Remedios M Samblaceño, RM

Remedios Manalang-Samblaceño passed on to the loving care of the Lord on the 12th of July 2017. She was 83 years old. She was predeceased by her spouse Vivencio Sr. and is survived by her son, Vivencio, Jr. (Sonya), daughter, Maria Remedios (John), and grandchild Gabriela.

Remedios, who was fondly called Meding by family, and Remy by friends, was born in Lipata of Minglanilla, Cebu in the Philippines. She was the eldest sister among the seven children of Patricia Largo and Fernando Manalang of Guagua, Pampanga. She was the sister to their oldest, Conrado Largo Manalang. Her family moved to Sta. Cruz, Manila at the height of the Second World War. She was 12 years old. It was in Manila—the environs of Binondo (the first Chinatown in the world), that she got her piano lessons from a Chinese mentor named Miss Sun. Although Remedios did not become a concert pianist, her 'savior-faire' did not go unnoticed. She became a piano teacher herself. It was how she and her future husband, Vivencio Samblaceño, Sr. (Moniker: Ven) came together. Likewise, Ven's family in Ozamis, Mindanao, were neighbors of the Largo-Roa's of her maternal clan.    

Music and the Arts have become a familial activity for her own two children, Vivencio Jr, and Maria Remedios. The home was about music, dance, and the visual arts. It was also about love for the literary arts and the pursuit of academic excellence, as exemplified by her husband Ven, who became a member of the Writers Guild of the Philippines. He was a Magna Cum Laude graduate. Their only grandchild Gabriela also followed suit in immersing herself in the arts.

Remedios was a devoted mother. She was dutiful in bringing her children to the art and dance studios from where their talents and career in the visual and performing arts bloomed. At home, she would play the piano and members singing to the classics was the natural indulgence along with reading, playing the guitar, writing, and drawing. Cooking and adventures with Filipino and Chinese dishes were affairs that brought the family together. The Hong Ning restaurant in Escolta and the Ma Mon Luk eatery in Chinatown Banawe were favorite food spots. Despite the strict Catholic upbringing derived from her maternal Cebuana influence, the Manalang Chinese ancestry melded into the fold, leaving an eclectic yet profound appreciation for history and legacies. The Sponsors of Ven and Meding were Chinese, which served as proof of the strong familial ties. Thus too, Intramuros, Escolta, and Binondo in Manila have become a nostalgic hub for the family members she has left behind.

Remedios had a passion for cooking. Perhaps it was from her Pampanga roots—a region noted for their cooking, where she found inspiration. She was meticulous about table decorum and settings—a trait that influenced her daughter, whose interest in tablescapes and ware collection, became a hobby. In her retirement years, Remedios devoted herself to horticulture. Left behind to bless her forever home are fruit-bearing trees, a Golden Lime (Calamansi) shrub, a lush Garden of Paradise, and a Moringa. All these she cultivated with the blessing of Nature and the birds that settled therein.

Career. Remedios Manalang Samblaceño was a Registered Midwife. She earned her education from the Dr. Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital School of Midwifery. After school, she served as Governess to then-Senate President Eulogio Rodriguez. Her next and final career step was government service, where she served for over 35 years. She served in the Quezon City Health Department of the Department of Health (DOH Philippines), where she took over as a Supervisor of the Health Clinics in her later years. These barangay clinics of Quezon City under her supervision were in Project 4, Project 7, Roxas District, Mayon Avenue, Kamuning, and Balara, among others. In her mid-career, she took to university studies. She attained a Degree in Management from the University of the East in Manila.

Civic Life. Remedios was active in the communities where she settled. During summertime, her daughter accompanied her to the underserved community of Tatalon in Quezon City. She supported the Children and Young People Program of the Sto. Domingo Church, where her son was encouraged to play the piano. Under the Department of Health, she took on duties in the campaign to combat drug abuse under DARE Philippines. This commitment expanded to her private life and to the communities that she touched. It was evidence of her concern for others. Home to Remedios is defined to go beyond the four walls. Not forgotten is the time that her daughter obeyed her orders to bring cold drinks to the Metro Aides during hot weather. Such is the love through nurturance and service that is most remembered of her.

Her spirit lives on as fondly remembered by her colleagues, co-workers in government, her only living sister, Aurora, four nephews, seven nieces, 12 grandchildren, and 14 great-grandchildren.