[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 125 (Thursday, September 16, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1672]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               TAN ESCO CAN TEACH US ALL A LESSON OR TWO

                                 ______
                                 

                  HON. GREGORIO KILILI CAMACHO SABLAN

                    of the northern mariana islands

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 16, 2010

  Mr. SABLAN. Madam Speaker, Senora Escolastica Tudela Cabrera, more 
popularly and lovingly known as Tan Esco, is an icon to the people of 
the Northern Mariana Islands for her enduring entrepreneurial spirit 
and tenacity in overcoming adversity.
  Born on February 10, 1930, Tan Esco grew up during the difficult days 
of the Japanese Administration of the Northern Mariana Islands. Her 
father had to leave his young family and go to Palau, working in the 
phosphate mines there to earn money for his family back home in Saipan.
  Tan Esco attended a private, Catholic school, but later had to 
transfer to a Japanese school, where Chamorro and Carolinian children 
were taught the Japanese language and customs. Tan Esco remembered her 
Japanese teachers for their harsh manner in dealing with errant 
students and for the corporal punishment, which they meted out 
unsparingly. Despite such treatment, Tan Esco excelled at school. She 
was among the top ten in her class and was even put in charge of 
classes, when the teacher was summoned away.
  The attitude of the Japanese Administration towards the local 
Chamorros and Carolinians hardened even farther, Tan Esco recalls, with 
the onset of World War II. And when American forces invaded Saipan, the 
Japanese military treated the local people almost as if they, too, were 
the enemy. Tan Esco hid in a small cave with over 40 natives for 19 
days, while gunfire and bombs raged around them night and day. It was a 
nightmare for the 14-year-old Escolastica; and the memories of the war 
remain fresh to this day, memories she hopes no one in her family will 
ever have to experience.
  After the war ended, Tan Esco worked hard to help her family rebuild 
their lives. With the knowledge of hairdressing she learned from an 
American lady and $500 borrowed from her father, Tan Esco opened 
Saipan's first beauty shop in the village of Susupe. The budding 
entrepreneur was only 19 years of age. Then her business interests 
grew. Within a few short years, she expanded into retail, becoming the 
first post-war shopkeeper to sell shoes and clothing. Tan Esco and her 
husband, the late Gregorio Camacho Cabrera or Tun Guru, next opened a 
gasoline station, began manufacturing charcoal, processing tapioca, and 
much to everyone's delight dishing up dessert at Saipan's first soft-
serve ice cream shop.
  Tan Esco's lasting legacy to her island community, however, and the 
business that would even make her name abroad, was the bakery. She did 
not even know how to make bread, when she started. But with a little 
advice from her mother to get things going, and lots of help from the 
rest of the family, Escolastica plunged into baking.
  As always, Tun Goru was there by her side, nurturing his wife's 
enthusiasms and executing the business plans that she never seemed to 
run out of. The two would wake at 2 a.m. to bake and prepare food. They 
sold their goods from their snackmobile to the several hundred hungry 
students at Mt. Carmel School and Hopwood Junior High, who in those 
days had no school cafeteria. Tan Esco and Tun Goru also had a snack 
shop at the Saipan airport, which they would open when flights were 
arriving or departing. They baked 500 loaves of bread daily, delivering 
it Tanapag and San Roque in the north, often running out because of 
demand, but always assuring customers there would be more fresh bread 
tomorrow.
  And in the midst of all this activity, Tan Esco and Tun Goru managed 
to raise a family--13 children in all, who themselves quickly learned 
the lessons of hard work and sacrifice needed to ensure the survival of 
the family. All the children's tasks were either directly or indirectly 
related to running the family business, Escolastica's Enterprises.
  Admired for her work ethic and drive to succeed, Tan Esco also became 
involved in local politics and civic organizations. She was the first 
woman ever to serve on the municipal council of Saipan. She held key 
positions in the Saipan Chamber of Commerce, with the Saipan Farmer's 
Market Association, the Micronesian Arts and Crafts Association, the 
PTA committees of Mt. Carmel School, the Kristo Rai Church parish 
council, the Vocational Education State Advisory Council and other 
organizations. She participated in the White House Conference on Aging. 
And in 1991, Tan Esco accepted the honor of being the first woman grand 
marshal in Saipan's Liberation Day parade and festivities.
  Today, Tan Esco enjoys her days in full retirement, having handed 
over the reins of the business to her youngest daughter. Tan Esco 
reached the milestone of 80 years of life earlier this year. Her years 
of work have left her as vigorous and she could easily pass for a woman 
of 60. Tan Esco says she can hardly believe that she has lived for 
eight decades, marveling that time has flown so fast. Her husband Tun 
Goru passed away in 2006, but their 13 children, and many 
grandchildren, and great-grandchildren were on hand to celebrate Tan 
Esco's 80th birthday.
  Biba, Tan Esco, and dangkulo na si Yuus Maase. You are a living 
lesson to the younger generations of the Northern Mariana Islands. God 
bless.

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