Our Headquarters was transferred from Lealtad, Sampaloc, to the BBB Building in Colonas, Bulacan, then to the abandoned Quonset Huts in Quezon City, left by American soldiers, near Kamuning, Quezon City. This was quite far from Avenida Rizal and so we joined Mg. Loling and Mg. Pito Rougas in their house in Quezon City. This house was within walking distance to our Headquarters. I could even go home to take lunch with my family.
Mg. Loling and her family occupied the main building, while we occupied the room under their house which was a dugout during the war. We shared the same kitchen, toilet and bathroom, and dining room together.
Our room was quite damp and had only one small hole of a window for air to enter and very little light.
Every night Mg. Loling and her friends played Mahjong. They had three tables from which to get TONG to buy drinks and eats and cigarettes. Our sleeping area was directly under the sala where the players dragged their feet, causing dust to fall on our faces, in spite of our mosquito net.
It was there where Bing was conceived. Pat and the kids preferred to stay outside in the yard because our room was dark and damp and dreary, a dugout during war!
But Pat and I enjoyed every bit of our lives and we used to play badminton in the yard under the santol tree, using the fence as our net.
It was in this house where Pat, Mg. Lolong’s youngest sister, lived with them like a maid. She was molested by Mg. Loling, scolded, and beaten, so that I took pity on her. I used to console her when she was crying and lonely. Her only compensation was her food, clothing, and going to high school.
She fell in love with Mg. Pito’s driver, Felix, and they got married.
Fortunately, the three years’ back pay of Elix was adjudicated in my favor, amounting to around ₱1000.00. I looked for a house to buy so we could live an independent life. I found a new, painted house, pink and white, in Pandacan, Manila, and bought it in 1946. It was near the house of Mg. Jesus Lopez. We were living in this house when I became a Captain and a Lawyer in 1950. Praise the Lord!
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