Titas de Bacolod: Spotlight

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Friday, November 4, 2022

Friday, November 04, 2022

Roli's Napoleones : The Original Dessert Negrenses Have Loved Through The Years

Word has gotten around that a food festival showcasing Negrense food is happening at the Hidalgo Drive of the Rockwell Center in Makati, Metro Manila. Dubbed as the Namit Namit Food Festival, this gathering will perhaps be the very first time the Manila-based people of Negros Island, the sweet spot of the Philippines, will be celebrating their holiday known as Cinco de Noviembre in Metro Manila.

If there's one thing we all know Negrenses for, it's their passion for rolling out the best food for their guests to delight in. I'm sure that all the best inasals will be out, KBL (Kadyos, Baboy, Langka), Kansi and other Negrense favorites. However, for this moment, I'm zooming in on what I've always maintained as the original dessert Negrenses have loved through the years - Napoleones from Roli's!

For those who haven't come across it yet, Napoleones is basically a mille-feuille (translated to "a thousand sheets"), layers of puff pastry with custard filling and topped with sugar glaze. It has been around that in the minds of the older Negrenses, there's only one name attached to it - Roli's.

Long before Negrenses capped their meals with chocolate cake and coffee, we were doing Napoleones with coffee. In those days people didn't care at all about their blood sugar and would have Napoleones with sweetened coffee. I personally liked the idea of drinking my coffee black, and munch on sweet Roli's Napoleones as a way to temper and balance out the flavors.

That's probably what I'll be doing again today as the Namit Namit Food Festival opens at 10am. I'm going to walk my dog to Rockwell and get the first box of Roli's Napoleones. Before I even bring the box(es) back home, I'm going to have an unsweetened Americano to go along with it in the park bench and savor all the happy times we enjoyed this delicacy with the family. Just like old times.

O te', dali na kamo sa Namit Namit.

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Follow me on Twitter @TitasdeBacolod

Sunday, February 27, 2022

The Ghost of Marcos Crony and Plunderer Roberto Benedicto Haunts Negros Island in 2022

Blog, Issues

BACOLOD CITY - When presidential aspirant, Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. came into town last February 23, 2022, eyebrows were raised among Bacolod and Negros Occidental citizens as to who came out to support the son of the former dictator, Ferdinand Marcos.

It was of no surprise that Negros Occidental Vice Governor Jeffrey Ferrer was leading the party to welcome Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The dots are so easy to connect. Vice Governor Ferrer is the spouse of the Representative of Negros Occidental's 4th District, Hon. Juliet Marie "Yoyette" Ferrer, daughter of Philippine movie industry icon Kitchie Benedicto. Kitchie Benedicto was the daughter of former Philippine Ambassador Roberto S. Benedicto, who is known to have been Ferdinand Marcos' crony for cornering the proceeds of the sugar industry.

Under Martial Law, then President Marcos allowed Benedicto (known locally as "RSB") to take control of the Philippine Exchange Company (Philex), which monopolized the sugar planters' international trade. Benedicto used Philex to buy cheap sugar from local producers and sell it abroad for large profits, largely at the expense of the planters who in turn could not in turn pay back bank loans and wages of people in their farms.

The domino effect was that hunger was widespread in the countryside, breeding an insurgency and making Negros island a hotbed for local communist rebels.

These were the worst days of Negros after World War II and most Negros sugar planters remember how bitter those days were. Only most remember the bitter days of unrest and hunger in Negros because when Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, Jr. flew in last week, it seemed like quite a lot had forgotten their sorry state under the plunder of RSB.

Without having to name names, they were there. The ones who left for the US in the early 1980s as students or as young professionals to start a new life because there was hardly any future for them left in Bacolod. Today, having bounced back, living well, and retired or semi-retired in Bacolod, they are now throwing support behind Bong-Bong Marcos, oblivious to the agonies of their late parents who staunchly fought RSB and Marcos.

As if to spit on the graves of their deceased parents who hurt the most during the RSB years, the fresh local supporters came out in red and green in adulation of the dictator's son.

When one looks back, there will always be the supporters of the late President Marcos in Negros. Even back then under Marcos years, there were families who were loyal to Marcos up in the north and down in the south. No one forgets the infamy of the Escalante massacre in 1985. So yes, FM loyalists have their place in Negros. And yes, you have to give them some loyalty award for being there all throughout.

What puzzles though is the selective amnesia many have shown. It is one thing to support FM Jr. because you were there all along like your father was an Assemblyman during Marcos time and you had access to FM, getting some minor favors from the strongman along the way. But it is definitely another story, painfully hilarious, to see the ones shouting, "Sama Sama tayo Babangon Muli", knowing very wall that thirty six years ago, they were at the Bacolod Public Plaza chanting, "Tama Na! Sobra Na! Palitan Na!".

As it is, with a strong following, in Negros, you have to hand it to the supporters of the Uni-Team for having called up the ghost of the Marcos crony and plunderer Roberto S. Benedicto, as if to sneer on all who were victimized, "I'm baaaaack!".

This only prompts those on the other side of the fence, whether for Pacquiao, Lacson, Isko, or Leni, to fight harder as never before.

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Follow me on Twitter @TitasdeBacolod

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Sunday, June 13, 2021

Hey Titas in Washington! Have a marijuana joint for taking the jab!

#titasinamerica, Blog

Uh-huh, we heard you! Some Titas de Bacolod based in the Seattle and Shoreline area have had a blast having two kinds of shots! The jab and the joint!

Washington state is offering adults a relaxing new incentive for those who are anxious about getting the COVID-19 vaccine — marijuana joints.

The program, launched by the state's Liquor and Cannabis Board and named "Joints for Jabs," runs until July 12 and allows state-licensed dispensaries to give qualifying customers one pre-rolled joint at an in-store vaccination clinic.

Eligible participants must be 21 years old or older and have to have received their first or second dose during that visit.

This is only the latest among Washington's abundant vaccination incentives, which include free tickets to sports events and a lottery totaling up to $1 million. Just a few weeks ago, the Liquor and Cannabis Board announced an incentive that allows breweries, wineries, and restaurants to offer free drinks to vaccinated adults.

Washington's newest promotion reflects a multitude of unique vaccination incentives being offered across the country, and the state isn't the first to offer weed.

In exchange for proof of vaccination, an Arizona dispensary's "Snax for Vaxx" campaign provides free joints and edibles. In Washington, D.C., cannabis advocacy group D.C. Marijuana Justice distributed joints at vaccination sites on April 20.

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Follow me on Twitter @TitasdeBacolod

Related Post:

Meet The Man Who Helped Marcos Bring Negros Island To Its Knees
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Saturday, April 30, 2016

From Twinkling April 29, 2016 : A Woman Nobly Planned

People, Spotlight

This came from Tita Ninfa Leonardia's column in the Visayan Daily Star, April 20, 2016 .

How many times have I started to write this column since Monday? After starting a sentence, I would stop, start another one, and then another, and finally write something else, something that would not cause tears to fall on the machine, and have me bawling again. I admitted that I was in a terrible stage of denial, because I did not want to write about something that had caused such shock and grief as what I felt Monday night.

***

My sister Perla and I had just been having our regular medical check-ups, and having to see two doctors in one afternoon had us cooling our heels for a total of almost four hours, including the stop at the pharmacy to get the prescriptions filled. It was while we were on our way to the STAR office that I got a text message from Dr. Ver Lacson, who was in Manila, informing that our dear friend Ivy Visitacion was in a bad state, at the hospital Intensive Care Unit, at that! I immediately wanted to rush to the hospital, but my sister reminded me that we were already late for work, and I had still a lot of articles to edit, as well as my column to write.

***

That was almost 8 o'clock already, so I realized she was right. But I still planned to go to the hospital, no matter how late we left the office. It was only after a few minutes, I think, when Carla came rushing down looking grim, saying it was John Orola on the phone, and he was afraid to talk to me. What else could I think? It took a long time before either John or I could be coherent enough to talk about what happened. Without words, I understood what his call meant, as we communicated with our sobs and hiccups.

***

How could either of us believe that Ivy, our glamorous, ever available, intelligent, talented and constant companion at socials, religious activities, club affairs, outings, and all kinds of activities, always glowing, impeccably made up, with not a blonde hair out of place, be gone? How can we stand not being able to call, or get a call from her in the wee hours of the morning when she caught a piece of news on TV she thought we would be interested in? Or some harmless gossip about people we both know?

***

Although she grew up in Dumaguete and came to Bacolod only later, it seems we have known each other forever. Our careers had parallels, too. While I was involved in the print media, she was in radio. We were two girls trying to get a foot into the field formerly monopolized by men. At about the same time, she became president of the local Kapisanan ng mga Brodkasters sa Pilipinas, while I headed the Negros Press Club. That was why I always got invited to KBP affairs and she to the NPC gatherings.

***

I left Bacolod to work in Makati and was gone for some six years, but when I returned to Bacolod, I got involved in press affairs again. We were able to renew ties once more, until the time when she gave up her radio work, which was near the time the DAILY STAR was born. For years, I cajoled her into writing for the STAR, but she always said writing was not her forte. I didn't believe her, and persisted, until she gave in. Later she told me how much she enjoyed writing “Behind the Scenes”, and how grateful she was that I “forced” her to write. Soon I noted that she had been giving good advice to radio fans, an asked her if she could do a “Tell Your Tita” column in the paper. It became a hit immediately. Even men would comment on it, and it tickled her.

***

For the DAILY STAR's 34 th anniversary, she said she could not get up because of severe arthritic pains. I worried about her because she had also told me that her doctor had already called her a “walking time bomb” because of her erratic blood pressure. But, as her son, Pastor Gary, admitted yesterday, his Mom loved to eat. Although we kidded her about her increasing weight, she didn't mind. She was one who could take any teasing with aplomb, but warned us that once she had chased someone down Lacson Street, in front of their studio then, with a kitchen knife! Guess who?

***

How could one talk or write calmly about such a friend? Her son told me that she had asked him recently to do something she wanted for my brother Bing, of whom she was very protective. Ah, we will miss our regular Saturday dinners at L'Fisher where the waiters already memorize our favorite dishes. Although I know she is now happy with her Saviour, how can we, her friends, not continue to miss this multi-talented woman, and wonderful mother to her children? Dearest Ivy, we will all miss you so!*