Tia Daling: One Hundred Years of Zest, Happiness, and Meaning
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Adelina S. Rodriguez, first woman mayor of Quezon City.
One extraordinary woman who has joined the rarefied circle of centenarians is our Tia Daling. She celebrated her centennial on 6 August 2020. Tia Daling is no other than Adelina Santos Rodriguez.
The public knows her as the first woman mayor of Quezon City, a perennial officer of the Red Cross, and a woman leader. For those close to her, Tia Daling is above all a dedicated wife and mother. In fact, what she has done as a politician and as a civic leader mirrors the very qualities of her being a dedicated wife and mother
Tia Daling’s long life is amazing. Her daughter Deline and nephew Cash have the same observation. They note that Tia Daling has not exactly followed a healthy lifestyle. Says Cash, “Tia Daling has lived on a diet of lechon. She doesn’t like vegetables, and she drinks Coke.” When she was little, she defied the nuns at her school who ordered her to eat vegetables. Deline chimes in: “Mama hardly drinks water, eats lechon, crispy pata, does not like vegetables, and yet, she looks so young and healthy for a hundred year old. She defies medical beliefs. “
Tia Daling’s 100th birthday called for a grand celebration. The Philippine government recognizes such feat of longevity by granting PhP100, 000 and having no less than the president send a letter of felicitation. For Tia Daling, a cash grant or perfunctory greetings from the president would no longer matter. But surely, it would be a childlike delight for her to touch wads of money amounting to PhP100, 000 and count the bills.
Tia Daling on her 100th birthday. Positioning herself at the entrance of her home and wearing a face shield, she acknowledged the salutations of friends and relatives who drove through her home and greeted her from a “social distance.”
But how could a celebration right for the occasion be done in a time of pandemic, a time of mourning and sobriety, a time of social distancing? In keeping with the times, the family decided to keep the celebration muted. No fanfare, no gathering. Relatives and friends drove through her home on Holy Cross and greeted her from a distance.
The most fitting way to way to celebrate Tia Daling’s centennial is to recall how she has lived those 100 years and to keep alive our memories of her.
I am not related to Tia Daling by blood, but I call her Tia Daling (others call her by her initials, ASR) because she is the aunt of my late wife Mae. Mae’s mom, Priscila Santos Manalang (Cil or Cila for short), is the older sister and only sibling of Tia Daling.
Tia Daling, too, is my ninang (godmother) in the sense that her husband, former Rizal Governor Isidro Rodriguez, was my ninong (godfather) for my baptism and confirmation. Hence, I was already connected to Mae’s extended family even before she was born.
Mama Cil and Tia Daling’s maternal lineage can be traced to the elite of Sulipan, Apalit in the province of Pampanga. Sulipan, in the late 19th- and early 20th century, was a center of gastronomy, high culture, and Old World elegance. The sisters acquired the sophistication of Sulipan life, but as we shall see, never were they detached from the masa’s (masses) daily lives.
They were privileged in their youth, and they were enrolled at exclusive schools for girls. Their primary education was at Assumption Convent on Herran, Manila. But because of Mama Cil’s dissatisfaction with the Assumption Sisters, their parents transferred them to the College of Holy Ghost (now the College of Holy Spirit) where they finished their high school. While Mama Cil pursued her college degree at the University of the Philippines (UP), Tia Daling opted to go to the University of Santo Tomas (UST) because she wanted to stick with her high school friends who preferred the school on España Boulevard.
Adelina with her parents Virgina Espiritu Galang and Eleuterio Santos and only sibling Priscila. Date of photo, circa 1955-56.
Mama Cil and Tia Daling have many things in common. They are both stunningly beautiful. In their teens, both Mama Cil and Tia Daling were chosen as Reina Elena for the Santa Cruz de Mayo pageant in Santa Cruz, Manila. They were the stars of the yearly Santacruzan, according to my mom’s long-time friend, Amy Aguilar. Tita Amy’s family lived in the same neighborhood where Tia Daling and Mama Cil’s family resided.
A debate as to who is prettier between the two is difficult to resolve. Their daughters are all beautiful as well, including, of course, my wife, Mae. Still, all the daughters concede that their moms are more beautiful than them.
Mama Cil and Tia Daling are both intelligent. This intelligence is not just about their IQ, but it is more about their good sense and sound judgment. They are friendly and kind—being able to relate or empathize with people from all walks of life.
They are brutally frank. For Mama, this manifested in what she herself described as “intellectual arrogance,” which anyhow is the trademark of any full-blooded UP professor. In Tia Daling’s case, I observe that she has a penchant for giving descriptive monikers. She, for example, called Mae “Tabâ” (Fat). I object.
Tia Daling was actually fond of Mae. She convinced Mae to join the Miss Green Race beauty pageant to represent the province of Rizal (an event to promote the Green Revolution). But to avoid a conflict of interest, Rizal being the host of the pageant, the agreement at the outset was not to let Mae vie for the title. The title, incidentally, went to Ms. Charo Santos.
Mama Cil and Tia Daling both had one weakness -- falling in love and choosing handsome gentlemen as partners for life:. Tia Daling’s Isidro Rodriguez was guapo and dashing. So was Mama’s Ernesto Manalang.
Adelina’s college photo
What about their differences? Marilou, Tia Daling’s second daughter, recollects her mom’s story: “Tia Cila was the girlie type and would always stay in the house reading; but Mama preferred playing outside, sometimes with a balisong (fan knife) tied to her leg, pretending to be a Robin Hood or a hero in the service of the common folks.”
They also had different tastes in travel. Mama Cil loved the Old World feel of Europe. Tia Daling liked the modernity and glitz of the USA. I recall Mama’s story about Tia Daling quizzically asking her why she found Prague’s old architecture amazing.
The sisters, too, had different politics. Tia Daling’s husband, Governor Rodriguez, was closely associated with Ferdinand Marcos, and she herself became the mayor of Quezon City for ten years during the martial law period. Mama Cil, on the other hand, was active in the anti-dictatorship struggle, and aligned herself with the nationalist, progressive group of Ka Pepe Diokno called Kaakbay.
But unlike today when polarized politics can split family relations, Tia Daling and Mama Cil remained close and supported each other despite their political differences.
During a testimonial dinner hosted by UP for Mama Cil on the occasion of her retirement in 1984, Tia Daling gave a tribute to her elder sister. One line is memorable: “We practice democracy in our family. While I continue to support the President, my sister is active in the Marcos Resign movement.”
Wedding of Adelina Rodriguez, née Santos and Isidro Rodriguez Sr., June 4, 1941.
A qualification is in order regarding the relationship of the Rodriguez couple with Marcos. As narrated by Yeb, Tia Daling’s niece and Mama Cil’s second daughter, the association of the Rodriguez couple with Marcos was less about common beliefs but more about party and paternal loyalty.
“Tio Sidro and Tia Daling were Nacionalista Party (NP) loyalists because of Amang. When the NP embraced Marcos, they as loyal NPs toed the party line,” says Yeb. (For context, Amang is Eulogio Rodriguez Sr., the legendary national politician and the father of Tio Sidro. Amang earned the title “Mr. Nacionalista” for being a faithful, stalwart NP leader.)
Yeb continues: “Tio Sidro teased me once that my father-in-law was a Marcos loyalist. I gathered that he was not one himself.” (Again for context: Yeb’s father-in- law is the esteemed writer Katoks Tayag. It just so happened that Katoks was a friend and law classmate of Marcos.)
From what Yeb said, we can have a more nuanced view of the “Marcos loyalist.” We tend to have a stereotype or a caricature of the Marcos loyalist—someone who thinks and behaves like Marcos or someone who unquestioningly believes in all things Marcos did.
But in the case of the Tio Sidro and Tia Daling, their association with Marcos was different. They gave premium to party loyalty. Party loyalty is desirable, especially in the Philippine context where the party system is weak. Admittedly, faithfulness to the party is not enough to make good politics, but it is a way of having discipline and disapproving of unscrupulous political butterflies.
Some who followed the political life of the Rodriguez husband and wife might think that Tia Daling was in the shadow of her husband. Which is inaccurate, says the family.
Adelina and her ten children. Front row: Cynthia, Lennie, Jojo, Lynn and Dang. Back row: Marilou, Deline, Jun, Jimmy and Danny.
Deline goes further: “She was the secret weapon of Papa during his political career as governor of Rizal.” Moreover, according to Marilou, if her mom had run against the husband, she would have won. “Many people used to say that the only person who could beat Papa was Mama.”
Tia Daling was a natural politician. She was a good communicator and orator. One explanation is that she understands and speaks the language of the masa. Cash recalls that in his visits to the Rodriguez home on Shaw when he was small, he noticed a lot of Tagalog komiks in the master bedroom. Reading komiks undoubtedly widened Tia Daling’s Tagalog vocabulary and honed her delivery of local idiom.
Tia Daling attracted and enraptured the audience. In Yeb’s words, Tia Daling was effective because she delivered “clear and interesting” speeches, plus the bonus of being maganda. The message and the messenger are both beautiful.
Moreover, Tia Daling had a solid performance as a public official. When she stepped down as mayor of Quezon City, it was reported that the city’s treasury had a surplus.
And she knew what the spending priorities were. She gave special attention to health care. Long before she became mayor of Quezon City, Tia Daling, as the wife of the longest serving governor of the province of Rizal, undertook projects that made health services accessible to the poor. To quote Yeb, not only did Tia Daling establish health centers or puericulture centers, but she was also “ahead of her time as she promoted family planning and birth control.”
Dang, the fifth of ten children, says that Tia Daling continued to champion family planning and health programs during her ten-year term as Quezon City mayor. Even as health was her flagship program, she pursued Quezon City’s all-round development. Learning from how her husband Isidro governed the province of Rizal, then the country’s premier province, she set up an economic development council to promote, jobs, investments, and livelihood. Tia Daling’s constituents, especially the kababaihan and nanays (women and wives), benefited a lot from the social and economic services she provided when she was Quezon City mayor.
She also emphasized tourism and culture. It was during her term that the commanding Quezon monument, which became a national shrine and a museum in honor of Commonwealth President Manuel Quezon, was inaugurated.
Tia Daling was also a first responder to emergencies. She would be on the front line in overseeing the distribution of relief to the victims of a typhoon or an epidemic.
If she were still young and were a mayor today, she would have likewise been effective in fighting COVID-19. The response to the pandemic requires good communications, and Tia Daling is a great communicator. Fighting diseases, promoting health, being in the communities and keeping her ear to the ground are right up her alley. Moreover, says Yeb, Tia Daling’s being selfless and indefatigable are leadership qualities that we look for in an exhausting and extended struggle against COVID-19
Tia Daling’s public service continued even after her political career. She became officer or head of various civic organizations and women’s organizations that promoted the health and wellbeing of the people. She is most loved for all that she has done in her public life.
But we should not only focus on Tia Daling being a public figure. She is first and foremost a committed wife and mother. She was reluctant to become a politician, content with being the “first lady” of the province of Rizal. The constant prodding of her husband together with his assurance to guide her in the world of politics eventually made her relent.
“Some who followed the political life of the Rodriguez husband and wife might think that Tia Daling was in the shadow of her husband. Which is inaccurate, says the family. ”
But it was her qualities and skills as a homemaker that made her an effective mayor. She managed Quezon City’s budget and finances in the same way that she managed the household’s resources and spending. She made sure that expenses did not exceed earnings; that spending prioritized the essentials like the health and nutrition programs and the salaries and benefits of the public sector employees; and that savings were set aside for the rainy day. She took care of her constituents and city hall employees in the same manner that a mother would show love and affection to her children.
Daughter Marilou gives an example of how her mom cared for the Quezon City residents. Outside of office hours, her mom would bring work home, writing personal job recommendations, addressed to people she did not know and for people she did not know.
Balancing her public and family life was not easy. She has proved to be good mother to ten children. She not only provides, she nurtures. Her being a model to the community and the nation has also been an inspiration to her children and her children’s children. Her children have likewise strived to follow their Mama (and Papa) to be the example of service to family, community, and God.
Tia Daling has lived a long and meaningful life. A hundred years, and counting. Daughter Deline is on point here: “Mama is prayerful; she enjoys dancing, being with people from all walks of life, campaigning for Papa, doing work for different women’s organizations. She has zest for life, she enjoys life, and she feels accomplished.” Add to this how daughter-in-law Elvira portrays Tia Daling: “An amazing woman with passion and flair in everything she does.” All this perhaps is the secret to her longevity.
Tia Daling will still be with us in the coming years. She personifies a living legacy.
Men Sta. Ana
The author is Adelina Rodriguez’s nephew by marriage. His departed wife Mae was the daughter of Adelina’s only sibling, the late Priscila Manalang. He is the coordinator of the Manila-based Action for Economic Reforms and is a columnist of BusinessWorld.
