Balay Sang Monyeka

Alice Tan Gonzales

BARDOS - BALABARCON - TAMALA

 Alice Tan Gonzales
- Born: July 24, 1954 (Bacolod)
- A contemporary Hiligaynon writer and professor
of literature in UP Visayas Miag-ao
- Won 1st place at Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards
for Short Story in Hiligaynon (for her story
“Balay Sang Monyeka”)
Other Awards
Credits: Alice Tan-Gonzales FB Page
Credits: Alice Tan-Gonzales FB Page
Balay Sang Monyeka
About the Story
In 1914, the Spanish haciendero Don Emiliano
Villaruz built a tall and biggest mansion in the
barrio in which it was located near the center of
Barangay Tangub in the city of Bacolod. The
time where the barons of Negros was just
enjoying the limitless exportation of sugar to
the United States of America from the
Philippines. However, in 1985 the golden years
of the sugar industry had ceased because of
the negligible percentage of the sugar being
purchased by the U.S.
Time passed, the Castilian Don Emilio died and among his five
children only Joaquin inherited the Hacienda Paz (that was
named after his Filipina wife). The mansion of the Villaruz has
been neglected a long time and was believed that it was
haunted. Despite this, there is Cita the daughter of Joaquin, the
youngest among the two; Emil and Esperanza, who to took care
of the mansion to maintain the calmness, happiness and beauty
inside the mansion. His brother Emil lose hope for the return of
great times in sugar industry, so he decided to sell his share in
the hacienda and built his own house in 1979 together with his
family. While Ezperanza married a Spaniard and lived in Spain,
only Cita manages the Hacienda Paz and the Mansion.
Cita was fan of collecting dolls and knitting dresses for
them. It started when she discovered a doll inside a
closet that was not open for a long time, the doll left by
her favorite niece Mary Ann, the only daughter of her
elder brother Emil. She fixed it to return to her niece, but
Mary Ann no longer want the doll, so she kept it. Cita is
39 years old and does not have a husband and children,
she also had a physical defect that forced him to stop
teaching, seventeen years ago. Only the dolls and her
helper Merit accompany her in the mansion. Only Merit
knows how Cita honor every Villaruz, and how she
values her family that she spent nothing for herself.
 Members:
BARDOS, Sugar
BALABARCON, Christine Mae
TAMALA, Cherry Pie

11- Gold (STEM)