The journey from Tanauan to New Jersey

By Sylvia Europa-Pinca
Philippine Daily Inquirer

NEW YORK, United States?From Tanauan and Talisay in Batangas to Jersey City in New Jersey is how far Vicente Natividad?s life?s journey took and it took him a whole lifetime to find his soul?s haven.

His life story is worth writing about, he says. ?It can be made into a blockbuster movie.?

The 73-year-old lives in a relatively large compartmentalized house in Jersey City which he single-handedly designed. It was once a dirty, devastated house his wife initially rejected, but he rehabilitated it with his skills as a handyman and made it into his personal work of art.

The house is now a strong symbol and reflection of himself: A man tossed and battered but who confronted life?s challenges and came out a winner each time.

Laurel name

His life story begins in the interesting town of Tanauan, birthplace of handsome, illustrious, and powerful Laurels. A liaison with one of the Laurel boys, reports have it, gave his grandmother a son and a daughter.

His grandmother was too na?ve the first time and so gave her son her maiden name when he was born. The son was Vic?s father who, like him, was chinky-eyed.

For her second child, a daughter, the grandmother wised up and insisted that she carry the Laurel name.

Vic?s father transferred his family to the neighboring Talisay town in later years. Vic set his eyes on the United States.

As a young man, Vic first worked in the office of Dean Francisco Lavidez of the Far Eastern University. Because of the exposure, he took up law but skipped the bar when he got terribly sick. He had recurring gas pains for years. While buying medicines to ease his pains, he met Elizabeth, a young pharmacist, who would become his girlfriend.

In 1965, he flew to California and did odd jobs to survive. While there, he met a Filipino-American couple who took him in as a foster son. They helped him find more decent jobs and get his stomach troubles healed.

When his American visa was about to expire, they suggested that he marry their teacher-daughter. He gave it a serious thought, but fate intervened. He received a letter from his girlfriend, Elizabeth, saying she was gravely ill and she wished to see him before dying.

Tricked to come home

Vic packed his bags and let go of his American dream. But not having enough resources to take a plane ticket he took the longer ship ride to Manila. He was met at the pier by Elizabeth who surprisingly looked hale and hearty. Elizabeth, he realized, simply tricked him into coming back. But Vic did not get mad and instead decided to marry her. Elizabeth probably sensed she would lose Vic to someone if she did not summon him back home, he says.

Vic soon enlisted as a seaman in a ship bound for Japan. One day while repairing a suspended engine piston, he fell from a height of 15 feet with his head landing in a drum filled with carbon liquid. It was his first major accident and, to him, the first miracle of survival.

While working with this ship, his children started coming one after the other. He soon had a family of five to support. He decided to move on to a higher paying job.

At sea

Vic then joined a Greek ship which promised him high wages. There were many Filipino sailors on board.

The ship owner-boss was a Mafia guy, he says. The man registered his lone ship in different countries and made it appear he had many ships of the same kind. Using the many registration certificates, the man loaned huge amounts from banks and disappeared without paying the wages of officers and crew of the ship.

One time, Vic persuaded the captain of the ship to execute a special power of attorney allowing him to sell the ship through public auction in Gran Canaria, Spain.

Vic recalls that a lot of people cast moist eyes on the ship. He met with some ship agents and the one he chose agreed to advance money for the plane fares of 20 officers and crewmen who all returned to the Philippines in 1972.

Vic wanted some more for a few other men left with him. They were anchored in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, Spain and anchorage fees were growing each day. Out of stress, hunger, boredom, and weariness, Vic inveigled the ship agent to fill the ship?s tanks and they were set to escape but were caught by the Spanish Coast Guard. He was chained and imprisoned and was released only after he agreed to sign the turnover documents.

At the end of his rope

?I knew I would never make money on the ship and so in the dark of night we sold the ropes holding the ship so we could raise some money to get us home,? he recalls.

His American dream again crossed his mind. He went to the US embassy on Roxas Boulevard and there, he found out only Filipino professionals and degree-holders can apply as US immigrants. In no time, he sailed again.

On his third ship, another accident again happened.

?I was operating a crane when its steel hook which weighs about 10 tons swayed and hit the right side of my face,? he says. ?Luckily, I had a woolen winter hat that covered part of my face and the covered part was where I was hit. I fell and lost consciousness. When it came back, I felt my face and felt relieved that I did not have a wound.? It was another great miracle of survival.

At last, a US visa

When he went back home again, Vic worked briefly as a ship chandler in a company that supplied provisions to foreign ships. But he was not happy with his earnings. He then went into partnership in sawmill operations. He worked hard on the machines that would not initially work. But when things started working and profits were pouring in, his partners did everything to ease him out.

?They reported me to the military saying I was a member of the New People?s Army,? he recalls.

?When that did not work, they told the NPA that I was a military spy. That did not work, either. Then they went to my wife and told her the false news that I had a mistress and an illegitimate child. I got tired of these machinations and so I asked them to buy me out.?

It was at this time that Vic and his family?s American visa was approved.

But there was one major problem. His daughter, who was going to join them, was soon turning 21 and such would invalidate her visa if she turned a year older in the Philippines or in the plane. ?I had to arrange things fast even to the extent of bribing some people to have my daughter?s booking done ahead of time,? he says. She made it to the US on the day of her 21st birthday.

At home, finally

Today, they live in this large compartmentalized house in New Jersey. He rents out their house?s basement, the first floor, and the attic to new Filipino immigrants.

He and his wife, who has survived a breast cancer operation, stay in the spacious second floor with a balcony that looks out to the skyscraper of New Jersey. Inside, a visitor finds lots of photos of his children and grandchildren as well as copies of Newsweek and National Geographic magazines.

He works with the school of disadvantaged children in the New Jersey City University. Working with special children brings out the peace and gentleness in him, he says.

Looking back, Vic says life has been good to him.
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