Sunday, November 28, 2010

No Jueteng in Marinduque? Look again now.

During the In September 2010 Senate committee hearings investigating the ‘jueteng’ scandals - in aid of legislation - Senators Enrile and Estrada at one point actually recommended legalization. Jueteng is the illegal numbers game that has remained unabated in various parts of the archipelago for the last hundred years. So it’s now a question really of whether we want to legalize it or not, stressed Enrile.






If it is legalized, jueteng operators will come out in the open and have a legitimate business with the government earning billions of pesos in revenues, said Estrada.

Sen. Sotto disagreed citing Marinduque, of all places, as a province where, according to him, the illegal numbers game does not exist because of political will. “Ayaw ni Governor Carmencita”, Sotto said. The hearing was carried live on ANC. Yet on the same September day, a DILG spokesperson was interviewed over DZRH-Radyo Natin saying plainly that Marinduque and Pampanga (its governor also denied that jueteng existed there), are among the provinces where illegal numbers games exist. And today we see the Marinduque police and local officials up in arms versus this illegal numbers thing and other forms of gambling.

What’s the real score then? Truth is, male and female ‘cobradors’ collecting bets as they make the rounds of houses even in the most remote of Marinduque barangayshave become all-too-familiar sights, of course. A ‘kabo’ in motorcycle would collect all the bets and turn them over to the ‘bangka’ whose identity is known to only a few.
Shortly after the operation of STLs, small town lotteries, ‘jueteng’ in Marinduque was replaced by the new variants, ‘suertres’ (three numbers) and ‘2-balls’ (two numbers). This means illegal gambling operators merely and freely make use of the results of PCSO-drawn numbers for the authorized ‘suertres’ and ‘EZ2 lotto’, that are just two among the many lotto games bettors follow nightly on television.

The said Senate hearings revealed that in most cases elsewhere in the country, the STL operators themselves are behind this jueteng-type of operations as the method does not involve issuance of any controlled tickets to bettors. It is enough that bettor numbers are listed by the ‘cobrador’ a-la jueteng in his/her ‘listahan’ or, acknowledged by the ‘cobrador’ by scribbling it on any piece of paper available around. (In more progressive areas tickets are issued but with identical control numbers to give it a semblance of legality). The illegal method is so successful that in the provinces the take by STL operators , it is said, is so enormous, far exceeding the sales made in lotto outlets. (No taxes ever paid, thus, nothing for charity, the main reason why lotto was legalized in the first place.)

So here in Marinduque, as if to underline the glaring deception carried on national television that this province is free from illegal numbers games, a claim reaching even the halls of the Senate and unwittingly used to thwart any effort to legalize such gambling variety, a significant development recently transpired.

The provincial Philippine National Police (PNP), the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the municipal governments decidedly staged a crusade against all forms of illegal gambling in Marinduque. This was conducted in the form of a peaceful rally with speeches. Held simultaneously in town centers last November 10, no less than PNP provincial director, PSSupt. Edwin Roque spearheaded the exercise aimed to deliver the message to the local populace.

A considerably huge number of people in every barangay are, of course, unhappy. They depended on the suertres and 2-balls operation for their daily income. The crusade was also against other forms of gambling like ‘patupada’, illegal cockfighting and ‘tong-its’, poker, and so a lot more people sulked.

I asked some in my neighborhood and other friends from certain barangays if ‘cobradors’ still roam in their vicinity after the conduct of the government-sponsored rally. They report that the bettings have stopped in their barangays (seaside Boac and Gasan particularly), but also suspect that they’ll be back in business in a couple of months.

Provincial director Roque emphasized that the move was strongly supported by Congressman Lord Allan Jay Q. Velasco and Governor Carmencita O. Reyes. He, however, also revealed that currently there are still reports of the illegal games being perpetrated in some far-flung areas. Some ‘cobradors’ have been, in fact, apprehended by the municipal PNPs.

It must be interesting to know what the Church, as moral champion, has to say about ‘jueteng’ and its variants. I heard TV-show host Boy Abunda of "Bottomline" ask Bishop Deogracias Iniguez, Jr. if he’d ever accept money from illegal gambling operators amid accusations that many bishops are receiving such. Answer: “Sa ngayon walang nakasulat na batas na ipinagbabawal yan, pero kung ating titingnan ang moral principles masasabing hindi ayos ang tumanggap ng ganun".

The jueteng bodabil show.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Personal Security Measures for Marinduque Media

(PNP Marinduque main headquarters named after the Battle of Pulang Lupa hero)

Yesterday, as grieving families of that evil tragedy revisited the massacre site in Bry. Salman, Ampatuan, Maguindanao, where a total of 58 victims that included 32 journalists were slaughtered, and while journalists, students and militants with a single voice angrily shouted “Justice for Journalists” as they marched from Espana to Mendiola near Malacanang , some 12 media personnel and PNP officials in Marinduque were exchanging views on the need to adopt security measures for local media practitioners here.

(Provincial Director, PSSupt. Edwin C. Roque, CEO VI, also a lawyer)

Maguindanao is where a political clan ruled with almost absolute power for 25 years, apparently by shifting alliances through convenience with the ruling party. Yet a wife of one of the Ampatuan victims had put it more succinctly in a statement aired last night in “The World Tonight: ”… dahil lamang sa pagiging ganid sa posisyon at sa kapangyarihan ng mga miyembro ng Ampatuan!”.

That meant having to keep an iron grip on their enormous wealth, (‘ill-gotten’, Mangundadatu maintains as billions of pesos from national funds have been given to that province), a firm hold over their constituents to keep the status quo of the province undisturbed and unchanged as the third poorest in the country. That’s the only way the fiefdom could be preserved intact so that its rulers may reign forever and ever. But that also could mean woe and horror to whoever would put up a challenge and start talk about change. That’s exactly what mayor Esmael Mangundadatu did when he decided to run against the governor.

(Map showing Marinduque's poverty incidence)

Marinduque with just six municipalities has been ruled by a political clan for 32 years. Political alliance with the ruling party has also been the name of the game. Marinduque as the poorest province in the entire Southern Tagalog region has been borne by statistical data. (And by the way, just to show that Marinduque shouldn’t be so poverty-stricken, the biggest mining concern in Asia-Pacific region operated here for over two decades, wreaked havoc on the environment and despite claims to the contrary got away with non-payment of property taxes to the province, now estimated to be a whopping one billion pesos, but that’s another Marcopper story). Yet the hornet’s nest has been stirred.

(Marinduque PNP has kept the island-province one of the most peaceful in the country)

That may or may not be the real reason, but the Philippine National Police (PNP) Marinduque Police Provincial Office decided to conduct yesterday a seminar-workshop on Personal Security Measures for Media Practitioners of Marinduque. Provincial Director, PSSupt. Edwin C. Roque, CEO VI, said that the seminar was aimed to “protect the integrity of the Truth and also protect local media in their exercise of the right to free expression”

Participants were told that in the course of their job to expose anomalies in government and to report common crimes, they could also be potential targets of enemies that they create in so doing. Thus the need to apply the many do’s and don’ts in threat detection and assessment and in surveillance detection. The question is whether media practitioners in Marinduque have real concerns about their security during non-election years like the present but just maybe threats and surveillances also come like thieves in the night.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Gretchen's Marinduque Feature

Gretchen Malalad's father (Pedro Manahan Malalad), is a native of Duyay in Boac with relatives in Dili, Gasan while her mother is from Cagayan. A 2005 Southeast Asian Games karate gold medalist, the RP Team Kumite that she led bagged the gold after defeating Iran and Romania during the Adriatic Karate Competition held there. Malalad also managed to grab the gold in the +60kg kumite event.

Gretchen earlier joined the Binibining Pilipinas pageant in 2002, emerging as Ms. Talent. But "a gold medal is better than winning a beauty title", she would then quip. She later became a Pinoy Big Brother housemate and is now a popular ABS-CBN news reporter for "Bandila".



Feeling very much at home in Marinduque, she did this special feature on the island-province for "Balitang America" shown recently over ABS-CBN Network Channel (ANC). While in Marinduque, Congressman Lord Allan Velaco hosted Gretchen and the news team at his beach house in Torrijos (he also sponsored their air travel), with an overnight stay at Bellarocca Island Resort and Spa. A treat for Marinduque tourism promotion.

Monday, November 15, 2010

Pacman

(The Pacman with Marinduque Congressman Lord Allan Q. Velasco)

Yes, the Eighth Wonder of the World, who has made all Filipinos proud and the world applaud in admiration for his style in the boxing ring, showing intelligence, strength and mercy to bloodied opponents, did it again by adding another crown to his credit.

Manny Pacquiao, Congressman of Saranggani is the new WBC Super Welterweight Champion, his tenth world title in eight different weight divisions. He must now be considered the greatest boxer that ever lived. Born of very humble beginnings in a small and remote town in Bukidnon, the family, says his colleague, Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri of Bukidnon, moved to General Santos city when he was six to seek a better life. “His life is an inspiring rags to riches story”.

Asked in an interview why he did not knock out Margarito in the last two rounds when he could have, Pacquiao replied: “Hindi naman patayan ang boxing!”

Something a lot of people couldn't say of local politics.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Why Marinduque is the Center of the Philippines

(Heart-shaped island of Marinduque)

“Heart-shaped” has long been used in local folklore to romanticize the island of Marinduque because as the island map will show, it does reveal the outline of an imperfect heart. That was enough to inspire early students of the old Marinduque High School, the first secondary school in the province, to adopt “The Heart” as the name of their official school organ, followed until today.

“The Heart of the Philippines” as a tourism slogan was, therefore, also a natural choice by travel writers for the same reason. In a 1995 brochure this blogger was commissioned by then governor Bong Carrion to draft the text of brochure for distribution in connection with the Moriones Festival and there used the phrase "smack center of the Philippine archipelago".

I was dismayed to later find that at least two other provinces, namely, Romblon and Masbate were using the term “center of the Philippines” in describing the geographical location of said provinces and for purposes of touristic distinction, obviously so vital in promoting a destination. One of the two had become more aggressive in repeated claims as evidenced by glossy travel brochures that I had gotten hold of.

And that was a ‘puzzlement’. But, thanks to the Internet information highway, it became fairly easy to have access to data that could shed light on the matter and settle the issue once and for all. So it surfaced by surfing on the net that in 1901, when the Philippines was under American rule, the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey (USC&GS), started the process of identifying specific points in the ellipsoid, the mathematical model of the distance and shape of the earth, through the use of latitude and longitude. A painstaking process, called datum, that identified specific geodetic points in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao was then undertaken by USC&GS.

(Seascape view from Datum Station Balanacan)

It also surfaced, that the vastness of land and sea from Luzon to Mindanao became such a tough and ambitious challenge for the geodetic engineers. This necessitated the identification of a new datum to serve as the origin of all surveys. The formed triangulation network spanned vast distances with datum stations that were located in high mountain peaks and far across straits and channels.

(Hole drilled on diorite rock that had been there for a hundred years)

The result of trigonometric surveys from North to South and East and West of the Philippine Archipelago were consolidated until a single datum was pinpointed – the Luzon Datum of 1911, the primary geodetic reference of all surveys in the country. The origin of this particular Datum was then defined by Datum Station Balanacan located 13°33'41"N, 121°52'3"E. Consequently, all surveys in the entire country were corrected and based on the position of this station.

(Reference marker on one cubic meter of boulder)

A boulder of a rock marker, long forgotten and hidden in a snake-infested area on the mountain top of what is locally called Mataas na Bundok near Balanacan harbor was apparently still intact. It is located where the boarders of Brgy. Silangan, Brgy. Argao and Brgy. Hinanggayon nearly meet. A hole appeared to have been drilled in a cubic meter of diorite rock marker, accompanied by a boulder of another rock some 10 feet away that as a reference marker.

“Marinduque: Pinakagitna ng ‘Pinas” by this blogger describing the research find was published in “The Weekly Marinduque” issue of Nov. 19-22, 2007. By June 2008, a technical team from the National Mapping Resource Authority (NAMRIA), and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), had paid a courtesy visit to then governor, Bong Carrion. It was to recognize this mother of all surveys in the Philippines as an important national landmark that had to be preserved.

(NAMRIA and DENR team shows map to Gov. Carrion and briefs him on the plans of the task group)

Task Group Balanacan was created by NAMRIA in the same month to undertake further research and gather available records and maps, undertake coordination meetings with concerned agencies and hold information campaign activities.

(NAMRIA's marker at the site)

The NAMRIA team headed by mapping department assistant director, Randolf Vicente then conducted a reconnaissance survey of the vicinity of the” mother of all surveys” together with the provincial tourism team of Gerry Jamilla and Joven Lilles. Lilles, who took up geodetic engineering was already familiar with the site and had taken earlier photos for the provincial website.

(NAMRIA's Task Force Balanacan with DENR provincial director)

A plan for the Luzon Datum of 1911 National Landmark and Eco-tourism Site Development was eventually hatched. Preparation of plans and securing the necessary construction permits from concerned authorities for the civil works to be undertaken came next.

To spread information about the existence of such an important landmark in their midst and to create awareness on the potential of the site’s future development as an eco-tourism site, barangay captains from the areas north of Balanacan were gathered by the tourism committee of the provincial board, then headed by board member, Yolando Querubin. The news was welcomed by the barangay officials who saw its potential to, indeed, spur interest and progress in their less-visited barangay cluster.

("Trip na Trip" crew at the site. Franzen, the show host interviewing Joven Lilles)

Soon came the technical team of ABS-CBN’s popular TV-show “Trip na Trip” that did a special feature on Marinduque with a visit to the datum station marker atop Mataas na Bundok. By July 2009, “Marinduque: Center of the Philippines” billboards were installed by Jamilla in the WOW Philippines festivities in Intramuros, featuring a special “Marinduque Day” cultural show with Carrion and provincial administrator, now Congressman, Lord Allan Q. Velasco gracing the opening ceremonies.

(Popular photographic view of Balanacan Harbor. Datum Station Balanacan is atop Mataas na Bundok, the mountain in the background)

The task group composed of NAMRIA and DENR has since worked closely with the Provincial Government of Marinduque and the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP), formerly National Historical Institute. The NHCP eventually issued a certification declaring the national significance of Datum Station Balanacan. To reserve a parcel of public land as the site of the Luzon Datum origin national historical landmark, a presidential proclamation continues to be worked out by the task group.

Literature on the Geography of the Philippines - such as one by Wikipedia – was eventually updated by said Internet organization referring to Marinduque now as the center of the Philippines (sourced from a write-up of this blogger), based on the Luzon Datum origin. More significantly, the previous claims made by the other concerned entities appear to have slowly and grudgingly quieted by now, and it is such great pleasure.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Happy B-day Video



By some inexplicable design a trick was imposed upon the good people of Marinduque by natural forces. Congressman Lord Allan Jay Q. Velasco and Governor Carmencita O. Reyes, contending political forces in Marinduque today have one thing in common.

They share the same birthday. So this video is just to send a Blessed and Happy Birthday to both celebrated personalities with a fondest wish that they'd bury the proverbial hatchet and create political history never before seen in this much-bruited about island paradise known as MARINDUQUE!

Nature plays a trick in Marinduque

A former governor swears by the book that she’s much older, but since all available information places her age at 79, (born 1931), skeptics, in all fairness, just have to live with that fact. He, on the other hand, was born in 1977, the unlikely political rival, who has become the object of her personal ire simply because he dared to put up a challenge to earn that lone district seat in congress that she occupied for 22 years, her loving son, 12 years. That makes her exactly 46 years older than him, and him exactly 46 years younger than her.

“Exactly”, because nature must have played a trick here, somehow. They share the same birthday. Both born on the 9th of November, the two highest ranking elected government officials of the Province of Marinduque.

But since we will never know if nature really played a trick (or treat?) here, in this fortuitous circumstance that has befallen us, and since most of us, poor, innocent souls find ourselves, now and then betwixt the forces, good or bad, emanating from such a curious situation, we might turn to the stars for some light of understanding, perhaps? So, just for fun?

Based on Astrology and Numerology methods iftodayisyourbirthday.com offers the following revelation of some of the characteristics of those born on November 9th of any year. ’31 or ’77:

They are “articulate, sensitive, and intuitive persons who can also be quite stubborn!” Their mind is such that they absorb a lot of diverse information… Their “sarcastic sense of humor can be biting at times. Not everyone knows that it hides a sensitive, self-protective soul.” They also could get themselves “into a rut because of their rather fixed, stubborn nature”.

Three words that are said to describe them are “witty”,“stubborn” and “problem-solver”

Numerology suggests that they are "generous, sentimental souls who rely very much on intuition." They may have a "tendency for escapism, and they’re not always good with their money". Their greatest challenge in life that they have to contend with is their "moodiness".

Oh well, there’s got to be a glimmer of hope somewhere hiding, albeit admittedly it appears to diminish by the day with all the scheming and all the bickerings never-ending. The good, celebrated celebrants may still, for once, still learn to bury the hatchet and create political history never before seen in this heart of a country where change must necessarily begin – from the heart.

Otherwise, what a waste.

A BLESSED AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO GOVERNOR CARMENCITA O. REYES AND CONGRESSMAN LORD ALLAN JAY Q. VELASCO FROM THE PEOPLE YOU BOTH SO LOVE TO DEARLY LOVE !!!

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Buenavista - Ready for Positive Change Now

(The municipal building of Buenavista)

Buenavista: 4th class municipality located in southern Marinduque, bounded on the north by Gasan and Boac, on the east by Torrijos. Total land area: 78.6 square kilometers and politically subdivided into 15 barangays.

Population as of 2007: 21,018.

(Contestants in "Vistans Got Talent" as they await the annoucement of the winners)

This year’s celebration of Buenavista’s 92nd Founding Anniversary started last night with the holding of “Vistans Got Talent”, a talent competition obviously inspired by the popular “Pilipinas Got Talent” nationwide search for performing artists.


(The former President Manuel L. Quezon became a principal guest in Buenavista during his incumbency)

Organized by the municipal government of Buenavista under the leadership of newly-elected Mayor, Russel Sarmiento Madrigal, the town’s cultural activity organizers, Dennis Villavicencio and Ian Sotto readily helped to promote the event. While only eight signed up for the competition, the event held at the town’s multi-purpose covered court attracted a huge crowd. Declared winner was a couple of kids in slippers and borrowed T-shirts who named themselves Human Beat Boxers who kept the crowd roaring and simply amazed with the duos prowess in rap, impersonations and beatbox sounds.

Dennis and Ian hosted the show, while Celo Salvacion of Gasan, school teachers Mamie Preclaro of Yook and Vivian Lozada of BNHS, and this blogger as chair, judged the contestants. In his remarks during the program, Madrigal confessed to the audience that having been addressed for a long time only as “Talahib” or “Jing” or “Lolo Jing”, he still felt uneasy about being introduced, like that evening as “Kagalang-galang”, honorable, which probably could not be avoided, he said, based on local practice. But, he’s bent on making positive changes in the island-province’s poorest municipality to really deserve the title, he said.

(Buenavista's newly-elected mayor, Russel Sarmiento Madrigal)

Madrigal actually had a hand and strong influence as former head of the Association of Barangay Captains (ABC) in Buenavista, in gradually changing the landscape of this quiet municipality. The relocation of the old public market by the seaside that rendered the beach area polluted with all types of garbage was initially met with emotional protests by the local residents, people not being ready for the introduction of changes, as is probably the case most anywhere.

(Local residents undertake regular coastal clean-ups)

The public market was eventually relocated in a suitable space in barangay Malbog and had gained public acceptance. In 2007, with the election as Mayor of Jing’s mother, Ofelia S. Madrigal, a well-appropriated coastal park with playground for children, kiosks, a stage, a meeting hall and a dike with appropriate street lights soon rose in the entire area where the market used to be, thanks to the strong determination of the local officials. That necessarily included Mayor Ofelia and ABC president Jing, now mayor of Buenavista.

(Young boys now enjoy frolickin on the beach)

We now see the young and the old swimming on the beach rendered safer from pollution and waste. Evening strolls at the park by people coming down from far-away barangays soon became a habit and are now a common sight.

(Backdrop for a stage presentation being installed by Teatro Balangaw group in one of its presentations at the coastal park)

Young people are organizing parties and events in the park now and then, with so little restraint from town officials concerned only with keeping the coastal park secure.

Stylish houses are rising one after another and at least two restaurants catering to locals and tourists were established last year. The establishment of Bellarocca Resort and Spa in an island south of Buenavista is expected to gradually open up a string of enormous possibilities for the town at present with increased number of tourists and felt need for all types of allied services in place.

Recent video of the town of Buenavista by Canadian visitor, Rob Trent.

Friday, November 5, 2010

Bahay Kubo in Boac

"Weng" Nitoral who owns Rowena's Beauty Parlor and other trade establishments in Boac including a bakery has recently added another business to his name.

Inspired by the inexpensive kubos where he and friends stayed in Bohol during a holiday visit there, he immediately constructed three units in a property in Brgy. Tabi, just three minutes away from the town center. Three glamorized nipa-bamboo-coco huts.






Weng now invites transients, tourists and local residents to try her cozy kubos as a place to hideaway. At P 500.00/day for a double-room with cable-TV, electric fan, bath and kitchen, customers could also then try eating out in any of the restaurants at the poblacion. Weng could be contacted at #0917-6453179.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Mayor Vicky Lim of Gasan as LMP National Treasurer


During the 1st National Directorate Meeting and Election of New Set of Officers for the Year 2010-2013 held in October 7-8, 2010 at Crown Plaza Hotel, Ortigas, Pasig City, her candidacy as national treasurer of the League of Municipaities of the Pilippines was uncontested.

The candidate, Mayor Vicky Lao Lim of Gasan, winning unopposed in the LMP, will therefore serve a three-year term as national treasurer of the League.

The League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP) is composed of 1,502 member municipalities that are at the frontline of the silent battle against poverty. The organization is vital in rallying the municipalities towards governance reforms and delivery of services to the people.


(Lim with the other newly elected LMP officers)

Lim also holds the position as President of the LMP-Marinduque Chapter since the election for a new president in July 2010.

Destined to serve the public, her political career strives to continue. It is so because Mayor Lim experienced how good it was to start from the bottom to the top. When she was already posted at the high position, she knew how to handle people and nurture their career in important areas.

Lim, who broke the local town record as the first mayor to have been re-elected in Gasan has always been known as one who leads her life in accordance with her philosophy that poverty does not prevent anyone from reaching one's dream even in the island of Marinduque.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Marinduque Touch Down and Take-off



Love this! Canadian tourist Rob Trent visited Marinduque and took footages of the six municipalities as he passed through each town. This video shows a Zestair aircraft landing and its take-off from the Marinduque airport with Trent aboard.

He noticed the curiosity of foot traffic crossing the runway after the plane touches down. The people crossing are actually residents of sitio Quatis in Brgy. Masiga who really use it to go to the other side of the airport where the main road is located.

Rob and Efren, a Marinduque native, enjoying beer.

Courtesy: robtrent; sudsmagazine.com

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

An Excommunication in Boac

The Outlook Magazine, New York City on August 18, 1900, ran an article entitled "The Occupation of Marinduque" by Phelps Whitmarsh, Special Commissioner for The Outlook in the Philippines.

Coming for the first time to the Philippines that included a visit to Boac shortly after the first American landing in the shores of Laylay four months earlier, Whitmarsh romanticized about Boac's "glossy mangoes and nangkas, cocoa and betel palms, bread-fruit, cacao, coffee, pomegranate, a species of citrus laden with large green spheres, and other profitable fruit-trees, with occasional glimpses of rice-flats and hills of foliage, and sundry bursts of color from the poincianas and hibiscus".

But speaking of friars, excommunications, and forgetfullness (see my yesterday's blog), Whitmarsh's account told about an actual excommunication of a whole Marinduque parish for abuses committed to the flock by a priest, that, when it came to pass did not make the Catholic souls despair but so overjoyed the people. Traces of Rizal's Padre Damaso, which according to Rizal's description was the "self-righteous curate of the fictional San Diego church and town; used his power to get what he desired; notorious and deceitful; judgmental, malicious minded, etc"*

Excerpts from Whitmarsh's article:

"In the way of architecture, the most interesting thing in Marinduque is the old
fortified church and convento at Boac, which occupies the summit of a small hill in the center of the town, It was built about 1690, under the direction of the friars, as a protection against the piratical Moros, who until within almost recent years looked upon these outlying islands as their lawful prey. It is less than thirty years in fact, since these sea-robbers last landed in Marinduque and looted the town of Santa Cruz.

"Within the massive walls of this island fort, which was intended to be both cannon and earthquake proof, the entire population of the town can be gathered. It is one of the most picturesque structures in the Philippines, thoroughly medieval in design as well as in appearance; for the ravages of a moist, tropical climate have clothed it with a growth of parasites, mellowed and aged it far beyond its years.

(The Boac Cathedral today, so different now from what Whitmarsh saw).

"The church within the walls is a fine large building in excellent repair. Twice during my stay in Boac I slept on its fine hardwood floor, with the gaudy pyramid of
wooden images that backed the altar in front of me, a famous black Christ to my left, and on my right, done in wax, a veritable chamber of horrors.

"In spite of its well-appointed church, however, Boac had been without a priest for several months. The last incumbent, a native, had robbed the people to such an extent that they had forcibly ejected him. Not content with the usual church fees, which in such a parish must have been large, he instituted a system of fines, one, for instance, for coming into church late, and forced payment by refusing to confess, absolve, or perform any religious rite until the fines were paid. He was
worse, the people said, even than the friar before him.

"As a punishment for this wickedness, the Archbishop of Manila had excommunicated the whole parish; and the people, overjoyed at the freedom thus given, then declared themselves in favor of an American minister. They said freely that they did not care whether he was a Catholic or a Protestant or anything else so long as he could perform the baptismal, marriage, and burial ceremonies. All whom I talked with stated that they were willing to welcome anyone but a "fraile." To this one thing, if to nothing else, the Filipino is constant - his hatred of the friars."

Courtesy: Curt Shepard; www.ulongbeach.com (for the Whitmarsh article); *Wikifilipinas (Damaso)

Monday, November 1, 2010

Boac, 1 de Noviembre 1897; Cemeterio de Tampus

(From a cemetery treated sacred for at least two hundred years - to a plain cornfield peopled by informal settlers from elsewhere)

“1 de Noviembre 1897” was the name of a street at the back of the original “Casa Real” building in Boac running in the north-south direction. It was so named to mark a local episode during the Filipino-Spanish war that followed the “10 de Octubre 1897” gruesome raid on the Casa staged by the local revolutionists from Mogpog led by Fabian Medenilla that resulted in the death of Medenilla and his comrades that they had attempted to set free from the Casa – Remigio Medina and the top leader of the revolutionary forces in Marinduque at that time, the poet Hermenegildo Flores. The tragedy in Boac occured after a long procession in honor of Our Lady of the Rosary. (Santo Rosario).

(Icon of Our Lady of the Rosary)

Flores wrote “Hibik ng Pilipinas sa Inang Espana” that stirred similar poetic responses from Marcelo del Pilar and Andres Bonifacio. Flores caused the ire of the “prayles” who must have thought of excommunicating the poet in the same manner that our President Noynoy Aquino was similarly threatened with excommunication by the CBCP for the president’s seemingly firm stand on reproductive health.

Flores complained that the Church had become more interested not in salvation but “to blind the people’s minds, to silence their mouths… as the prayles only thought of nothing but to enrich themselves with mere Holy Water and priestly blessings as puhunan, investment…”

Excerpts:

“Sa bawat nasa mong kagaling-galingan,
ayaw ng prayleng ako’y makinabang,
sa mga anak ko’y ang ibig lamang
isip ay bulagin, ang bibig ay takpan.

“Nang di maisigaw ang santong matuwid
na laban sa madla nilang ninanais
palibhasa'y wala silang iniisip
kundi ang yumaman at magdaya ng dibdib.

“Sa pagpapalago ng kanilang yaman
bendita't bendisyon lamang ang puhunan,
induluhensiya't iba't ibang bahay
ng mga sagrado naman ang kalakal.

“Sapagkat anumang bilhin sa kanila,
kaya namamahal, dahil sa bendita,
kahit anong gawin pag may halong kanta
ay higit sa pagod ang hininging upa.”


Before midnight of November 1, 1897, remnants of the Mogpog ‘insurrectos’ led by Basilio Mendez entered Boac in a renewed attempt to free their comrades probably haunted by the killing of Medenilla, Medina, Flores only three weeks earlier. But what could a group only armed with bolos do?

The Spanish casadores were ready with their pistols and rifles. It was almost a repeat of the October encounter with heavy firing by the casadores followed by deathly cries, then deep, creepy silence. Some prisoners were found dead the next morning. One that layed motionless on the floor of the Casa showed no signs of being wounded and was found to be merely unconscious. He was lifted by a guardia and was given water laced with ether to drink. Regaining consciousness, the said prisoner, named Juan Manuba, was set free.

(A tenant offered to light the candles we brought during a visit to the old, forgotten cemetery of Tampus)

Today no candles burn anymore at Cemeterio de Tampus, a cemetery on a hill east of Mataas na Bayan, and as old as the Boac Cathedral itself. There the dead prisoners were laid to rest, to join the town’s founders and noble gentry. Some informal settlers from elsewhere call it their home now, and as if bent on leaving no tombstone unturned, turned the entire space into a cornfield.

The adobe stones that surrounded the cemetery and the huge iron fence that faced the direction of the church are no more. Bushes cover a few empty chambers built above ground that the elements and balete vines have consumed as a monument to a people’s forgetfulness.