THE POLICE DOG, THE LOVE STORY, AND THE ELECTRIC DREAMS

As a nation, the Philippines with its 7,101 islands, 2,800 of which are populated, experienced its first taste of electrification in 1890. Three lamps were installed along a main thoroughfare in the City of Manila. Electric lines were first installed in 1895.

From1890 to the late 1960s, power generation and distribution were largely controlled by private entities. For the most part, the government was regulating electric installation. In 1936, Commonwealth Act 120 created the National Power Corporation (NPC) and tasked it with developing the country’s hydropower potential. Primarily, the Manila Electric Company (MERALCO) was the largest privately-owned electric utility which contributed to the country’s total generation capacity. Secondarily, there were small generating systems that were installed which were owned by private operators and local government units (LGUs). Due to the profit-orientation of the private utilities, electrification was limited to high-density urban areas only where electric utility operations were considered viable.

With this condition, the government realized that the rural areas were deprived from being program beneficiaries. Thus, agricultural and industrial development in the countryside was snail-paced. The government realized further that the promotion and acceleration of such development could be attained through the provision of cheap and dependable supply of power.

Due to the inadequacy of power service, the need for an agency to oversee the installation of countryside electrical systems was felt. It was in 1960 that Mayor Exasperanza Sanchez - Binghay saw a light of hope. Republic Act (RA) 2717 was enacted to carry out the country’s electrification policy. The agency was authorized P25 million to be loaned out to the electric utility operators for financing the construction and operation of generating plants, electric transmission and distribution systems for the furnishing of electric energy, particularly in the rural areas.

While finding ways and means for her electrification project, Mayor Exasperanza Sanchez on her own pocket had bought a lot of Petromax kerosene (paraffin) pressure lanterns which she used for her street-lighting project.

The brand name Petromax itself in the minds of the Cebuanos became synonymous to kerosene (paraffin) pressure lantern which was derived from “petroleum” and “Max Graetz” (the name of its main inventor). The design was such a success that it is still being used to this day in Balamban especially by fishermen and farmers.

By the end of August 1963, 60 days after the approval of Republic Act 3590 otherwise known as the Barrio Charter, the tenientes del barrio who used to function mainly as tax collectors of the municipality were changed to capitanes del barrio and were granted greater autonomy and incentive for self-help, without the national, provincial and municipal governments relinquishing their respective obligations to them which was also a relief on the part of the municipal bureaucracy. Then in 1964, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) conducted a survey of the country’s power situation. Finding that the electrification program had been moving quite slowly as private utility operators continued to ignore serving the rural areas, the study recommended the adoption of the rural electric cooperative system of the United States.

In March 1965, the Electrification Administration sent a telegram to Engr. Donato Karamihan (who was at Amlan, Negros at that time for an electrical load survey) advising him to drop in Balamban and Asturias to make a feasibility study, electrical load survey, and design for its possible electric installation. Following the advice he went to Balamban and stayed at the house of the mayor for eight months. Within that span of time after the positive result of Engr. Karamihan’s study, the contractor George Vargas had bid for the electrical installation project with the package of technically giving 130 kilowatt generator to light Balamban. The electrification only covered Abucayan to Baliwagan Proper which had been determined after the electrical load survey had been conducted.

Electrical load survey is done for power evaluation by knowing the necessary power requirement of nearby population which can be achieved by taking the interview of barrio captains, school teachers, and etc. There are factors may be considered during the electrical load survey of nearby villages up to 4 to 10 km distance from the location of proposed SHP station, namely: number of villages; number of houses; population; number of projected connections; average energy consumptions; demand for street lighting; number of commercial establishment and energy demand for each establishment; number of schools, health centers and other community services and their energy demand; number of small industries with energy requirement for each; miscellaneous demand; and current and projected demand for electrical energy of various types of consumption.

The mayor was sad for it did not reach the lot of Dr. Aniano Dumdum, whom she had a political conflict, since the said lot was not inhabited. She wanted to befriend all her political enemies so that they could work with her in her programs harmoniously. Hence, she asked Engr. Karamihan if he could manage to make an extension line to the said lot. Engr. Karamihan told the mayor that he could get the extra wires available and used it for the said installation if she could provide an electrical post. The mayor then ordered her men to pull the old electrical post (which was used before to hold the Petromax lantern) near her house and transfer it to the lot of Dr. Dumdum. The area which is the site that covered the existing Dumdum Clinic was then lighted. Because of this, George Vargas, the electrical installation contractor, sued the engineer in court for some violations done under the contract of agreement. The mayor defended him since he was only protecting the interest of Balamban.

The stay of Engr. Karamihan at the mayor's residence was not without guard. Judge Jose Alquiza Binghay, the mayor's husband who was a native of Pinamungajan but was assigned to Asturias-Tuburan-Tabuelan area, was always keep eying on him during the night time. He made it sure that before going asleep his police dog, Mampor (who was named after a fabled Chinese Arab merchant who had traded with Balamban during the pre-Hispanic times), was guarding by the door where the engineer was sleeping. He was doing this to keep her beautiful 20-year old Virginia safe from the possible courtship advances of the engineer.

Everyday, Virginia would drive the MacArthur type jeep to fetch the mayor to and fro her office. There were times that Mampor would ride with her but most of the times Judge Binghay, on his black Chrysler, would take the dog with him to his work, leaving Virginia unguarded during daytime. Donato who was always watching from the windows found her very attractive then. So between October and November that year he courted her. Sensing this, the mayor approached the engineer and told him, “If you want to marry in Balamban you must work here.” On the following six months he went to India for a study and training.

In 1966 after one hundred days of winning as president, Marcos revealed his plans for economic development and government reform in his first State of the Nation Address (SONA). Marcos wanted the immediate construction of roads, bridges and public works, which included 16,000 kilometers of feeder roads, some 30,000 lineal meters of permanent bridges, a generator with an electric power capacity of one million kilowatts (1,000,000 kW), and water services to eight regions and 38 localities.

In that same year, during the state visit to the United States of then President Ferdinand E. Marcos, arrangements were made for USAID assistance in the Philippine Rural Electrification Program. A contract with the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) of the United States was executed. The NRECA made feasibility studies for pilot projects. Two Rural Electric Cooperatives (ECs) were set up, one in Mindanao and the other in the Visayas. These were the Misamis Oriental Rural Electric Service Cooperative, Inc. (MORESCO) and the Victorias-Manapla-Cadiz Rural Electric Service Cooperative, Inc. (VRESCO), respectively.

With the help of Engr. Karamihan, the mayor was able to loan one hundred seventy thousand pesos (Php 170,000.00) from the Electrification Administration for the electrification program of the town.

In July 1966 Engr. Karamihan came back to the Philippines and resigned from the Electrification Administration. He returned to Balamban and applied a job in Atlas Corporation at Toledo City, Cebu. Though he was renting on a different house for delicadeza he always would go to Balamban during weekends by banca (boat) since Virginia would always go home from her college studies in Cebu City and would often walk on wooden slippers called “bakya” from the seashore. With the consent of the mayor, Virginia accepted the love of Donato whom she always looked as a light man responsible in the electrification of the town.

In 1967 the marriage of Donato and Virginia was already scheduled but the mayor became ill. She was found out to have a colon cancer. She was brought to the U.S. and to different countries in Europe but to no avail for she was already on a malignant stage.  Mayor Exasperanza Sanchez – Binghay died leaving her family empty handed with no more cash on hand due to her hospitalization. Following the tradition of “babang luksa” or “hubkas” Engr. Karamihan had to wait for another year if he really wanted to marry Virginia.

Upon the death of Mayor Exasperanza Sanchez - Binghay, Socrates Gonzalez, her vice-mayor, assumed the office of the mayor and Felix Calvo the office of the vice-mayor.

In 1968, two among the children of the late Mayor Exasperanza Sanchez – Binghay got married. On January 14, 1968, Rosario and Alex were married at the Guadalupe Church in Guadalupe, Cebu City. And on the following three months on April 28, 1968, Engr. Donato Karamihan had finally married Virginia Binghay.

In the next succeeding years, Virginia and Donato begot three children, namely: Virginia Donna, a physical therapist; Don Joseph, a nurse; and Dave John, an ECE who had served as municipal councilor for nine years.