda. His son, a colonel in the Liberating forces under General Douglas MacArthur, surprised Mr. Sison by appearing in Penaranda in 1945. He had been told by his father to contact Mr. Sison the moment his unit reached Nueva Ecija. Evidently, time and distance never dampened the friendship and esteem Mr. Seaver had for his Filipino colleague.
To be acquainted with the American methods of teaching, Mr. Sison attended the first normal institute held in Nueva Ecija’s capital, San Isidro. He also took and passed with high ratings the civil service examinations given on March 29, 1904.
In recognition of his satisfactory service, Mr. Sison was promoted in 1904 to the position of principal of San Leonardo, a neighboring town which was formerly a barrio of Penaranda. After one year, he was returned to Penaranda to occupy the position vacated by the last American principal, Mr. Seaver. He had the following teachers under him: Pablo Bunuan, Marciano Miranda, Modesta Padilla, Teresa Padilla, Guillermo Padilla, and Atanacia Villanueva. Evidently the school of Penaranda grew considerably after four years of existence.
After a brief assignment as principal teacher in Gapan, another neighboring town, Mr. Sison was promoted to Supervising Teacher. The second promotion happened in 1909, with Bongabon as his district. Santor was then a part of Bongabon. But he was no longer scared by malaria: he was insured. After one half year, he was transferred to Cabanatuan, the new provincial capital. From 1911 to 1914, he was supervising teacher of the Aliaga-Zaragoza district. Then he was re-assigned in Cabanatuan until 1919, when he was given the district of Penaranda, where he began his period of service under the American regime. His ten years assignment as supervising teacher in his town was the crowning glory of his brilliant teaching career. On June 8, 1929, he retired under the teacher’s Pension Law.
At the time of his retirement, he was one of the seven highest paid Filipino teachers in the Bureau of Education. It was a fitting reward for his long service to the country and to the youth of the land. Other honors he acquired were: principal of the division institute held in Cabanatuan in 1918, president of the Nueva Ecija Teacher’s Association in 1924-25, and treasurer of the same association in 1925-1927.
In point of accomplishments it may be safely said that Mr. Sison equalled, if not surpassed, many of his white colleagues or Filipino administrators trained abroad or in the well known teacher-training institutions in Manila. Working under different American division superintendents, from Thomson to Cline, he won the praise and admiration of everyone of them. Two years after his retirement, the last American superintendent, Mr. Charles V. Cline, left Nueva Ecija for his new assignment.
As a school head, Mr. Sison expected his teachers to be morally straight, for he was sure that, with character above reproach, they could serve as models for their young wards. To merit his recommendation for promotion, a teacher must not only show efficiency and high intelligence. He must also display administrative talent and ability to deal with government officials.
Eager to learn and to profit by the knowledge and experiences of others in presiding over a teacher’s meeting, he desired serious discussion of every matter considered. He also welcomed worthwhile suggestions.
During the more than twenty years he served in his town as teacher, principal, and supervising teacher, there was nothing that the people could say against him. To the old folk, he is maestrong Lino; to the young plain Mr. Sison. Either appletive is held with reverence and admiration in his town. Each stands for integrity and devotion to duty. A news correspondent, who covered an important celebration in Penaranda, named him “patriarch of Peneranda.”
When he retired, he did not rest on his laurels. He became an insurance agent and general agent representing some business houses in Manila. His marriage with Adela was blessed with ten children, five of whom are living. He has to work still and meet the mounting family expenses.
Three of his children obtained higher education. Bienvenido, the eldest, finished his course in education in the University of the Philippines and Univesity of Santo Tomas. Rosita graduated from College of Medicine of the State Univesity. She is now medical officer of the Bureau of Immigration. Mercedes is a home economics teacher. Married to a physician, she lives with and attends to the needs of her “old man” and takes care of the ancestral home, assisted by her elder sisters Iluminada and Carolina.
Speaking of Mr. Sison’s home, let it be said that it has always been in the town in cleanliness, beauty, and comfort. In 1919, it was mentioned and given commendation in the annual report of the director of the Bureau of Education (now the Bureau of Public Schools).
As head of the family, Mr. Sison always acts in a very fatherly way, shows great interest in the welfare of his children, and closely follows up their progress in their chosen lines of work. His children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren are all proud of him.
He has the joy of celebrating with his family his golden wedding anniversary in 1949. Though blind as a result of an unfortunate accident which required a major operation in 1947, he was extremely happy, not dreaming that two and a half years later his life partner would leave him alone in a world of darkness.
But Mr. Sison has a way of brightening his existence. He continues working for the people of his town. He served as councilor during the term of Mayor Amado B. Ramos (1947-1951). During his administration, the imposing Penaranda High School building, the puericulture center, and the two new artesian wells were built. Poultry raising became an important industry. The town celebrated its first centennial in 1951.
A man of abiding faith and a devout Catholic, he never fails to lead in every big religious event or church celebration. Every Sunday morning, during the mass, he is seen occupying a special seat near the pulpit. He is adviser of the Corazon de Jesus, president of the Caballeros de Cristo Rey, president of the Tercera Orden de los Franciscanos, and adviser of the Solidarity of Mary. Once a year, or forty days after the Resurrection of the Lord, his house is in gala mood for a special mass attended by the devout catholics of the town. It is an event eagerly awaited especially by the old folks of the town.
Tolerant in his views and attitude toward other religious denominations, he praises the good things done by other churches, especially if they benefit the town and improve the lot of the people. He believes in the strict adherence to the golden Rule of Christ.
Believing that social amelioration, the greatest need of the community, must be done at the grassroots, he identifies himself in community improvement. He led in organizing the 34 puroks in various parts of the municipality. He had a hand in the construction of kiosks located in strategic places in the municipality. In those kiosks, purok meetings are held twice a week. They discuss community development, improvement of the living condition of the people, etc. He tries to be present in many of those meetings to offer his valuable advice and help.
Mr. Sison is, at his advanced age, a busy man. He works and serves his fellow-citizens, without expecting any reward or even recognition of his work. For more than sixty years his life and example have awakened in the people of Penaranda and of the nearby towns civic consciousness and the desire to have a life devoted to work, honor, and duty, factors that foster nationalism and economic stability.
True, Penaranda is a small town inhabited by 9,629 souls. But it boasts of 24 doctors of medicine, 19 lawyers, 17 pharmacists, 11 dentists, 13 engineers, 43 holders of B.S.E., 25 holders of B.S.C., 6 holders of B.S.A., 4 doctors of optometry, 2 holders of bachelor of music, 2 Catholic priests, 1 doctor of veterinary medicine, 10 Philippine Normal School graduates, 3 Philippine School of Arts and Trades graduates, and 10 holders of E.T.C. In other words, about two percent of the its present population are college graduates or professionals. Most of them were inspired to obtain higher education by the grand old man of Penaranda.
The biblical citerion of success is given in these words “By their fruits ye shall know them.” If this yardstick is to be applied to Mr. Sison, certainly he acquitted himself creditably. Therefore, in the list of the prominent figures of Penaranda, he deserves to be at the head.

This humble tribute was given to Mr. Lino Sison y Pangilinan on the occasion of his 85th birthday, September 23, 1961 by his children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. This post also coincides with the birth annivesary of my grandfather, the late Bienvenido Sison, the eldest and only son of Lino P. Sison