Mandapat matriarch is city’s new centenarian

March 27, 2022 Metro BLISTT

The matriarch of a family of athletes, whose patriarch was a cop, with a son who followed his footstep but went further by becoming a lawyer, then a city councilor before heading the Department of Transportation and Communication – Cordillera is the city’s latest centenarian. Aurelia J. Mandapat, who turned 100 years old in
December 2 last year was officially honored by the city council with a resolution recently for reaching the milestone age.
The wife of former Baguio’s Finest Maj. Federico Mandapat, Sr., a bemedaled runner in his youth, is the mother of former city councilor Federico, Jr., who also served as director of the DoTC – Cordillera. Federico, Jr. is also one of the city’s top golfers, who played and won with the Camp John Hay golf team, where he serves now as its legal counsel.
Resolution No. 098, series of 2022 read that the centenarian was born in Pura, Tarlac on December 2, 1921, and is the third child among the five children of Severino and Eulogia Javier. Her mother died when she was barely 17 due to a lingering illness, while her father, then the mayor of said town, was abducted along with her two younger siblings. The three were never retrieved from the unidentified abductors.
On January 6, 1946, she married Federico, Sr. and the newlyweds decided to settle in the city. The couple was blessed with 10 children – eight boys and two girls – all but the fifth child, Lorna Mandapat with whom Aurelia is currently living are married. Federico, Sr., died on April 14, 2003, at the age of 85, due to alleged pancreatic cancer. Aurelia is still physically strong for her age and can recognize people around her. She can walk slowly with the use of a cane.
Aurelia hopes that she lives long because of her being resilient and able to combat stress. Further, her family is looking forward to her living longer and enjoying life with them.
Pigeon Lobien/ABN