The house we moved into near Camp Crame was a two-story building with a Chinese restaurant in the first floor. We occupied the second floor.
“Tabo,” the Chinaman, used to send us Chinese food, like pancit, as “REGALO” (gift) for my help in quieting boisterous soldiers who used to get drunk in his restaurant. The Camp Crame P.C. soldiers all respected me, because when they got in trouble, they came to me for help, knowing that I was once a soldier like them and I understood them better than the officers who had not been from the ranks. Sergeants Ganyano and Taroma, my civilian employees, were the most frequent troublemakers in that restaurant. (They are now both dead.)
Our kids were still small and they loved to take a bath under the rain. They learned how to ride a bike there and went through the primary grades, except Tony, who went through the Cubao Elementary School and then to U.P.H.S.
Pat and I had a round of military social activities in the P.C. Clubhouse or in the city night clubs and hotels, held by P.C. officers or student officers, including EM.
I played tennis every afternoon and attended to my garden across the street in the morning, where I had papayas, bananas, tomatoes, eggplants, beans, and a small “tilapia” pond.
Each of the bigger kids, like Tony, Betty, and Bing, had a garden plot to attend to. They also had a savings bank of their allowances with glass sides so they could see the money inside them. We agreed that for every centavo saved up to Christmas, I would give them an equivalent amount. During Christmas they had money to buy gifts for themselves, for us and their friends. Deby Megpayo even mentioned this in her radio broadcast.
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