SANTA IGNACIA: THEN and NOW EMIL FERNANDEZ DACAYANAN Center for Tarlaqueño Studies Santa Ignacia Historical Society (SILAG) 2014 Philippine Copyright by Emil F. Dacayanan All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. Printed in the Philippines First Printing, 2014 Center for Tarlaqueño Studies Tarlac State University Tarlac City, Philippnes Santa Ignacia Historical Society (SILAG) Santa Ignacia, Tarlac ISBN 978-971-94561-8-6 PREFACE The writing of this book was inspired mainly by the heightened historical awareness engendered by the Centennial Celebration of Santa Ignacia. The 100th 2014 Founding Year has not failed to awaken thoughts of the past of the town and its eventual evolution over the years. It being the second conversion of the town into an independent municipality points inevitably to its beginnings back in some historic times. A few enterprising local annalists like the late Jose V. Pedroche, the late Col. Apolonio B. Aviguetero, the late Dr. Rufino Loque, and of course, former Governor Margarita (Ting-ting) Cojuangco and Dr. Lino Dizon, had made accounts as far back as they could. Their work, albeit differing in some details, provided rich information serving as useful guide that steered the direction of this treatise. This writer has tried to reconcile apparent conflicts in their accounts as much as could be done, and wadeD through some interspersed speculations and opinions thereof. He has also tried to cover some grey areas apparently glossed over, and included the 30-year interregnum from 1984 to the present. This author bewails that the passion for local history that flowered in the past has apparently faded in the past three decades. For a dynamic and fast-growing town like Santa Ignacia that morphed from a monoglotic to a polyglotic and bustling community, the keeping of its annals is imperative. In this regard, the salutary significance of the Centenary Observance of the town cannot be overemphasized. As chairman of the Santa Ignacia Historical Society, (a.k.a. SILAG – Santa Ignacia Legacy Advocacy Group) the author took it unto himself to undertake this work. The book seeks to make all Santa Ignacians, readers and all, better acquainted with their own town. He believes that familiarity with one’s own milieu unravels any mystery, otherwise unsettling, provides proper bearing, and deepens a sense of belonging, pride and stake in the community. This work is dedicated to all Santa Ignacians, and personally to the memory of my late wife, nee Eufemia Santillan Balanay, and our seven children; to Danny and wife, Connie, with whom I live at 9049 Reales Street in Alta Loma California for providing everything I needed in writing the book, library, recreational and educational facilities, etc. Both slept close to my room to watch over my having occasional nightmares. Connie cooked my meals, did my laundry, and even cleaned my room while I worked like a hermit. Like Danny, Gener provided vital technical assistance, while the two girls, Gina and Eufie and their families provided ample food supplements during the course of my writing. Special mention goes to Mr. Sammuel Bartoli, an American author, for his invaluable technical assistance in putting this work into shape. My three children at home, Donna, Bella and Dina and their families, had given strong moral support, while (Dolphy) Adolfo P. Follosco, my son- in-law gave technical assistance and did complementary and supplementary tasks especially on the photos, Ed M. Narne, member of the family did serious work in gathering, collecting and encoding vital materials for the book, and Mae Anne V. Bacnis, temporary secretary, had patiently given their help. Finally, I am grateful to my readers, Dr. Virgilio L Baratang, Dr. Alfredo Domingo, Vice Mayor Noel C. Antonio, Mayor Saklulu B. Enrado, and Dr. Lino L. Dizon, author of many books, for their infinite patience in reading, editing and making constructive suggestions for improvement, thereof. TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface x Chapters 1. Terra Incognita 1 2. The Aborigines 3 3. The Site 7 4. The Ilocanos 10 5. How Binaca Got its Name 13 6. How The Settlers Lived 15 7. What The Settlers Left 23 8. Binaca as a Barrio of Camiling 25 9. Santa Ignacia Under the Spanish Regime 29 10. The Calamities 33 11. The Filippino Awakening 35 12. Namagbagan 39 13. Makabulos-Pedroche Affair 41 14. Philippine-American War 49 15. The American Regime 52 16. Mayor Alviar 59 17. Second World War 62 18. The Japanese Regime 69 19. The Return of General McArthur 77 20. The Community Scene 88 21. The Martial Law Regime 105 22. The Cory Regime 121 23. Appendices a. Photos 142 b. Personal Accounts 171 c. Appendix C - List of Officials 186 d. Exhibits 190 End Notes 202 Bibliography 211 The Author 213 Chapter 1 TERRA INCOGNITA It was a nameless niche in the middle of nowhere, a pristine rolling terrain of a jumbo of forest trees, indigenous wild bamboos, prairies of talahibs, reeds and cogon, and dotted with natural meadows here and there. It was part of the vast uncharted terrain that spanned the “terra incognita”1 from which the province of Tarlac and perforce, Santa Ignacia, were yet to be carved out. Its condition was best pictured by Dikerson as quoted by Cojuangco, (1987,) “... it is practically certain that before the advent of man in the Philippines, the entire country was covered with unbroken forest at one time or another from sea level to the tops of the highest mountain except, perhaps where the vegetation had been temporarily destroyed by natural causes such as volcanic eruptions. Such types of vegetation as the extensive grass hills, mountain sides and plains and the open cultivated areas - which are now prominent features of the landscape – did not originally exist so that the whole aspect of many localities must have been quite different from what it is today or has been within historic times….” It has been gathered from the earliest chronicles of history that the settlement in Tarlac begun in the late part of the 16th Century A. D. The early settlers were the Austronesians,2 the History of Santa Ignacia 2 Pampangos to the South, the Pangasinenses to the north, and later joined by the Ilocanos to the farther north, were known to have created the province of Tarlac. So, from the beginning of time, the place had remained a virgin forested land. Such was the state of the area when the first Ilocano settler, the great grandfather Pedro Madriaga first set foot on the place. At the instant, it was the southernmost frontier of Pangasinan province up north facing the distant province of Pampanga to the south. Likely unaware of each other, the people from both sides, north and south, were pushing the jungle frontiers towards each other. Except for the occasional incursions of the aborigines (Aetas) to hunt, fish and gather wild fruits and other forest food crops, the place was untouched by civilization. Chapter 2 THE ABORIGINES Grandfather Madriaga must have encountered the aborigines when he settled in the place. Before he ventured south beyond Camiling, he must have been told about the natives, their physical attributes, their way of life, and the like. So he must have had some semblance of preparation in meeting with them. Like all others who did not know why the Aetas were there ahead of all other tribal groups, one can go further down in history. Old history books suggested that the Negritos of the Philippines and Indonesia came from Africa through the so-called land bridges of old. That was when the sea level was still low allowing migration between continents by land before the glacial era. It is recalled that the Inuits likewise crossed the Aleutians from Asia to the Americas. Bellwood and Omoto, likewise cited by Cojuangco however, have posited a different theory that the Philippine pygmies are the “Austroloids,4 the race to which the Negritos belong and are the true aborigines of the Indo-Malaysian Archipelago. Dickerson believed that they travelled into the Philippine Region through the “well defined Sulu isthmus5 over which they penetrated from the large southern connection to Mindanao, spread eastward and northward over land across Leyte and Samar, to the Camarines Peninsula northward to Luzon and to Zambales which was later isolated by sea History of Santa Ignacia 4 invasion. It is known that Zambales was only linked by a strip of land mainland Luzon. Different writers like Margarita Cojuangco (Tarlac, Prehistory to World War II, Tarlac: Tarlac Provincial Government 1987), Apolonio Aviguetero, (Santa Ignacia Histoy, Updatd, 1984), and Jose V.Pedroche, (A Brief History of Sta. Ignacia, 1963), etc., have made similar description6 of the Aetas as dark-skinned, short in stature and with kinky hair. They were a semi-nomadic people, traveling as a clan, the men with bows and arrows, almost naked except for a loin to cover their private parts; the women with a front cover with bare breasts, the young children, naked. They hunted wild pigs and deer, and gathered fruits or root crops for food. They made shanties along rivers as homes They were animist who believed in spirits lurking in their environment like trees, rivers, anthills, and the like. Detergents were unknown to them, hence their skin was infested with diseases. They ornamented themselves with forest products they fashioned out. They had no organized form of government. Problems or issues that arose were decided only by the elder males in the group. Marriages were arranged by betrothals among the young.