City officials pay tribute to Nang Titang

THE remains of the original Sinug dancer Estelita “Nang Titang” Diola will be laid to rest on March 18, Monday at Mabolo Cemetery, her family and relatives said yesterday.

Diola’s family and relatives continued to receive visitors in her wake ranging from incumbent officials like Councilor Margot Osmeña and Councilor Edgar Labella to  representatives of the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI) last Saturday.

Councilor Osmeña brought hopia (Chinese bean-filled pastry) while Fr. Carmelo Diola and his brother Ronald Diola, former chief of the Cebu City Nutrition Council brought electric fan, coffee and water dispenser for the wake.

Diola’s 52-year-old niece Carolina said family members of Val San Diego of the Cebu City-based San Diego dance troupe also visited the wake. The sitio where Diola lived was named Sinulog since 2007.

Carolina said she processed “Titang Diola’s” death certificate and was happy with all the help extended to their family.

“We were never abandoned. A lot of people sympathized with us. We are so thankful to all of them,” she said.

Yesterday also marked the start of the first novena Mass for Nang Titang.

At 1 p.m on Monday, March 18, Nang Titang’s remains will be taken to the Mabolo Church for a funeral Mass. Nang Titang passed away  last Friday, March 8.

She was born on January 4, 1925 and lived a life of devotion through dancing and prayers to the Sto. Niño.

At seven years old and onwards, she would offer a dance and prayer to the Sto. Niño every third week of January at the Casa Gorordo. Nang Titang lived with her niece Carolina who cared for her since.

Nang Titang was twice  hospitalized this year, including treatment for a broken hip sustained after a bad fall.

Carolina fondly recalled her last moments with Nang Titang who was confined to her bed with a tube attached to her for feeding.

“I went near her bed and I told her ‘You didn’t eat my pancit  and so I let her smell the pancit  and a fried chicken leg. I sang a birthday song to her and she laughed. She thanked me and asked me never to leave her,” she said in Cebuano.

True to her word, Carolina stayed at Nang Titang’s bedside until she breathed her last.

Carolina said she and her 41-year-old son Romel will continue her aunt’s legacy and hope to inspire others to do the same. /Christine Emily L. Pantaleon, Correspondent