Lucena City haunted me this afternoon!

Pepe Alas

Nov 3

I swear, I am NOT kidding! This really happened this afternoon! 👻

I was watching episode 2 of Ms. Marvel (the MCU freak that I am) on my android while lying down on my sleeping mattress here in my mini library. My mattress is right beside one of my bookshelves. The lights are off inside my windowless room. So my only source of light was my android.

All of a sudden, something fell on my chest! Of course I freaked out and gave out a sissy scream coz I didn't see what it was. 🤣 I immediately jumped to my feet and turned on the light...

Lo and behold, it was the certificate of appreciation given to me by Mr. Vladimir Nieto and his group Konseho ng Herencia ng Lucena (Heritage Council of Lucena) exactly six years ago today!

The appreciation certificate, encased in wood and glass, was given to me after I gave a lecture about the Spanish documents that I retrieved from the Portal de Archivos Españoles: PARES which proves that Lucena —the city of my birth— was founded on 3 November 1879. This means that the capital city of Tayabas Province (I will never call it Quezon) was founded 144 years ago today. But for reasons beyond me and logic, this foundation date is still not recognized by the local government unit of Lucena despite Mr. Nieto's insistent lobbying.

Now what puzzles me is how this certificate fell on my chest exactly on the day that Lucena City is supposed to celebrate its 144th founding anniversary. It's not hanging on my wall; it's just standing on top of my bookshelf leaning against the wall. But in spite of several tremors we've experienced through the years, it didn't even budge. It's only now that it fell... and right on top of me!

I really don't pay much attention to spooky stuff (I can watch horror movies alone in the dark), but when the city of your birth suddenly and literally haunts you on its birthday, well, that's something else. Not scary, but something else that I couldn't yet explain.

But I'm relieved the certificate didn't fall on my nose.

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