Sergio dropped Fely, her first girlfriend in SFO for Lydia Ignacio the woman he fell in love with at first sight.
Lydia got pregnant in just a few months. Sergio was planning to move to New York but when he found out that he got Lydia pregnant, he readily accepted his responsibility and married her.
One day, Sergio received a package from the Philippines sent thru the post office containing a bed spread with his name embroidered in bold letters and a certain Medy. When the pregnant Lydia saw it, she threatened to kill herself and the baby in her tummy by jumping off their moving car.
Sergio explained that he had a relationship with Medy before he left for the USA.
One day isang araw, he attended the novena to St. Jude at the St. Jude Parish in J. P. Laurel Street, San Miguel, Manila beside Malacanang. This church is now called the National Shrine of St. Jude Thaddeus. As he left the church, it started to rain. He saw a girl walking with an umbrella so tumakbo sya at nakisukob. This girl was Modesta Lacsamana or Medy for short. She’s walking home with a yaya. According to Sergio, she belonged to a rich and influential family from Pampanga. She was taking up her Masters in Business Administration at the Far Eastern University.
Medy lived with her parents in their big and stately house which was walking distance from Malacanang. Senators, congressmen, movie producers and directors frequented their house.
When Sergio told Medy that he was trying his luck in America, she of course didn’t want him to leave. She however understood that Sergio was looking for greener pastures and eventually gave him her blessing. She gave Sergio $50 baon which was already a big amount in the 60s.
After Lydia found out about Medy, Sergio wrote a letter to Medy informing her that he has already gotten married. Medy did not believe him. Because she had the means, Medy decided to travel to America to once and for all find out the truth. She sent another letter to Sergio telling him that she’s arriving in San Francisco on a specific time and date and gave the address of her aunt she would be at. She told Sergio that she doesn’t believe that he is already married and that she would wait for him.
However, if he has indeed married, then she requested that he doesn’t show up anymore.
That date came and Sergio no longer went to see Medy.
Lydia and Sergio’s first son Junior, who was made in his apartment, was born on September 14, 1968. then followed by Steven, 1969, then came James 6 years later.
Sergio had another son, Erwin, infact his eldest, who’s living in the Philippines. Lydia did not know about him. Sergio had not told her that he got his co-teacher pregnant. Even if he did not marry the mother of Erwin, Sergio’s parents, Camilo and Marciana, and his siblings, recognized the boy and were supporting him.
Sergio felt he needed to tell his children the truth so one day, he told Junior and Steven that they have a brother in the Philippines. The two boys naturally told their mother and Lydia, just as Sergio had expected it, threw a fit. It was a long process of explanation and eventual acceptance.
Sergio wanted to petition his son Erwin and bring him to the US but Sergio’s name wasn’t in the birth certificate. There was just a blank space on the “father”. Erwin’s mother hated Sergio so much because he didn’t marry her naturally she didn’t include his name on the birth certificate. Due to this technicality, Sergio couldn’t petition his son. Erwin eventually was able to live in the US.
Lydia has recovered from a stroke in 2001 and Sergio collapsed last year while on his way out of the Cache Creek Casino Resort in Brooks, CA near Sacramento. He had bleeding pancreas caused by aneurysm.
Sergio and Lydia are currently living in San Jose, California. Their 3 sons live nearby with their respective families. Sergio loves coming home to the Philippines and prefers staying in the Philippines but Lydia doesn’t want to leave their grandchildren. They have a nice house in Angono, Rizal where Erwin now stays.
Why Erwin is staying in the Philippines for good is another story.
