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. As her parents were elderly, and most of her siblings already had families of their own, Trining followed her older sister Rosa in Iloilo and both worked various jobs at the Lopez-owned Companies to support themselves as well as their parents. She became a tutor to the Lopez children. Her plan to go back to school was thwarted when World War II broke out and she had to return to Ondoy to evacuate their parents after the Japanese invasion.

With the war over, Trining married Wenceslao (Oben) Gonzales, a member of the US Army. Oben was part of the infantry composed of Filipino-Americans, who landed in the Philippines as the first liberation soldiers. Together, they had two children, a daughter named Edna and a son known as Wenceslao Oscar (Islaw) (+). While her husband who earned a US citizenship, wanted his family to come with him to the United States, Trining refused to leave her country as she was tending to her aged mother, when her father passed away. Instead, 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. It was not a paying position at the time but it was a service to the community.

Mrs. Gonzales was instrumental in the putting up of a secondary school in Brgy. Ondoy in Ibajay, Aklan. Headed by her, this dream was pushed through the enthusiasm and determination of Ondoy Barrio Council. She being a visionary Barangay Captain sought the expertise and advice 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 the school. It was on July 15, 1968, when Mrs. Gonzales’ sacrifices paid off as the school became operational.

The school started with only nineteen (19) students enrolled under the tutelage of Mrs. Eve O. Iligan and housed at the residence of Mrs. Gonzales. She invested her time and effort in this goal and faced hardships and challenges head-on. True to this commitment, Mrs. Gonzales was always on top of every school's affair sacrificing her time and financial resources just to address the problem of illiteracy by her barrio mates. 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 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.

On October 23, 1973, at the age of 57, Mrs. Gonzales died of 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.

Trinidad Osorio Gonzales' passion for education became the core of her charity. According to her daughter, Mrs. Edna Gonzales-Boughton and to quote: “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 materialized when she had the money, time, and connections with politicians. For her, it was a civic obligation and "bulig" (help), and was not expecting anything in return. “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.”

SIGNIFICANCE

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

Social. Mrs. Gonzales was truly a servant leader for her beloved Ondoy. Her charitable contributions began while she was the local leader. To address literacy problems, she advocated for funding to fix the Primary School building, get funding for Elementary School, and eventually establish Ondoy Barrio High School. 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 sent her students to Melchor Memorial School in Ibajay and paid their tuition, providing 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.

Political. Trinidad Osorio Gonzales has been a Teniente del barrio for three successive terms and served one term as Capitan Teniente/Capitan of Brgy. Ondoy. Through the tutelage of the Lopez family, she became involved in politics. She is a community activist and a political leader barrio mates.

Spiritual. Mrs. Gonzales built the Pentecostal Tabernacle Church at Ondoy, Ibajay. This came into being as a result of the promise she gave. Diagnosed with uterine cancer, she pledged to build a church if she survived. Because of prayers and her unwavering faith in God, she was healed of her cancer.

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.

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