Those Assumptionistas Who Looked Back at the Jal-o a Year After Yolanda

Today is the first anniversary of Yolanda, internationally known as Typhoon Haiyan, which has been regarded as the strongest of those typhoons that ravaged communities all over the world. I intended to let it pass without so much ado, for after all, most of my trees have never recovered when she battered them last years. My neighbor is still without a decent house to live in--despite the reported many humanitarian aids coursed through either the government or the non-government organizations. But there are those who knocked on our doors today, inviting us to see through the bitter experience that we had last year and reflect on the way we chose as we tried to stand up from its havoc.

Ms. Viel Aquino Dee, Vice Chair of Assisi Development Foundation
and Mayor Bobby Calizo of Balete, Aklan surveyed the boats
made by the fisher folks themselves.

The callers are the volunteers of the Associate Missionaries of the Assumption or AMA for short. I know them not personally, but I met and befriended some of their peers sometime when they rowed down the Jal-o a long time ago--yes, but not that very long time ago. They brought with them their smiles, their friendship, their affirmation, their faith, their hopes, their stories. They came from as far as Europe and the United States (a friend and I found it amusing seeing a French animatedly chatting with a British volunteer), from Mindanao and North Luzon and even from nearby Iloilo, all to break bread with us today as we remember the sad incident of last year. They brought with them some means to help restore the lost livelihood of the fisher folks by the Jal-o. Yes,they brought us the Assisi Development Foundation which in turn capacitated the fisher folks to build boats out of the fallen trees.

Small group sharing: Here I am a year after Yolanda.

On that simple yet grace-filled gathering by the Jal-o today, we were informed that AMA and the Assisi Development Foundation opted to be with us for the occasion to witness the blessings and turn-over of boats (34 for today--and 50 last September 28) as part of the their Tabang Visayas reach-out program. And yet, they admitted that more than helping us process our trauma, they intently chosen to be with us for Balete has a special place in their hearts. One AMA "graduate" confessed that it was in Anao many years ago when she decided to give her yes to serve God through the poor by living the "Simple Life" They looked back at us to say thank you for that grand and wonderful immersion that they experienced while living with the kind people of Sitio Anao, Aranas.

The new batch of AMA volunteers rendered a special song
especially composed by one for Tabang Visayas. 

Today's interaction between those Assumptionistas, with Ms. Viel Aquino Dee and Ms. Vicky Borres, and the marginalized fisher folks by the Jal-o was a living testimony of the truism that the friendship of the rich and the poor is mutually enriching. It was a quiet yet eloquent love story of neighbors electing to carry the cross of one another.

Yolanda may have caused us much damage and even to some, tragedy; but like the Pandora's Box, she brings out with her moments of grace that lift up the human spirit to soar higher to remind one of his lost calling of living simply, kindly and responsibly along with his neighbor by the Jal-o River. A year after, may he finds the courage to echo the words of St. Marie Eugenie of Jesus, "My life must a be constant yes to my God."

The Telos of Life According to Lagumbay

My friend Lagumbay was relaxing with some buddies over a few bottles of Gold Eagle Beer Mucho in a hut by the Jal-o. Thereupon, a local politician noticed their presence and approached them in an animated fashion. As the custom of the place, the bystanders hurriedly offered the caller a glass of beer. They were not turned down and as the candidate held the bottle, he went on with his animated maneuvering. Soon, he managed to grab the attention of everyone and was already dominating the conversation.

The politician was in his element. He took out some bills from his pocket and was ready to order for more beers when Lagumbay interjected. "No sir," he declared. "The beer is on me."

This remark of Lagumbay earned him the ridicule of his peers. In rural Balete, politicians are perceived as patrons who call on the bills—be it a hospital bill or a bar chit. Thus, calling onto himself the burden of paying for the beer when there is a politician present is bordering on ridiculous. Lagumbay appears the fool, but he has the last laugh. He asserted his conviction that in a democratic society such as ours, the citizen is not a supplicant before the politician, nor is the politician a benefactor dispensing favors from his own pocket. The politician is, in the end, a public servant, and the citizen remains a citizen—with a dignity that does not have to be purchased by another man's generosity.

Perhaps this is what Lagumbay's life has been quietly witnessing: that the telos of life is not simply to survive, to prosper, or even to be remembered. It is to become, however imperfectly, what one believes a human being ought to be. Sometimes that conviction reveals itself in no grander gesture than refusing to let another man pay for one's beer.

And perhaps that is why I remember Lagumbay.  

The Center of Balete

Center. That is the way Baleten-ons referred to the Municipal Health Office since my childhood days. And it stuck until to now. I am particular to this reality as the family used to reside behind the old Puericulture Center of Balete where both my father and mother worked. When my mother got hired as Rural Health Midwife for Balete Rural Health Unit, the family decided to relocate and bought a small house behind it. It was easy to recognize one another then as there were only a handful of households in the poblacion. It was simply either one is from Ilaya or Ilawod.

The "Center" is geographically situated at the heart of the poblacion along with the old Town Hall, the Band Stand and the Church. It served as the boundary for the "taga-ilaya" and "taga-ilawod". It was implicitly regarded as a neutral place where animosity is temporarily set aside among the "warring gangs" of Ilaya and Ilawod. As the bell tolled to call the community to Angelus, any contest by the rival gangs were to be set aside, at least for a while. At nighttime, its spacious covered patio was a rendezvous for the Romeos and Juliets of the Poblacion.

The "Center" is known by many names. Originally, it was the Puericulture Center of Balete when it was first established in 1957. A cholera outbreak struck the community in the early 50's and the government relied on the humanitarian interventions of the National Federation of Women's Club of the Philippines (NFWCP) as there was no health personnel assigned in Balete at that time. While it is true that as early as 1921, the Public Welfare Commission was already tasked of supervising and organizing puericulture centers in the countryside with a mandate that all centers should have a doctor, a nurse, a midwife and a social worker, all to be paid by the government, the lack of funds delayed its establishment in Balete. It took the persistence of the strong-willed Pacita Calizo-Cortes, the chapter president of NFWCP, to bring in funds that pave for the eventual establishment of the "Center" and later on, its satellites in Aranas and Calizo.

The fine lady with a bag is the late Pacita Calizo-Cortes during her attendance to the
1st National League of Puericulture Centers National Convention
 at the Malacañang Palace in February 25, 1961
(Photo courtesy of Ms. Cecile Cortes-Vergara)

In 1961, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Children's Fund, the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office and provincial governors funded the construction of puericulture center buildings across the country. Remnants of the PCSO-funded centers are still standing up to now in Barangay Aranas and Barangay Calizo although the lack of appropriate documents--Deed of Donations--prevented the local government from undertaking their rehabilitation. But with the dearth of health personnel where there was only one midwife who rounded the barrios as the doctor and the nurse were "center-based", the people relied so much on the active involvement of the NFWCP for their health and sanitation needs and in their absence, from the community cirujanos (not to be confused with the cirujanos ministrates—male nurses—of the Spanish era) and herbolarios (or albularyo). Thus, that generation remembers its one and only president as the Florence Nightingale of Balete for her advocacy in promoting health and sanitation among the rural folks. Her death in 1963 therefore was regarded as a great lost that eventually led to the fading out of her Women's Club even before the onset of the Marcos years. 

During the Martial Law years, the "Center" became known as Rural Health Unit where it welcomed batches of newly graduated health practitioners doing their mandatory Rural Health Service. Nurses and midwives reached out into the barrios to provide the needed health services to complement (or counteract—whatever) the Community-Based Health Practitioners' efforts at reaching out to the rural masses. 

The passage of the Local Government Code in 1991 dramatically brought changes which devolved health services and its personnel administration under the local government units (LGUs). The "Center" took form to be called thus as the Municipal Health Office with the Municipal Health Officer as its Department Head. As if wanting to radically change everything in it, a powerful earthquake pulverized the building in June of that year. But the spirit of Pacita held on. Through the appeal of her daughter, Ma. Cecilia Cortes-Vergara, who was the confidential secretary then of Secretary Raul Manglapus at the Department of Foreign Affairs, then Department of Health Secretary Alfredo Benzon appropriated certain amount for the immediate construction of a new health center. 

With the new "Center" rising out from the rubles of the old and beloved puericulture center, the local officials were said to have committed to rename it in honor of the memory of Pacita Calizo-Cortes and a way of saying thank-you to Ms. Vergara. In as much as it was now under the LGU, the Sangguniang Bayan by virtue of the LGC can and has the power to rename it upon consultation with the National Historical Institute (now National Historical Commission of the Philippines). Eventually, a signage bearing the name "Pacita Calizo-Cortes Memorial Health Center" was installed prominently atop the new "Center" (people keep on calling it that way even if it the old structure is no more and the new one has a different feature and name).

A recent (June 26, 2014) milestone ordinance enacted by the Sangguniang Bayan of the Municipality of Balete is a ratification of the use of name "Pacita Calizo-Cortes Health Center" as the official name of the Municipal Health Office. It is a belated legislative intervention to rectify the inadvertence of the past. The people of Balete have noted the signage for the past 23 years but no one bothered to inform the public who Pacita Calizo-Cortes was and why was a public, a health edifice for that matter, has to be named after her. She was not even a government official nor held a government position during her time.

So you ask me who is Pacita Calizo-Cortes and why the “Center” is officially named in her memory. The Sangguniang Bayan provides us the clue. Allow me then to quote in toto its brief introduction to Ordinance No. 35, s. 2014:

“The late Pacita Calizo-Cortes is beloved by the people of Balete in her time for her dedication and commitment in promoting health programs especially for the poorest of the poor. She was said to have selflessly reached out to barriofolks of Balete who were maligned by cholera outbreak in the 50’s. She worked hard for the eventual establishment of the Puericulture Center, the precursor of the Rural Health Unit which was the reason why up to now, people call it with affection as the “Center.” She served as its president since its establishment until her death in January 5, 1963. The younger generation however needs to be reminded of her legacy while at the same time we deemed it proper to preserve her memory as a relevant chapter in the history of our town.

“Pacita F. Calizo – Cortes was the youngest daughter of Adriano C. Calizo, former Gobernadorcillo of Balete way back in 1882, to Doña Petra Feliciano-Calizo. Her contemporary referred to her as the Florence Nightingale of Balete. Her elder brother was Miguel F. Calizo, Presidente Municipal (Municipal Mayor) of Balete during the American period in 1923-1925; during the Japanese occupation in 1941-1945; and from 1946-1947 when the Philippines was savoring its newly gained independence.

“The Rural Health Unit of Balete has carried the name “Pacita Calizo-Cortes Memorial Health Center” for many years now. While national government agencies, particularly DOH and Philhealth recognized it as the Balete Rural Health Center, the people of Balete are well aware of the name of that venerable lady as the one imposed on its signage.

“It is for these reasons then that the Local Health Board of the Municipality of Balete, heeding the request of the Heirs of the late Pacita Calizo-Cortes, recommended the ratification of the use of her name as the official name of the Rural Health Unit of Balete, Aklan.  For aesthetic consideration per the recommendation of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines, the word “memorial” shall be omitted thus.”

The Sanggunian Bayan acted on the matter based upon a resolution unanimously adopted by the Municipal Health Board of Balete on May 8, 2014. The resolution was favorably endorsing the letter of the Heirs of the late Pacita Calizo-Cortes who were seeking its intervention to affirm with legislative mandate the use of the name of their mother as the official name of the center.

A nurse under the Nurses to the Barrio Program
reached out to the remote barangay of Guanko.

The poblacion has dramatically changed over the years and with it comes new orientations, new values, new priorities for a diversified community. The “Taga-ilawod” and the Taga-ilaya” are still there adapting and adjusting to the changes that came with the “sprouting” of new communities in growing urbanization of Balete. The rivalry is no longer as intense as before, and yet, the Center remains their spontaneously agreed boundary.  

Inspirations and Motivations

I am writing again. I discovered that I am discovering my poetry. A sign along the lonely road I thread.  

Kalipay kung Taguipusoon

Pananglitan nga rong aton nga daean

Indi eon magsub-eang sa unhan

Sa tindahan rong isda nga mub-ead

Magapadumdum kimo

Nga ikaw ro matuod nga mahae

Owa eon it iba pa.

Pananglitan nga rong aton nga eandong

Indi eon makatao it handong sa hilamon

Sa simbahan rong siga it kandila

Magapadumdum kimo

Ikaw man lang rong kasadya it taguipusoon

Owa eon it iba pa.

Ag pananglitan nga hilipatan mo

Sa madueom, matapo-tapo nga kwarto

Ro binaeaybay it kahapon magapadumdum kimo

Ikaw ratong ginatumod ko, hinigugma nga engkantada

Kalipay ag baeay ku baeatyagon nga nagapadayon

Halin pa kato hasta sa gihapon.

I write poems to express what is happening inside my heart. I write poems when the emotion is strong and wanting release. I write poems to convey my feelings of love and admiration. I write poems to tell you that you are special and I love you.

I write essays and narratives to express what is going on around. I write essays and journal to document the things as they happen that I may remember. I write journal whenever I need to process my coming to be -- a sort of psycho-analyses of the reality as it manifests itself in my consciousness.

I write when I am problematic. I write when the enchantress is nice to me. I write when I am troubled by the events as they unfold. I write to earn a living. I write from time to time to compose a book someday.

 I used to write as a form of prayer. I used to write in lieu of meditating. I used to write to contemplate on the nature of the subject matter of my thought. I used to write as a form of introspection with the hope of reconciling my brokenness and recollecting my shattered self. 

Balete Community College's Humble Beginnings

Balete Community College earns the title as the first and foremost tertiary institution in rural Balete. It stands as one of the only four community colleges in the Province of Aklan. Its becoming is a story worth telling.

 Its Humble Beginning

While it is not mandated of a 4^th class municipality like Balete, Aklan to operate and afford tertiary education for its people, the circumstances it finds itself in are indicative that it carries the load towards its desired end despite its poverty and capacity gaps. These circumstances were offshoots of an extension program introduced in 1998 by then Roxas Memorial College of Arts and Trade (RMCAT) that paved the way for the birth of the community college in 2004.

Late in 1998, officials of RMCAT in their attempt of preserving the college’s independence from the impending integration with Aklan State College of Agriculture parleyed with Mayor Teodoro V. Calizo, Jr. to allow it to utilize makeshift huts (remnants of an agricultural fair during the Civic Fiesta) located in a property owned by the local government as its classrooms for its extension program offerings by SY 1999-2000.  With the promulgation of Republic Act 9055 in April of 2001, RMCAT was eventually absorbed by the newly converted Aklan State University (ASU) (formerly Aklan State College of Agriculture) thus making its extension program under the auspices of the latter. For reasons unknown to the local government unit of Balete, ASU despite the increasing number of enrollees in the extension program and its vast and richer resources sent feelers that it is turning over to the LGU the operations of the program otherwise it will just close it by SY 2004-2005. Hostage to take the bull by its horns and bite the bullet, the LGU released ASU from its obligations by assuming full control of the program with this Sanggunian enacting the Balete Community College Charter in November of 2003, hence its humble beginnings.

 Our Centerpiece Programs and Feathers in Our Cap

The time when the LGU assumed full control of the community college, it was already committed to prioritizing education as one of its centerpiece programs down from Daycare up to high school level that aside from the mandatory Special Education Fund (SEF), it funded other development projects to advance basic education in the municipality. It secured a sizeable grant/loan (14.4 Million Pesos) from the World Bank through the LOGOFIND project to modernize three ill-equipped National High Schools in Balete thus affording them with several classrooms, laboratories complete with devices and equipment, other state-of-art information communication technology equipment, books and other school facilities. Such loan is still being paid for by the LGU up to this time.

Through its pioneering utilization of its joint Executive-Legislative Agenda in 2004 and later of its Comprehensive Development Plan, it managed to make much of the little fund that it had for which it prosecuted various sustainable programs and projects to approximate its vision-mission statement. Its consistency and sustained programs coupled by adhering to the principles of good governance, transparency and accountability has won for itself the distinction of being primus inter pares in the field of local governance for 4^th to 6^th class municipalities throughout the entire country when it was conferred with the Seal of Good Housekeeping Award in 2010 along with nine (9) other municipalities by no less than the late Secretary Jesse Robredo of DILG. Such feat was doubled in 2011 prior to the demise of the secretary. In 2012, it was conferred again with the same seal, this time categorized as Silver Grade.

Gaps

It is sad to say however that time and again, the LGU’s hands are tied to limit only to a certain percentage (2% at the most) in its meager budget appropriations for BCC as pertinent laws set the utilization of SEF only to elementary and secondary education while under the Local Poverty Reduction Action Plan/Bottom-up Budgeting (BUB and now known as Grassroots Participatory Budgeting Program) program, projects for the development of the college is prohibited. The LGU was earlier inhibited at allocating certain portion of the grant/loan from the LOGOFIND subprojects for BCC’s development as World Bank was stringent at sticking to the original proposal for which the LGU was screened through the eye of a needle prior to its approval.

The LGU has also to comply with the Personal Services limitation (55% ceiling cap) prescribed by the Local Government Code. As if adding insult to the injury, Local Budget Memorandum No. 67 released by the Department of Budget and Management last June 28, 2013 mandated LGU’s that by 2014, annual budget shall include among others counterpart funds for projects considered in the budgets of implementing national government agencies under the BUB while directing the reversion of losing local economic enterprises departments back under the general fund appropriations.

            The local officials are not blind to the fact that even in this era of ‘Daang Matuwid’ and before Yolanda wrought havoc in the area, most of the educational institutions run by the government at all levels fall short of the standards where teachers in far-off Guanko, in the mountainous Sitio of Benitinan and Sitio Centro of Barangay Oquendo or even in the nearby Morales Elementary School, to mention but a few, are forced to conduct classes inside dilapidated classrooms or even makeshift ones constructed voluntarily by parents and barangay officials as in the case of Cortes Integrated School; where for lack of elementary and secondary teachers employed by the Department of Education, the local government hires additional teachers on contractual basis (at a rate of three thousand pesos per month) to augment the teaching staff in all the four (4) national high schools and one (1) integrated school; where for lack of reading materials, it has used its connections with private individuals for them to donate modest books to some of the elementary schools.

  The Threat of CHED

A couple of team of Higher Education Development Specialists of the Commission on Higher Education  from Central Office, Manila and from its Regional Office based in Iloilo City were strongly recommending the immediate phase out of three (3) out of the four (4) degree programs being offered by the Balete Community College, Balete, Aklan. In their respective reports dated December 12, 2012 and July 4, 2013 respectively, each team noted/reiterated that ‘(w)ith all the major noted deficiencies, the Bachelor of Science in Hotel and Restaurant Management (BSHRM), Bachelor of Elementary Education (BEED) and Bachelor of Science in Industrial Education (BSIE) programs of the Balete Community College, Balete, Aklan are recommended to comply with the noted deficiencies on or before the end of the Second Semester, Academic Year 2012-2013, otherwise, an IMMEDIATE CLOSURE ORDER shall be issued effective First Semester, Academic Year 2013-2014.’ Both reports were endorsed to the Presidential Action Center, Malacañang, Manila, a copy of the latest of which was furnished the Local Government Unit of Balete, Aklan on July 29, 2013.

 Balete’s Proactive Response

The concerned local officials interposed no objection to the recommendation made by the CHED monitoring teams as they understand that being Higher Education Development Specialists they are trained and stipulated by the book to fit in pitiable tertiary institutions into the molds of policies, standards and guidelines set by the Commission. They understand fully well that BCC is no Ivy Leaguer and that with its cheap tuition fees and subsidized income, no erudite doctors or master degree holders in their right mind would seek employment thereto and rub elbows with the lowly and the naïve, let alone lend their names for it to meet the minimum requirement set by the commission.  All of the members of the Sangguniang Bayan as well as the Municipal Mayor are however wondering why Balete Community College is being singled out when its only bias is to provide its poor constituents their rightful piece of pie to higher education in an affordable and contextual manner that they may not end up being tuba gatherers.  Thus, in a couple of resolutions, they expressed their sentiments and their course of actions taken being responsible officials. The same resolutions were furnished the Office of the President, the CHED officials, the Committee on Higher Education at both the upper and lower houses, and the Congressional District Office of the Lone District of Aklan for the information and consideration of the concerned offices.

Given the opportunity, before the start of the 2^nd Semester of SY 2013-2014, good natured, qualified and well-intentioned educators accepted key positions to satisfy the wishes of CHED. With the help of the community, local officials, faculty and students, the gaps noted by the commission were slowly being filled up.

 A Spring of Hope

Presently, CHED has amended its reactive ways and the BCC remains operative under the stewardship of a doctor of education as its College Dean (Dr. Arturo I. Zonio, who is working almost on a voluntary basis as the College cannot afford paying him even a modest amount for his kind), a program head and some 22 other contractual instructors. It has produced thirty-three graduates for the SY 2013-2014 for its four program offerings, namely BSIE, BSIT, BSHRM and BEED. Its tuition fee per semester is pegged at most at Php. 4,350 for BEED and BSHRM and at least at Php. 1,350 and Php. 3,150 respectively while for BSIT and BSIE the average tuition is at Php. 3,120 per semester.  The college has a working budget of Php. 1,170,114.40 as against an annual expenditure of Php. 1,194,083.25 and an income of Php. 1,319,466 for the FY 2013.

It remains bullish at providing affordable yet quality education to barriofolks who otherwise cannot afford tertiary education given the exigencies of life they have to contend with. The presence of BCC is a blessing, a spring of hope to nourish the dream of the poor and marginalized.  

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. 

Timeline II - Balete During the American Pacification

Answering questions leads to more questions. That is a fact. A fact that only proves that man is a rational being. No other animate being on Earth is capable of that. A few creatures shows retention. But they are not historical being for historicity is not one of their endowed faculties. Only man is capable of retrospection and of getting in touch with his past. Aided by his tools, he can easily go back into yesterdays, at least for the time being, in virtuality. Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity though is a tease for him to attempt at going back into time in his existential form. Be that as it may, let us be content with delving into the Baleten-on's historic past, perhaps to get insights in approximating that better Balete than yesterdays.

Herewith then is my additional entry, a follow up to my initial timeline for those who want an airplane grasp of Balete's historic past. My other entries on local history are spread out in the pages of this blog indexed as "local history", "historicity", "characters", "Balete", "Aklan", culture/heritage", "Jal-o". You can find some of them also in my Scribd account as well as that of Balete Association International's Tripod account (although that was not updated).

1897 – Early in March, Candido Iban and Francisco del Castillo organized the Katipunan at Kuntang (now Ochando) with some 100 men coming from all over the Aklan Valley. New Washington celebrates it as the Pacto de Sangre (The Blood Compact). Later in the same month both leaders were executed together with some other compatriots. The rest had gone to the hills.

1898 – In August, the pueblo of Batang fell to the hands of local Katipuneros based in Makawili Hill, near Sitio Himbis, Barrio Lalab, barely a couple of months after Aguinaldo declared in Kawit, Cavite the Independence of the Philippines from the Spanish colonizers.

1898 – Late in 1898, Aguinaldo sent to Navas an expedition led by Gen. Diocno. They entered Batang in August of 1899 after pacifying Calivo and therewith established a revolutionary government.  

1899 – In September, the war against the American broke out.

1900 – Proclamation of Amnesty by the American colonial government and the organization of the Philippine Scouts with 8 companies assigned in Panay Island.

1900 – Late in October, the War Department of colonial government decided to put up a sustain military campaign in the three provinces of Panay Island. Captain Morton operated in the Aclan valley.

1901 – the Philippine Commission adopted the Municipal Code and Provincial Laws.

1901 – Balete was destroyed by the American forces composed 70 enlisted men on February 9. In the same day they had a skirmished with the Katipuneros along the way. In June, elements of the same forces went up the mountains capturing an insurgent in the process. Later, Gen. Diocno was wounded and captured at Makawili in March 17.

1903 – Census of Population. Balete had 5,529.

1903 - Gov. Gen. William H. Taft sent out his representative to reorganize the local governments throughout the country. In the province of Capiz, he commissioned Benito Luzzurriaga to reorganize the municipal government. When Luzzuriaga and his companion arrived in Dominguez (Lagatic), a barrio of Batan, they found the place suitable for the establishment of a good port.

1904 – the Americans fused Batang, Balete and Jimeno into one municipality with its seat of government at Lagatic.  But to make it more symbolic they renamed the place New Washington.

1904- The first Presidente Municipal of the newly created New Washington town was from Balete in the person of Mr. Juan Oquendo who was to serve for one year (1904-1905). Those who served after him were as follows:

Mr. Florencio Melecoton, 1906; (other texts either have Melocoto   or

      Melecoton)

                                    Mr. Ananias Mariano, 1907;

                                    Mr. Blas Feliciano, 1908-1909; (Baleten-on)

                                    Mr. Pedro Cortes[1], 1910-1916;

                                    Mr. Eulalio Feliciano, 1916-1919; (the last Baleten-on to be

                                            Elected as Presidente Municipal of New Washington)

                                    Mr. Rufino Sucgang, 1920-1922.

1917 - Executive Order No. 88 was signed by Gov. Gen. Francis Burton Harrison creating the Municipality of Altavas (formerly Jimeno) as the 32^nd Municipality of Capiz. The sponsor for the creation was a Baleten-on in the person of Sen. Jose Cortes Altavas.

1920 - Balete was reestablished as the 33^rd Municipality of Capiz. (all pertinent documents of that time points to 1920 although we do not have at our hand a copy of the Executive Order issued by the governor general. We also do not have a iota of idea who sponsored its separation from New Washington)  

As I have stated earlier, answers lead to more questions. For the time being, let us live with questions for they are the ones that are existentially real. Perhaps, in some distant future, we will be living with the answers.

---

[1] The Research Committee of Altavas however recorded that Mr. Juan Oquendo was reelected in 1910. He was supposed to serve until 1916 as the term of office of local officials were made into five years.  He failed even to complete a year as he resigned for unknown reason. In Lieu, his vice-presidente, Mr. Pedro Cortes acted as the chief executive of New Washington until 1916.

Asking the Obvious: Breaking the Ice

I found it difficult to decide which is the appropriate title of this article. Initially, I jot down, "Five Stupid Questions a Baleten-on Asks". My better judgment however suggested that it should be in Inakeanon, "Mga Pangutana Nga Masami Naton Habati-an sa Daeanon". However one takes it, the gist of this entry is the culling of some of the funny bordering to irritating questions we raised up just to strike up a conversation with an acquaintance.

1.   Pa-Kalibo ka? You strike up a conversation with your fellow commuters riding a Kalibo bound jeepney by raising the obvious.
2.  Nanindahan ka? On my way out of the public market one Saturday morning, already burdened by the load of goods I just purchased, an acquaintance approached me with the question, “Nanindahan ka?” Automatically, which is equally stupid, out of the lips come the reply, “Huo.”
3.   ¼ ma’am? A teacher commanded her students to produce ¼ piece of paper for the day’s test. The students chorus the question, “1/4 ma’am?”
4.  Ha pa siin ing motor ay? Whenever the day starts with a downpour and progressed later into prolonged shower, a bike owner like me has only one option and that is to commute the locally available tricycle. While seated on the sidecar contemplating the rain, I always got asked by the driver and the other commuters, “Ha pa siin ing motor ay?” Hey dude, if you were me, would you brave the storm to drive to your office in your motocycle?
5.  Pa-Boracay ra? You approached to inquire a barker of a terminal calling passengers to inform that a van heading for Boracay is about to leave. On the backdrop, you can also read in bold capital letters that words, “L300 Van Terminal for Boracay”. And yet you ask him, Pa-Boracay ra? for you always hear the eager response, “Huo, pa-Boracay ra”. 

Akeanons are friendly by nature. They won't hesitate breaking the ice even to the extent of appearing or sounding the fool. Raising the obvious is their way of reaching out to a stranger or an acquaintance 

Pag-tuo ag Talimad-on: Isaeang ka Pamaeandong sa Panahon it Kwaresma

May haeambaeon ro mga katigueangan—nga na-anaran man naton—nga kuno hay owa man kimo it maduea kon magpati ka. Masami ta ra nga hababati-an sa mga higayon kon siin ro pila katon hay guina-pangutana ro rason ku atong pagbinatasan kapin pa ro mga talimad-on.

  Guinahambae naton ra masami kon ro isaea katon hay indi magpati sa mga karan-on pareho abi ku pagpatay it manok kon siin ro anang dugo hay atong ipalhit sa bag-ong obra nga baeay. Guinapatihan ta nga ro dugo ngara hay magaserbe nga haead sa mga engkanto o kon sa ano pa rona nga espiritu agod sa rato hay indi nanda pagmalitan ro atong baeay o agod indi mahalitan ro kabuhi it atong mga pinalangga. Guinapatihan ta man nga dugang pa sa dugo nga guinahaead, dapat man nga may atong pangontra sa rayang mga elemento. Ngani nga nagadumog kita kaibahan sa iba agod makabu-oe it bisan sangka dahon it harden nga guin-dekorar sa Santo Intierro. Suma ay de-buenas kuno ron sa panguma, panagat ag negosyo. Magamayad ka man sa amulit kon may imo karon sa inyong baeay.

    Pero, igmanghod, mangutana anay ako. Owa guid baea it may maduea katon kon magpati kita kara nga mga butang? Pamaeandungi it mayad kon ano ro guw-an ku haeambaeon ngara.  Ag dumduma ro imong saad nga magatuo ka sa Dios, Amay nga makagagahum sa tanan, sa Dios, Anak nga namatay sa krus ag sa ikatlo nga adlaw, nabanhaw halin sa minatay, ag sa Dios, Espiritu Santo, ro manugbulig ag nagapabakod ku imong pagtuo. Dumduma nga ro Dios ngara kon siin ikaw hay nagsaad hay sangka ma-imon nga Dios. Owa imaw na-ila nga may dios pa nga iba sa imong kabuhi.

  Guinarason ta kon amat nga kabuhi eo’t abi ro nakataya ngani nga mas mayad nga sundon ta ro talimand-on bisan indi ta mat-a galing pagpatihan…Pero, eon man, dumduma nga ro Dios hay imaw ro nagapanag-iya it imong kabuhi ag bukon it ro karan-on o kon nano pa rona nga tamawo. Kon magtuo kita kana, owa guid it may maeain nga mahanabo katon—bisan pa nga nagatikang kita sa bèbè it kamatayon. Ag kon rayang pagtuo sa Dios hay magadaea guid man katon sa kamatayon, eaumi nga pareho nga si Kristo hay nabanhaw, kita man hay pagbanhawon sa katapusan it panahon. 

My House, My Heritage

My attendance to a seminar on heritage conservation last week (March 5-7) in Ilocos called to mind my desire of detailing here the unique architectural design of a typical Benitinanon house. As usual, my excuse for the delay is "the exigencies of life". The workshop up north however afforded me the focus to draw the floor plan of that particular structure. One would be surprised to note that apart from the uniqueness of the house floor plan, many of the necessities therein and the words that described them are strange to the younger generation.

Necessities/devices such as "eusong", "sumwan", "tadyaw" are now alien to the younger Baleten-on. Their uses in the postmodernized household are no longer required. Hence, the words associated with them die a natural death. Benitinan and some other upland sitios in Balete which by their remoteness remains unaffected by the changes brought about by Information Age play a very important role in being the living source of the past becoming extinct Ilayanhon culture.

As one can notice, the "sala" or the living room holds a prominent space in a typical Benitinanon house. It is a multi-purpose hall used differently in various seasons. During harvest time, it serves as the storage of rice where the owner then set up a "paraka", a huge sack that can store as much as ten cavans of rice. When fiesta came, the space turns into a social hall and later on a lodging area for the visitors. In olden times, the "sab-ongan" or loom sets near a window in the sala.

A house is literally relocated to a favored site by the entire community.
The act is commonly called "Eayungan", a variation of "Dagyaw",
"Tuwang-tuwang" and "Sagibin"

The "kwarto", or bedroom which usually a pair of small dark rooms is homely. It has no window as the night is colder in the mountain and it is seldom used during the day. The 'balcon" serves as the holding area for callers who have not won the trust of the household members while the "pantaw" is for trusted friends who have to wash up their muddy feet and are allowed to come inside the house. It is an open space where household members can have emergency laundry or wash up before going to rest (They do the laundry and take a bath in the creek or in the spring--the innovative and the fortunate though construct a "tarog", an aqueduct made of bamboo, from a spring down to their "pantaw"). It also serves as the "bangerahan" or kitchen sink where one can do the dishes and prepare food.

A "Dapog" 

Beside the dining area is the "dapog", a table-like space made of wood and earth where one cooks. A "dapog" has a "sumwan", a hardwood with embers in it. The household makes fire from the "sum-ean". Hanging atop the "dapog" is a "doe-doe", a salt block wrapped in a piece of cloth. Adjacent to the "dapog" are the "eusong" and "hae-o", mortar and pestle made of hardwood.  Underneath the dining area is the "pensa", a cage where poultry or even livestock are kept. The "mô-mô" or morsels from the dining table are dropped down through the bamboo slats for the chicken to feast on.


Back at the seminar workshop I just attended, the speaker, a Harvard-educated linguist, posed a question: Can we do something to prevent our heritage and language from going extinct? There was a resounding yes from the audience. Inside, my mind and heart cried out. If I can entice my daughters to be critical of the richness and uniqueness of a typical house, then maybe I can help them enrich their Weltanschauung (worldview) vis-a-vis the dominance and seduction of the Information Age and globalization to the younger generation.

Marso

March is popularly known in the community as the Fire Prevention Month. Unknown to many, it is also Culture and Arts Awareness Month (NCCA sets in between February and March). SB Patrick and the MTDC have several school-based activities to observe the NCCA mandate. Earlier, I posted a "photo poem" in my FB Account, hoping to heighten local appreciation to the arts and culture preservation. Personally, it was a tacit greeting to a friend who is celebrating her birthday today. I was happy to note later on that some of those who affirmed or "like" the post came up with their Akeanon poems posted in their profile. Yes, it takes only a spark to get the fire going, as a song goes.

"Amat-amat ro maberde nga kakahoyan
Naeakayan it nanari-sari nga katalinghaga-an
Puti nga Kamantigue, puea nga Katueanga
Sa nagapamunga nga Bili, ro Pilago naga sinadya.
Matin-aw nga sapa
Espeso ku ma-silaw nga kapawa
Ro gugma ro buot it kabuhi
Huo, birthday mo abi
Ngani ginaselebrar ko ikaw
It Maka-ako bugay nga pinasahi!"

One sent me a PM asking why I omitted the "Katsubong" (another wild flower with dark almost blackish color). I told him that it is reserved for my next poem, "Abril". Others reminded me of the richness of the Jal-o with these phrases:

"Sinaga nga aliso, mangagat ag baeanak

Sinaeay nga batod, matin-ag nga gusaw

Sa bakag, sa eamay." 

Those were the days when Jal-o was crystal clear, sweet, rich and deep. Those were the Jal-o of bygone years.

Ricky

(This entry was written in November 2013 after Typhoon Yolanda sent the Visayas to its knees. I was not able to upload it on time as it is only now that internet connectivity in my place has been restored. To date, Ricky is still in Metro Manila, still without sponsor for his medication)

The boy in the photos is Ricky. I don’t know his true family name. His absent father has never acknowledged his paternity over him. He lives with his maternal grandparents in a house demolished by ST Yolanda (International Name: Haiyan) when it wrought havoc in Aranas, Balete, Aklan, Philippines on November 8, 2013.  He was entrusted by his also absent mother to his grandparents when he was still a toddler. He is now 12 or 13 years old. He is in his 1st year High School in a public school in Aranas.

    Other than being without a loving parents to care for him as he deals with the trauma of surviving the monstrous typhoon, he is stricken with a skin ailment that dermatologists in Kalibo, Aklan (the capital town of Aklan Province) have to refer him to skin specialists in Iloilo City or in Manila. Some good souls did help him seek medical attention in Iloilo but only for the initial examinations and the conduct of biopsy. Now Ricky has to raise money needed to address the real problem.

     Today (November 29, 2013), Ricky wears his Sunday’s Best and with an adult companion prepares to leave for Manila via the nautical highway. He will try his luck queuing at the Philippine General Hospital hoping to find benevolent benefactors and the attention of the best doctors.

    For one last time, he posed for the camera by his grandparent’s makeshift hut besides the ruins of their original house. A serious face he displayed for such a young heart, already scared and hurting more than the malaise silently consuming his left leg.

   Ricky hopes to be home before the Yuletide season ends. He looks forward to a reunion with his ailing grandparents and his classmates to break bread with them in a simple celebration of commemorating the birth of Christ in a lowly manger. He hopes too to return home to a house that will provide his small family of three a dry place to lay their tired bodies.