Crispulo Trinidad Luna (1903 - 1976)
Early Filipino Transvestite
Birth Name: Crispulo Trinidad Luna
Birth: June 10, 1903 in Sasmuan, Pampanga
Death: May 1976
Pulong as he is fondly called is the first prominent Filipino gay crossdresser. Although obviously, he is not the first Filipino transvestite as there are Filipino transvestite during the Spanish colonial period, he prominently sits for portraits working for Victoria Studios and his life was well documented by his relatives. His life is colorful yet meaningful and paved the way for modern day transvestite now with the popular drag race. His story was first written and told by the award-winning writer J. Neil Garcia in his book "Performing the Self: Occasional Prose" and in fact, Pulong made the cover of his acclaimed book. Almost all of the information in this article came from his book and written journal, "Budhi: A Journal of Ideas and Culture" published by the Ateneo de Manila University publishing house.
Lolo Pulong was born Crispulo Trinidad Luna on June 10, 1903. He is the third child of four children of the couple Pedro Luna and Candelaria Trinidad both of Sasmuan, Pampanga. He grew up in Orani, Bataan where his father earned a living for his family as a fisherman. When his husband died, Candelaria moved the family to Tondo until her children are old enough to become independent and have a family of their own.
Even as a very young boy, Pulong had been "soft" and "effeminate" - he has a light skin which makes him appear like a mestizo and his features is delicate which is no surprise for his family that he did not get married as all of his siblings did. His sister recalls that each time a well-meaning family offer to find him a wife, even at the ripe old age of 50, invariably, his response, delivered with unflappable grace, was, "Pero por Dios, babae ako!" (For heaven's sake, I'm a woman!). Pulong was never subjected to a moralizing judgment by his siblings or by anyone in their families in fact, petty jealousies erupted among them whenever Pulong chose to live with any one family for too long.
In the late 1920s when he was at least 25 years old, Pulong had made friends with the owner of the Victoria Studios in Paco, Manila where some of these pictures of Pulong (and a picture with his live in partner Juan) were taken. This studio was located close to the home of the sibling with whom Pulong is staying at the time.
As was the case with other photo studios and establishments of its kind, a customer wishing to be photographed by the Victoria studio could choose to avail himself or herself of any of the costumes which the studio kept in its wardrobes. Pulong had pictures of himself taken well into his twilight years. He ended up with a sizable collection of these visual self-representations which, arranged chronologically, comprises the narrative of his life. In them, we find him all dressed and made up in feminine poses and styles, reflective of the fashion of the time.
In one photo, Pulong has transformed himself into "Madame Butterfly" complete with kimono and geisha headgear in a homage to Puccini's benighted heroine, whose opera had just opened in Manila. In another photo, Pulong is wearing a more contemporary American-style dress standing beside a seated woman in a traje de mestiza (a Spanish-inspired dress usually cut out of cloth made from pineapple fibers).
Although Pulong's effeminacy shifted effortlessly from being a "simple" (speaking in a soft and sing song manner, walking demurely acting like a modest dalagang Filipina or Filipino maiden, etc.) to "moderate" (putting on a little makeup, wearing women's undergarments and accessories), to "elaborate" (going in full drag), but only occasionally and inside the privacy of this friend's studio did he let his hair down, and go the whole hog to pursue the dream of crossing over.
Soon after these pictures were taken, Pulong became involved with and eventually became a supposed to be "wife" to a certain maestro carpentero or master carpenter (equivalent to foreman in a construction site), a strapping man five years younger, whose name was Juan. They live in their own dwelling place - a "love nest" of some sorts. This was an arrangement that the families of both side of the relationship involved have no problem or issues with. Years living with Juan were the happiest years in Pulong's life. Pulong's nieces remember that their uncle Pulong occasionally told them that Juan was the first and last "love" of his life. It was while living with Juan that Pulong had sharpened his home making skills, the most noteworthy of which were cooking and sewing. Pulong kept a clean and cozy house for his partner, and later in his life, he would continue to do the same for the family of his sister Miguela, and much later on with the family of this sister's daughter, Patricia or Aling Pat. This "conjugal bliss" last only a few years. Working on a house one day during the Japanese occupation, Juan fell from the scaffolding, and from the fall suffered an internal injury which caused his death about a month later.
After World War II following the liberation from the Japanese forces, Pulong moved into Miguela's (Gelay), house in Santa Ana district, Manila. As if providing Gelay house help and assistance managing her household was not enough, he worked as a part-time sari sari store attendant owned by Aling Sabel, a family friend and accepted to do handwash laundry services as well as perform many other housekeeping chores for friends and acquaintances who could afford to pay for his service fee. Pulong decided to stay with her sister Gelay because she suffered from the tragic fate of losing her babies to crib death one after the other. Out of a total of 14, only six of her children survived including Aling Pat. He played important role raising these children, teaching them, particularly the girls, how to be "decent", how to keep themselves clean all the time, to wash, iron, mend clothing properly. He gave them strict instructions in the matter of boyfriends, and imposed curfews whenever they went out. Of course, it was not beneath Tio Pulong to size up his nieces' prospective suitors. We can only imagine how terrorized those poor boys must have been, every time they came to the house to call.
Ever if he devoted a good part of his life helping his sister raise her family, he usually managed to get a few moments to himself. Aling Pat recalls that after Tio Pulong had moved in with her in 1970, the old man would sometimes go out to watch movies with an effeminate friend, a bubbly, grey-haired man he called Tiago. Other than the movies, the two of them also like taking long, leisurely strolls down Hardin Botanico which later eventually be called as Mehan Gardens.
Patricia remembers that toward the end of his life, Lolo Pulong received regular visits from his friends, Josie and Tessie, a pair of garrulous gay beauticians from the neighborhood who have the tendency to be a little loud and swishy. These two were given to calling the old man, endearingly, their "Lola Pulonia." Sometimes when Lolo Pulog could no longer abide their brash and unladylike ways, he would shush and promptly reprimand them. The three of them comprised a happy bunch, breaking out in giggles over stories of sexual escapades both remembered and imagined. During these times, Lolo Pulong's face could be seen to light up, as though in his mind he was already somewhere else, sashaying in a floral sun dress in a life he'd always wanted and once probably did get to have, dreaming he was with his beloved Juan once more, young and looking fabulous as always and free.
Crispulo Trinidad Luna who was fondly called Lolo Pulong by his loved ones and people who knew him passed away in May of 1976 due to a stroke or a ruptured aneurysm.
Sources:
J. Neil Garcia - Performing the Self: Occasional Prose, Budhi: A Journal of Ideas and Culture