The Early Vegetable Traders

As discussed earlier, one Buguias entrepreneur, Pokol, traded vegetables before the war. Pokol died in the conflict, but after liberation several young men of moderate circumstances emulated his career. Purchasing produce both at Kilometer 73 and from small farmers along the Mountain Trail, they transported it at first on buses or in rented truck space to Baguio where they could sell it to Chinese agents.

The most successful of the early postwar vegetable traders, Hil-

ary Camas, soon hired several "commissioners," underlings who would haggle deals with individual farmers. This position served as a stepping-stone for a new set of dealers. One of them, Ernesto Simion, first transported vegetables on the tops of lumber trucks headed to Baguio from the sawmill at Mount Data. Soon, Simion was leasing trucks to haul larger loads. As his business grew his attention shifted to Trinidad, where he contracted to build housing units and warehouses for vegetables. In Buguias, Simion employed subordinates to handle the vegetable trade; several eventually graduated to the position of independent dealer.