Trinidad Osorio Gonzales

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Trinidad Osorio Gonzales

DATE OF BIRTH: MAY 31, 1916
DATE OF DEATH: OCTOBER 23, 1973
PROMINENCE: POLITICS
BIRTH PLACE: ONDOY, IBAJAY, AKLAN
PERMANENT ADDRESS: ONDOY, IBAJAY, AKLAN
AGE: 57 YEARS OLD

BIOGRAPHY

(Include life story, awards received, contributions to the community, and citation with specific year)

A native of Ondoy, Trinidad (Trining) Osorio Gonzales was born on May 31, 1916. She was the youngest child of Natalio Galvan Osorio and Gregoria Dalisay Conanan. She had three sisters, Alejandra, Isabel, and Generosa (Rosa); she also had two brothers, Francisco, and Benjamin (all +). Because her parents were elderly, and most of her siblings already had families of their own, Trining followed in older sister Rosa's footsteps to look for greener pastures in Iloilo. Both worked various jobs at the Lopez-owned Companies to support themselves as well as their parents. Once Rosa was married, Trining became the sole breadwinner of the family working two jobs, one was a tutor to the Lopez children. Her passion for education became the core of her charity. She intended to go back to school, but her dreams were thwarted when World War II broke out and she had to return to Ondoy to evacuate their parents after the Japanese invasion.

After the war was over, Trining married Wenceslao (Oben) Gonzales, a member of the US Army. Oben was part of the infantry composed of Filipino-Americans, which landed in the Philippines as the first liberation soldiers. Together, they had a daughter Edna and a son Wenceslao Oscar (Islaw) (+). Oben, who earned US citizenship, wanted his family to come with him to the United States, but Trining refused to leave her country. Her father had passed away and she was her mother's caretaker. She invested money in many businesses: her most profitable investments were farming, fishing, and Coconut (copra). Her charitable contributions began as a Teniente del barrio for three successive terms and one term as Capitan. Teniente/Capitan was not a paying position at the time but was a service to the community.

She died on October 23, 1973, at the age of 57 of a heart attack, after less than a year of living in San Francisco, California. She is survived by her daughter, seven grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren.

“If she were alive today, she would be humbled by the honors that the community and the school have given her. She did not do this alone, and she had help from others. She planted the seed, but others helped water it and God made it happen. Trining was truly a servant leader for her beloved Ondoy,” told by: Mrs. Edna Gonzales Boughton-Daughter of the late Mrs. Trinidad O. Gonzales.

SIGNIFICANCE

(Indicate the type of significance, e.g. historical, aesthetic, economic, social, political, spiritual, and the explain)

Historical. Trinidad Osorio Gonzales has advocated for funding to fix the Primary School building and get funding for Elementary School and eventually establish High School. In the complexity of life, a dream was realized through the enthusiasm and determination of Ondoy Barrio Council, Ondoy, Ibajay, Aklan headed by Mrs. Trinidad Osorio Gonzales. The visionary Barangay Captain sought the expertise and advise of Mr. Nicolas S. Martirez, the Ondoy Elementary School Head during that year (1967). With his help, the council worked for the passage of establishing a secondary school. It was on July 15, 1968, when the school started with only nineteen (19) students enrolled under the tutelage of Mrs. Eve O. Iligan and housed at the residence of Mrs. Trinidad O. Gonzales. Hardships, time, and effort were the principal elements of Mrs. Gonzales’s adoption from the start until it became a well-established institution. True to this commitment, Mrs. Gonzales was always on top of every school's affair sacrificing her time and financial resources just to see her barrio mates mitigate the problem of illiteracy. In 1972, Mrs. Gonzales migrated to the United States and looked forward to the continuing supervision of the school, thus she entrusted this commitment to Mr. Renne Telan Tefora, the newly-elected Barrio Captain then. To avoid higher expenditures, the latter volunteered himself to teach expecting no compensation. As the number of enrollees gradually increased, the Barrio Council deemed it wise to look for funds for the construction of a temporary building. At that time, the residences of Mrs. Trinidad O. Gonzales, Mr. & Mrs. Mauro Magsipoc, Mr. & Mrs. Lucio Sentones, and Mr. Ricardo Dalisay became the first classrooms of the school's pioneer students. With the help of some civic-minded senior citizens and out-of-school-youths (Serenaders Club), two classrooms made of nipa and bamboo rose inside the Ondoy Elementary School site, Ondoy, Ibajay, Aklan.

Economic. Trinidad Osorio Gonzales redeemed back all the land that was in prenda and became the steward of the Osorio and Gonzales family land. A newly minted farmer, she continued to buy more farmland and mountains and experimented with planting coffee and cacao. She invested money in many businesses: her most profitable investments were farming, fishing, and Coconut (copra) to help Ondoyanon farmers and fishers. Also, she fed the poor by giving them rice or corn from her harvest and fish from her tacsay and taba.

Social. Mrs. Gonzales was truly a servant leader for her beloved Ondoy. Her charitable contributions began as a Teniente del barrio for three successive terms and one term as Capitan. Teniente/Capitan was not a paying position at the time but was a service to the community. She bought emergency medical supplies and used her own money to send ailing people to doctors. She fed the poor by giving them rice or corn from her harvest and fish from her tacsay, taba, and family rations of powdered milk, cheese, sardines, Hills Brothers Coffee, crackers, butter, and other PX foods sent by her husband from US commissary. Because of her generosity, she was likened to Pacita Madrigal Warns, who was the Social Welfare Administrator at the time.

She was an early investor at Melchor Memorial School, a School founded by Dr. Rafael Tumbokon in honor of Coronel Alejandro Melchor. She sent her students to Melchor and paid their tuition, provided school supplies, transportation, food, uniforms, as well as pocket money. She sent many of these students to College in Manila and Iloilo to get their degrees. She even fulfilled her dream of finishing school and becoming a graduate of Melchor.

While waiting for funding to fix the existing school, Trining offered her own house to be used for elementary school classrooms. The school furniture was moved to her house and her house became the school until they received funding and were able to build a new school.

She planted the first seed to get an appropriation for the school. Her target was to fix the Primary School building and get funding for an Elementary School and eventually a High School down the road.

Trinidad Osorio Gonzales has passion for education became the core of her charity. “My mother was a storyteller and shared her journey with us and others as well. Her primary purpose was to help poor children finish school without monetary hardship. It was her experience that prompted her cause and only materialized when she had the money, time, and connections with politicians. For her, it was a civic obligation and "bulig" and was not expecting anything in return. She would have been mesmerized by this honor. Her family is humbled and grateful. Thank you, everyone, from the bottom of our hearts!” told by: Mrs. Edna Gonzales Boughton-Daughter of the late Mrs. Trinidad O. Gonzales

Political. Trinidad Osorio Gonzales has been a Teniente del barrio for three successive terms and one term as Capitan. Teniente/Capitan was not a paying position at the time but was a service to the community. Through the tutelage of the Lopez family, she became involved in Politics. She campaigned for Godofredo to become the first Governor of Aklan in 1956, but it was Congressman Jose B. Legaspi and Rafael Legaspi who completed the deal. Being a community activist and a political leader had advantages and disadvantages. Trining made friends and critics. People who were allies become your enemies in the next election. It took a toll on her health, but she was relentless in her mission.

Spiritual. When Mrs. Gonzales was diagnosed with uterine cancer. She promised to build a church if she survives. Because of prayers and her unwavering faith in God, she was healed of her cancer, and she built the Pentecostal Tabernacle Church at Ondoy, Ibajay, Aklan.

REFERENCES

KEY INFORMANT/S:	TERESITA D. SALAVER (Granddaughter to Niece of Trinidad Osorio Gonzales)
REFERENCE/S AND OTHER RESOURCES:	Alumni Souvenir Program 2018 (ONHS FUNDRESS) by Edna Gonzales Boughton-Daughter of the Late Mrs. Trinidad O. Gonzales
NAME OF MAPPER/S:	WENIEBETH T. TALADTAD (Teacher I, Ondoy National High School)
LANGUAGE EDITOR:	ANJHIELYN MAE C. CAHILIG (Master Teacher I, Makato Integrated School)
LAYOUT ARTIST:	MA. CHRISTINE B. TEJADA (Teacher II, Makato Integrated School)
CONTENT EVALUATORS:	DENNIS E. BONTOGON (Master Teacher III, Kalibo Pilot Elementary School) JOSEPHINE P. VICENTE (Teacher III, Regional Science High School for Region VI)
WIKI EDITOR:	JOHN CEZAR S. SORROSA (Teacher I, Ibajay Integrated School)
APPROVED:	RUBY AGNES B. ESTRADA, PhD (Education Program Supervisor, Araling Panlipunan)
DATE PROFILED:	June 27, 2023

ATTACHMENTS:
List of works and achievements

• Various jobs at the Lopez-owned Companies
  
• Tutor to the Lopez children
  
• Teniente del barrio for three successive terms and one term as Capitan
  
• Foundress of Ondoy Barrio High School
  

Awards and Recognition

• Posthumous Award (In grateful recognition and deep appreciation of her significant contribution to the establishment of Ondoy Barrio High School which eminently brought transformation in the lives of not just Ondoyanons but also of those in the nearby Communities) Given in August 2018, School’s Golden Jubilee Celebration Held at Ondoy School Ground, Ondoy, Ibajay, Aklan