Predictions Made Me by Emilio Sardan Ragay

A month before my 81st birthday (22 November) an old woman appeared in my dream telling me that I will win the mega lotto jackpot. When I awoke, I kept tossing in bed trying to decipher who she was. After hours of “flashbacking” I recalled that she was someone I met during my younger bygone years.

Here’s my story. After graduation, the UP Vanguards Batch ‘41 to which I belonged immediately underwent physical and medical tests for commissions as 3rd Lieutenants in the Philippine Army. While waiting for my commission and call-to-active-duty, I decided to visit my father who was with the PC Command in Naga City.

I lost no time in befriending the folks residing in Mabini Interior Street, where my father rented a house. In no time, I became a member of DALOLI (dance, love and live) Club, which was very much to my liking.

One social event the club member looked forward to was the baptism of the son of our neighbor. I was supposed to be one of six sponsors. Unfortunately, our plans to this social event went “pffft” . In between sobs, the child’s mother informed me that her son was seriously sick. I hurriedly visited her sick child and what I saw alarmed me. Expecting the worst, I gave the child a layman’s baptism. I dipped my forefinger in a cup of water and made the sign of the cross on his forehead while intoning the “I baptize you in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” ritual.

I felt momentarily relieved. An hour later, we rushed the child to the Cathedral to be baptized formally by a priest. The child who was cradled in my arms died right after his baptism. I was emotionally devastated by this sudden turn of events. The child’s grandmother confided to me during the wake that my godson would bring me good luck, saying, “He will save your life in a year’s time.” “Remember what I am telling you.”, she added.

Not long after, I gave away my civilian clothes and old uniforms. For the second time, the old woman admonished me not to give away my old clothes or else I would be begging for clothes myself. I hugged her and told her that would not likely happen. And again she told me, “Just remember what I am telling you.”

Before I left Naga City, my barkada in the DALOLI Club tendered me a despedida party. When the old woman saw me dancing and being lovey-dovey with a school teacher, she called me aside during music breaks and whispered, “Lieutenant, you will not be lucky with her. Besides”, she continued, “you will soon forget her when you leave our place. You will meet your future partner in life in an unusual situation.” I simply shrugged and thanked her for her advices and predictions.

By mid- August, I reported to GHQ of the Philippine Army, which was then located at the Mehan Gardens (behind the present site of the Manila City Hall). Together with several army officers, we boarded the interisland boat S.S. PANAY bound for our Visayan and Mindanao assignments.

We were inducted into the USAFFE on September 1st at Camp Guihulngan, Negros Oriental and immediately transferred to another camp in Negros Occidental where we attended a refresher course. After over a month of trainings, we were moved to a camp in Negros Oriental. By the end of November, we were transferred for the third time to our permanent camp, Camp O’Donnell in Capas, Tarlac. We were barely settled in the new camp when on December 8, war was declared with Japan. We were hurriedly dispatched to the Lingayen Gulf frontlines. We did not have to wait long. On the even of November 22, the Japanese forces landed in La Union. We were committed to meet the Japanese Forces in Damortis and Rosario in La Union. Without airplanes, tanks and big artillery, we were decisively repulsed. From Rosario, we retreated to Sison in Pangasinan where we were also battered. We retreated to Pozorrubio, another town, and again we were attacked while resting at night. We again retreated to Binalonan which was defended by an American anti-tank unit.

Without letup, the Japs attacked us on Christmas Even in Binalonan. We were overran and ordered to retreat. Bullets were flying in all directions. When I fell for the first time, I thought I was hit but I struggled to get up and ran in semi-darkness. I stumbled again and again and when I looked back after my third fall, I saw the enemy closing in on us. I froze and stayed put where I fell and played possum, hiding beneath a canopy of palay stalks.

When morning came, I found myself among dead comrades. Not far was a machine gun nest of the enemy which kept firing at the retreating soldiers. I prayed hard as I never did before. Then I remembered my dead godson and the prediction that he will save my life. So I prayed to him for my deliverance.

Before noon, the Japs burned the rice field where I was hiding. Although my whole body was numb all over, I tried to shift my position slowly. To add to my misery, red ants were having a field day biting me; but movement of a “dead soldier” was too risky to gamble. I prayed again. Suddenly, a strong gush of wind swept the direction of the fire and stopped its tracks.

By about four in the afternoon, I heard a Japanese command which I could not understand. But a little later, the revving sounds of their tanks and lorries indicated that they were moving to the next town, Urdaneta.

It was nearing dark and the thought of being with the dead another night gave me goose bumps. I decided to change my position slowly to prone. It took me about half an hour to unwind the numbness all over my body. I slowly crept toward a patch of sugar cane where I broke two stalks and chewed to fill my empty stomach.

I moved stealthily eastward to avoid the enemy. While walking, I heard a voice coming from a deep irrigation canal, “Sir, help me, I am a soldier. I was hit by sniper fire in Urdaneta.” Thereupon, I applied sulfanilamide on the wound on his left shoulder, put a gauge and sling around his shoulders and neck.

I was glad to have met him. Being an Ilocano, he could be useful as guide and interpreter in my attempt to rejoin my forces. Our plans to reach Rosales in Pangasinan was, however, frustrated by darkness. We arrived at Villasis town where we were met by civilian guards led by an ex-teacher who advised us not to cross Agno River as it was very deep and swift. He instead invited us to his house. There, he produced a plate of hard cold rice (bahaw) with a few mustard leaves garnished with bagoong. That meal was indeed most welcome and a luxury, after two days of forced hunger. With a full stomach, I soon fell asleep only to be awakened by the shouts of our host to escape the heavy bombardments coming from both sides of the Agno River. After several hours of running and walking in darkness, we reached the evacuation center in Unsad, a barrio of Villasis where our host’s family had evacuated.

Since it was our duty to report back to our lines, we decided to cross the river in several places, but each time we were pushed back by civilians who were also running away from the enemy. After three failed attempts to cross, we returned to the evacuation camp. On the advice of the ex-teacher, we discarded our uniforms to escape detection by spies. He was so kind to provide us with used clothes.

Later, I joined the guerilla organized by an American colonel who escaped Bataan through Mt. Pinatubo. Unfortunately, I was captured several months later. I was incarcerated at the Kim Pei Tai POW camp in Binalonan, where I was kicked, boxed, “jujitsued” and given the water-cure treatment. My sufferings at the POW camp was somewhat eased when a week later, then Governor Estrada of Pangasinan visited the camp. It so happened that his cousin was my Literature teacher in Dumaguete City. This information elated the governor who promised to help me with my release. He convinced that Japanese colonel that I was his relative. Thus, I was released with the condition that I give my gold-plated Waltham Premier watch. I had no choice so I handed over my watch to the Japanese colonel who in turn handed me P70.00 as payment. That was how I lost my P120.00 pre war watch. It was good bargain, though. The money not only freed me from prison but also helped me finance my church wedding and barrio reception. Yes, I met my wife at the evacuation center. What a coincidence – the third prediction of the old woman had come true.

The events that happened some 59 years ago seemed like a beautiful dream. Recalling those incidents and predictions is what keeps me ticking like an old alarm clock. To me, she was a seer par excellence.

By the way, I am still hoping that I will soon be a quickie millionaire via the PCSO mega lotto draw as prophesied a few months before Y2K. Will her fourth prediction, even if relayed to me only in a dream, come true? Given her 100% track record, I have no doubt this too will come to pass, but that will be another story.

(My father wrote this article seven years before he passed away. It remained unpublished and hidden in his old but still-sturdy army-issue trunk until my sister discovered it and had it posted on Facebook. His war-time exploits often regaled our visits, with this story being a favorite of mine and one that became more interesting and real with each telling. We all miss him, more so with this written version of how the failed defense of Luzon and the country (what Quezon and McArthur called War Plan Orange) brought him to Villasis, Pangasinan where he met my mother. One of these days, I hope to write the sequel to this story: how he rejoined the USAFFE years later and helped in retaking Baguio City from the Japanese forces. Btw, my nephews and nieces still look forward to harvesting that Mega Lotto prize their Grand-Papang failed to get.)