The mausoleum for Imelda’s lather, Don Vicente Orestes Romualdez, is at a most idyllic spot at the end of the town of Tolosa where the stream which crosses the western part of the village drains into the sea. It is lush growing with nipa and other marsh plants like an untouched wild mountain stream. The backdrop is the Ipusong mountain with the Sacred Heart at the top and its side to the mausoleum sheer cliff, some lovely coconuts silhouetted against the sky. On the east side is the sea.
And the ceremonies were sad and touching. Imelda kept sobbing openly.
The scene was something out of a Wagnerian opera or Wuthering Heights or Macbeth rolled into one. The chorus sung some haunting themes like “I believe so softly.” And the[n] typhoon Neneng was starting, the wind lashing the coconuts that were bending with the storm in eerie sighs to the tune of the soughing of the surf upon the beach barely 75 yards away.
And the curious part was everybody was touched by the melancholy ceremonies of the bones of Don Vicente and his wife Juanita (first wife) and Remedios (Imelda’s mother) being transferred to this spot where he was born on July 3, 1885. For the old man who died in 1955 of cancer of the lungs at my house in San Juan was beloved of the small people.
The spot that was his birthplace has been transmuted by the magic Roman columns supporting a flat roof and an open ground of green in front as well as a circular meditation space behind. A room with bulb and toilet facilities for the caretaker is below.
It is a part of the town but seems to be segregated from it as it is away from the nipa huts.
Official Gazette for July 3, 1971: President Marcos’ plans to return to Manila were upset by typhoon Neneng, whose strong winds and heavy rains started buffeting the eastern coast of Leyte and Tacloban City in the morning. Also spoiled by the typhoon were certain scheduled activities of the President and the First Lady, including the inauguration of the NACIDA community kiln in the town of Tanauan.
Earlier, when the weather was just beginning to worsen, the First Couple, together with the members of the Romualdez clan, attended the blessing and dedication of the Don Vicente Orestes Romualdez Memorial in Tolosa, and officiated at the inauguration of the Tolosa municipal hall. By about mid-morning, the typhoon’s torrential rains and strong winds bore down on the province and Tacloban City, as the howler cut through the northern tip of Leyte and on to Masbate, Romblon, Marinduque and the southern Tagalog provinces.
In anticipation of the damage wrought by the typhoon along its path, the President alerted all relief and health agencies to stand by for immediate relief work. At the same time, the President directed Budget Commissioner Faustina Sy-Changco to make immediately available funds for relief work and for the repair and’ reconstruction of public works projects damaged by the typhoon. The President directed Commissioner Sy-Changco to set aside immediately ₱300,000 for public works repair and ₱200,000 for relief, and to be ready to release more funds if necessary.
Forced to “lie low” by the typhoon, the President spent the day going over official papers at the resthouse, aside from keeping tab of damages caused by the typhoon.
It is alive but dead.
Notwithstanding the typhoon we went through with the ceremonies. First the blessing of the remains at the Tolosa church. Then mass at the mausoleum. All these started at 9:00 AM.
Then the inauguration of the new municipal building where I promised to asphalt the streets and help the 12 barrios.
It was good we started at nine because at 12:30 the typhoon struck us with full force. The wind must have been 120 kms. an hour.
We could not leave as we planned at 12:00 AM. The earliest is 10:00 AM tomorrow morning when the typhoon should be in the China sea.
I have been rereading those two fascinating books “The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich” and “The Collapse of the Third Republic” both by William L. Shirer. And as I appraise their lesson—that Hitler could have been stopped at the early stage of his territorial adventures—Austria or Czechoslovakia—but the British and the French did not have the leaders of acumen and foresight or courage the times demanded—I am filled with apprehension that we or more accurately, I, may not be handling with wisdom and decision, the situation of communism in our country; that I am allowing them to grow through their legal fronts like the Kabataang Makabayan and SDK [Samahan ng Demokratikong Kabataan] or the MPDP[?]; that they may be winning the propaganda fight against our republic; undermining confidence in the leaders chosen by the people and our democratic institutions; and that after the elections of November may be too late.
However, I must restrain my impatience and anxiety.
But I am oppressed by the thought that I am doing nothing while the provocateurs are conspiring to destroy our republic.
And the schools will open on July 6th. The student activists, I am sure, will launch an active campaign, supported by the media, against the government.
The question of the increase in oil prices has agitated the public specially under the virulent attacks of the communists against the oil companies.
I am certain there will be serious disorder this month. We are prepared for it. And we can suppress lawless violence. But this may ultimately lead to the “revolutionary situation” the Maoists desire and work for.