Woman marks106th birthday

CEBU, Philippines - Mandaue City’s oldest living citizen turned 106 years old yesterday.

Olympia Judilla was born on September 17, 1906 in Barangay Paknaan.

She is the grandmother of Subangdaku Police Station chief and Investigative and Detective Management Bureau (IDMB) Deputy Chief P/Insp. Ramil Morpos.

She is also the great grandmother of Clark Dale Morpos, the present SK Chairman of Barangay Paknaan.

Olympia only had one child, Lucia Morpos, who is now 76 years old.

Lucia, in an interview yesterday, said that she was born out of wedlock but as far as she can remember, her father was also a farmer just like her mother.

 She said Olympia raised her alone by tilling lands for farmers in Paknaan.

“Maoy akong nadak-an nga ang akong Mama, magpasuhol og pananom og mais, humay og tubo. Unya wa pa man nang bayad niadto, paangkonon lang na siya kasagaran og tag-lima ka kahon inig ani niya og humay. Ug kon mahuman na ang ting-ani ug tingtanom, maglubok na sad to siya og buli aron himoong landang, (I grew up with my mother earning by planting corn, rice and sugarcane for the farmers but at that time, no payment was involved. She was just given five boxes of the rice she harvests.

When harvest and planting is done, she mashes buri palms to be made into “landang. (buri flour rolled into balls)” Lucia then recalled.

The secret to her long life is that she only eats vegetables for her viand and using “vetsin” is a no-no for her.

Lucia said her mother has never been brought to a hospital in her entire life and the only illness that she often encounters are cough and colds as she seldom experiences arthritis.

 Her mother may have not gone to school and cannot read and write but she memorized all the church prayers because she was a churchgoer.

 “Nagdako intawon ko nga mokuyog gyud og simbahan kay makatilaw man ko og bunal kon dili ko mokuyog niya sa simbahan ug di sad ko mag –rosaryo bunalan sad ko, (I grew up going with her to church because I get spanked if I don’t go to church and if I don’t pray the rosary.)” Lucia adds.

With her age now, Olympia can still walk from her room to the family’s living room and is still fond of talking to them but she doesn’t like to bathe and have her fingernails cut.

Lucia said her mother only have daily sponge baths.

Olympia is one of the two centenarians in the city who will receive a centenarian plaque and P50,000 cash from the Mandaue City government during the Senior’s Citizen’s Week in first week of October.

Aion Bolanon, the chief of staff of City Councilor Demetrio Cortes Jr., who authored an ordinance recognizing the city’s centenarians, said that during the council’s session tomorrow, Cortes Jr. will author two resolutions which will recognize Judilla and Emiliana Sanchez Cabrera of barangay Subangdaku as the city’s oldest living centenarians.

Bolanon said when Cortes authored the said ordinance last year, each centenarian was supposed to received only a plaque of recognition and a P5,000 cash from the city government .

However, Cortes Jr. felt that the sum was too small and this prompted him to amend the ordinance and raise the amount to P50,000.

He said that if the living centenarian cannot attend the culmination program of the Senior Citizen’s Week, their relatives will receive it on their behalf.

Aside from Judilla, Cabrera who turned 100 years old last June 30 will be given the Centenary Award in October.

Cabrera, a former public school teacher of Mabolo Elementary School, is presently living together with her niece and nephew in their century-old house in Barangay Guizo. —/MIT (FREEMAN)