Missing Filemon, Finding Insoy

By: Rei Sarmiento-Niñal

“Tana, uli ta.” (Let’s go home.) were the words that unexpectedly changed the course of our lives. It was in the middle of March 2020, the COVID-19 outbreak had become severe, and lockdowns were looming. Gigs got postponed, as well as our side hustles. It was when schools suspended classes that we decided to pack up and go to Pinamungajan, Insoy’s hometown.

Carrying only two luggages filled with two week’s worth of clothing for a family of four, we cautiously welcomed this new, unfamiliar phase as a sort of vacation, an opportunity for us to take a break from the hectic city life. But weeks became months, and next thing we knew, we had spent half of the year indoors making dalgona coffee.

To many, Insoy Niñal is a songwriter, an entertainer, an educator, and a journalist. He got a few things under his belt that helped propelled the local creative scene as we know it today. But he is also a father, and every father’s main concern in times of crisis is how to keep his family afloat.

Reconnecting with His Roots

“Although we planned to go home to the province permanently, it was not the time yet.” Insoy said, adding that our lives and main source of income were still centered in the city. The pandemic led us home earlier and at the same time, paved a way for him to reconnect with his roots.

Little by little, we spruced up the ancestral house — repainted the walls, fixed some old furniture, and tended the garden. By the start of the school year, we enrolled the kids at the school he graduated from. Everything was coming full circle for him.

It was also during the pandemic where we mobilized our contacts in the private sector to distribute aid to mountain barangays here in Pinamungajan — a way of giving back to the place that helped us survive and stay sane.

From Rocker to Farmer

With what’s left of the little savings we had, we bought a lot on top of a hill in one of the mountain barangays in Pinamungajan. There, we planted cacao, coconut, and banana trees. But more than the creation of a farm in that small barangay up in the mountain, it was also the relationships we cultivated that gave us a new perspective in life. We met a community of farmers who inspired us in so many ways.

“Daghan kog nakuha nga mga maayong butang sa syudad, mga kaalam, ideas nga ganahan kaayo nako nga mapaambit sa mga tagilungsod nako. Pero ang nahitabo, mas daghan pa hinuon kog nakat-onan sa mga tao diri,” he said.

To be candid, being a farmer was the last thing I think he would become. He once aspired to be a priest, though. “I would have been the first Asian pope,” he jokingly said. God probably knew he’d cause more problems at the Vatican so He had to break the spirits of the young seminarian.

With things happening fast around us, I asked him if this will be our ‘new normal’ and he confidently replied, “Mabuhi ra ta sa bukid, nature will provide.”

Cultivating Cocohub Cebu

True enough, it was in agriculture where we found the opportunity to thrive. With the assistance of Lamac Multipurpose Cooperative, we explored ways to convert raw materials that were abundantly available in Pinamungajan and nearby towns. We started manufacturing coco ropes, coco poles, coco pots, and other garden essentials derived from coconut coir. What the plantitos and plantitas started doing as a hobby meant the resumption of our farm friends’ livelihood.

“Daghan kaayog butang sa bukid nga pwede mapangitaag kwarta (There are many things in the farm that can be made a source of income),” Insoy shared. Aside from garden essentials, Cocohub Cebu started producing coco vinegar with the help of our famer friends. We took our local products to the city, some in the neighboring towns, to supply retailers every week. Then we put the items online where there’s demand.

Advancing Communities

Since then, Cocohub Cebu has become some sort of a collective effort in our community here in Pinamungajan. We provide livelihood to families, acquire raw materials and produce from farmers, and buy handmade products from local crafters then we display the items at expos and bazaars.

Advancing homegrown creativity has always been Insoy’s advocacy and we can’t do this without the help of the people around us. “Diri, na-realize namo ang ka-importante sa komunidad. Ang inyohang pagtinabangay mas hugot because you know each other and you treat each other as family (We realized the importance of community. Concern for each other is strong because.)”

Bangon Ug Pamapha Lang, Padayon Jud

The concert scene may still have to make a comeback but Insoy still finds time to reconnect with songwriting. Currently, the band Missing Filemon is just a few songs away from completing another album and recently, he, as a solo artist, released a new song, “Padayon Jud” under the label Kadasig.

Padayon Jud’s melody reminds you of sunny jukebox Sundays where your father starts grilling and mother starts the litany about you waking up late but the lyrics and message still ring true to this day.

“The song is inspired by what’s happening right now, the crisis. [It’s] to give people inspiration nga bisan pa man sa kalisod, padayon gihapon ta, di ta moatras. Bisan pa man matumba ta karon, mobangon gihapon ta.” (The song is inspired by what’s happening right now, the crisis. [It’s] to give people inspiration that despite the hardships, we’ll keep moving forward. Even if life knocks us down, we get back up again.)

The pandemic taught us many things. People became kinder, more empathetic. They realized the value of volunteerism, to be of service to others. Also, it has been a time of reflection, of knowing our priorities, of redirecting our efforts to the core — the things that matter most. Because no matter how hard life knocks us over, we will always keep moving forward.”

 

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