Erlinda Villafranca Perez

Born on September 30, 1943, Erlinda Caringal Villafranca was the 6^th child of Josefa Caringal and Leodegario Villafranca. Erlinda grew up in a small town called Ibaan Batangas. She attended her elementary days in Ibaan Central School and Saint James the Great for her Highschool.  She grew up helping her mother Josefa and raising her 13 other siblings by weaving mosquito nets, selling fish, and vegetables in the local market of Ibaan Batangas.  Erlinda dedicated most of her teenage life in the market to making a sufficient living to be able to help her mother and the rest of her siblings.      

Erlinda was married to Pablo Perez on January 29, 1978. They were blessed with two children named Rhea and Christian Perez.  Erlinda raised her kids with hard work and taught them how to save money and stay humble.  She routinely asked her kids to work with her in a small stall inside the public market, allowed them to learn how to earn money at a young age, and hoped for her kids to have a better future. 

Erlinda, together with Pablo, worked full-time in the market seven days a week. They both worked very hard, especially during Friday nights and Saturday mornings which is considered as the Ibaan Batangas palengke day.  Every Thursday, Erlinda needed to make a trip to a nearby city to get additional supplies and vegetable stocks for her store to resell. She also never failed to bring Jollibee back as pasalubong to her kids.

Erlinda strived to put her kids in a decent school as much as possible for a better future, but working hard was still not enough, she also needed financial support from her other siblings who already migrated to America. There were also times that Erlinda would suffer from Asthma attacks due from her fatigue and changes in weather. Erlinda was a brave and strong woman but would sometimes cry silently and hide it from her kids. Their life was so simple and happy at that time until they got a letter that a petition was approved and they could move to America.  It was never good news for Erlinda since the petition didn’t include her eldest daughter Rhea because her age was over 21.                   

In July 2001, Erlinda and her family migrated to America two months before the 9/11 incident.  Erlinda and her family felt so delighted and fortunate. They were so excited aboard the airplane with smiles on their faces and considered this as the happiest moment of their lives.

Erlinda, Pablo, and their youngest started living their American dream from visiting different theme parks, trips to Las Vegas, and habitually going to Pechanga Casino with her mother Josefa.  Erlinda spent most of her time as a housewife staying at their Los Angeles home where her mother Josefa and brother Eric also lived.       

In 2007, Erlinda was diagnosed with stage 1 lung cancer that originated from her ovary, they had to do lung surgery right away.  Erlinda was so strong and was ready to fight her illness.  After her lung surgery, she kept on saying that she survived cancer and that she was cancer free.  Erlinda continued to travel to places such as European trips to visit her daughter Rhea Prokop who resides in Prague in Czech Republic. She loved traveling so much that she went back to the Philippines every December just to see her fellow market vendors and her distant relatives. 

Erlinda was indeed cancer free until April 2017 when we found out on one of her travels in the Philippines, that her cancer came back and metastasis all over her lungs.  It was very sad news for her family as this happened a year after her brother Eric Villafranca also passed away from cancer.  Erlinda’s physical appearance changed as she slowly lost weight and her body slowly weakened. However, that did not stop her from traveling back to the Philippines to see her hometown.  She never showed weakness and never complained about her condition.  Erlinda’s cancer eventually grew and spread to her brain until she lost her ability to walk and talk. She passed away on April 28, 2023, at 12:05 AM, she would have been 80 on September 30, 2023