THE LAHOZ BROTHERS
THEIR EARLY EDUCATION, AND BUSINESS VENTURES
BY GAUDENCIO J. LAHOZ, JR.
The following is a story of the lives of the Lahoz Brothers before the Philippine -American War 1899 - 1901, their early education and their early business ventures.
Rafael was studying for the priesthood, and was about to be ordained when the Philippine Revolution against Spain begun. He was forced by events to stop his studies and involved himself in the fight.
Jose was able to finish the equivalent of an AB degree (Bachiller en Artes) at the Vigan Seminary and was sent to Manila to continue his studies at the Colegio de San Juan de Letran.
My father, Gaudencio, Sr., was at that time second year in college in the same seminary was also forced to stop studying.
The spaniards were about to lose the war or revolt with the Filipinos when suddenly, the United States of America declared war against Spain. The small Spanish Navy inside the Manila Bay was attacked by the american fleet of Commodore George Dewey and the spaniards completely defeated. Spain then sold the Philippines to the U. S. A. for Twenty Million US Dollars, and for this action the Philippines was again involved in a new War this time against the United States. The Philippine - American War actually started in 1899. Tata Pepe (Jose V. Lahoz, Sr.), who was then in Manila, came back by boat, on the SS Mauban bringing with him several kegs of gun powder, because he already anticipated their involvement in another war with the americans. On his arrival, his problem was unloading his shipment of gunpowder without being detected by the authorities, from the SS Mauban which was then anchored at the Pandan port south of Vigan. He was helped by Dr. Marciano Crisologo, the son of the then incumbent Governor of Ilocos Sur, Don Mena Crisologo.
When the General Manuel Tinio Brigade was organized in Northern Luzon,, comprising Ilocos Sur, Ilocos Norte, and Abra, the three brothers joined the movement. Because they were considered as Master Mechanics of Sto. Domingo, Ilocos Sur, they were assigned to organize the armory of the Brigade. The function of the armory was to make ammunitions, repair firearms, those left behind the spanish army or captured from american soldiers killed in ambuscades. They also reloaded used cartridges with gunpowder and lead bullets were cast by the armory under their command. And so the gunpowder brought in from Manila by Tata Pepe was put to good use during the early stages of the war. Their base of operation was in the mountain top of the Cordilleras between Ilocos Sur and Abra, called Mount Bulagao.
According to my father, (Gaudenco, Sr.) they had an american prisoner of war under their custody or assigned to the armory. This american was quite friendly, and was interested in learning how to speak spanish. The brothers were also interested to learn english. The two way learning process was carried on until armistice was declared and the three brothers all surrendered.
When the Civil Government was organized all the three Lahoz brothers passed the civil service examinations. My uncle Tata Paing, became the Municipal Treasurer of Candon, Ilocos Sur. Tata Pepe went back to Manila to study engineering at the Philippine Trade School and became the first Principal of the Ilocos Sur Trade School in 1910.
My father was assigned as Municipal Treasurer of Sto. Domingo, Ilocos Sur. Later he was transferred to Sta. Lucia and again to Santa, Ilocos Sur. When the Division Office of the Superintendent of Schools headed by an american needed a chief clerk, who knew how to read write, and speak english, my father was recommended by the Provincial Governor, Don Mena Crisologo. My father took the job which he held until 1918, the end of World War I.
After World War I, Don Tomas Syquia, (father-in-law of former President Elpidio Quirino) and Don Enrique Quema, two of the wealthiest persons in Vigan, formed their transportation companies and were in competition . The trucks they had were all equipped with solid rubber tires. The three Lahoz brothers were hired as their mechanics. Serving the two families in competition, was a dilemma to the brothers. Due to lack of spare parts and competent drivers the two families later phased out their transportation business. Don Tomas later put up a silent cinema called Cine Illucion. The Lahoz brothers undertook the installation of the electric generator, the projectors and everything needed by the theater.
Later, the brothers decided to establish their own transportation business. The first two units they bought were manufactured in France, branded "DELAHAY", and equipped with solid rubber tires. Travel from Vigan to Laoag took one whole day, one way. Their first drivers and conductors were Marcelo Farinas, Ayong Farinas, Nicasio Layaoen, and Fortunato Fabico. It is interesting to note that the Farinas and Sambrano bus companies all started because they were first employees of the pioneer Lahoz Transportation company as drivers.
Years later, they junked the DELAHAYS and bought two brand new Leopard Steward chassis (made in USA) and fitted the two trucks with bus bodies. The carpenters hired to do this jobs were Lakay Inciong and Lakay Borcio. They also converted the rear tires of the trucks into pneumatic tires. Tata Pepe ordered the tires and rims from Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. Later Tata Pepe was appointed as Goodyear tire dealer in Vigan. The dealership he held until the beginning of World War II when all activities in Ilocos was disrupted due to the invasion of the Japanese.
The first drivers employed by the Lahoz transportation later resigned their jobs and established their own bus companies. A new batch of drivers were then hired for the truck units. They were Juan Angco, Santiago Sambrano, Domingo Reyes (Tata Paing's step-son), and Agustin Sebastian. The Transportation business was financially rewarding so Tata Pepe bought from Bachrach Motor Company, two units of White Trucks with a capacity of 3/4 ton. and a Hupmobile touring car with a capacity of seven passenger. Tata Pepe also bought for his personal use a Stearns Knight Touring car which was the envy of the affluent people of Vigan. The Hupmobile cars were also very much in demand as cars for hire so my father went to Manila to buy one more Hupmobile of the same model and capacity.
In 1918, Tata Paing left Vigan , to be employed in Manila and later went to Echague to establish his own transportation company.
Sometime in 1921, the HAWAIIAN SUGAR PLANTERS ASSOCIATION established an office in Manila for the purpose of recruiting farm laborers for their sugar plantations in Hawaii. A certain Mr. Montague Lord, an american millionaire who was the manager, came to Vigan and contacted Dr. Paul Palencia (who had an american wife) who was the Director of the Vigan Christian Hospital. Dr. Palencia introduced Mr. Lord to Tata Pepe and my father. They later signed a contract to transport laborers recruited to work in Hawaii from Vigan to Bauang , La Union as the railroad terminal then was only up to Bauang. There were hundreds of laborers recruited so they bought two more White Trucks with bigger capacities to meet their contract requirements. This exclusive contract with the Hawaiian Sugar was so profitable that they decided to abandon the original public passenger service which charged lower transportation fares. Then in 1928, the first Ford cars and trucks that were modernized and equipped with gear shift transmissions were introduced. So the LAHOZ brothers decided to buy two units of Ford trucks and one unit of the Ford Tudor Sedan. The first two White trucks bought earlier were junked because of age and were already inefficient. They also bought a second hand Essex car which was also used in transporting laborers from Laoag to Vigan. When the connecting road from Ilocos Sur and Abra was opened the Essex car was also used from Bangued to Vigan.
Physical and medical examination of the laborers recruited were performed by Dr. Palencia and was paid a fee of one peso per laborer. The transportation contract went on until the outbreak of the Second World War in 1941.
Incidentally, I want to relate here that after the first batch of recruits fulfilled their contracts some came back to their respective towns. They were met at the San Fernando Railroad Terminal as the railway was already extended to San Fernando, La Union. The large Filipino communities in Hawaii all happened because of the Ilocano laborers recruited from the Ilocos provinces. Until now, many families in Ilocos have kept their contacts with their Filipino American relatives in Hawaii.
CARMEN VILLAFUERTE LAHOZ
After her graduation from the Philippine Normal School in Manila, Nana Carmen was assigned as a teacher in Bangued, Abra. Sometime in 1915, when I was about five years old, Tata Ceilin (Marcelino Jaramillo) hired two horse drawn calesas from Felix Duque, our neighbor in Vigan whose business was calesas for hire. Tata Ceilin took me with him and we went to the Mestizo river, east of Vigan where rafts made of bamboos from Abra used to terminate their river travel to Vigan. We met Nana Carmen and thereafter they were married. Tata Celin was at that time working as assistant Auditor of the Provincial Government of Ilocos Sur, a job he held until he died sometime in 1935 or 1936.
They had four children:
Jose (Cheng) married to Cesarea Ruiz of Laoag, Ilocos Norte