Ray and Joy (Part 1)

Good morning brothers and sisters!

Let me begin my sharing with you with a passage from Isaiah 42:16. It says and I quote, "I will lead the blind on their journey by paths unknown, I will guide them … I will turn darkness into light before them and make crooked ways straight," end of quote.

I am Francisco Ray Llanos Banlasan, the eldest of the eleven children of Rogelio Campus Banlasan and Filomena Alegado Llanos. Natives of Sibonga, Cebu. Both of them are now in God's Kingdom. I was born on April 2, 1966, the same birth date as that of the illustrious Tagalog poet, Franciso Baltazar, otherwise known as Balagtas.

Many people say that "life begins at 40" but to me, life began almost a decade ago when I started my public service being an elected official as Kagawad in Barangay Aplaya. I also joined the Couples for Christ in that same year 1996.

In 1976, my parents left Cebu and migrated to Digos (Davao del Sur) leaving me and two other siblings with our grandparents in Cebu. With no parents around during the crucial adolescent years, I became a spoiled brat; but my Lolo and Lola (grandfather and grandmother) saw to it that I would be trained in the old traditional way of Christian living. I was trained how to pray the rosary, the novena, the angelus - both in the dialect as well as in Spanish. I served as an altar boy (koletos) in my whole high school life. Despite these good trainings, I could hardly understand and appreciate life because of what I considered the missing link - parental love. I thought my friends (barkadas) were part of my family because we were always together in drinking alcoholic beverages, smoking marijuana, courting girls, etc. Without parental guidance, I thought then that these were just part of my growth and development.


Brothers and sisters … good morning!

Let me start my sharing from the passage Isaiah 25:1. It says and I quote, "I will exalt thee, I will praise Thy holy name, for thou has done wonderful things, plans formed of old, faithful and same," end of quote.

Yes, my dear brothers and sisters, I offer my life testimony as a thanksgiving for the wonderful things God has done for me. .

Standing in front of you is Ma. Joycelyn Flores Banlasan, born on August 24, 1968, at San Vicente, Maribojoc, Bohol. My father, Agustin Tabat Flores, is from Pig-ot, Bohol, and my mother, Isabel Rubillar Jumamil, is from San Vicente, Maribojoc, Bohol. We are only two in the family with my brother who is four years younger than me.

My mother is a beautician. She would have wanted to pursue a college degree as a working student at her uncle's store. However, she was sickly and was forced to quit schooling. My father has to leave us behind in Bohol to earn a living in Padada (Davao del Sur) to support his family. He had a small RTW store in the Public Market.

Life in Bohol is so difficult; our food is so dependent on the catch of my Lolo. We planted corn in our backyard and my grandparents milled it as our staple food. How can you expect good harvest from our rocky place - "Among jutang bato-on." It was difficult to make both ends meet.

My early religious upbringing was rather confusing because I went to two different churches. My grandparents were devout Catholics but Mama got converted as a Jehovah's Witness when I was 5 years old. However, my grandmother saw to it that I attended my Sunday obligation by bringing me to church with her. On the other hand, my mother would tag me along to her church services on Saturdays. To my young mind, this situation was confusing. However, this was rectified when I studied at St. Michael's School of Padada, where I received Catholic education and training and further reinforced when I studied at Cor Jesu College (in Digos).

In 1974, we left Maribojoc, Bohol, to join my father in Padada. Armed with a pair of scissors and comb, my Mama put up her own beauty parlor. Because of her craft, her business was blessed with plenty of customers, mostly teachers and professionals. But despite of the good business, the family finance suffered due to her ailment. She has to be brought to the hospital every now and then due to her severe asthma attacks. One incident was her attack when graduation days were fast approaching and we were worried about the loss of income. Luckily, she recovered just in time to serve her customers.

I leaned how to do the work of a manicurista at the tender age of 10, and by the time I was 12 years old, I already knew how to curl hair, which at that time was the fashion. I remember with pride that I brought my first sando from my income in cleaning and polishing nails.

In Psalm 54:6, it says and I quote, "Behold God is my helper, the Lord sustains my life," end of quote.

My being a Boholana has developed an inferiority complex within me. I was the object of teasing by my classmates due to my pronunciation. So, I tried to learn to talk the "Dabaweño" way - the “penino” as we call it. Criticism wounds and tears down; so much so that my school performance suffered during my elementary years, but luckily, I got over my inferiority complex as I entered my high school years.

My parents were like cat and dog. I never saw them loving each other. The memories that remained in my life with them were their quarrels in the public market. Many times father left my mother and went back to Bohol because Mama nagged him in front of her customers in a very loud voice. Due to the hurts and shame, my father resorted to drinking and smoking. It was so humiliating since many people will gather to witness the quarrels of my parents in the public market. Their constant quarrels were hurting not only to my father to also to me and to my brother.

In my desire to keep the family intact, I went to Bohol for a number of times and pleaded for his return to us. I thank God we were united as a family again.

When my father re-united with my mother, we borrowed money from the loan sharks to start a small business, a kitchen wares and native products business. The business was quite good since the repayment of the loan were taken from the income of Mama from the beauty parlor. Until one tragic event took what our parents established, our business, our parlor and our home, were destroyed by fire on December 24, 1984. We were left with nothing except my majorette uniform. As fire victims, we celebrated our Christmas eve at the elementary school.

A day after that great fire, my parents built a small shanty along the streets, starting my mother’s parlor with a pair of scissors and a comb again. God never abandoned us because amidst these trials, we still cling to God and hope that we can rise again. With God's blessings, slowly we regained our parlor, established again another kitchen wares business but we were not able to regain our house. We lived in the public market, in our parlor. In Psalm 46:1, it says and I quote, "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble," end of quote.

Like other instances in the past, my father would go back to Bohol as his escape from Mama's nagging and constant quarreling. But, his longest "revolt" in 1985 brought a big blow to our family life. My mother got very ill. Our business was bankrupt and the income from the parlor was very minimal since Mama can no longer work. Her asthma attack had worsen and she was inflicted with T.B. So, I have to take over the operation of the parlor. I was 15 years old then and already a beautician. It was a tremendous challenge on my part because I have to attend to my studies too.

It was around this trying years when I was graduating from high school. I had hoped that both of my parents would be around during my graduation. Once again, I went to Bohol and pleaded to my father to attend my graduation and to come back to my sick mother. I graduated Second Honorable Mention and with both parents to share my happy moments. (to be continued)