Junífera Clarita in photos

Heya! La Familia Viajera is now featuring all the photos that were taken surrounding the days of Junífera Clarita's birth ten days ago!

Excited to go home!

Our baby girl was named after her mom Yeyette (whose real name is Jennifer) and St. Clare of Assisi.

Click here to view the whole photo album! Most of the photos are captioned detailing the story behind the arrival of our family's newest angel! And judging by her wildly kicking legs each time she is awake, it seems that she is already eager to travel with the rest of us!

And it's coming pretty soon!

¡Agradecemos a todos los que nos ayudaron!

Aunque soy cristiano, tengo una tendencia a ser pesimista. Pero los acontecimientos recientes han restaurado completamente mi fe en la humanidad.

Tantas personas respondieron a mi petición de ayuda la semana pasada, y algunos de ellos ni siquiera hemos conocido aún en persona. Es la hora para mostrar mi humilde gratitud.

¡Bienvenida al mundo, Junífera Clarita!

Más de una docena de personas, de una u otra forma, nos ayudaron durante este episodio más difícil de nuestras vidas. De parte de mi mujer Jennifer "Yeyette" Perey de Alas, me gustaría dar mi agradecimiento especial a estos ángeles: mis hermanas Jennifer y Jessica, mi suegra Teresa Atienza de Perey y su paisana Jene Alfaro, mi suegro Jaime Perey, la Familia Catáquiz de San Pedro Tunasán (la srᵃ alcaldesa Lourdes Catáquiz, su marido Don Calixto Catáquiz, su hijo Aris Catáquiz, y su sobrino León Buenavista), mi tío Ramón Alas, el gran filipinista Señor Guillermo Gómez Rivera, Antonio Marques Sans (salimos del hospital principalmente a causa de él), Shee-Ann Meneses, Diego Pastor Zambrano, José-Rodaniel Cruz, Luis María Cardaba Prada, nuestra vecina Flor Junio de Pérez (por cuidar de nuestros otros niños durante nuestra estancia en el hospital), Ronald Yu, Sylvia Santos de Pineda (bisnieta de Marcelo H. del Pilar), Jennalyn Carmona y Jingky Sumañga (respectivamente del departamento de facturación y una enfermera de St. Clare's Medical Center), y mi mejor amigo Arnaldo Arnáiz.

Gracias a Philippine Red Cross por su eficaz.

Gracias también a los médicos que trabajaron arduamente para salvar la vida de Yeyette: la ginecóloga obstetra Drᵃ Catherine Pujol de Azores y su cirujano marido Dr. Rouel Azores, el anestesiólogo Dr. Gerald Vita, y otra ginecóloga obstetra Drᵃ Orpha Montillano de Corrado.

Junífera Clarita en el cuarto del bebé del hospital.

Y por supuesto, mil gracias también a todos los innumerables y valiosos amigos y parientes nuestros que oraron por la seguridad y recuperación de mi mujer y nuestra nueva bebé, Junífera Clarita. ¡Muchas gracias a todos ustedes! Gracias por el apoyo y el aliento espiritual y moral. Yeyette ahora disfruta de su segunda vida en la Tierra con nuestros cinco hijos hermosos. Somos muy afortunados de tener a todos ustedes en nuestras vidas.

¡Hogar, dulce hogar!

¡Enaltecer la familia para la gloria más alta de Dios!

Un llamado desesperado en busca de ayuda...

Queridos amigos,

Como algunos de ustedes ya saben, mi mujer Yeyette dio a luz el lunes pasado, la fiesta de Santa Clara de Asís, a nuestra nueva niña que es nuestro quinto prole. Y era su quinto parto por cesárea.

Junífera Clarita Alas y Perey unas horas después de su nacimiento (foto tomada por mi suegra, Teresa Atienza de Perey).

Desafortunadamente, sufría de una rara complicación llamadaplacenta percreta. Su placenta adhirió y creció a través de su útero y se extendió a su vejiga. Es por eso que después de dar a luz a Junífera Clarita, inmediatamente se sometió a un procedimiento de histerectomía. Perdió grandes cantidades de sangre, por eso que se requiere transfusión de sangre.

Casi perdió dos veces su vida durante la operación de seis horas.

Pero gracias a sus oraciones, sobrevivió. Se someterá a su última transfusión de sangre entre este día. Sí, se está recuperando rápidamente. Pero ahora, tenemos otro problema: debido a los intentos médicos para salvar su vida, nuestras cuentas de hospital ahora se ha disparado a €2.050 y se acumulan cada día.

No estábamos preparados para este problema. Lo siento muchísimo. Sólo tenemos suficiente dinero para su parto. Así que por eso apelando desesperadamente por una ayuda monetaria. Lo sé, lo sé. Lo que estoy haciendo ahora mismo es muy embarazoso. Tiempos desesperados requieren medidas desesperadas, creo. Al contrario a la creencia popular, no soy rico. En realidad, soy un pobre ciudadano filipino. Tengo un trabajo decente, pero estoy endeudada. Tengo muchos parientes y amigos ricos pero de alguna manera no tengo los pantalones de pedirles ayuda monetaria. Y no tengo la fortuna de tener relaciones íntimas a los miembros ricos de mi clan.

A veces, es la mejor opción a tratar de contactar a las personas anónimas en estos momentos de necesidad.

Si ustedes están dispuesto a ayudarnos, por favor nos envíe una donación por hacer clic aquí. Y nos pueden contactar a +639084842013.

Antes de terminar, quiero que sepan esta verdad: no soy el tipo de persona que comparte mis problemas especialmente si tiene algo que ver con el dinero. Pero esta cantidad (€2.050) es enorme. Irónicamente, en un país lleno de políticos asquerosamente ricos, no tengo prácticamente ninguna idea de dónde puedo pedir ayuda monetaria. Por favor. Ayúdenos. =(

Puede que no seamos capaces de devolver su amabilidad. Pero estoy seguro que el Señor Dios les devolverá. Muchas gracias.

Sinceramente,

Pepe Alas

Please welcome the newest member of our family: Junífera Clarita!

Early this afternoon at Saint Clare's Medical Center on the feast day of Saint Clare of Assisi, Yeyette gave birth to our newest member of the family. And here she is!

We've been planning to name her Junífera La Bella. Junífera is another Spanish variant of Jennifer, Yeyette's real name. And to fans of the late Spanish-language writer Gabriel García Márquez, La Bella should ring a bell. But since our baby was born on the feast day of the hospital's namesake saint, and because we asked her to intercede for Yeyette's very fragile delivery, I decided today to name her Junífera Clarita.

Speaking of Yeyette, she is safe now. But not without a tough fight. And what an obstacle it was! I called a couple of hospitals then went back and forth to two branches of the Philippine National Red Cross just to procure several units of fresh whole blood (and mind you, it's type AB+ so the task was not a mere stroll in the park).

After giving birth to Junífera Clarita, Yeyette underwent hysterectomy procedure because of a rare and severe obstetric complication. She lost lots of blood during the procedure (as already anticipated by her OB/GYN). It was a tense afternoon, and it got scarier because we found out later on that she almost died twice due to massive blood loss. La Familia Viajera almost lost our light, our guide, the tender succor of our home. All in all, it took six hours, three doctors, and several nurses and orderlies —some of whom were already off duty— to save her life...

And of course, you guys were spiritually there on the scene! Thank you so much for storming the heavens with your prayers for my wife and our new baby girl!

As of this writing, Yeyette is still unconscious, but recovering fast. Once she's OK, I'll have her write about her experience right here on La Familia Viajera!

I can't wait to see Yeyette and Junífera Clarita together! I'm sure that Krystal, Momay, Jefe, and Juanito are super excited as well!

This family of mine is the GREATEST thing to have ever happened in my life!

¡Gracias por la intercesión, Santa Clara de Asís! ¡A Dios sea toda la gloria! ¡Enaltecer la familia para la gloria más alta de Dios!

From Tunasán to Macati: a tale of two San Pedros

Some of you must have already heard that unfortunate incident which befell me and my family last summer: we received death threats from two filthy rich politicians (who are infamous power-hungry brothers from Iloílo City, if I may add) because I have been very vocal of my support for our city mayor whom they loathe so much. And because of the threat to our lives, concerned officials had to pull us out from our dear adoptive city.

Palm Sunday 2014 at the San Pedro Apóstol Parish Church two weeks before our lives were threatened.

At first, I really didn't give much attention to those threats; I found them too cowardly and hollow. But a death threat's a death threat no matter what. Maínam na raw ang nag-iiñgat. Besides, "rumors" are rife that our main antagonist ordered the assassination of a rival politician two years ago. Therefore, if it is true that he had masterminded the dastardly act to that public servant in question (and many people from his barrio do believe so), just imagine what he could he do to ordinary citizens like us here in La Familia Viajera (and on two video clips, he implicitly manifested his intent of harming us). He has several armed thugs —his private army, actually— wherever he goes. So for the sake of my wife's peace of mind and our safety, I finally gave in to the advice that it's time for us to move out.

On the evening of May 6th, immediately after filing a blotter report against those two brother thugs posing as public servants, we were escorted out of our apartment unit in haste. Noticing the firearms of those kind men who helped my family move out of our place made me realize the gravity of the death threat (looking back blithely, that thought suddenly reminded of Rocket's sarcastic "It's real!" retort to Star-Lord). And with my wife in tears and our kids puzzled with all that was happening, we bid our neighbors and our city —our home for the past decade— farewell...

But where did we go? Well, it's not exactly the type of place that fugitive families ever dreamed of going...

The official seal of Makati City, historically known as San Pedro Macati.

My apologies if I started this blogpost with negative vibes and bad people. This blog is supposed to be family friendly and filled only with joyful pictures and words about my family's travels. But I just felt the need to share our plight to you to explain the cause of our sudden exodus to San Pedro Macati City. Oh, yes, you read that right. The traditionalist that I am, I prefer to call Makati City by its original name: San Pedro Macati, much like the way I refer to San Pedro City as San Pedro Tunasán.

And I think by now, you should be able to see some similarities and differences between the two cities. When West was fused with East, both of their native titles were attached to the Spanish name of Saint Peter the Apostle. A coincidence? Also, the peculiar thing is that the other city lost its native name later on (City of San Pedro) while the other one lost its saintly appelation (Makati City). A reverse parallelism?

Be that as it may, these quirks of history that were tied up to our predicament was not lost on me, and they amazed my wife and our kids. We left San Pedro Tunasán but moved to another San Pedro — San Pedro Macati, that is.

And speaking of our kids, all of them were born in San Pedro Macati! In fact, my wife is scheduled to give birth to our fifth child tomorrow morning (August 11, Monday; please pray for her and the baby), on the same hospital where all our children first saw not the light of day but the bright lights of the delivery room.

Another interesting note to ponder: the evolution of the early communities of both San Pedro Macati and San Pedro Tunasán were under the guidance of the Jesuit fathers. Macati was founded as a población in 1620 while Tunasán in 1725 (and not 1763 as is frequently reported). Was attaching the name San Pedro to both places intentional? Were they meant to be "twin towns"? After all, both Macati and Tunasán are only about 23 kilometers away from each other, aside from the fact that both are very close to Laguna de Bay.

Mómay y Yeyette delante de la Iglesia de San Pedro Macati.

As a Spanish-created community, today's skyscrapered city of Makati used to be a rustic territory of the arrabal or district of Santa Ana de Sapa (or simply Santa Ana today) in Manila. In 1670, it became a full-fledged municipality bearing the name San Pedro Macati whose matrix is situated, as always, in the población. Locals call it endearingly as "Sampiro", an indigenized pronunciation of San Pedro. From historian extraordinaire Nick Joaquín who, as a child, used to spend summer vacations in San Pedro Macati's Barrio Olimpia by the Pásig River, we can get a glimpse of the city's yesteryears as completely rustic, pastoral, rural:

...Sampiro was then pure boondocks, very different from today's ultra-modern Makati. What's now Ayala Avenue and Forbes Park was then rice paddy, fodder field, and carabao wallow.

Ayala Center (North Drive) at night.

It was the Zóbel de Ayala family who turned San Pedro Macati into the economic behemoth that it is today. The city's main attraction, the Makati Central Business District, is the sole reason why it is called "The Financial District of the Philippines" since the head offices of many of the country's biggest multinational corporations, law firms, construction firms, stock brokerages, and banks are located here. High-end malls, private homes, and condominiums also abound all over the place. Beautifully designed skyscrapers are a trademark feature of Makati City for years that whenever one speaks of a Philippine urban setting, that city automtically comes to mind.

Incidentally, Makati's "twin", the City of San Pedro, seems to be headed towards the same direction already trodden by the former because the current administration's "San Pedro Urban Renewal" project (an offshoot of the much larger San Pedro Road Map 2020) is dead set of equalling —if not surpassing— the economic and cultural achievements of the latter. Such, in brief, is the tale of these two San Pedros by the great lake.

Mirrored selfie at Powerbooks in Greenbelt 4.

At Greenbelt Park on Momay's 10th birthday.

Skyline of Makati City.
© mjlsha

Washington Sycip Park.

And what of our status? For security purposes, I cannot divulge much. All I can say is that, quite ironically, instead of hiding, we've been touring much that there is to visit since our exile to San Pedro Macati. So in the coming blogposts, we'll share more photos and stories of our viajeng Macati. I might even one day thank the Brothers Ynión (Eugenio and Rommel) for threatening to kill us. Because if not for their pompous mafioso attitude, we wouldn't have enjoyed and got to know San Pedro Macati up close and personal.

Yeah, such are the quirks not only history but of happenstance.

The Alas kids at the Legazpi Active Park.

Churching of Yeyette before her fifth caesarian delivery

After our Mozarabic Rite wedding last year, our children got to witness another rare and ancient Christian rite yesterday afternoon at the Holy Family Parish Church in Cubáo: churching before childbirth.

This ceremony is so ancient you wouldn't even find it in Google. Click on the picture for the complete photo album!

It was Fr. Jojo Zerrudo who, after New Year's Day Mass, advised us to come back to him before Yeyette's scheduled caesarian delivery so that he could bless her and our new baby. Having been exposed to a Novus Ordo upbringing, me and Yeyette had no idea that there was such a blessing. But we knew that it was something that simply had to be done because, for sure, it is something certifiably Catholic, authentically Christian.

We had planned to go back to Fr. Jojo on a much earlier date. But because of our busy schedule, we weren't able to do so (just imagine taking care of four children —with no household helpers to boot— while both husband and wife are working the night shift among other activities, and you'll get the picture). But now, I think our tardiness was just as timely because Yeyette was diagnosed to have placenta percreta just a few days ago.

It can be remembered that Macati Mayor Junjun Binay's wife died a month after giving birth due to complications caused by placenta accreta. But my wife's condition, placenta percreta, is said to be much worse compared to placenta accreta. That's why our visit to the Holy Family Parish Church yesterday was a special and poignant one.

So after the Missa Cantata, we went to the sacristy to confer with Fr. Jojo and our acolyte friends for the blessing. There were hasty preparations. And we found out that it was just Fr. Jojo's first time to officiate the said ancient ceremony. So what happened yesterday could probably be the first time that this rite was practised after so many years.

The rite was officiated in Latin, a very important language in the Holy Mother Church, most especially among us Traddies. Although me and Yeyette could barely understand Latin, the solemnity of the language and the very essence of its being a Catholic tongue provided a more dignified sacredness to the holy proceedings. And despite her lack of knowledge of Latin, Yeyette was still moved to tears; both her rather risky delivery and the sacredness of the invocation proved too much for her to bear. It was indeed a moving scene, at least to me, watching her receive the blessing from Fr. Jojo.

To you who read this, my family is imploring you to say a little prayer for Yeyette and our new baby who is still in her womb. We want to travel the whole country, complete and happy together...

¡Enaltecer la familia para la gloria más alta de Dios!

Our newest member of the family in utero!

Junífera La Bella.

It's the first day of August!

I think some are wondering why we only have few blogposts and travels these past few months. It's because of my pregnancy (Thank GOD for another blessing!). I'm going to have my fifth baby and fifth caesarian delivery. And as per my doctor's advise, I need to have less physical activity, that's why we decided not to travel a lot.

Having a baby is a very wonderful feeling, and mothers who have already experienced it can attest to that. Nine months that a mother carries her baby in her womb, giving her extra love and care until the baby sees is prepared to see the world for the first time. How beautiful and what unexplainable feeling it is to a mother to have a baby and see them grow and mature each day!

I will have a repeat ultrasound tomorrow because I was diagnosed to have placenta previa, meaning my placenta is at a lower position. Tomorrow, diagnostic medical sonographers need to make sure through ultrasound if the result is either placenta accreta, placenta increta, or placenta percreta.

I need prayers, everyone, that I may have good ultrasound results, or no signs of those three obstetric complications that I have mentioned. Because if that happens, severe bleeding may occur during the surgery which might result to serious blood loss...

Please pray  that I may have a safe delivery, that I will not experience severe blood loss, that me and my new baby girl will come out healthy and strong afterwards.

This month of August is going to be special. I will have my delivery in a few days. I know we can do this, my baby...

I trust you, GOD Almighty. Please help me and our new baby survive this ordeal. My husband and our children need me. We still have to travel the whole country together. I know I still have a mission in this life, and I want to live to give more love to my family, and take good care of them.

❤ YEYETTE❤