Fil-Am boy comes home
By Franco Emman Von M. Cena
September 3, 2006
Page A19

THESE DAYS, A TYPICAL FILIPINO TEENAGER would go for his “American Dream.” But to 20-year-old David Eric Poarch, going back and living in the Philippines is like “living his dreams.” In fact, to him, there’s no going back to Texas.

The Philippines has given this half-Filipino, half-American boy some of his fondest memories, he said, citing specifically Subic, Zambales, where he spent seven years before his whole family migrated to the United States. His mother Marilyn Marang is a Filipino teacher while his father Robert Poarch is an American navyman who met in the Subic naval base.

“I enjoyed it—whether it be running through the rice fields, or chasing tutubis in the bukid, or climbing mango trees and catching salagintos, or playing with chickens, ducks and kalapatis,” he said.

Texas 1993
David and his family left the country for the United States because his father, a navyman working in Subic Naval base, was reassigned to Texas in 1993, two years after the American facility was closed.

But after 13 years of discontentment and longing for his birthplace, David finally gave in and flew back home in February this year.

“I had no plans, and no expectations,” he said of his homecoming. “I just had to get out of that stressful environment I had while in the States.


“I just felt that I belonged here, that the country would relieve me from my stresses and that it was my safe haven, and that I would find my purpose within the Philippines,” he added.


The eldest of two children, David was 7 years old, then a pupil of Mondrian Montessori School in Olongapo City, when they left for Texas.


“We were not exactly poor then, but we would have been had we stayed longer because my father had lost his job here,” he recalled.


What are you? Schooling in the US was fine, according to David, although he had a hard time fitting in at first. “In my case, I changed from a free-spirited and happy-go-lucky child to a sheltered and shy one,” he said.


He said that he felt strange and became a loner when classmates would make fun of him.
“My classmates would ask me: ‘What are you?’ referring to my mixed roots. I really felt this way because others tended to single me out,” he said.

But he later found the courage to say: “I am half-Filipino, half American.”
He would bump into other half-Filipinos in school, but David said he could never really relate with them, saying they were “too Americanized” and seemed to have never been to the Philippines.

“I have never met another Philippine-raised Filipino who still had the values of that of a traditional Pinoy,” he said.

Growing up
Growing up, David got the chance to live in various states because his father would be transferred from time to time. That kind of setup deprived him of enough time to settle down and develop new friends.




But he was able to put up with those difficulties eventually. He succeeded academically and became more competitive.


He graduated valedictorian from Pearland High School and subsequently earned a full scholarship to Ivy League Rice University where he studied electric and computer engineering.
But after two years of schooling in Ivy League, David quit college and decided to go back to his roots. Now, he lives alone in a house in Subic vacated by his maternal grandmother, who has also migrated to the States.

He spends time to go to places he dearly missed, particularly the countryside where he grew up in. He goes trekking most of the time and tries to relearn the Pinoy culture.
Plowing the fields Treading through mud and manure was no big deal for David as he usually spends his days tagging along some farmers as they plow the fields right at the back of his house in Barangay Mangan-Vaca in Subic.

Though it’s hard work and the tilling usually leaves him dirty, he said he actually enjoyed the experience.

“I’m starting to get the hang of it actually,” he said. “I’ve learned that the key to actually tilling the land is pulling the plough up so it digs into the ground and also steering the plough inwards so it cuts into new ground.”

The memories of him joining Holy Week processions, and other Lenten activities, or even playing card and board games in candlelight during brownouts are still vivid to him.
Surviving on $200 “I miss going to some Filipino celebrations and festivals like fiesta and Santacruzan,” he said. “I remember joining Christmas caroling and even listening to radio show
‘Gabi ng Lagim’ with my lola before going to bed.”

David remembers riding in a jeepney going to school, playing sungka and sipa with neighbors and going to the town’s wet market with his mother.
David said that he sometimes finds it hard to cope with the daily expenses since he is now living on his own.

“I left Texas with only $200 extra,” he said. “Finding and purchasing food is my main priority every day. Cooking is another task because I have to build a fire or gatong when I don’t have enough money for gas.”

Since he doesn’t ask financial support from his parents, David lives by himself and sometimes with the help of his relatives in Subic.

From time to time, he writes e-mails to his parents. He also scribbles notes on his notebook whenever he lacks resources to rent out for a PC and Internet use, he said.
Lovelife David said that he now has a girlfriend in Subic whom he met in the town market.


“She visits me here from time to time and checks on how I am doing,” he added.
Back in Texas, David said that he never had the financial difficulty he goes through here but said that he enjoyed his stay there because of the fat money they earn. “I had an easy life there,” he said.

His parents have enjoyed career and financial success in the US, and his sister is on the way to attending college and becoming a doctor.

He left with his parents’ permission but they did not approve of him settling down in the Philippines.

“Given the choice, I would not go back to Texas,” he said. “But my parents are there, and they refuse to live in the Philippines, so for their sake, if I am unable to find success here in the Philippines or at least see significant progress within a year, then I will go back to Texas.”


But for David, there is more to life than Texas. And the “American Dream” is certainly not the only key to happiness.

He will find success here in the Philippines, he said, adding that this is the only place where he found happiness and belonging. No American dreamer “I haven’t yet given any thought into pursuing my studies here,” he said. “But if I do, I would probably take a business or computer course.”

David would be a regular contributor of Illustrado magazine, a magazine to be launched soon dedicated to overseas Filipino workers based in Dubai.

To keep track on what he has done here and places he has visited, David keeps a weblog titled “Coconuter: A travelogue of a Philippine nomad.” He said he was doing this not only for himself, but for other Fil-Ams.

“I thought it would be a good idea to share this with others so that I may be able to connect with Filipinos abroad who miss the Philippines, provide Filipinos in the Philippines a different perspective, and give others who are not Filipino a taste of the Philippines,” he said.