One great community improvement in town was the digging of the reservoir on top of the Casamata Hill and laying down pipes of water to houses in town.
This was done during the Administration of Mayor Lonzino Bersamin, a Protestant believer.
During the digging of the reservoir, we went to pick up pieces of adobe or lime stones from the side of the hill and made marbles out of them. We even went inside the hole when the laborers were gone.
The artesian well provided clean fresh water to residents of the town, whose source of water had been the deep wells or brooks nearby.
Before the piped water was available, my brother and I used to draw water from far-away wells, where we took our baths and washed our clothes.
Now with the modern water system, we could take a bath at home, wash our clothes, and even water our plants.
We seldom suffered stomach ailments or fever with the sanitary water right into our home. What a great relief, we did not have to carry water in kerosene cans or bamboo tubes from the wells of Tata Kinio Bocuego.
During Semana Santa, we even sprinkled the street for the procession of the saints at night.
And we learned how to use water instead of corn cobs for cleaning our anus!
We no longer collected rain water for our drinking jars. And we did not have to look for a cat to pour water on in order to induce rain from heaven so we could take a bath.
Praise the Lord! It was our general belief then that pouring water on a cat would bring rain. “ACCORDING TO YOUR BELIEF, SO BE IT UNTO YOU.”
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