Emeterio Leano Tagudin

Emeterio Leano Tagudin

Emeterio Leano Tagudin was born on March 3, 1925 in Vintar, Ilocos Norte in the Philippines and passed away on Valentine’s Day, February 14, 2023, a few days short of his 98th birthday. His parents were Vicente Tagudin Sr. and Maura Leano Tagudin, both from Vintar, Ilocos Norte. He had four half-siblings Rodolfo, Concepcion, Illuminada and Agustina and five full siblings, Adriano, Ines, Angel, Adelina and Vicente Jr. His father, who moved his young family to Manila to seek his fortune, was himself raised by Spanish friars and was a self-made man who helped the elder Vicente Madrigal establish the Madrigal Corporation from its humble beginnings, and eventually became its founder’s trusted aide and Controller for the multinational shipping and cement conglomerate during the country’s postwar boom.

As the Tagudin clan continued to prosper, his father put him in charge of their ricelands. Even during the height of the communist-led peasant uprising in Luzon, the resourceful and unflappable Emeterio was charged by his father with the task of collecting dozens of “cavans” (60.33 kg each) of rice each harvest season from the tenants and of hauling the rice back to Manila until many years later a steward from the local area took over. It was an epic feat that began during the war when he took on the perilous task of bringing supplies to feed his father who had to stay behind with a few older siblings to work in Manila while the rest of the family evacuated to Moncada, Tarlac. His diplomacy and Nihongo language skills, which were put to the test in the war, along with his paternal grand-aunt’s shrewd hospitality earned the trust of the local colonel of the Japanese Imperial Army stationed in the town and procured a semblance of immunity for the household in the worst of times. Emeterio would never have dreamed in those precarious moments that in a few years time he would be watching frenzied dogfights in the skies above the city as the Liberation of Manila ensued – and live to tell his son about it.

After the war, Emeterio finished Engineering at the National University in Manila and went on to work as an engineering draftsman and a quality inspector for the many rural construction projects of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office. He was also recognized for his artistic merit at work for creating exhibits of tiny replicas of these buildings which were on display in the grand lobby of the office as well as for crafting spectacular holiday exhibits during the Christmas and New Year season. This he accomplished using only his basic drafting tools, an x-acto knife and various balsawood and white cardboard cutouts to create oversized ornaments which he would carve out himself to make lanterns and nativity sets and then touch it up with gold and silver decorations of market-bought tinsel to make impressive starburst chandeliers.

But the future held its own challenges.

His life would take an unexpected turn in the 1970s. Exposed to the injustices and politics of his day, Emeterio, a gifted orator, became a respected labor leader and advocate for workers’ rights until Martial Law ended all forms of free speech and assembly thus transforming him, like so many other freedom-loving Filipinos of his day, into an opposition figure. Emeterio lost his job, his friends, his status and place in society. The crisis left his struggling wife and children with no choice but to flee and seek their fortunes abroad.

He was married to Helen Racimo, a beauty queen from Vintar, Ilocos Norte who worked as a nurse at the Philippine Tuberculosis Society and the National Red Cross in the Philippines. An American by birth, his wife moved to San Diego, California finding her niche as a nurse at the Naval Regional Medical Center (Balboa Naval Hospital). In 1978 fate once again smiled upon Emeterio when he was given the chance to start over in the United States. He adapted to his quiet, newfound life in his adoptive country and thereupon worked as a security patrol officer until his retirement.

Blessed with a faith that endured until his last breath, he was very active in the Cursillo Ministry of Saint Mary’s Church in National City. He is fondly remembered by his Cursillista friends for his wit, humor and dedicated service to the Church.

His patient endurance during the trials of the last years of his life was buoyed by his hope in the Lord and His Unfathomable Mercy. Truly, not only did God add more days to his earthly life but the Almighty allowed Emeterio to defy the odds that he may show by his actions the unearthly desire for the promised inheritance of eternal happiness in the life to come. Although he had lost his sight by then, Emeterio gave bold witness to what many others failed to see: that one can trust in the wisdom of God’s plan even if one’s own understanding fails.

Emeterio, the loving father and doting grandfather outlived all his siblings and lived to see his progeny to the fourth generation. He will be remembered for his gift of counsel, his uncommon zeal, and his talent for storytelling. He is survived by his children, Genevieve Silverio, Michael Tagudin, and Dr. Catherine Thomas; sons-in-law, Simeon Silverio and Dr. Jay Thomas; grandchildren, Michelle, Ashley, Heather, Nolan and Gary; grandsons-in-law; and great grandchildren. We ask the pious to pray to the repose of his soul.