Silway has this rustic appeal that leaves a warm memory.  When I was younger, I used to visit my grandparents during summer vacation.  The roads then were dusty but my cousins and I didn’t seem to mind.  We would play tumba lata and tubiganay to our hearts’ content.  I remember that most of the houses are two-storey high – built mainly of wood.

We used to gather during orasyon with our grandmother presiding over the angelus. The lamparilya was standard fare during dinner. The Acharons were already known then. Manong Toning was mayor and Silway was his bailiwick. The smell of copra was a scent I can never forget each time I come visiting.  There was quite a number of stores buying and trading copra in Silway.  My grandfather’s sari-sari store thrived because his store was beside a copra trader.  Entering Silway, one will notice Rey’s Store.  It was very popular then. It attracted patrons not only from Gensan but also from other municipalities.  Because of their location, they  enjoyed mass appeal ~ they’re the equivalent of Gaisano before.

Silway at present has lost most of its glory. The old houses are now mostly dilapidated. The concrete main road somehow sticks like a sore thumb taking away Silway’s mystery.  Silway, which used to represent an amalgam of cultures, became GenSan’s Tondo. It became a breeding ground for shady characters. Sad but true. I hope that before his term ends, Mayor Jun Acharon will try to revive the glory that is Silway. After all, their historical old house still stands proudly in Silway.  One can only hope.

Related posts:

1. India In My Mind

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Tags: copra traders, Gensan, Mayor Jun Acharon, rey's store, silway

This entry was posted on Friday, August 28th, 2009 at 12:00 AM and is filed under What Ever. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.