June 8 this year was a memorable day for me since it was the reunion of our clan on my mother’s side, Norma Ysulat Deferia. The clan traces its roots from our great grandparents, Meliton-Sinay-Rafaela Ysulat. Ours came from the second marriage of Meliton to Rafaela, whom the latter married after Sinay died.
The event, dubbed 1st Kiritaay 2024, was led by my second cousin, Mildred Celestra, with the aid of my sister, Stella Deferia Young of NYC, and another second cousin from Monic clan, Manang Elvie Abiera Valle, who now lives in Australia. With the theme “Embracing our roots. Spreading our wings”, the one day event was attended by hundreds of relatives. The program started with the opening song featuring the clan’s jingle, sung by Shane Gemperoso, arranged by Mildred Gemperoso, music by Josh Hernandez and written by Dexter Midas Y. Deferia.
I’ve learned that my lolo Juan has two brothers, Monic and Mauro. I did not have a chance to meet my Lolo Juan since he was killed by a Filipino army soldier during the Japanese occupation. He was beheaded and his remains were thrown in a river somewhere in Davao.
I grew up only knowing Lolo Maoc (Mauro), whom they named as “labaw pa”, meaning someone who is always above the rest. He was a funny guy, unlike Lolo Juan who was stricter because of his military background. Little did I have an idea about Lolo Monic, their other brother, but during the attendance check it was his offsprings who had the largest delegates. The Mauro offsprings followed while those coming from Juan were represented by 10 delegates, led by Norma Ysulat Deferia. My mother’s older sister, Letty Veneracion,passed away so it was my mom who was left to represent her since her siblings are abroad while only daughter Lilette Bisocho is in Davao looking after her dad.
My mother’s family is almost in the military. I even met retired PNP Gen. Melchor Ysulat during the event. He normally accompanies Manong Larry Ysulat Rubinos, who was our guest speaker during that event. He was accompanied by his wife, Manang Lucille, sister Inday and son Jojo.
Manong Larry, coming from a humble beginning, is a rags-to-riches story. I assume that currently, he is in hundreds of millions if not billions yet. Coming from a successful fight against Covid during the pandemic, he resurrected himself as the new ambassador of the poor by encouraging them to change their fate. His FB Page, Larry Y Rubinos, has 60,000 followers, and even joked that if it still remains by that number tomorrow after his speech, it means his relatives did not follow him. You may follow his Larry Y Rubinos FB page and hear his inspiring lectures.
“Believe in God. Believe in yourself. Then work hard to reach your dreams,” he said during his speech. At the age of 17, he stopped going to school to help feed his family after his father died. He was teary eyed when he set foot again in his hometown, seeing how many poor people remained poor. He is a man with a kind heart, but will rather teach you to fish than feed you.
He donated P2 million to schools in Tobias Fornier. The mayor, a Tajanlangit, is also a relative of ours. LYR sponsored a free lunch at the event center for the LGU and later arranged a buffet dinner for his beloved relatives. Before leaving, he donated P300,000 for the clan for raffle prizes. Always a proud Ysulat, Manong Larry said he uses the initials LYR because he always takes pride in identifying himself as someone coming from Ysulat. The Ysulat clan is one of the biggest in Dao today. Present also at the event was former Mayor Emmanuel Aranda of Binalbagan, also a relative of the guest speaker.
The whole clan listened to testimonies of old folks about the clan. My nieces Marie Ruth and Katrina Leah, nephews David Lawrence and Michael Daniel, children of my elder brother John, together with my wife China Marie, enjoy the day. As a Lion, China and I gave away vitamins and medicines to our relatives during the event.
While the 2nd Kiritaay is scheduled in 2026, everyone is looking in excitement for the upcoming event. See you soon “paryentes”. ||
