MYLIFESTORY PART I

This is my beloved birthplace Simara Island(corcuera) Romblon, Philippines. MyLifeStory begin here. Romblon is one of the three major islands of the Romblon Province in the Philippines; the other two are Sibuyan Island and Tablas Island. It is an island and the seat of government for the province, also named Romblon. The island is famous for its marble. Romblon, the third island in size, giving its name to the group on account of central location and mineral wealth. Romblon is lying midway between Sibuyan and Tablas, on-route of busy shipping lanes passing through San Bernardino Strait and Verde Passage; area is approximately 11,157 hectares located at coordinates 12°33′09′′N, 122°17′08′′E. A central mountain range traverses the island from north to south, with spurs extending toward east and west. The chief occupation of the people is cattle raising; valuable deposits of quartz, marble and slate are found and quarried; the marble is exported in large quantities. The province of Romblon is situated practically at the center of the Philippine archipelago. The Pueblo, capital of the province of Romblon, is situated on the northwestern coast of the island of Romblon, the second largest town of the province; it has an excellent harbor, one of the best in the Southern Tagalog region and in the Visayan group, and is the commercial center of the island. It has some old fortifications originally built to defend it from pirates. THIS IS MY TOWN SIMARA ISLAND (simara city hall) The ancestors of Simara were escapees from a group of Christian captives. When their Muslim captors were on return voyage to Sulu from southern Luzon, their vessels were overtaken by a storm and they were forced to seek refuge in a narrow bay along a narrow strip of Suba Valley now called San Roque. The captives escaped toward Pidapi where they met the first few primitive families of Simara. After the Muslims had sailed away, two groups of escapees moved further to a wider lowland. As years passed by, the population increased. Some families transferred to Guintiguiban which was absorbed by the barrio of Mabini and to the interior rugged highlands. In the book entitled "Naming the Province of the Philippines", revealed that in the year 1500, there were 150 existing families in the community of San Jose. During the short sojourns of the three Malays in Simara, the "Asi" dialect, a mixture of local and Malayan term began to flourish as the vernacular vehicle of communication. This dialect soon developed into common language spoken not only in the island of Simara but also in its sister islands of Banton on the north and Sibale island on the northwest. This was so because the earlier inhabitants migrated to Banton and Sibale from Simara and later on to Calatrava, formerly Andagao, San Andres and Odiongan in Tablas island. This disproved the allegation of another historical writer that Bantoanons did found the settlement called San Jose which later became Corcuera. Call me Jacky for short. I was born in a small town in Southern Luzon, name Simara Island, Romblon, Philippines. I am the fourth child of my beloved parents(rest in peace). I have two brothers and three sisters. My father is a very loving husband, loving father and a very good provider. My mother is a simple housewife. Serving her spouse and taking care of her children. My family own a small farm (horses, goat, some) this animals are one of the source income of my parents. Aside from this they have small plantation of coconut, rice, and corn. Our basic transportation to other town is motor boat (pump boat) as what we call lancha. My father decided to own our own pump boat to transport some their good in the nearby big city (Mindoro and Batangas City). I love my father. I remember everytime he came home from his trip he always have (pasalubong) gift to each of us. He is a very good provider, desciplinarian and he Loves my mother so much. He never let my mother work on fields. My mother is a simple housewife, she is very dependent to my father. I can say that our life is doing well until one day in my first grade (grade I) one of my auntie came to the door of my classroom. She is crying with bad news about my father. And this the start of MyLifeStory. (next part)