Parched Fields
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“What do you want to be when you grow up?”
This question of Uncle Gadong rang in my ears as I sat at the base of the Ambuklao tower in the western field of Lanat, San Manuel, Tarlac, my birthplace.
He asked me this question sometime in November 1961 when he visited us. He is the younger brother of my mother Francisca Lacierna Mercado.
My mother and Uncle Gadong Lacierna were both born in San Clemente, Tarlac, and both grew up there. They had other siblings – Uncle Kardo, Uncle Quirino, and Aunt Ninay. All of them were born in San Clemente to Francisco Lacierna and Victoria Lucero.
“What is your dream? What do you want to be?” Uncle Gadong asked me again. He was holding my report card in his hands, and he saw that I was given very high grades in the first and second grading periods by my first grade teacher, Mrs. Conchita Lorenzo-Fernando.
Norbert Mercado
"In this age of revolution, the contemporary writer should utilize the pen for the preservation of peace," Norbert Mercado, a Filipino author, stressed. The books he has written and published, including his anthologies, unapologetically assert the indispensability of peace in a nation’s progress. The author has written more novels than any Asian writer had in just a brief period of time. In fact, he has surpassed the number of novels written by world-renowned novelists like Russian author Alexander Solzhenitsyn (winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, 1970) and American authors Ernest Hemingway (winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, 1954). Solzhenitsyn has four novels to his credit, while Hemingway has eight. His style of writing is simple and succinct, but poignant and colorful like Hemingway’s THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA, and Solzhenitsyn’s ONE DAY IN THE LIFE OF IVAN DESONOVICH. "The simpler the novel, the better," he said. In line with Japanese Yasunari Kabawata’s writings about the Japanese way of life, most of Norbert’s novels focus mostly on the current situation in his country. Kabawata is the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1968. His books present hope to the Filipino, especially to the "economic exiles" in Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan whom he has spent most of his time with, in their daily struggles. But most of all, his novels lucidly show the futility of war and violence in the resolution of political-economic-class conflicts in the Philippines. "War should not be used as an instrument in resolving political conflicts. Writers who abet wars and revolutions must think of the widows and the fatherless, the chaos, destruction, and suffering of the people whom they claim to be concerned about," he said. What if, like Solzhenitsyn, Hemingway, and Kabawata, he eventually wins the Nobel Prize? What will he do with the US$1,000,000 award? "I will use the prize for establishing a Peace Foundation that will assist in the formulation of policies which will resolve the current shooting conflicts in the country and help alleviate the continuing poverty of our countrymen." He will take charge of the foundation and personally campaign for a peaceful settlement of the conflicts in the Philippines. "The insurgency and the secessionist rebellion have foreign support. A Nobel title will give me the personality to approach the leaders involved in the conflicts," he explained. Born on March 25, 1955, he is the youngest among the children of Mr. and Mrs. Aurelio Mercado, Sr. of San Manuel, Tarlac. He graduated from the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City, with two degrees, Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Bachelor of Arts in Broadcast Communication. Voted Outstanding Campus Journalist in 1974, he was a columnist and associate editor of the Philippine Collegian, the campus publication of the University of the Philippines. He has also written articles for various newspapers and magazines in the Philippines, as well as abroad. He also won the 1981 National Essay Writing Contest sponsored by SIDESTREETS Magazine. Norbert is a graduate of the National Defense College of the Philippines (NDCP), the topmost armed forces school in the country, where he was conferred a Master’s degree in National Security Administration (MNSA) and the rank of Lt. Colonel in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). He graduated from the NDCP at the age of 32, the youngest in Class 21 which had already produced several generals in the Armed Forces, and the youngest graduate in the history of the National Defense College of the Philippines. He was elected one of the fifteen directors of Class 21. He was conferred the degree of Doctor of Divinity (Applied Servanthood), Honoris Causa, for his almost 30 years work in Christian literature. His batch mates include Senator Robert Barbers, Undersecretary of Trade and Industry and Bulletin Columnist Nelly Villafuerte, Actor and Producer Fred Galang, Rev. Peter Vasaya, and the His Royal Highness Sultan of Sulu and Sabah Ishmael Kiram. A sports lover, he was a rifle marksman in his UP ROTC days, and a winner of the 1988 and 1989 5,000 meter-run sponsored by the National Defense College Alumni Association. His sports include swimming, basketball, volleyball, boxing, karate, cycling, and marathon among others. A traveler, he has attended various international conferences and trainings in Asia and Europe. His travels have widened his insight not only of places, but also of people he has constantly observed and empathized with. He is the youngest graduate of the Singapore Haggai Institute for Third World Leaders in 1980 at the age of 24. "Let us work for peace in our country, in any way we can," Norbert stressed. Jesus said, "Blessed are the peacemakers." Ria M. Mercado
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Parched Fields - Norbert Mercado
PARCHED FIELDS
by
NORBERT MERCADO
Also by Norbert Mercado
NOVELS
72 Hours in Moscow
Cambodia's Children of Sorrow
The Children of Mars
Even the Grass Bleeds
I Don't Need A Throne
The Korean War
The Last Romanov
BOOKS IN THE SHADOW OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE SERIES
In The Shadow Of The Roman Empire
Farewell Darkness!
The Roman Governor of Judaea
BOOKS IN THE MORNING GLORY SERIES
Morning Glory
Love Is Beautiful
Prepare For Eternity
Dulce Extranjera
BOOKS IN THE ENSOMO SERIES
Pilgrims To Jerusalem
The Burning Of The Fields
A Year Without Summer
Oh, Jerusalem!
Goodbye Babylon!
BOOKS IN THE SANGKHLABURI SERIES
The Bridge
The Divide
The Union
For more information on Norbert Mercado, visit
http://norbertomercado.blogspot.com
PARCHED FIELDS
Norbert Mercado
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents are product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Except in cases of historical fact, any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2016
All rights reserved. This book is sold, subject to the condition that is shall not, by way of trade or otherwise be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form or binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition, including this condition, being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
ISBN: 978-1-370-28215-9
Smashwords Edition, License Notes
This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
VERSION: 2017-06-23-0045
To my father and mother,
and
to my sister Aida
To
Walfre Ramos
Roscel Domingo
Minnie Valdemor
Elizabeth Senson
Nimfa Padrigo
Angelita Casabar
Thelma del Carmen
Bebot Taclibon
Badong Taclibon
Amor Gravidez
Manding Juliano
Arsenio Mato
Dante Sto. Domingo
Orlando Duco
Danilo Sto. Domingo
and to all friends
in my childhood years
who have gone away…
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Final Chapter
Dedication
A Historical Novelist For Peace
You Can Also Connect with Me Online:
Discover Other Titles by Norbert Mercado:
Back to Table of Contents
. . . CHAPTER . . .
1
"What do you want to be when you grow up?"
This question of Uncle Gadong rang in my ears as I sat at the base of the Ambuklao tower in the western field of Lanat, San Manuel, Tarlac, my birthplace.
He asked me this question sometime in November 1961 when he visited us. He is the younger brother of my mother Francisca Lacierna Mercado.
My mother and Uncle Gadong Lacierna were both born in San Clemente, Tarlac, and both grew up there. They had other siblings – Uncle Kardo, Uncle Quirino, and Aunt Ninay. All of them were born in San Clemente to Francisco Lacierna and Victoria Lucero.
What is your dream? What do you want to be?
Uncle Gadong asked me again. He was holding my report card in his hands, and he saw that I was given very high grades in the first and second grading periods by my first grade teacher, Mrs. Conchita Lorenzo-Fernando.
I was silent. I was only in first grade, and I had no idea about good careers or professions.
Do you want to be a teacher like your father?
he asked me.
I nodded.
He seemed discontented with my answer because he asked me another question.
Or do you want to be a lawyer?
I was only six years old so I didn’t really know what a lawyer was.
Uncle Gadong asked me another question.
Or do you wish to be a soldier like me?
He was a sergeant in the United States Armed Forces in the Far