“NUNG NANU mang kasakitan, lugud mu at pakamal ing kapakibatan Kapampangan ku, daya ampon kaladua ku, sese na ku ning Guinu, miyabe-yabe tamu…”
The stirring strains of the ditty wafted as though from the heavens, embracing every single soul with love of race, instilling in every heart pride of place, of pining for the native home, here amid the bounty of the adopted land that is America.
Not a few – not the least Gov. Lilia Pineda – at the jampacked Bateman Hall in Lynwood, California were moved to tears at such a touching rendition of Pampanga’s “spiritual” hymn – as differentiated from the official Imno ning Kapampangan – by a choral ensemble of the United Pampanga Leaders Council.
It was the perfect setting for the governor’s speech – in Kapampangan, naturally – at the annual Thanksgiving Day party of the UPLC, centered as it was on pamisasanmetung (unity), pamikakalugud (love), and pamagmalasakit (caring) – the very core values of the Kapampangan.
Calamities and disasters have so become integral in the life of the Kapampangan that we have not only learned to live with them but even to excel, to rise above them, Governor Pineda told her audience of over 500 cabalens.
At the recent floods that submerged a large part of the province, she narrated, residents that sought refuge in the upper floors of their homes and their roofs routinely refused rescue offers, saying they were used, and therefore well-adapted, to these dire situations.
The flood victims did not even demand relief goods, finding satisfaction with whatever came their way, secured as they were with their own provisions.
So unlike in the other inundated places where fights broke out at the relief lines, where the victims damned their local governments for failing to come to their aid.
“Maybe this is what others called the kayabangan (braggadocio) Kapampangans are widely known for. Most assuredly though, it is pride, to stand on one’s own, the can-do spirit of Kapampangan and his resiliency no matter how arduous the circumstances he is in that makes the Kapampangan equal to any adversity.” So said the governor.
And what greater adversity could there be than the Mount Pinatubo eruptions that threatened to erase Pampanga from the very face of the earth, she reminded her audience.
Here she paid as much tribute to the resiliency of the Kapampangan “born of his sense of belonging and his pride of race” as to the then-Senator Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for saving Pampanga from obliteration, for saving the Kapampangan from oblivion.
“When the national government proposed to let nature take its course, that is to allow Pampanga to be buried in lahar, GMA stood up to take the cudgel for our people, arguing that Pampanga is the heart of Central Luzon and would remain a fulcrum for the development of the region as well as Northern Luzon.
In the end she convinced the government to save the province at all costs, even at the cost of P10 billion for its protection, as now clearly manifest in the megadike system and other rehabilitation works that spurred the nascent development of the province, as well as the whole Central Luzon region.”
The Macapagal-Arroyo presidency, the governor reminded her listeners, brought much to Pampanga in terms of development, citing the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway, the rehabilitated North Luzon Expressway and the rise in investments at the Clark Freeport and increased flights at the Clark airport, as concrete proofs.
“In these trying times for our beloved cabalen, the former President, let us pray the Lord for Him to provide her with the strength, the fortitude to face all the accusations against her.”
There are those who asked, she noted, why the Kapampangans have not gone out in the streets to rally in support of GMA.
“We all respect the legal process. We remain faithful to our justice system. The greatest thing we can do to help her is to fervently pray for her, even as we keep our love for her in our hearts.” The governor’s words reminded us here of that truism of long ago: More things are wrought by prayer than this world ever dreamed of.
As one in prayer, so in love too must we all be for our beloved land, and in caring for our cabalens, the governor said, even as she paid tribute to the charity and goodwill of the Kapampangans in America to those back home.
“Individually, the money you send to your relatives are a big help in meeting their daily needs, and collectively, even a bigger help in moving the local economy. From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you.”
Kapampangan ku, daya ampon kaladua ku, sese na ku ning Guinu, miyabe-yabe tamu…” With the recurring refrain, the governor closed her speech with the call:
“Tuknangan ta na ing pamanyira (let us stop all these intriguing that causes dissension among Kapampangans). Let us embrace one another as brothers and sisters in that spirit of pamisasanmetung, pamikakalugud, pamagmalasakit.
Yes, the governor knows just too well the fissures in the Kapampangan community in LA. Which makes another story.
Anyways, the audience rose to its feet in a thundering ovation at the end of the governor’s speech.
Message clearly – and most sincerely – delivered there. Lessons, hopefully, well received.
