Nalucaban Kids: Blessed by swamp ‘diwata,’ powered by baseball dreams

DREAMING BIG The Nalucaban baseball team (from left, standing): coach Mon Espina, Edwin Jarito, Jobert Gorpido, Ariel Lobos, Cris Bantilo, Kirby Balanquit, Jeremy Benwico, Kyle Montejo and Jay Lebeco. (Kneeling, from left): Andrei Lobos, Kurt Cabanillias, Rodolfo Gorpido, Mar Barsales, Kim Jarito and Mark Jane Atencio. Not in photo is Jann Byron Balanquit.

A “diwata” (deity) was believed to have given the young boys of a small agricultural and fishing town in Northern Samar the extraordinary skills and prowess to emerge as the champion Little League team in national and international competitions in the mid-1970s to the early 1980s.

The deity was said to dwell in a swamp close to where the boys — later known as the “Nalucaban Kids” — played a crude game of baseball, which propelled this small community of mostly native huts in Pambujan town, all the way to international sports fame in Asia and the United States.

Today, four decades later, a new generation of Nalucaban Kids seems bent on creating their own baseball legend.

They have kept the name — and hopefully, the diwata’s blessing — as they prepare to take on rival teams from all over the country in the 2018 Batang Pinoy Baseball championship in Baguio City, which had been moved to Sept. 17 to 22 because of Typhoon “Ompong.”

But winning the championship trophy may require more than a swamp deity’s divine grace.

This becomes immediately and painfully clear as one watches a practice round of this batch of intrepid Little Leaguers, most of them without even a baseball cap or the proper shoes for protection from the scorching sun and the rugged terrain of their playing field.

After practice, they happily take turns guzzling from a jug of mineral water and nothing much else.

Given such limitations, could the lady of the swamp have given the earlier batch of Nalucaban Kids a miracle win?

Favorite son

While local Pambujan officials share the diwata’s story for its charm and novelty, they are quick to credit the town’s deep affinity for baseball to one of the town’s favorite sons.

The late Nestor U. Singzon, who majored in baseball as a physical education scholar at the University of the Philippines, introduced the sport to the local kids in the 1970s when he returned after graduation to a job as PE teacher at Pambujan Central Elementary School.

Singzon organized a team and coached its members to develop their baseball skills and stamina for provincial, regional and national competitions.

His efforts were rewarded.  The team placed first in the 1975 Far East Little League Championship in Taipei; third in the 1976 Far East Little League Championship in Guam; and second in the 1979 West Coast Regional Little League Championship in Los Angeles, the Chicago Colt Baseball Invitational Championship and the 1982 West Coast Regional Bronco League Championship in San Diego, California.

There were no exciting promises or incentives needed to motivate the young players to report for practice; the stern but amiable coach simply assured them of a good meal or snack, a good enough perk for the boys who would otherwise go without food for the day.

Being part of a team also gave the boys a sense of belonging and the opportunity to travel outside their hometown, with guaranteed food, pocket money, and accommodation, plus accolades and cash incentives each time they won a championship.  Getting into the team became the dream of every boy in this coastal town.

A lifetime honor

Practically every clan in Pambujan has a member who had been part of the Nalucaban team.  And in these parts, being a Nalucaban player became a lifetime honorary title, much like a knight winning a joust but earning instead a baseball cap, a bat and a tournament trophy.

A few years back, former Nalucaban players and now village elders Linlin Balanquit and Mon Espina, who played together under Tingzon, drew up a plan to revive the sport in their town after learning that Nalucaban Kids were no longer representing Northern Samar in regional meets.

FIELD MARSHAL Baseball drill master and coach Mon Espina watches player Kurt Cabanillias during baseball practice at Kamagsangkang, Pambujan, Northern Samar.

The team had been overshadowed by teams from Ormoc and Tacloban City in Leyte sometime between 2005 and 2010, shortly after Tingzon’s death in September 2005.

Espina spent most of his active years away from Pambujan, having migrated to Canada with his family decades ago.  He completed elementary and high school studies under a baseball scholarship in Canada, and played professional baseball in the US Minor League.

Upon retirement from his stint as a professional baseball player and his daytime job as fireman, Espina accepted the invitation of former teammate Balanquit, who was then municipal mayor, to revive the town’s baseball program.

Since taking over coaching chores in 2011, Espina has inspired the Nalucaban boys to gradually reclaim their stellar position in regional meets.

They have been consistent champions in the Eastern Visayas Regional Athletic Association in various divisions since 2013, and won the Asia-Pacific Goodwill Games over Singapore in the 12-under category in 2013.

“We need to keep them together and healthy through more support from our ‘kababayans’ (countrymen) who care,” said Espina, in slightly accented English.

He almost lost Gerardo F. Tan Jr., a veteran Palarong Pambansa campaigner, who left the team in 2017 to try his luck in Manila as a factory worker.  But Tan found life too difficult in Manila and decided to return to Pambujan to finish Grade 12 and resume playing baseball.

TOP OF MIND The town marker features a baseball player.

Local gov’t  support

Pambujan’s local government supports the team by providing transportation, uniforms and meal allowances when it competes outside the municipality.

But the funds are not enough to sustain their training and upkeep “because we don’t have that much from our internal revenue allocation,” said Mayor Felipe Sosing, who supports the town’s entire sports program—not just baseball — with a budget of only P1 million a year.

Espina’s job description does not include soliciting funding assistance for his team, but he is not above looking for sponsors for vitamins, bats, balls, gloves, etc. for his young players.

He has found a willing supporter in Northern Samar’s  Rep. Raul A. Daza, who sees to it that he attends a game or two during national competitions, provides the team with vitamin supplements, and occasionally treats the boys to meals at a popular fast-food chain.

Last May, a team made up mostly of 15-under players qualified to compete in the 17-under division of the Philippine Series, and placed fourth overall.

The same team is now in Baguio City to represent the Visayas region in the Batang Pinoy, a Department of Education-sponsored annual athletic event for in-school and out-of-school youths aged 15 and below.

ICE, ICE ONLY Members of the Nalucaban team suck on ice water between practice drills and nothing much else.

“I like our chances,” said coach Espina. “This is the age group where they really belong.”

Like their predecessors, the Nalucaban boys are willing to labor under the most spartan of circumstances, with just one bat and four pieces of broken practice balls to use during their training regimen.

The team carries a message of hope for a rural town still locked in myth and ignorance over the significance of Nalucaban.

Watching the kids play, it is apparent that the town spirit — more than the swamp deity—has carried them through, helped in no small measure by the team’s determination to win against overwhelming odds.