I spent “vacacion grande” in Dr. V. Buencamino’s Veterinary Clinic in Felix Huertes with Dr. Angel K. Gomez as attending Veterinary Surgeon. One morning, as I poured a basin of mercuric bichloride (1:20000), I was spotted by Dr. Buencamino and he told me, “Sevilla, you are going to destroy my pipings”, the time I recalled that bichloride solution could really corrode any metal from my theoretical knowledge which I learned from my Chemistry class. When I was back to college, the experiment I got from that clinic of Dr. Buencamino made me a new man with grades of 1 in the Clinics of the Veterinary College, U.P.
Young veterinarians as usual are assigned in the field jumping from one province to another, from the most northern part of the Philippines to Mindanao waging Rinderpest campaign by quarantine and vaccination works. One day my vaccinating party was in a town of La Union with about 800 carabaos gathered waiting for vaccination. It so happened that one carabao dropped down immediately after vaccination. It was a terrible incident, a case of Anaphylaxis, but to explain to a hundred of farmers the theory of anaphylactic reaction to a susceptible animal would be just like talking Greek which could not be understood. What I did was to get a blood smear, stained it with ink drawn from a Parker pen (for I did not have any staining solution at that time). Of course what I could see are the tiny muscle fibers, and certainly I did not expect to see any organisms, so I called on the most educated and the most influential Tiniente del Barrio and showed him the tiny fibers calling it “anthrax”. The Barrio Lieutenant after peeping through the microscope shouted to his people “mga gagayem nakitak ni duang a mata ti microbio na natay ta nuang”. That relieved me a bit but during our lunch, I could not swallow the delicious foods prepared by the barrio folks for us. What lingered in my mind was that the owner of the carabao with bolo in his hand ready to hack me. Salamat at naawat ng Tiniente del Barrio. This accident reached the office of the Governor of La Union, relayed to the Secretary of Agriculture and the director of Animal Industry. I thought that was the end of me, but no. on the other hand, I was praised for what I had done to save the situation.
The greatest surprise was when one morning Undersecretary Jose S. Cemus told me that “I will go to the States” as member of the First Agricultural Mission to USDA under the sponsorship of the U.S. State Department as a counterpart of the American Agricultural Mission to the Philippines in 1946. There were three of us, Prof. De Leon of the UPCA, and as Chairman, Atty. Cornelio Crucillo of the NEC. When I was asked as to what I wanted to see, I answered “from animal production, marketing, end processing of animal products and by-products. When schedule of travel was prepared, I was sent to Pennsylvania University to Cornell, Ohio Experiment Station, to the big meat packing plants in Chicago and Kansas Cities down south to the Hudgin Ranch in Louisiana, King Ranch in Texas and A.M. College in Las Cruces, New Mexico. From there I was called back to Washington D.C. for an interview.
When the Superintendent of Culion Leper Colony reported that cattle and carabaos were dying in that colony, I was ordered to investigate and to remedy the unknown infection. Aware of the danger of getting infected myself with leprosy, I made it a point to return on the same boat Fortuna on its return trip. I took along with me a microscope, two kinds of straining material for anthrax and hemorrhagic septicemia vaccines for these two diseases including rinderpost vaccine just in case it so happen to be so. Luckily, the colony’s ranch was in a small island not far from the colony itself. And, luckily also, a Nellore bull was down, took blood smears and found it to be Hem-sep. All the cattle and carabaos of the colony was placed under control. Temporarily I was housed in the Bachelor’s Quarter in a negative section not so far from the lepers. The boat Fortuna was back according to schedule and I was able to return back before I got infected.
It was about 9:00a.m., a day in March in 1942, when a dog wagon covered with wires entered the compound of the Bureau of Animal Industry in Pandacan driven by Japanese soldiers with a list of persons to be picked. I was one of them, all Chiefs of Division. At the entrance of Fort Santiago, Dr. P Sales, Chief Animal Husbandry Division, cracked a painful joke saying, “Let us take a last look of Manila for we might not see it again.”
Once inside, a fierce looking Kempitae officer ordered the guard to keep us in separate room where no water and food could be found. Accusation against us was, that we had been receiving “short waves” from our Bureau Editor, who was picked up weeks before for furnishing news from short waves.
All the rests except me were released at 6:00p.m., after telling that they did recieved. In my case, I denied, for the truth was I had not recieved any. This denial brought me face to face with the Bureau Editor whom I found naked being tortured by the Kempitae, and this was what he declared: “You know Doctor (that’s me) I left the news on your desk.” To contradict this statement would lengthen the case. Hence, I told a lie, “oh yes, I said, when I returned to my office desk from the laboratory room I found a copy of shortwave news, and aware of the prohibition to keep news of this kind, I burnt it.” That settled my case and I was released at 10:30p.m. walking back home to Nagtahan passing through the ghost city of Manila, I saw my wife weeping, praying before two candles lighted on the altar.
While waiting inside the desk room in Fort Santiago, I had composed a prayer to the Nazareno in Quiapo like this: My Lord Jesus, keep me, protect me within the folds of your arm.” How I did it, I don’t know. Might be it is a miracle. Lesson is: when you are in distress or trouble, call on Jesus.
Once inside, a fierce looking Kempitae officer ordered the guard to keep us in separate room where no water and food could be found. Accusation against us was, that we had been receiving “short waves” from our Bureau Editor, who was picked up weeks before for furnishing news from short waves.
All the rests except me were released at 6:00p.m., after telling that they did recieved. In my case, I denied, for the truth was I had not recieved any. This denial brought me face to face with the Bureau Editor whom I found naked being tortured by the Kempitae, and this was what he declared: “You know Doctor (that’s me) I left the news on your desk.” To contradict this statement would lengthen the case. Hence, I told a lie, “oh yes, I said, when I returned to my office desk from the laboratory room I found a copy of shortwave news, and aware of the prohibition to keep news of this kind, I burnt it.” That settled my case and I was released at 10:30p.m. walking back home to Nagtahan passing through the ghost city of Manila, I saw my wife weeping, praying before two candles lighted on the altar.
While waiting inside the desk room in Fort Santiago, I had composed a prayer to the Nazareno in Quiapo like this: My Lord Jesus, keep me, protect me within the folds of your arm.” How I did it, I don’t know. Might be it is a miracle. Lesson is: when you are in distress or trouble, call on Jesus.
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