Talisay City honors centenarian

Rizalina R. Mil, centenarian.| Photo Courtesy of Talisay City Mayor Samsam Gullas

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Rizalina R. Mil of Talisay City can proudly say she survived five pandemics in her lifetime.

Mil was born on May 1920, in the final months of the infamous Spanish Flu that killed more than 50 million people worldwide.

In her 100 years of existence, she survived the Asian flu pandemic in 1957, the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) pandemic in 1981, the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, and now the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in 2020.

Rizalina or Lola Mil has survived a century of war and diseases and she now lives in Talisay City with her family.

Talisay City Mayor Gerald Anthony “Samsam” Gullas visited Lola Lin on August 4, 2020, to personally hand her a plaque of recognition from the city for living up to 100 years.

She received P50,000 from the city government. She will also receive P100,000 from the Provincial Capitol, and another P100,000 from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

Talisay City Mayor Gerald Anthony Gulals visits a centenarian in the city who will receive P50,000 for reaching 100 years old. Lola Lin turned a hundred last May 2020. | Photo Courtesy of Mayor Gullas

Gullas said that Lola Lin is a rare gem in the city as she managed to survive a century despite the odds.

“For the information of everyone, when our administration started, I always wanted to find time to visit centenarians because it’s truly a blessing from God [for them] to reach that age,” said the mayor.

Humba key to 100

Unlike most centenarians, whose secret to the long life is eating healthy food like vegetables, Lola Lin told the mayor that her secret was eating pork meat.

“HUMBA daw (the secret). Actually in the past Lola Lin would usually cook vegetables. But ang utan giluto, iya ihatag sa iyang bana, human cya mukaon ug humba, apil ang tambok gyud daw. So lain-lain gyod ang sekreto (to long life),” said Gullas.

(She said the secret was humba. Actually in the past Lola Lin would usually cook vegetables, but the vegetables she cooked, she gave it to her husband. She then would eat humba even the fatty part. So there various secrets to long life.)

The mayor reminded the public that the elders are treasures of the community and should be cared for. It would be a blessing for another Talisaynon to reach the diamond age of 100. /bmjo

Read: Non-native but long-time Mandaue residents can now receive the P100K cash gift for centenarians