PERSONAL IDENTITY

Dr. Rudy Pascual is getting ready to go to work . On his kitchen table he calls his wife Germie to keep him company. She pours his favorite freshly brewed barako coffee into his cup The brewed coffee comes from locally grown coffee beans. After drinking his coffee and eating his breakfast of scrambled eggs and sausage with a small bowl of fruit salad. he bade goodbye to Germie with a light kiss on her cheeks. " Eat your breakfast with your son and make sure he is full," His steps lead him to the door, opens and closes it quietly. He rides to his parked car then starts the engine. Germie is watching him by the living room window waving at him. He waves back to her and drives the car away. Germie goes to the room of Rolly to see if he has prepared himself for school. She helps him change his clothes then both of them go to the kitchen. Roly sat at the table to eat his breakfast and drink his glass of milk. Children are picky when it comes to their food. Germie tries to induce him to eat fruits and vegetables. Sometimes parents doesn't clearly explain the importance of these foods to their children and they grew up without understanding how important are they to grow to become healthy. The three food groups must be in the diet in every meal breakfast lunch and dinner. Carbohydrate, protein and vegetables have to be served in every meal. Germie prepared his lunchbox and the three groups of food has been emphasized to count Rolly's health as her number one priority. It is good to let him start liking fruits and vegetables They both eat their breakfast. There is a school bus to pick up Rolly. Germie hugs Rolly and watch the bus go by. Barako is the most popular and well known variety of coffee in the market. It is sold by the kilo and grounded on site. It has a unique taste and the smell is captivating to drink. This homegrown coffee beans come from the coffee plantations of Batangas a province at the southern part of Luzon in the Philippines. This variety of coffee is sold at the birth place of Dr. Rudy Pascual which is the hottest place in the country. Tuggi {hot} City. Dr. Rudy Pascual left his hometown when his relatives from Pasig City in Manila brought him to the urban city. His uncle Elmer Pascual fully adopted him as his son who was ten years old at the time. He didn't know why he had to go with him. The only reason all he knew is being a member of a big family composed of five boys and four girls. His parents were called babyboomers. There was no family planning in those days and the church don't allow abortion. His parents were farmers and to support their children especially their education is a big feat. With his uncle Elmer Pascual he could provide him all what he need in his studies to become a physician besides he was able to apply for scholarship grants at the religious school the University of Santo Tomas., the oldest university in the country. He was not able to go and visit his family in the province having no time and his family didn't go to the highly urbanized city where he lives. Even when he married his wife Germie. Only her parents and few of her relatives were present so they don't know his biological parents ,his brothers and sisters. Germie knew about this situation when Dr. Rudy Pascual told his story of being adopted. Maybe it is a secret between them. Germie's family only knew uncle Elmer Pascual as his father. There were times when he dreamt about them but he couldn't imagine what way could he ever do this. During his rounds in the hospital Dr. Rudy Pascual encountered a patient from his birthplace. He knew about his family when he related to him where he was born. Asking deeper personal questions he learned his biological father is getting old, tilling their farm and keeping their orchard. His brothers and sisters are all married except the two youngest a lady and a gentleman who became professionals. They took their courses at the local teacher's college teaching at their own village Caramay Elementary School. With this encounter Dr. Rudy Pascual decided to go and visit his birthplace and meet his family. It takes an hour flight going there. He is thinking to stay in a hotel . He will meet his patient there to accompany him where his family lives. Upon his arrival to their dwelling it doesn't look like when he left which is made of cogon grass. Their granary is still standing to stack pile bags of peanuts, mung beans and crates of mangoes and watermelon. At one corner of the front shed is a hanging kettle of boiling barako coffee.. This is prepared for their farm helpers when they arrive to bring in their produce and native rice cakes to go with it prepared by one of Dr. Rudy Pascual's sister. His brother in law brings their farm produce to the city market of Tuggi. Their big family almost occupy their whole village of Caramay as their own land property. Although they own the big piece of land the produce of their farm cannot sustain the needed farm supplies to make a high profit. Unlike other places where farmers group together to organize a cooperative. When Dr. Rudy Pascual meets his biological parents as if they feel sorry why they give him away to Elmer Pascual who lost his wife early. His uncle Elmer Pascual is the brother of his father who didn't plan to remarry so he suggested he will take care of Dr. Rudy Pascual. after all they are all family. It is very common in the Philippines to adopt a relative if the parents are not capable to provide for a son or daughter. This is what happened to Dr. Rudy Pascual. who came back to visit his biological parents , his brothers and sisters. In their living room in the evening all his brothers and sisters gathered together to greet and talk each other and exchange pleasantries as a family. The feeling of having real blood relationship are felt among them. They invited him to stay for the night to have a longer time together. His former patient left and his brother in law accompanied him to pick up his luggage from the hotel. That night the family are excited to know their brother Dr. Rudy Pascual will come back to stay for a month to look into the family needs and try to help them in the whole village to set up water pumps not to carry pails of water not carrying big earthen pots of water over their heads to fetch water from the nearby river. With the pump well they can draw enough water to wash their clothes at home . Their farm fields planted with root crops peanuts sweet potatoes and vegetables tomatoes onions green beans and pepper will be irrigated to be more productive. Early in the morning Dr. Rudy Pascual takes the first flight back home.GP