The Richness of the Jal-o (Manggad kung Hae-o)

The words used by a community in describing certain reality or experience are indicative to their rich awareness of the things around them. They also serve as clues to the richness and diversity of the environment where they are situated at a certain time. Conversely, the cessation or death of certain words point to a fact that the things they described have ceased to be. These realities are happening down by the Jal-o River. The words in Inakeanon hereunder are clues to the dynamism of culture and the generations that have had used them, not to mention the vibrant environment:

a. Fishes

  1. Bagtis (goby)
  2. Obog (dusky sleeper)
  3. Bae-a (goby)
  4. Sugi (river garfish)
  5. Puyo (climbing perch) 
  6. Pantat (broadhead catfish)
  7. Haeo-an (true murrel)
  8. Aeogsuk (snakehead murrel)
  9. Kilo (spotted scat)
  10. Mub-ead (scat) 
  11. Danggit (scat)
  12. Mangagat (snapper)
  13. Bugok (yellow snapper)
  14. Inid (white dotted grouper)
  15. Paeangan (long-spined glass perchlet)
  16. Aliso (mangrove red snapper)
  17. Baeanak (broad mouthed mullet) 
  18. Gusaw (blue mullet)
  19. Sili (freshwater eel)
  20. Ogdok (giant moray)
  21. Poyoy (finger eel)
  22. Nipa-nipa (brackish water eel)
  23. Sap-sap (pugnose ponyfish)
  24. Eawayan (common ponyfish)
  25. Tambasakan 
  26. Bang-eos (milkfish)
  27. Tilapia (blue tilapia) 
  28. Amuean-buean (tarpon)
  29. Awa (ladyfish)
  30. Lap-lap 
  31. Tabagak (freshwater sardinella) 
  32. Tamban (freshwater sardinella)
  33. Tabyos
  34. Bueogwas (white small fish, like tabyos)
  35. Paead (speckled tonguesole)
b. Shrimps
  1. Mayos (krill or small shrimp)
  2. Oeang (downstream freshwater prawn)
  3. Patuyaw (upland freshwater shrimp)
  4. Paye (upland giant freshwater prawn)
  5. Bueok (downstream giant freshwater prawn)
  6. Batod (brackish water shrimp)
  7. Pasayan (whitish brackish water shrimp)
  8. Saksog (brackish water prawn)
  9. Sugpo (tiger prawn)
  10. kamantaha (ghost shrimp)
  11. pitik-pitik (mantis shrimp)
c. Other Crustaceans, Shellfish
  1. Alimango (mud crab)
  2. Kalampai (river crab)
  3. Kasag (blue crab)
  4. Umang (hermit crab)
  5. Karag (mangrove crab)
  6. Uson (hermit crab)
  7. Kagang (freshwater crab)
  8. Oeangkas (minuscule land crab)
  9. Diwae (Angel wing)
  10. Litob (blood clam)
  11. Litob-litob (blood clam)
  12. Tahong (green mussel)
  13. Sisi (mussel)
  14. Abahong (brown mussel) 
  15. Taeaba (oyster)
  16. Kukod kabayo
  17. Bebe (freshwater clam)
  18. Tuway (mud clam)
  19. Bagungon (telescope shell)
  20. Igi 
  21. Imbaw (mangrove clam)
  22. Banag 
  23. Kaguko (small freshwater clam)
  24. Hungkay-hungkay 
The list of Akeanon words for the rich marine life in the Jal-o and the Tinagong Dagat (Batan Bay) is a long one. And yet, there are signs that the young generations are becoming alienated from most of those words and the very realities they represent. I remember a proposal from scholars of regulating the fishing activities therein which attracted vehement reactions. The proposal was based on several researches and more particularly on a study detailing the overfishing activities in Batan Estuary that eventually threatened marine life in the area. The proposal is for the fisher folks to observe off season for fishing at a certain period when molting is observed among crustaceans. It was rejected outright. 

So I sing in the silence of my restless heart the song of Asin lamenting the dying of the once beautiful ecosystem I was privilege of interacting with. 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Something About Tumbo (Cara y Cruz): A Hypothesis

Image
They say that mahjong is just a diversion, a recreation of some sort of the bored and the retired. But they say that cara y cruz is a different case. However you look at it--in both sides of the coin (pun intended), it is gambling and therefore those who indulged in it (read, the poor ones) are playing in conflict with law. And so, since yesteryears, people accepted those facts. Mahjong is recreational while cara y cruz or tumbo is gambling and illegal at that. An Alfonso showing its head and tail or if your prefer its "hari" & "corona" But I was amused at the scene of a group of individuals by an "island" at corner T.M. Kalaw and Taft Avenue I happened to pass by while doing research at the National Archives of the Philippines sometime in August 2010. I just alighted from the Light Rail Transit (LRT) at UN Station and was finding my way to cross T.M. Kalaw when I noticed a bunch of lot playing cara y cruz on the elevated concrete "isla
Read more

SOOTHING AS NIGHT WINDS ARE: An Interpretation of the poem by that title by Salvador B. Espinas

Image
Love is gentle, love is quiet Like any distant star; In loving by which we approximate the nature of love, we do not coerce those we love—as much as possible we give room for freedom to grow and respect each other’s independence, i.e., each other’s time of searching. In loving, the lover is like the distant star, manifesting his presence and yet quietly, not trying to obstruct or block the path of the beloved. He stands besides quietly assuring her of his gentle presence and constant attention. Love is beauty, love is music Soothing as night winds are. Lovers are enchanted by the wonders of creation. One who is in loved would often quips that everything seems beautiful and that “ life has music, rhythm and rhyme” –which actually is. Somehow, love enables man and woman to see reality as God sees it. As even in times of trouble, loves comes like night winds, soothing our weary mind and aching heart.
Read more

Maeocong, Chieftain of the Jae-o No More

Image
There was a time when the early settlers by the Jal-o regarded the river with a sense of foreboding. While it served as the main thoroughfare, their public baths and laundry pond, the river held many mysteries kept hidden among its lush mangroves and adjoining swamps and tributaries. Rumors and reports of actual sightings of monstrous amphibians wading its waters had been told in every household. The authorities had warned the villagers to stay out of the water especially at nighttime. Of those crocodiles, Maeocong was regarded as the dominant bull--the king of the Jae-o. He was long as a boroto (local banca) and heavier than an adult carabao. It was said that he was more deadly if paired with his favorite mate, Pingan Nonay . Together, they wreck terror along the Anao and Bag-ot swamps. For a time, the settlers tolerated their fear. They lived their lives by the Jal-o with that ominous awareness that they were not the masters of the river. But such fears had hounded them even in th
Read more