Feliciana Drequito Madriaga

Feliciana Abao Drequito Madriaga was born on May 10, 1937 to Daniel Doria Drequito and Marcelina Abao. She was the youngest child of eleven children. When she was two months old, her paternal aunt, Petra Doria Drequito, who was an unmarried woman adopted her as her own and only child. Feliciana did not grow up in the company of her older siblings. Most of the time, she was by herself and her adopted mother. In fact, she grew up believing that her siblings were her cousins. She addressed her biological father, Manong and her biological mother, Manang. And of course, her adopted mother, Mother. Her adopted mother was well-off by Tabuyoc standards at that time which enabled Feliciana to have had a comfortable home and be well-provided for. Her adopted mother pampered her, too.

World War II erupted when Feliciana was on her early childhood. Her education was disrupted causing Feliciana to enter primary school two years late. She started her education in 1946 right after the liberation and completed elementary education from Balangobong Elementary School in 1952. She graduated secondary education from Binalonan High School in 1956. Upon graduating High School, she wanted to go to college to take up nursing. Although her adopted mother was financially stable, education was not her priority. She had had a hard time talking it out with her adopted mother. Her last recourse was to go to her cousin’s husband, Tivo Nava, to be her advocate. Tivo talked to Petra and with a twinkle in her eyes, off she went to Dagupan Colleges to study Nursing from 1957 to 1960. Consequently, she met a lot of classmates and made good friendships with them. Their friendship lasted a lifetime.

She graduated nursing on March, 1960 and passed her Nursing Board Exams in 1961. Once she became a Registered Nurse, opportunities opened for her to fly to the big cities. She hit Manila without any second thoughts. She got an employment in Binondo Children’s Hospital from 1961 to 1964. Nurses and doctors are a big part of the “Brain Drain” from the Philippines from time immemorial. That included Feliciana’s heart desires to go abroad. She got employed in Saskatchewan, Canada from 1964 to 1969.

In between her high school days, college education and employment years, men were very much interested in wooing Feliciana. When she was a young woman, she was tall, slim, fair and pretty by Filipino standards. Being the only child of a well-off woman and being a nurse added to her attractiveness in the eyes of these suitors. She was one of the women in town that was sought for, for a bride. She had numerous suitors. One suitor together with his family went to ask for Feliciana’s hand in marriage. As the old traditions goes, the family of Feliciana asked for a more than substantial dowry. The negotiation fell through because of his lack of resources to meet Felicana’s mother’s demands.

José Madriaga came home for a vacation from the United States in 1963. All along, his mind was on Feliciana. At this homecoming, his purpose really was to make his intentions known to Feliciana. But his problem was huge. He was such a very shy guy. He needed an advocate to be his front and an interceder. One sunny day, he wanted to visit Feliciana in Binondo, Manila. Of course, he needed company. He asked two of his nieces to go with him. These two nieces are close relatives of Feliciana as well. The two nieces were excited and they said , ‘Yes, provided you take us shopping afterwards”. The uncle being cornered, agreed. And so, off they went. Upon opening her door, Feliciana thought, it was only the two girls not knowing José was at the back. That was a pleasant surprise for Feliciana! That event did not make any dent on Feliciana nor gave a ray of hope to José . But their love story did not end there.

In spring of 1969, Feliciana planned a vacation to San Jose, California to visit her cousin, Macaria who was the sister-in-law of Jose. At the same time, to visit and bond with her uncle, Federico Doria Drequito whom she has not met in person since birth. This vacation worked so well. Feliciana wanted to go places. She needed a driver. And guess what? José volunteered to be her driver. That driving –around- town softened the woman who was playing hard to get at the outset. It ended up in engagement, then marriage in the same year. It took Jose to wait seven long years for Feliciana’s sweet Yes. But as they say, “Marriage is made in Heaven” and only time can tell.

José and Feliciana were married in a civil ceremony here in the States in 1969 followed by a church wedding with a grand reception in the Philippines. All the townspeople, young and old, were all invited. It was a two-day celebration of food, music, dancing and merry-making.

José and Feliciana’s life together as husband and wife began in 1970. Their marriage was an epitome of love and devotion in action. They always did things together. Where José was, there was Feliciana, too. Just like everybody else, work was an essential part of their lives. José was an electrician and Feliciana was a nurse. She worked at Agnews Developmental Hospital and moved to Santa Clara Valley County Medical Hospital. He worked during the day and she worked during the night. As a doting husband, he served Feliciana to the core of his being. He drove Feliciana to work at 10:30pm and picked her up at 7:00am . When Feliciana arrived home, breakfast was already set on the table. After breakfast, Feliciana went to bed. While Feliciana was asleep, José ironed her uniforms, polished her shoes and organized her paraphernalia ready for work the following day. That was their routine of love and devotion during their work periods of their lives.

Retirement was exciting for both of them. They had more time to go from San Jose to Sacramento to stay in their other house. They had more time to go to their favorite spots which are the casinos. They can sit for hours in front of the slot machines. One time, the slot machines were not giving her any winnings and she told José to go to the other Casino. But that casino was not giving her any winnings either. So she told José again to go to the other casino. They drove to three casinos in 2 days in Northern California. That’s how she loved the casinos.

Feliiciana was planning to have their golden wedding anniversary in 2019 but postponed it to 2020 thinking it will be a better year. It turned out to be the opposite. COVID19 struck the land and everything came into a halt.

In the midst of the Pandemic. Feliciana got seriously ill in February 2021. José took care of her by himself. He refused to hire any help with the thought that he wanted to dedicate all his time, his effort, his love and devotion to take care of his beloved Feliciana. He wanted to show to the world his love and devotion in action to his ailing wife - that no one could go between their love to each other. José ’s love and devotion for Feliciana was clearly shown until her last breath. Feliciana succumbed to death at 4:07 am on March 3, 2021.

The Lord God bestowed upon them 51 long years of love and devotion in action. If you have lived together for more than a half century, you become one self and totally immersed with each other. Having your better-half gone is tantamount to having half of your body cut-off. The pain is emotionally excruciating, the aborting of inter-dependency is agonizing, and the partnership turns into paralysis.

But beyond the emotional turmoil, José was able to steady himself and let go of his beloved Feliciana with the consolation that she is now in a better place where there’s no more pain, no more sorrow and no more tears.

What a Love Story in the life of Feliciana portrayed!