Amateur historian recalls old Wack Wack
By Dulce Festin-Baybay
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 05:59:00 01/12/2009
Filed Under: history, Golf, Places
MANILA, Philippines—Miguel “Mike” Avanceña, 82, vividly remembers the way it was at Wack Wack Golf and Country Club and its surroundings. After all, he has been its neighbor since 1964 and has no intention of moving elsewhere.
As curator of his father’s papers and memorabilia occupying a major portion of Mike’s house on 1,000-sq m of premium real estate on Lee Street, Barangay Wack Wack in Mandaluyong City, this amateur historian is proud to show off a veritable treasure trove of books, documents and newspaper clippings of his family’s rich history.
An Ateneo de Manila University graduate (Bachelor of Arts in Social Science and Journalism), Mike is the youngest of six sons of Ramon Avanceña y Quiusay of Molo, Iloilo, who was chief justice of the Supreme Court from 1925 to 1941. An elder brother, Albert, was the son-in-law of President Manuel L. Quezon.
“We were the first journalism graduates of Ateneo,” said Mike who retired in 1988 as assistant to the Central Bank governor.
“My father began playing golf in the club in 1932, two years after it was founded by a prominent American resident, William J. Shaw of the construction company AG&P (Atlantic Gulf & Pacific Co.),” recalled Mike. “He was a jolly fellow, always greeting us boys whenever he saw us. I remember Mr. Shaw would organize big family affairs like Easter egg hunts for members, complete with magicians.”
The Avanceñas were then living on Dominga Street in Pasay City near St. Scholastica’s College. “Papa would bring us to the golf course early in the morning to watch him and teach us how to play the game,” said Mike. “He also convinced the other justices to play golf there. He would organize tournaments just for justices. Later, he decided to buy a lot in Wack Wack on installment basis. In a period of time, he was able to buy a total of 10 lots. The price then was something like 28 centavos per square meter.”
Mike is the only one in the family who has stayed on at Barangay Wack Wack. “All of my brothers eventually sold their homes and transferred to either Makati or Greenhills,” he said.
“While I was building our house with Vic Santiago as our architect in 1964,” continued Mike, “an old taxi driver who brought me there said that part of Wack Wack used to be a sugar cane field. True enough, the carpenters unearthed an old grinding stone for sugar cane on my lot. It was so heavy it took 10 men to carry it to the site that is now my garden.”
Mike has fond memories of the old Wack Wack. “I live just beside the Ermitaño Creek, and when it was clean, my grandson used to swim there,” he said. “Now, you won’t even dip your toes in the water. The creek marks the boundary of the west side of Wack Wack, crosses Wilson and comes out to the San Juan River. Our barangay made an effort to clean the river.”
A visit to the Avanceña house which he shares with his wife of 54 years, Mary Basilio, and their family, is like going inside a mini-forest. A bust of Chief Justice Avanceña greets visitors at the entrance.
The presence of “uwak” (crows) in the lush area is the reason why it was named Wack Wack, volunteered the old-timer. “I called my place a mini-sanctuary because of the presence of various types of birds, like the ‘uwak’ which I used to see in flocks in the late 30s.”
Huge trees and ornamentals are found inside his yard, providing one a cool retreat in the summer heat. There is a mabolo tree, given to him by Oscar Lopez, a fellow Ilonggo and chair of Lopez Group Foundation Inc., who also lives in the subdivision. “We are part of Barangay Wack Wack, which is just outside the exclusive subdivision,” said Mike.
A frequent visitor to the golf course while he was growing up, Mike has seen the changes at Wack Wack Golf and Country Club, considered one of the best golf courses in the world and established as an exclusive championship course. An annual report of the club dated 1948 gives its address as Quezon City although it is now under the jurisdiction of Mandaluyong City.
Among the Avanceña brothers, Mike admits that the best golfer in the family was Alberto, the husband of Nini Quezon, who almost became the amateur golf champion.
By 1968, Mike’s eldest brother, Jesus, became a proprietary member of the club, Alberto, an associate member; Martin, a playing member; and Nini, a member of the Ladies’ Chapter. Today, Mike is no longer a member, having sold his membership for what he described as “a pittance.” The cost of membership today is in the millions of pesos.
Mike also remembers Tee No. 7, the site of an attempt on the life of President Jose P. Laurel. With his knack for remembering facts and historical data, he recalled the event: “The gunman was eventually captured, and when he was brought to the Philippine General Hospital where Laurel was recuperating from his wounds, the Japanese soldiers escorting the shooter asked Laurel if he recognized him. ‘I don’t know him. I never saw him in my life,’ Laurel said.”
That statement, said Mike, saved the life of the gunman. Years later, the shooter, known as “Little Joe,” went to the old Laurel house on Peñafrancia Street in Paco, Manila, knelt down before the former President and asked his forgiveness. He was forgiven and even became Laurel’s bodyguard, said Mike.
The amateur historian also remembers the caddies that came and went, one of them the controversial Benjamin Abalos, who later became Mandaluyong City mayor and chair of the Commission on Elections.
“Mr. Abalos was then a working student enrolled in a law course and was a caddy in his spare time when my brothers met him,” said Mike. The mayor would later become president of the golf club.
Of the six Avanceña brothers, only three are still living. There is now a thick cement wall blocking the view of the creek and the golf course from Mike’s house. The last time he was inside the club’s premises was four years ago.
But Mike does not seem to mind at all. After all, he said, his golfing days are over.
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