Not again!

Not again!


Posted 10:43pm (Mla time) Feb 07, 2005
By Bambi Harper
Inquirer News Service



Editor's Note: Published on page A15 of the February 8, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.


YOU won't believe it, but they're at it again. (I once referred to them as "black dwarfs" and got a resounding protest about racial slurs, so now we'll just name names.) Some years back, there was hue and cry among idiots concerned with issues like conserving the environment, saving Manila Bay (one of those lost causes as you can see), restoring old buildings or trying to save them when the Department of Public Works and Highways started constructing this monstrous bridge across the Loboc River in Bohol.

To be fair, we're short on infrastructure, so this wasn't necessarily a bad thing except that this rather ugly structure (okay, okay so it's a matter of taste) was going to end up slicing the 200-year-old Loboc church right down its middle. Not only that, all that pounding was weakening its foundations. Happily, Mr. Toledo (I think that was his name) saw the light just like St. Paul and stopped the construction. I understand it has been christened something like "Tommy's folly" and it stands there unfinished -- a monument to government's incapacity to understand anything that isn't concerned with pork barrel and the like. Although it defiles the bucolic landscape, it apparently can't be demolished because it would cost several million pesos to do so. (Maybe they can bomb it?)

Having breathed a sigh of relief since there are so few victories in this arena, it turns out the DPWH is at it again. This time it's the town of Baclayon in Bohol. (What's with this island anyway?) Nine homeowners of ancestral homes sent a letter last January to the regional director of the Environment Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources based in Cebu, protesting a road-widening project that would result in partial or full destruction of their houses even though they had been "assured by Gov. Eric Aumentado that none of the ancestral homes in Baclayon will be demolished to give way to the widening project. However, in a meeting yesterday with the DPWH in the municipal hall of Baclayon, we have been informed that the ancestral homes will have to be destroyed."

Seeing that they were getting nowhere despite several letters to the DENR, they've even written to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo asking her to intervene, explaining that "Baclayon is the oldest ‘cabisera’ in the heritage province of Bohol" (not that the DPWH gives two hoots about heritage issues) and that even part of the belfry of the church complex would be affected.

Obviously no one is against progress or modernization, but these townspeople feel that the tangible heritage affected is part of the cultural heritage of the community and should remain for future generations. What the DPWH fails to take into account is that we have few enough examples of vernacular architecture and what would disappear is unique to Bohol. The homeowners also feel that "Bohol's claim to be one of our country's most exemplary provinces for eco-cultural (preservation) will surely be diminished if part of its enviable legacy of ancestral homes will vanish into thin air." So why can't the plan be redesigned?

Next comes Dr. Benito Legarda who is upset with the tourism office of Mabalacat, Pampanga, putting up a statue to kamikaze pilots. If this weren't so pathetic, it would be funny -- at par with Americans erecting a statue of Osama bin Laden on the site of the World Trade Center or the Jews honoring Adolph Hitler with a memorial in Jerusalem. The sad part is that the mayor can't see the ludicrousness of the situation or that it makes all of us the butt of jokes and a laughing stock, because who puts up statues to murderous foes? I mean have we lost all vestiges of sensibility and discernment as to what is proper? Don't get me wrong. I believe in forgiveness, but I don't believe in honoring enemies for their acts in wartime. So please, could the people of Mabalacat kindly remove the eyesore? Thank you.

Then there's my favorite senator, a.k.a. Flash Gordon, who insists on installing a gold statue of Arnold Schwarzenegger, oops, Lapu-Lapu, in Rizal Park. Listen: I have nothing against the favorite son of Cebu (I may not agree with the artistic attributes of the piece, but there's that "de gustibus" stuff, and what can we do if so many people are tasteless) but there is also apparently a law that reserves the park for heroes of the 1996 Revolution. (Too bad the National Historical Institute won't sue). If the good senator wishes to put up statues to every single hero from here to kingdom come in Rizal Park, then will he please first amend the law? Because what he is really demonstrating is an utter disdain for the law of the land that we ordinary mortals have to put up with whether we agree or not, and all because being senator, he can get away with it and who's going to do anything about it? The fact, of course, that the new tourism secretary hails from Cebu makes it much harder since this is the type of stunt politicians like to pull in order to curry favor this time, I presume, with the Cebuanos. Perhaps Secretary Ace Durano who is so much younger can show some respect for the law and request for its removal since Rizal Park is under his department.

It's true the headlines crow about the 6 percent growth and the booming stock market and the appreciation of the peso, but the feeling persists that we're going to hell in a basket. With the examples our leaders set, can you blame us?

It's amnesia time

It's amnesia time


Posted 00:12am (Mla time) Feb 12, 2005
By Bambi Harper
Inquirer News Service



Editor's Note: Published on page A15 of the February 12, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer


SEVERAL people have been calling to ask that I write on the 60th anniversary of the Liberation, when 100,000 Manileños were massacred. But one wonders if aside from them anybody else cares? Certainly not the government, which hasn't seen fit to even honor the Katipuneros with a memorial in Manila, although one senator has managed to dump a statue of Lapu-lapu in a park supposedly reserved for heroes of the Revolution. Even when celebrating what they considered a hundred years of independence in 1998, there was no lasting tribute to remember them -- just the remains of the Expo in Clark with Styrofoam facades. I wouldn't be surprised if soon we'd have forgotten who started the Revolution of '96.

The government hasn't bothered with a tribute to the guerrillas either, 60 years or no 60 years, but it is celebrating a Philippine-Japan Festival this month and has been doing so for the past decade. As I've said before, if we had any self-esteem (which seems to have gone down the drain together with the economy), we would at least have had the decency to choose any month other than February to celebrate Philippine-Japanese friendship. This after all was the month that saw destruction by "sword and fire" that did not just level a whole city but drove a people to their knees. I don't think we've ever quite recovered.

But why should we expect anything? One imagines that we owe Japan a ton of money or we are beholden to the Japanese because they've given us grants or tractors or roller skates in the millions and you don't want to get into a diplomatic fracas now, would you?

It's gotten so ridiculous that the town of Mabalacat has conveniently forgotten that more than a million Filipinos died in that war, with 100,000 murdered in Manila in February. Instead they chose to remember the kamikaze pilots and honored them with a statue. What can you say about a people like that?

One wonders how we expect anybody to respect us when we don't even respect ourselves. A people who pay tribute to their former enemies rather than to their own heroes? You must admit there's something very wrong here.

On this 60th anniversary of the end of World War II in Auschwitz, Holocaust survivors gathered and prayed the kaddish, the Jewish prayer for the dead, as well as Christian prayers. It says "such gestures movingly conjured up the past." Last Feb. 3, a priest who shall remain nameless attended a ceremony supposedly commemorating the liberation at the Manila City Hall and heard one councilor praising the mayor's uncle and then the mayor praising his uncle, too. No one appeared to have remembered those 100,000 dead.

Soon enough World War II will cease to be a living memory as survivors die off and yet we still haven't gotten the story straight. To be fair, it's not as though we've come to terms with our history, whether with the 1896 Revolution or the Philippine-American War or the American occupation or even the collaborators. Come to think of it, wasn't it decided that aside from some unknowns there weren't any collaborators at all?

We should keep our history alive for the generations who will come after us, yet what we seem to be doing is trying our darndest to forget it. So what exactly is the Filipino supposed to be proud of at this point? What will make him rally around the flag?Right now we're trembling in our collective boots because Japan wants to reduce the number of "Japayukis" (isn't that what they call our so-called entertainers?). Even the secretary of foreign affairs had to step in, fly to Japan and I'm sure beg the Japanese on bended knees not to cut off future foreign remittances that we expect to bolster a moribund economy. And this small band of brothers expects the government to remember Japanese atrocities? Get real.

Last Monday was the local premier of a riveting movie, "The Great Raid," based on, among other accounts, Hampton Sides' "Ghost Soldiers" (referring to American POWs) who were mostly survivors of the Bataan Death March. It deals with the rescue of 511 American POWs on Jan. 30, 1945 from a Japanese camp, notorious for its brutality since of the original 12,000 prisoners only 511 remained. (The healthier ones had been sent to Japan to work as slaves.)

It was a raid conducted by 121 soldiers handpicked from the US Army's 6th Ranger Battalion commanded by Henry Mucci and guerrillas under Juan Pajota (played by Cesar Montano) and Eduardo Joson. The guerrillas held Gabu Bridge, thus preventing Japanese reinforcements from crossing the river.

Today in Cabanatuan only six concrete blocks from the camp's water tower remain. A memorial was dedicated in 1982 with the names of those who died in the camp. In 2003 another memorial was dedicated to the US Army troopers who liberated the camp in 1945. Out of the 121 Rangers, there were two casualties. Two POWs didn't survive. But 21 Filipino guerrillas were killed in that raid.

Have you ever heard of Juan Pajota or Eduardo Joson and their men? Is anybody putting up anything in their honor 60 years after the event? Stupid question.

The generation of those who fought that war is dying. Their stories surely should be told. It is said that the most crucial duty imposed by war is never to forget. We obviously have never heard of the saying.

Of the island of Mindanao

Of the island of Mindanao


Posted 00:55am (Mla time) Feb 15, 2005
By Bambi Harper
Inquirer News Service



Editor's Note: Published on page A15 of the February 15, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.


ACCORDING to Capt. Thomas Forrest of the East India Company, nothing much was known about the history of Mindanao prior to the 15th century, before the Arabs set foot on the island. He based his narrative on records that, he claimed, came from Fakymolano, older brother of Sultan Paharadine, the father of young Rajah Kybad Zachariel. It was written in the Maguindanao language and Arabic characters. Fakymolano is said to have dictated it in Malay, then the lingua franca of the traders of that era (remember the datus in Butuan and Enrique de Malacca?).

Before the arrival of Seris Alli, the first Moslem prince of the island, some form of monarchy or privileged class was already in existence. Based in the towns of Maguindanao, Selangan, Catibtuan and Semayanan, the members of the class assumed the right to claim whatever land that they wanted for themselves from the banks of the river Dano. Those from the towns of Malampyan and Lusuden were said to be the first to join Seris; those from the first four mentioned towns soon followed.

Seris married a daughter of the king of this privileged class and on this marriage established his right to the crown. Their son was Mohamet Kabantuan who sired Makallan, the father of Bankaio. Bankaio had two sons: Buissan, surnamed Capt Laut, who succeeded him, and Salicola.

About the time that Kabantuan reigned, a person named Budiman was Pangaran of Sulu (a title inferior to sultan or rajah and used in Sumatra as well). He was succeeded by his grandson, whose name was Bonsoo (Bunso?). He was related to the family that ruled Borneo; the family is said to have come from Mecca and its head was the brother of Seris Alli.

Bunso had two children, a daughter, Potely (meaning princess or lawful daughter by his official wife), and a son, Bakliol, by a concubine. Bakliol overthrew his sister, declared his independence from Maguindanao and assumed the title of sultan although his ancestors had only been pangarans.

Salicola married Bakliol's sister, Potely, and they had a daughter named Panianamby, who married Kudarat, son of Buissan, her first cousin. They had two sons, Dolidy and Tidoly. The latter succeeded his father and had two sons, Abdaraman and Kuddy.

Kuddy, the uncle of Mossat, son of Abdaraman, usurped his throne and invited the Suluanons to side with him against the lawful heir. The Suluanons however had smaller and faster vessels than the Maguindanaos. They sailed into the Semony River and, finding Kuddy there with only a small force, they killed him, raided his camp and, carrying off some pieces of cloth, declared scornfully, "Surely you won't grudge these to cover the body of your dead king?"

Mossat had two sons Fakymolano and Paharadine, the sultan. Fakymolano was obliged to leave Maguindanao and retire to the banks of the Tamantakka. After many years of war, Molenu fled to Boayn and Fakymolano took possession of all the lands in Maguindanao. Peace reigned for about 30 years. Molenu died a natural death, leaving behind two sons, Topang and Uku, and a daughter, Myong. Fakymolano gave up the sultanate in favor of his brother Paharadine on condition that his son Kybad Zachariel succeed him.

Paharadine married Myong, his sister. Topang inherited large possessions from his father, rivaling those of the Rajah Mura who fortified himself at Cota Intang within musket range from the sultan's palace and within cannon range from Topang's fort. He was now closely related to the Suluanons after his marriage with Galaludine, daughter of Bantillan, once sultan of Sulu.

Paharadine had no children by his legal consort Myong, but he had a son by a concubine, Chartow. Whether Myong favored Chartow or Topang is not known but she had strong influence over the sultan and was rumored to be the cause of the rift between the sultan and Rajah Mura.

When Forrest sailed into the river Pelangy in May 1775, he was met by a boat with Datu Enty, a son of Rajah Mura, on board. The datu invited the captain to go to Cota Intang first before calling on the sultan. Forrest replied that he could not decide where to go until the rajah arrived. That night, Datu Enty and one of his attendants slept on board the galley and were fed tea and sago bread.

The next morning the boat was within sight of Selangan where Forrest saw a white banner bordered with checkers of blue, yellow and red and hoisted on a flag staff in a wooden fort, situated in the fork where the river Melampy broke off to the right from the Pelangy. Datu Enty told him that it was his father's fort, and reiterated his invitation for Forrest to first go to Cota Intang before seeing the sultan.

At this point a man, whom Forrest had known in Alambangan as Noquedah, came on board bringing word from the sultan that Balambanga had been taken by the Sulus. He told Forrest that he better stop by the sultan's fort. As they sailed past the sultan's fort, Forrest anchored and saluted with five guns which salute was returned. He then proceeded to Cota Intang where he was greeted by Datu Bukkalyan, brother-in-law of Rajah Mura. In the fort, he found the rajah and his father, Fakymolano, seated on European chairs.

The rajah was a man of "good stature" with piercing eyes and an aquiline nose. Fakymolano was short, outgoing and had a smiling countenance.

Forrest informed them that he had a letter and a present from Balambangan for the sultan, which he proposed to deliver that day. The Rajah offered his brother-in-law as a guide. They met the sultan who spoke good Malay but chose to converse through the interpreter Noquedah.

Chabacano

Chabacano


Posted 05:25am (Mla time) Feb 19, 2005
By Bambi Harper
Inquirer News Service



Editor's Note: Published on page A15 of the February 19, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.


MAYBE you have gotten tired of my Muslims (someone was complaining about all those names, although that's probably the way they sounded to Capt. Thomas Forrest 300 years ago). So for a change of pace, a friend downloaded some articles from the Net and e-mailed them to me. They deal with a language seldom heard these days, especially in Ermita where it has virtually disappeared. It is also spoken in Cavite and Zamboanga, but with the demographics taking place it may well be another piece of heritage that may not survive. It may surprise you to know (it did me) that it was spoken as well in Binondo, Paco and Trozo (where my maternal grandfather came from). The language is also found, it seems, in Davao and Cotabato and may even exist in Sabah! According to a 2000 census, a total of 210,000 people speak Caviteño and Ternateño.

Godofredo Samonte of Cavite City tells us that Chabacano came into existence when migrating Spaniards settled in Ternate, Cavite, Ermita in Manila and Zamboanga and married native women. In an effort to understand each other, Spaniards tried to learn Tagalog while the Filipinas mixed Tagalog with Spanish. Samonte states that Chabacano's origin was a mispronunciation of Spanish words as in "Bini tu aqui" which comes from "Ven aqui" or "Vente aqui" (Come here). The Spanish "De donde vienes?" (Where do you come from?) becomes in Caviteño or Ternateño "Donde tu ya bini?"

It is possible though that the Caviteños learned it from the Mardicas, 200 of whom were brought over from Ternate in the Moluccas and first settled in the Ermita for around 50 years. In 1700, they were relocated to Maragondon, Cavite facing Manila Bay where they christened their new home Ternate after their old homeland.

In 1641, the Spaniards established a shipbuilding yard in Cavite and in time this became an important naval base. It was from here that the city of Cavite developed and it is entirely possible that the Mardicas sought work in the naval yard thus propagating their language.

A very charming example of the metaphoric quality of Chabacano is this example: "Ta sali ya el prusision" sounds like it means the procession is leaving, but it means the rice in the pot is already boiling. Or "Cumi uno buta dos" referring to eating shell fish since you eat the meat and throw away the shell, "thus the expression, eat one and throw away two."

You also had a mixture of two languages as in "Tu un daldalero" from the Tagalog daldal ("talkative").

If Chabacano once was a mixture of Spanish and Tagalog, today American English has also been added as in "Absent eli na lecture ayel." Obviously "absent" and "lecture" are English, demonstrating that Chabacano is still a growing language, absorbing new words.

What you also might find intriguing are the prayers Samonte gives us in Oracion Chabacana. The Sign of the Cross is El Señal del Sta. Cruz - Na nombre del Tata, y del Hijo, y del Espiritu Santo. And Our Father is El Reso del Señor (literally The Lord's Prayer), which goes:

Niso Tata Qui ta na cielo:

Quida santificao Tu nombre;

Manda vini con niso Tu reino;

Sigui el qui quiere Tu aqui na tierra igual como na

cielo! Dali con niso ahora, niso comida para todo el

dia; Perdona el mga culpa di niso, si quilaya ta

perdona niso con aquel mga qui tiene culpa con niso;

No dija qui cai niso na tentacion, pero salva con

niso na malo.

Then we have the Hail Mary or El Saludo del Angel con Maria (The Angel's Greeting to Mary):

Ta saluda yo contigo,Maria,

quida alegre tu! Lleno tu di gracia! El Senor

ta alli contigo! Bendito tu mas di todo el mga mujer,

y bendito rin tu Hijo Jesus!

Sta. Maria, Nana di Dios: Riza para

niso, el mga qui tiene culpa, ahora y na hora di

niso muerte.

El Gloria con el Santisima Trinidad -

Gloria con El Tata, y con el Hijo, y con el Espiritu Santo.

Igual como na principio,

ansina ahora y para todo El tiempo.

Finally here are Spanish words that have been adopted into Tagalog or Chabacano but whose meanings have changed:

Ya (Chavacano) denotes past tense. (In Spanish, ya means "already.") "Donde andas?" (Chavacano) means "Where are you going?" (In Spanish, anda means "to walk or operate.") Siguro means "maybe." (In Spanish seguro means "sure, secure, stable.") Syempre means "of course." (The Spanish siempre means "always.") Pirmi (Tagalog, Visayan, Chavacano) means "always." (The Spanish firme means "firm, steady.") Basta means "as long as." (In Spanish basta means "enough.") Maske/maski means "even if." (The Spanish mas que means "more than.") Kubeta means "toilet/outhouse." (The Spanish cubeta means "bucket.") Casilyas (Visayan, Chavacano) means "toilet/toilet seat/to shit." (The Spanish casillas means "chess squares, hut, cabin.") Lamierda/lamyerda means "paint the town red." (The Spanish la mierda means "shit, excrement.") Puto means "a rice cake." (The Spanish puto means "a male prostitute.") Baho means "pungent or smelly." (The Spanish bajo means "descend, below.") Sabi means "to say." (The Spanish saber means "to know.") Barkada means "group or friends." (The Spanish barcada means "boatload.") Sugal means "gambling." (The Spanish jugar means "to play"). Mamon means "fluffy bread." (The Spanish mamon means "a woman's large breast.") Pera means "money." (The Spanish perra means "silver coin.")

Of cabbages and kings

Of cabbages and kings


Posted 10:43pm (Mla time) Feb 21, 2005
By Bambi Harper
Inquirer News Service



Editor's Note: Published on page A13 of the February 22, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer


ASIDE FROM FAKYMOLANO and Pharadine, Seid Mossat had a grandson called Subadan who carried the title of Watamama but was treated contemptuously by Chartow and Topang. He had married Fakymolano's daughter, his first cousin by whom he had a daughter Fatima, who in turn married Utu, Rajah Mura's son, and her own second cousin.

On July 7, Subadan Watamama fell sick. On a visit, Capt. Thomas Forrest found him lying in the great hall in a large bed that had a number of silk bolsters, embroidered with gold at the ends, on which the patient reclined. The hall was full of visitors in groups of three or four, seated around a brass salver covered with sweet cakes and cups of chocolate.

Before ascending the stairs, a person would first pour water on the feet of visitors while they rubbed one foot against the other. Forrest picked his way among the groups and "went stooping with my right hand almost to the ground as is their custom." He sat cross-legged near the foot of the bed on a mat and asked the patient how he was. The patient appeared feverish and he told Fakymolano, who sat beside him, that he thought he should be given a purgative.

Next morning, the captain again visited Watamama bringing with him some medicine. His wife and daughter Fatima would not allow him to take it even if Molano urged it. Fakymolano finally said, "Let you and me, Captain, drink this physic; I am certain it is good." So saying, he drank half of it and Forrest drank the rest.

On the 27th, Watamama died. Forrest heard the dismal cry set up by the women of the household. In the courtyard, carpenters exerted greater effort cutting the wood to make his coffin of thick planks strongly dovetailed. They had begun it two days before his death and although their strokes were not loud, Forrest was sure the sick man must have heard them.

In the morning, the coffin was carried to the burial place 200 yards from his house. About noon, the corpse, covered with a white cloth, was borne out on the bedstead where he had died, and part of the wooden wall of the house was taken down to allow it to pass. The bedstead was carried by young men, mostly his relatives, with 12 umbrellas held over the body. The corpse was laid into the grave about five inches deep and the coffin, without a bottom, was laid over it and earth thrown in. Over it was poured water from porcelain Chinese decanters, their spouts bound with white calico to strain the water.

Only men attended the funeral, but neither Tooppan nor his brother Uku was there. From the time of his death until the funeral, many guns were fired at intervals. Next day, a shed was built over the grave and a temporary floorboard where the widow lived for a week. In his house, relatives butchered cattle, sang dirges in his honor and for the repose of his soul.

On the 25th of August, a proa arrived from Zamboanga with an envoy on board who brought letters from the governor to Rajah Mura. The envoy's name was Huluan, a Filipino with the rank of ensign. He brought a sergeant with him who trained the rajah's guards daily in the use of the musket and bayonet. The guards numbering 30 were captive Visayans who on formal occasions dressed in uniforms of blue broad cloth, trimmed in red with white buttons of tin. They had grenadier caps with the motto, "Yo el Rey" (I the King). The envoy, the sergeant and six soldiers from Manila were lodged at the fort.

Finally, the Rajah signified that he wanted Forrest to accompany him to visit the sultan. The palace was about 120 feet long and 50 feet wide. The first floor rose 14 feet from the ground. Thirty-two pillars supported the house in four rows, eight to a row. Through some windows, cut low, pieces of iron pointed outward. Boats were kept in the lower part. The upper stories were matted.

The first row of pillars was about 10 feet covered with scarlet broad cloth to the top where at the height of about 20 feet from the first floor they sustained the beams and rafters on which rested a substantial though light roof made of sage tree leaves. From the top of the inside, pillars with broad white borders extending them comprised the ceiling.

A moveable slight partition divided the whole into two parts. The first part held six pieces of mounted cannons. The inner apartment was not floored in wood but covered with split anebong, a kind of palm tree, going the whole length and covered with matting and some carpets. It was preferred because it admitted air from below, making the palace remarkably cool.

Between the two farthest pillars of the farthest apartment stood the bed on a stage of plank, a foot high, covered with mats. The tester held three rows of curtains, the inmost of white calico, the next of blue and the outermost of silks in contrasting colors.

Opposite the bed was what looked like a Chinese porcelain shop with rows of 30 Chinese jars with a capacity of 20 gallons each. Above them on another shelf stood another row of jars, and the next shelf exhibited a row of black earthen water pots with brass covers. A fourth shelf held salvers and cuspidors. Toward the end was another row of shelves containing more jars and opposite were two rows of red-colored Chinese chests.

(From Capt. Thomas Forrest, "A Voyage to New Guinea, and the Moluccas, from Balambangan," 1780)

A 1790 visit to Batangas

A 1790 visit to Batangas


Posted 03:02am (Mla time) Feb 26, 2005
By Bambi Harper
Inquirer News Service



Editor's Note: Published on page A15 of the February 26, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer


THE FIRST and oldest inhabitants of Batangas were the negritos of the mountains called Aetas. Then came the Burnayes or Borneans who came to trade but, seeing that the land was rich, commenced their conquest with firearms, causing the Aetas to flee to the far reaches of the mountains.

The Borneans brought their wives and started families while others intermarried with the local Aeta women that they had captured and called their children Malaya Dayhagan. There were also Muslims from Mindanao, Joloanos, Chinese and Malabars who married natives and usurped or took possession of the land with arms, driving the Aetas away. They lived without any authority over them and according to whatever law they wished.

The oldest family names, according to Franciscans and the Jesuit friar chronicles, were Caponpon, Gatdula, Hianta or Nianta, but they did not enjoy the privileges of the Lacandulas of Manila.

In 1570, Legaspi arrived in the South with six vessels and four Augustinian friars. The following year, they took Manila and established the government and metropolis of the Philippine colony. From Intramuros, they branched out to conquer the rest of Luzon, starting with Laguna, Cavite and Batangas. Taal was conquered by Juan de Salcedo who was wounded by an arrow in the leg in one of the encounters.

In Taal, the Church of St. Martin (said to be the special devotion of Fr. Martin de Rada) was built in 1572. Its first prior was the venerable Fr. Agustin de Albuquerque, first apostle of the Kumintang. Some say that the word "taal" signified a tree, but others claimed that it referred to sugar cane, which was abundant in the area.

The first town or settlement of Taal was Balangon where the walls were still preserved at the time of Andres de Castro's visit in 1790. There were ruins of the town that the Moros burnt and destroyed in the 17th century. For security reasons, the town had been transferred to the banks of Bombon Lake.

This second Taal remained until 1754, when the volcano erupted for the fourth time and destroyed it. But the church's walls of lime and stone still stood and became objects of religious veneration where many Christians lay buried.

The third Taal is where it is located now, half a quarter league from the sea in a high place, dry and healthy, with a good view but with winds that assaulted you. It was the prior, Fr. Martin de Aguirre, and Alcalde Mayor D. Jose Ayuso who went to live in Batangas and established the Cabecera and Casa Real.

De Castro visited for nine days and observed that since there were many houses in the town, when he went for his afternoon walks the dogs did not bark or disturb him at night, which was not the case in other towns. Nor were there any mosquitoes, bats in the temple and cockroaches. He believed it was the strong odor of sulfur that drove them away. It was however true that thunderbolts and earthquakes were frequent and more terrible because of the proximity of the volcano, which was only an hour by horseback.

The new Taal stood on high stony ground as though presiding over the whole cove of Balayan. It had many crevices and ravines with a beautiful view.

Balayan had more than 2,000 tributes and some 9,000 souls. It had a small fort on the beach with cannons and another in Casasay, where there were many houses of good wood but with roofs of straw. Three were also many mestizo Sangleys, owners of stores selling clothes and drugs.

Taal once had jurisdiction over the towns of Balayan, Lian, Nasugbu, San Jose, Bauang and others that were once mere visitas. Taal was their origin -- they came from her and were the children of Taal.

Balayan was a very rich town situated in a cove of the same name, observed De Castro. It was 16 leagues from Manila to the southeast and was run by the same priors of Taal who built a church of lime and stone, dedicated to the Immaculate Conception.

In 1580, Balayan was turned over to the regular clergy together with the parishes of Mindoro, according to Fr. Gaspar de S. Agustin. The Moros burnt and razed the town thrice, but despite that, it still had 2,000 tributes. They produced gold in powder form, salt, sugar, wine and coconut oil, white and colored cotton that was made into much sought-after fabrics.

The cows, horses and carabaos were many and of good stock, especially in the ranches of Lian and Nasugbu. The people planted a lot of rice and wheat and from these alone earned 30,000 pesos annually for the town. Aside from tobacco, anil, sibuacal and other produce such as beeswax, tar (for caulking), cabonegro, and coconuts were brought to Sunday market for sale.

The second town of Taal was Bauang. It served as its visita from the year 1600, when it separated and obtained its own minister. It was first situated on the banks of Bombon Lake where the old walls could still be seen. For different reasons, it was relocated to two other sites and finally planted near the sea not very far from Punta de Azufre and the islet of Maricaban. There a church of lime and stone , 80 varas (1 vara was equivalent to .84 meters) long and 15 wide, was built by Fr. Blas Vidal with the help of many local master builders. The church and convent were surrounded by a wall with four bulwarks and cannons, following Fr. Miguel Oraña's plans.

(From an account by Pedro Andres de Castro y Amadeo)