A Dedication
This Bambanense website is dedicated to the two people in my life who influenced me most. Dr. Honorio Navarro and Mrs. Fausta Sibal Dayrit represent the spirit of the people of Bamban.
Dr. Navarro was the Bamban Municipal Health Officer for 12 years. He pioneered family planning in Bamban, after he learned family planning methods in Singapore and Thailand. As the town physician, he shared his public health knowledge with health officials from other third world countries such as Dr. Asfaw Desta, who later on rose up to be a prominent author and member of the Ministry of Health in Ethiopia. Dr. Navarro represents the spirit of the enterprising citizens of Bamban who were unafraid to start again in a new environment after the Mt. Pinatubo lahar flow. This pattern of courage and enterprise was obvious when Dr. Navarro moved to Zamboanga, far away from the town where he grew up among relatives and friends. He won the respect and love of the people he served in Zamboanga and made many lifelong friends. He was treated as one of their own.
After Zamboanga, he moved back to Luzon and joined the faculty of the University of the Philippines College of Medicine where he was a professor in Public Health. In 1987, he moved to the US and lived in California.
The author’s gratitude…
Honorio N. Navarro, MD, MPH
Thank you for teaching and showing me that knowledge is power that could unlock heavy, steel doors to opportunities a young girl has only dreamed of.
Thank you for showing me by example that I can learn from the lowliest of God’s creatures, that all men are truly equal, for no matter how stately a person is in life, in death he is merely a fertilizer for a blade of grass.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge with me through the years and for encouraging me to follow your noble profession.
Thank you for teaching me the “how” and “why” of things, though this method took more time and effort, instead of the faster and easier way of doing it yourself.
Thank you for showing me I can instead of I could.
Thank you for being my Dad.
The author’s gratitude…
Mrs. Fausta Sibal vda. de Dayrit
Thank you for being there for me, from the beginning ‘till the end.
Thank you for the stories, the experiences of a girl from another time and a young mother who survived a World War.
Thank you for capturing my imagination through the miracles of radio.
Thank you for your unconditional love, for your time, for your support, and for believing in me.
Thank you for being my Grandma.
