Baliwag: Then and Now [1 ed.]

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1-IISTORICAL DATA BANI\: '- . NH

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By

ROLANDO E. VILLACORTE

Copyright © 1970 by the Auth or. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form with out writt en permission from the auth or, exce pt ~or ~rief passa ges included in a review appeanng m a newspaper or magazine.

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IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT limi ted copies of this book are available at the follo wing : 1. Baliwag Historical Society 36 A. Luna Street 2. Baliwag School Supplies

Plaza Naning (near Fannacia Ramos)

3.. Atty . and Mrs. Emilio G. Garcia's residence

Felix Lara comer A. Mabini, Sabang-1Ybag

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4. No. 22 Mabait St., Teachers' Village Quezon City -- Tel. No. 98-59-62 ···~"""

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Pl'inll 'd by:

PHIL IPPIN E GRAP HIC ARTS , INC. Caloo can City, Philip pines ·

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To my five: Liling Roger Erick Maya and Jim boy

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to all the good people of Baliwag.

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... ' " · · The ,inith-· · - Ramos;"l~se Gonzalef:?-Rol t~pitoc~ Eng_~. Oelfin ·I. Garcia, Teofis to Emile and:to P~sta-,.. ., • ,; •• • ' • • ' ,., , j 10 he~.licr.P py Atir., ~milio G: Baya01 · " Bonifacio, Victpr 'C~piale~,·Atty. Ricardo Lloret1 6onzalez, Atty. T,. . E. S.auco, s·~pliciq . • Gatmahan, t\nice~o. hazo, ·Mrs·;.,.Ch.it Pedrosa-Navarro, Rodrigo G. ~bagat '; · Rafael M : .: Angeles; Rodol_fo B:. Bulleeer:!M¢. 'tet.W B. Cag!':1a_wan, Mrs. -Te~_sie o'~ Eugeru o~ Aurora \ ;. . , · Villaco/te, Daisy Villacortel-Arm.iUldO M. Angel~s, Sancho · Na~iVidad; Maximino 'Culilap, : ~ .' ~aridad C. Rufmo,' Ruben M: Fabikfl.;·Prof; reo.doro ~:"Agoncillo,, ;Mrs. Caqnen,Guerrero" ~ · ~~ . · t; Nakp~andthelppezMuseum..... ~ . . _ --~- .... ~·~, ~· ·1 _ ,i .· ~~. j

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rie1i'ted book? ' ·, . · they have asked. .,. " ."' : ,. .- "', .··,., .. ·' · ~ · ' ~ 4 ' · · . Tl;ese t?wn~es ~qve-'mis~~~ ~he ~int. ' :hurch !s Jfe~e~ _regardt!d, [rom_ Of. . .f.> ·. ,,., absqfutely hzstoncal, and_ not reli$10us,. .pom.t o{vzew. There ,-f·noth mg more hzstonc l!J 'It/ , .P Bafifv~g _!CJday t~n t~is)zn~ief!f,'c~urclJ, whiCh, ~ta!}dS ~ ' the .enduri ng~~pmibd/'.of "fhe . :: ~ 1 ../ ' toy~-~ s very creation. , · . · . . ,; • ~ 1 • :... • : , . '. • • ·. ·~, . ·, • ~ .,, 1 , · ./ . _ ._\ .·' Afid 'c! rtuinly fhis ~olume, ~ears nq{ther:s~ctaril in pride'nor ~dittied~ p,:ejudice_.1It is.· \ •; 1 .• ...JI -\f or.. . everyone wno lovei r .- and searches for - - lhe ·bis(oricartruth 1 .• ·i ... ' - · · \ .. _.,... ~ I ~•. '. . . , :. ~. i : *' ' . ...,.,, ... ,, . . .,.. ' ' ·. ... . ;•. . ~ .' . ' . t. '. ' ... - , .~ .. . .. -~· > .... ' •

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FOREWORD

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N the firm belief that the writing of the history of the Filipino people can best be fleshed out by separate historical accounts of towns, provinces and regions, the National Historical Commission has made it a consistent policy to encourage local historians. It is with deep gratification that it hails the publication of one such devoutly wished for history, Baliwag: Then and Now. Of the many merits of the present history, the Commission notes its respect for research and documentation -always an excellent quality for all historians, professional and otherwise -- the happy combination of biography, social and contemporary history, and the author's considerable skill which have made this large volume extremely readable. One hopes that other towns, cities and provinces of the Philippines · may be blessed with writers like Rolando E. Vil/acorte, whose dedication, capacity for taking pains and warmth of heart have produced this commendable contribution to history and the quality of Filipino life.

For the National Historical Commission,

CA

Ozairman

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PREFACE Baliwag: Then and Now is a truly great ~ook. As far as our town is concerned, this kind of book gets wrztt en only once in a lifetime. In fact, in over 230 years of Baliwag 's history it has been written only now. The people of Baliw ag are therefore deeply grateful to the author for having produced this wonderfully illuminating book. No local household should be with out a copy of Baliwag: Then and Now. For that matter, no citizen of Baliw ag, whether he lives here or abroad, should m(ss reading it:

Sometime before the last world war Pedro U. Ponqe. journalist son of Mariano Ponce, set abou t the task of writing the history of Baliwag. It .was to have been a comprehensive and truly authentic historical acco unt since Ponce had access to direct sources of materials. Unfortunately, death overtook Ponce the journalist and his project died with him then and there. It wasn 't till a full generation later that this important pro;ect was revived through Pista '70 which was composed, if I may say so myself. of civic-minded citizens. The difficult task of history-writing fell on the shou lders of Rolando E. Vil/acorte 'r\lhose well-rounded journ alisti c training and experience. came in handy. Obviously he had to tackle a much tougher job because most of the recorded references had been either destroyed or lost during the war. And many of our elqerly towmnates who could have helped piece together the historical data had long be[ore gone to the Great Beyond. At any rate, the fob was finzsned after more than a year of sacrifice and painstaking efforts. Pista '70 is therefore mighty proud to have done its share towards the fruition of a lonK-cherished dream.

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EDITORI AL NOTE

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ROM Capitan Jose de Guzman to Mayor Florentino Verge! de Dios is a long, long time. Actually it spans a period of two centuries and nearly four decades. So much water, as the common saying goes, has indeed passed under the bridge, leaving in its wake a fascinating watermark made indelible by events of great historical significance. · Since the days of the first local capitan , for instance , there have been two catastrophic world wars. On the national scene, the Filipinos have had to suffer through three imperialistic hells, achieving at least two proclamations of independence in the process --- an independence that they are still trying to pursue anyway . The town of Baliwag has had close to 200 rulers or administrators and almost 40 influential parish priests. It has survived a series of terrible disasters including cholera and mnuenza epidemics and two great noods that rampaged from the usually placid Angat river through the whole town and other parts of Bulacan province as well. In the meantime, the one-horse community has evolved from a mere barangay of 750 " benighted" Indios into a bustling pueblo of some 53,000 emancipated souls, a good rriany of whom have already proved their own mettle. This book is an attempt to trace the town's colorful metamorphosis ever since its foundation in 1733 or 1734* . It has taken us some 16 hurried months to produce it, although we sincerely believe it should have taken much longer than that. The w:.-iting portion constituted only a third of the production efforts. The tedious job of collecting, analyzing and synthesizing the facts - - gathered through extensive interviews and intensive research - - consumed the remaining two-thirds. It is regrettable that our task had to be made more difficult by some fellow citizens who were either too wrapped up in material comforts or too self-centered to care, or too miserably devoid of sense of history to give any word of comfort or encouragement. One of them was even a priest from Sta. Barbara who selfishly turned down our request for some of the local historical data he had in his possession. And to think that we had done no little legwork in tracking him down to his Makati parish! A few (thank God~ ) poor souls just can't seem to realize the importance of chronicling the town's history . "What 's the point? " they cynically ask . "What's past is past. Why wake up a sleeping dog? " Precisely, we should wake up that long slumbering dog and let its fierce bark rouse us from colonial lethargy and smugness. Only by knowing ourselves, by remembering our past strength and weaknesses can we ever hope to improve ourselves and forge ahead. It was Riz~I who once said: "We cannot intelligently chart our future and sensibly interpret the present if we do not know the past." , Our country today is plagued with many serious problems which actually have their roots in the past. We only have to look back to find the causes and the proper solutions. The trouble , however, is that we keep on ignoring our past mistakes and insist on repeating them over and over. "Th is matter is discussed in the first chapter .

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Baliwag is 237 years old now, in fact it \.~a s the '.irst munici~ality e~er establish ed in the Philippin es under the America n reg11ne: One might thmk that at this age our town should be a highly progressi ve or prospero us locality. Over two hundred capitanes and presiden tes and. alcaldes and curas parrocos have come and gone , but pro~e~s. or p:ospen ty !ias come .at a snail's pace. Many a home remain on pnm1t1ve stilts .and w1thou t sa111tary toilets (they're actually shacks), while still many a resident employ equally primitive ways and means in the pursuit of their daily life . . . Backwar dness spawned by widespre ad unemplo yment and plain ignorance if not indolenc e and white-co llar mentalit y , continue s to be one big blight despite the town's and the people's capacity f~r developm e nt'. Of course the Spanish years were years of wanton repressio n and oppressi on , but it 'is high time we stopped blaming them altogeth er for our appalling backward ness as a people . Instead, we should look into our hearts and find

out why. Baliwag is indeed lucky now to have an active and dedicate d man for mayor, for things have really started to perk up . In a sense , Mayor Verge! de Dios is luckier than his predeces sors because this rice-prod ucing town is now on the threshold of an agricultu ral revolutio n. Neverthe less, the new era must commit itself totally to this peaceful revolutio n and the townspe ople. specially the new elite, must lend a helping hand to fulfill this great commitm ent . The citizens of Bali\~ag , happily, are generally a warmhea rted , industrio us and incurably sentimen tal people - - though at times individualistic and religious to a fault . There are , to be sure, a number of them whose minds are still imprison ed by the dark age of superstit ion. There are also the so-called parvenus or new rich who have necessari ly become part of the upper crust of society. But if there are parvenus there are also those (and they constitu te the majority ) who have got it made through sheer talent, imaginat ion and persevera nce. To their eternal credit, they haven't quite lost their heads and haven ' t forgotten their beloved place of birth, even though they may have settled themselv es comforta bly well in some status-sy mbol villages. They have manifest ed their sense of belongin g through altruistic gestures, these affluent suburban ites. ' This bilingual book includes characte r sketches of some of Baliwag' s sons and daughter s who have made good in their respectiv e fields. By having made good we do not of course mean only those who have become filthy rich but also those who in their own right have distingui shed themselv es irrespecti ve of their present economi c status. Their life stories are, in effect, the stories too of the town, the province , the country. We earnestly hope that their struggles and successes will one way or another inspire the· youths of Baliwag today and tomorrow . Due to time pressure, we have been unable to include other equally deserving ~ababayans, living or dead. To them, our sincerest apologie s - co~~led with f~nd~st assuranc e that the next time around, through a revised edition, we wzll mclude them and thus make this book compreh ensive enough.

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ABO UT THE AUT HOR

H

E heaves a big sigh of relief as he submits the last two chapter s of this book to the printer. "I'm free at last! " he exclaims in the manner of a genie who has finally been released from his long bottled confine ment. "After almost one and a half years! " The period represen ts the length of time it has taken to produce this historical book - - his maiden book, by the way. "I've given it everyth ing I've got, and I only hope what I've given is good enough ," he adds. Frankly , though, he feels he couldn' t have tackled the difficul t job without his previous journali stic training and experie nce. Gatheri ng and analyzing and synthes izing historical facts, let alone writing them in a readable style in both English and Pilipino, are a pretty tall order indeed. The task started on a small scale but he found it growing bigger and bigger as he dug deeper and deeper into the town's interest ing past. Roland o E. Villaco rte began his writing career in 1950 when he was still a college sophom ore at Far Eastern University. (He majored in journali sm.) He worked as an Evenin g News corresp ondent for two years and as Philippine News Service corresp ondent for three years. In the meantim e he freelanced for various nationa l magazines like the Philippines Free Press, Sunday Times Magazine and, more recently , for Weekly Nation. He edited various weekly commu nity newspa pers in Quezon City too. His favorite hobby: oil painting or drawing (see sample of his sketch on page 247). For a time he was Quezon City Mayor Norbert o S. Amoran to's PRO and the city council 's English-Tagalog translat or. Amoran to later designa ted him chief of the newly created Barrio Govern ment Office under the mayor's office. His experien ce in barrio affairs served him in good stead for the Kabukir an part of this book. Villacor te also headed the Research and Special Projects of the Malacafiang Press Office in 1962-1963. The last governm ent post he held-was that of an executiv e assistant in the PHHC general manage r's office in 1964. His stint here launche d him on the more mundan e real estate business (he took and passed the exams given by the Bureau of Comme rce in 1965). Writing this book has enabled Villacor te to retrace his steps in Baliwag where, accordi ng to him, he spent the best years of his life. He was born in Sabang on March 18, 1929, the eldest son of Feliber to Villaco rte and the former Aurora Enrile. He left Baliwag in 1948 after graduat ion from Baliuag Academ y. It was in this school where he learned the rudimen ts of Balarila - - which becan1e a favorite subject principa lly because of his young and attractiv e teacher, Miss Jovita Castro. "I wonder where she is now? " he asks somewh at nostalgically. _ Villaco rte's first school was Colegio de Sagrada Familia , now St. Mary's Academy, where he studied cathecis m at the age of six. "I don't know whethe r my first alma mater will disown me or be proud of me," he says lighthea rtedly, "for my candid portray al of religiou s abuses during the Spanish times. One thing I can say, however, is that I did not create those facts. I merely recreate d them as an essentia l part of the town's history ." ix

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Page PART I - THE SPANISH ERA CHAPTER CHAPTER CHAPTER CHAPTER

A Town is Born . .... .. . · · · · · · · The Hispanization . . . . . . . . . . . . . Principalia's Castles . ..... . . ... · ~ Glimpses of Philippine Histo ry-thru the Town of Baliwag . . . . . .

1 2 3 4

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PART II- THE AMER ICAN REGIME CHAPTER CHAPTER CHAPTER CHAPTER CHAPTER CHAPTER

Enter the Americans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Americanization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ·or Calamities and Dr . Bertol . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Streets and the Glorieta . . . . . . . . . . . . . Enterta inmen t and Religion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Social, Economic and Political Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bustos and San Rafael . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Belles of Baliwag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

5 6 7 8 9 10

CHAPTER 11 CHAPTER 12

41 49 57 61 64 67 78 80

PART Ill - OCCUPA T/ON, LIBER ATION AND POSTL/BERA TION CHAPTER CHAPTER CHAPT ER CHAPTER

13 14 15 16

The Defense of Baliwag-Plaridel _ . . . . . . . . . . 84 The Occup ation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 How the People Lived . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 The Day Baliwag Was Almos t Burned Down . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 The Guerrilla Movement (or, the BMA Saga) . . . _. . ..... . . ... ... 100 Liberation! . .. .... . . . . . . ... . ..... .. 107 The Huk Problem ..... .. . .. . . .. .. . ... 111

CHAPT ER 17 CHAPT ER CHAPTER

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PART IV- BAL/W AG TODA Y CHAPT ER CHAPT ER CHAPTER CHAPT ER CHAPT ER CHAPT ER CHAPT ER CHAPT ER

20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27

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, _...Baliwag Today .... . . ... .. •. . ... .. . . . 116 Service s and Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128 Educational Instit utions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 Public Utilities .. . . . .. .· .... .... .... .. 148 The Buntal Hat Indust ry .... . _ ... ... .. . . 156 Baliwag's Chief Execu tives : .. . . . . . . . . . . . 158 Baliwag Historical Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160 Panulu yan and Pagbabansag .. . . . . .. ... ... 164

CHAPTER CHAPTER CHAPTER CHAPTER CHAPTER CHAPTER CHAPTER CHAPTER

28 29 30 31 32 33 34

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Where Are They Now? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 167 The First Lady and Baliwag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171 'Jocelynang Baliwag' ..... . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174 Baliwag's Music Makers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178 Unique Fiesta ..... ..... ...• . ·..... ... 180 Death at Twilight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182 Baliwag-Bustos Bridge - Bridge of Sigh? ..... 185 Alona: the Mennaid Baby . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188

PART V- OUTSTANDING AND INTERESTING CITIZENS CHAPTER 36-

* Educa tion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190 * Military . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199 *Mus ic ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... 207 *Arts and Letter s ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... ... . ..... ... 215 *Publ ic Service .... . .. . ..... . . .. . ..... ..... ..... .... .. . . . . .232 * Business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243 •Law ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... ... . . . ..... 250 *Med icine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259 *Spor ts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262 *Revo lution ary Figures .... . ..... ..... .. . ..... ..... .. . ..... . 267 * Movies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277 *Cent enaria ns ... .". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287 PART VI - SA KABU KIRAN CHAPTER 37 CHAPTER 38 CHAPTER 39 CHAPTER 40

Ang 'Pilot Rice Produ ction and Demonstration' Cente r . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291 Wastong Pamamahala sa Tubig . . . . . . . . . . . . 295 Land Refon n at F ACOMA sa Baliwag . . . . . . . 299 Ang ARIS at PACD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303 PART VII - ANG MGA BARRIO SA NGA YON

CHAPTER 41

Ang rnga Barrio sa Baliwag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309

PART VIII - MGA LAMA NG-L UPA, PANIW ALAA N-DIL I AT KA BABA LA GHAN CHAPTER CHAPTER CHAPTER CHAPTER

Directory

42 43 44 45

Mga Salawikain, Bugtong at Pamahiin . . . . . . . . . 389 Mga .Lamaiig-Lupa .. . ..... ..... . ..... . 396 Mga Paniwalaan-Dili ..... ... . ... ~ ..... . 401 Kababalaghan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 404

Cover photo by AOL LAMPI TOC

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THE SPANISH ERA Introduction*

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HE Indian of the Philippines (sic) Islands has been strangely misrepresented . He is not the being that oppression, bigotry, and indolence, here for 300 years, endeavoured to make him, or he is so only when he has no other resource. Necessity, and the force of example have made those of Manila, what the whole are generally characterized as -traitors,_idlers, and t~Ieves. · How, under such a system as will be afterwards described, should they be otherwise? Say rather, that all considered, it is surprising to find them what they are; for they are in general (I speak of the Indian of the provinces), mild, industrious, as far as they dare to be so, hospitable, kind and ingenuous . 0

Hut for 300 years they have been ground to the earth with oppression.

They have been crushed by tyranny; their spirit has been tortured by abuse and contempt, and brutalized by ignorance; in a word, there is no injustice that has not been inflicted on them.

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I am far from holding up .the Indian of the Philippines as a faultless being; he is not so; the Indian of Manila has all the vices attributed to him; but I assert, that the Philippines (sic) Islander owes the greater part of his vices to example, to oppression, and above all to misgovernment; and that his character has traits, which under a different system, would have produced a widely different result.

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. . *Excerpts from _ ~enry Piddington's Remarks on the Philippine Islands, published in 1828. Pidd1ngton was a British plantation owner in Calcutta, India, who visited the Philippines in 181~1822. These excerpts were taken from Blair and Robertson, Vol. 51, pp. 89-95.

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CHAPTER 1

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A TOW N IS BO RN

B

EFORE the Spaniar ds came to the Phil- the Spaniar ds in the differen t misione s and ippines in 1521, Baliwag was just a parroqu ias. One of these churche s was wilderness inhabite d mostly by animals and established in Quingwa, of which Baliwag at wild birds. There were no good and wide the time was still a cabeceria or baranga y roads as we have today, only meande ring with no definite name. (The cabecer ia or pathwa ys that invariably"letl to isolated huts. barangay corresp onds to the presentday Some of these narrow pathway s, called · b~rrio.) paraan, were fringed on both sides with trees Because they had no other decent and shrubs. Work animals and sleds which means of transpo rtation the people either were then the only means of land transpo rta- had to ride a banca or had to walk all the tion commo nly passed here. way to Quingwa, a distance of nine kilo. meters, to hear masses on s and feast . The handful of people who occu~1~d days. As a consequ ence Sunday the churchg oers the isolated and lo~ely huts. ~ere pagams tic from Baliwag often came late to mass. This people who wors~1pped spmts_ ~hey call~d habitua l tardines s eventually became the Bathala. ~hey beheved these spmts ?welt m butt of jokes among the people of Quingwa, ca~es so m these caves they made nt~al o_f- so much so that whenev er they saw a group ermgs of food, perfum e a_nd fl1:1 1_ts. m of Baliwag folk coming they would mocking 10mage to thei:n. These_ ~nc1ent F1hpmo_s ly say: "Eto na ang maliliwag." ("Here come v.:ere so ste~ped i~ su~e~st1t~on that t~ey reh- the slowpo kes.") Or, if the latecom er was all g1ously believed m d1vmahon, auguries and . a1one, "Eto na SI· B a L'Iwag."* magic un for tuna t ely for the loca1 f olk, the · ·f· charms. Thus they always · · . attached h s1gm .icance to sue h natura1 achv1t1e s as t e . t ary t ( or B . . . p 1Imen erm ma1nvag a howlmg of dogs, the htssmg of lizards or to uncom L. ) t k l"k E tl1 s · h 1 the mere sight of a black cat darting across 1 iwag s uc e. g u_e. ven e pa_m~ th · th Th ff b r f cura was announ cmg it from the pulpit m eidr pda d · efse supers 1 ious t~ ie st were refere nee to them. Throug h the years the lian e own rom one genera 1011 o an. . . · t th till b · t . d name Balzwag evolved o th er an d are, m ru , s from It and by this emg prac 1se . · many t od ay. (S m part s o f Ba11wag ee Mga kname or appella tion the town became Laman g-Lupa , • Paniwalaan-Dili at Kabanown. balaghan.) VFoundation

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The natives of course h ad their own language and social customs . Not unlike their contem porarie s in other lands they condu cted their comme rcial activities through the so-called barter system.

Sometim e in June 1733 a Spanish paro-..,. chial priest by the name of Fr. Juan de *Strictly speaking, Ba is a provincial title of respect for a man, like Ka and Mang. Thus an elderly man named Teban is addressed either as Ba Teban or Ka Teban - - or simply Mang T eban . Ba has been commonly used in Ouingwa (now Plaridel), Malolos, Calumpit and even in Paombong. Ka and Mang, on the other hand, have custom· arily been used in other Bulacan towns like Baliwag, Bustos .. and San Rafael.

"Mali I iwag"

With the Christia nization of the Philippines many Catholi c churches were built by I

HlST.OlllCAL DATA B.A:!.~K

II

PROTOC.O:L~Dia

. mos de-este. 'Pueb1o de.'Ba11Va'$ m~n "Ra'P 11;_ -op Lory!" 'fe}izTr1llo c1aao rorm ar po1. N .11.,iv1·'-' . . : . .

af\u cte~sta 1\·0V \\103 yc.omicn c1 ~l u ~ • . "i' de 'Jyn1o de_\ Cll""iO C\e \ 7 ,:.~ =1l,.QS h Sp .. . . .!N . ·•.

MONS. R. DEL ROSAR 10 FR. AMADO PAULINO (May 14-Aug. 20, 1961) FR. JORGE BOR LONGAN (Aug. 20, 1961-Feb. 4, 1962)

I

President Garcia implements nationalistic economic policies. He opposes return of free enterprise in Philippine economy for this means the "preservation of alien domination of national economy." ... But graft and corruption is rampant. Influential persons become millionaires overnight "while the poor multiplied like rabbits and continued to wallow in poverty." Result: CPG loses his reelection bid to Vice-Pres. Diosdado Macapagal in 1961. OM immediately adopts his 5-year socio-economic program and decontrol measures... Harry Stonehil, former GI who has built a financial empire through a network of corruption, is deported.

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FR. AMADO PAULINO

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As with the Garcia administration, people are disillusioned with Macapagal's reign. Venalities in the government become more rampant. Most controversial cabinetman is Exec. Sec. Rufino Hechanova ... The administration has sunk P100 million into the infamous Emergency Employment Administration (EEA) organized by Sec. Eleuterio Adevoso. . . The Stonehill scandal .featuring his Blue Book continues to rock the country ... OM loses reelection drive to Senate Pres. Ferdinand E. Marcos whose "secret weapon" is his charming wife, Imelda Marcos. . . FM sends Philcag contingent to Vietnam, raising a howl of protests from the people .

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39

GLIMPSES OF PHILIPPINE HISTORY Year

Mayor

1968-1971 FLORENTINO VERGEL DEDIOS

Parochial Priests FR. A. PAULINO (up to May 1969) BISHOP LEOPOLDO ARCAIRA

President Marcos is reelected in the 1969 elections, thereby setting a precf!dent for reelectionist Presidents. His rival, Sen. Sergio Osmeiia, Jr., refuses to concede . . . FM's administration is soon rocked with violent demonstrations in which a number of students have been killed by riot policemen ... Demands for reforms keep mounting, but violent rallies eventually subside. . . The peso is devalued through the "floating rate" system ... . . . Nilo Tayag, head of militant and "subversive" Kabataang Makabayan, is arrested on June 11, 1970 in San Pablo City... FM earlier says in a speech (on the 50th anniver· sary of American Legion, Philippine. department) that he believes "the desired reforms in any and all aspects of our national life can be effected without armed revolution." ... On Sept. 16, 1970 Huk Commander Sumulong falls into government hands. Exactly a month later Huk Supremo Pedro Taruc who has a P150,000 price on his head is slain by the army in Angeles City.

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PART2 THE AMERICAN REGIME Introduction

T

l II: J\1ncrii.:;H1s came. And like Caesar, they saw and conquered . Thi! A1nericans moved into Baliwag shortly after the Spaniards "surrl·ntkrnl'' the Philippines to them. They must have thought, after seeing Ualiwag's grand scenery , that .this indeed was the most ideal place where to gi\e l'X pression to thl!ir grand design. So here it wa~ that they organized tlH:: first municipality in tht: whole country. Baliwllg then became the starting / point on their road to pea1.:eful and democratic 1.:onquest, which fonnalf.1· lasted till July 4. 1946. · The American regime brought to Baliwag, as it did to other parts of the nation . .several fundamental changes. Changes in the system of government , in Janguagt.:! and in the educational ~y~tcm. Even the prevailing currency was altered. so that instead of the old \!lexican pl.!SO coin the Filipinos now used Connant which of course bore the omnipresent symbol of power, the spread ~agle. · The Jatkr change, im:idl'ntally . gave rise to a "land-office bu siness." momentary though it wa~. It benefited a number or enterprising loca l citizens who acted as agent s for those who wished to have th eir i'vlc xicm p\:~os convatcd into the newly issued Connants. These moncy-clwng-:r-. tran sad~d tl11..·ir bu~iness at the treasurer's office in the municipiu ~111d rl.'cei v~d fat k~s for their labor. One truly rnmmcndable thing about the new invaders is that. very 111L1d1 unlikl.! th~ir parochial predecessors and militaristic successors. th ey ge11t>rall y pursued their conquest thru a policy of a ttraction , Call it them. without h;.iving to go through the exaspe rat111g male ufn:~ -~

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ALIW AG today is a thriving town of 52 ,608 people, 26 , 149 of whom are males and 26,459 fem ales.* In 1948, or barely four years after lib eratio n, its population was only 30 ,670 . Wi thin this 22-year period, therefore , the population has increased by almost 22,000, o r by an average of 1,000 per year. Records in the municipal treasurer's office disclosed , though , that from 1948 up to mid-1970 when the last census was co mpleted a little less than 18 ,000 babies had been born. So it is quite evident that the 4 ,000 or so difference does not fall un der the "native-born citizens" category. Most likely these "supernumeraries" are immi grants from other towns, specially from the neighboring towns of Pampanga . Since we are on the subj ec t of births, we might as well touch on th e " heavenly" question of marriages which had produced -- most of them anyway - - these births. The local " marriage-go-round," for the same period of time, showed that around 9,500 couples had tied the marital knot, either civilly or religiously . And now on the macabre aspect of these statistics: the local treasurer's office, which also issues death certificates and collects fees for the municipal cemetery, reported that in contrast to the aforementioned birth rate about 11 ,000 people only had· died. This means that for every person that had died, two had been born. High Density

Based on its total land area of 4,505 hectares, Baliwag has one of the highest den' N a11ona1 ce nsu s taken in June, 197 0 . Comelec revealed that 17 .145 voters re!Jistered for the 1969 elec· tions and an additional 703 voters, for the election of de iegates to the 1971 Constitutional Convention.

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CHAIPTER 20

The provincial capitol building at Malolos

sities among the t ow n o f Bulaca n . There are now I I .67 p e rso n pe r hec ta re in thi s to wn. Baliwag in fa c t. ra nk fo urth am o ng the highest-den it y munic ipa liti e ') in the province - - aft e r o nl y Mey ca waya n. O band o and Vale nzu e la . Popt;l a tion-wi se , these fi ve t o wn s deserve the "top ho n o r ": i'vt a lo los. Hago noy . San Migue l, V a le n zu e la and Bali wag. Th e five pueblos with the smalles t po pulati o n a re San Jose , Marilao , Balagtas ( Biga;i ). Pa ndi and Guiguinto . Market Town

BULACAN TOWNS FIRST DISTRICT :

1. Balagtas 2. Bocaue 3. Bulacan 4 . Colump1t 5. Guiguinto 6. Hagonoy 7. Mci1o los 8. Pandi 9. Pa om bong 10. Plar1del 11 . Pulilan

SECOND DISTRI CT: 1. Angat 2. Bal iuag 3. Bustos 4 . Marilao 5. Meycauayan 6. Norzagaray 7. Obando 8. San Ildefonso 9. Sa n Jose del Monte 10. San Miguel 11 . San Rafael 12. Sta . Maria 13. Valenzuela

Although Baliwag is a big rice produ cer. it is essentially a market town . In truth it derives its main source of in come - - almost BULACAN GOVERNORS one-third - - from market and s lau ghterhouse fees. Th e three othe r big sour ce~ an: JOSE SERAPIO I 1900 - 1901) incom e taxes (from which the muni c ipalit y . PABLO TECSON (1902-19051 gets a 20% share), munic ipal lice nses and TEODORO SANDICO I 1906 - 19091 real estate taxes . 11910 - 1912) DONATO TEODORO town's r eve nu e for fi scal year 1969-1970 was P793 ,02 l.8 3. The previous fiscal year it was only P671 558. 10. (Sec graph.) The

Baliwag has six public markets ancl as many accessorias, all locat e d in the very heart of Poblacion . The markets have 250 fixed stalls in all and the accessorias a total of 46. The top moneymake r. however. is Public Market No. 3 whose fix e d stall s number 80. This is where dr y goods and textiles are sold. Of all the 24 towns of Bulacan Baliwag has registered the biggest market and slaughterhouse collections. thl:! la test * being "Fiscal year 1969-1970.

(1913 - 1916) ( 1916 -· 191 9 J I 1919 - 1921 ) (1922·- 19251 11925 - 1928) (1928- ·1931 : 1935- 19371 Cl RI LO B. SANTOS ( 1931 ·- 1934) JACINTO MOLINA ( 1938- 19401 EMILIO V. RUST IA {1 941 - , 944 ) FORTUNATO HALILI \ 1948-1951) ALEJOS. SANTOS ( 1952 - 1955; 1956- 1957) (Santos gave up the gove~norship \'Vhen he was appointed chairman of the Reparations Mission in 1958.)

TRINIDAD !CASIANO NICOLAS BUENDIA JUAN B. CAR LOS PIO VALENZUELA RESTITUTO J. CASTRO JOSE PADILLA, SR .

TOMAS MARTIN JOSE VI LLARAMA IGNACIO SANTIAGO

(1960-1963) (1964-1967) (1968-1971)

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2 18

BA L!IVAG: THEN AND NOW

A chip off the old block , Pedro has followed in his father's artistic footstep s. He poses above with one of h is creations a ' giant concrete shoe, at the Luneta Park playground .

questionably demonstrated his versatility. Not only is he a painter and sculptor of consequence ; he is also one of the movie industry's competent art directors (he is now with Sampaguita Pictures). He is adept at camera tricks and movie settings, as well as with photography which he had taught himself. His services as a landscape architect or gardener are much in demand too by affluent families in the country. Truth to tell, young Carreon -- who is an introvert -- designed and built the various attractive concrete structures, not excluding the waterfall, at the Rizal Park (Luneta) children's playground.

Unlike his father , Pedro never had any formal art schooling. Whatever expertise he has in painting and sculpture he has acquired mainly through experience and observation. Even as a young boy in short pants he loved to watch - - and join - - his father at work in his studio under their large house . He also received some kind of tutorship from Jose D. Castro, famous painter who was his fathers's friend. Pedro's educational attainment is nothing to crow about either , having finished only Grade VI. But he has gone far in the hlghly competitive art field because he is, first and foremost , a pure bundle of talent.

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JOSE Da CASTRO

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OMETIME in 1927 a scrawny lad who had just stepped out of his teens arrived in Baliwag from his native town of Zaragosa, Nueva Ecija . Though penniless and all alone, his heart and spirit brimmed with youthful hope and a sense of adventure. Because of his financial circumstances, he had been forced to quit high school and serve as a family water cargador for at least a year in return for the informal art lessons given him by Prof. Tialco of Escuela de Musica y Bellas Artes. The professor had been a next-door neighbor at Trozo, Manila. Now here Jose D. Castro was in the picturesque town of Baliwag, a bashful asceticlooking young man equipped with naught but hard-earned skill in charcoal and crayon drawing and some previously acquired knowledge of sign painting. He'd live and die here in Baliwag, Castro pledged to himself melodramatically, if only the town would be hospitable enough to him . Living, of course, meant ceaseless working with the paint and brush and taking one of the town's lasses for his bride. The lass turned out to be Elena M. de Joya, by whom he later had five children. Castro seems to be well on the way to fulfilling his pledge. Silver-haired and still of lean frame, he is now a grandfather and widower for over ten years. He has continuously lived in Baliwag for more than 40 years, longer in fact than many contemporary nativebom citizens of Baliwag have. The year he settled down in Baliwag the young Castro won second prize· in the annual

art exhibit held during the Manila Carnival at Bagumbayan (Luneta). For artists, Manila fairs were highly prestigious events that afforded them the opportunity to display their talents. Unlike now , there were no art galleries then where artists could stage one-man shows. By a quirk of fate Castro became Fabian de la Rosa's private student for a while. Every summer the master would come to Baliwag to do some landscaping, and he would not infrequently find himself enjoying Castro's diffident hospitality. He used to lodge at the large old house of Roman Carreon, a UP-educated sculptor. In 1930, however , the eminent Filipino painter obliged Castro with a month-long stay at his modest place on F. G. Calderon street. It was an association that paid off handsomely for the struggling artist who now could use oil paints with remarkable finesse and compositional ability. Now, too, he could easily duplicate those glorious painting reproductions in the bulky Nelson's Encyclopedia at YMCA library (where he had worked before), instead of furtively making them into a private collect ion of his own. Castro rose to national prominence mainly because of his still-life pictures. An art critic for a metropolitan magazine* once described his forte thus: " When still-life paintings are talked about in the local art circles, the name Castro invariably pops up . This is due to the fact that his still-lifes could stand side by side with the

219

·saturday Mirror Magazine, Oct. 26, 1963.

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BA LIW!l G: T!ll:.N AND NO hi

paintings of any prominent artist. His striking, vivid colors and creative compositions always catch the admiration of his fellow artists. In his still-lifes, Castro conveys a tenderness and the natural freshness of his subjects. His still-life subjects are not mere objects but seem to breathe with life." The accolade went on: " With the deft hand of a maestro , he lumps together many objects in a still-life and they always repose in harmony ." Success, howev.er, did not come overnight to the pltH.:ky and humble artist. He had to go through a life of perseverance and untold sacrifice. To keep his body and soul together he found it necessary to start as a sign painter and often go out to far-flung barrios to do on-thcspot portrait sketches of farmer subjects. I le charged from two to five pesos per portrait , which he could finish in two hours 11at. Sometimes, his rural patrons would pay him in kind - - that is, with chickens or sacks of palay. Luckily for him , though , Castro managed to wiggle out of commercial (sign painting) art soon enough, lest his creative talent be forever stultified . He turned to producing canvases, including religious pictures on commission basis. It wasn't till the early fifties that he emerged as a serious artist . Art connoisseurs in Manila began to take notice of "the artist from Baliwag." His fame spread far and wide till he could hardly cope with the increasing demand for his obras. No art patrons or collectors considered their collections complete without a Castro. "Art," Castro says quoting Somerset Maugham, "must teach men humility, tolerance, wisdom and magnanimity. The moment an artist gets drunk with early success and thinks that what other great artists can do he also can. tlrnt's when his growth process stops." Tl~e lure of city life has failed to tempt the mild-mannered Castro. Instead of hobnobbing with fellow brushwielders in the city he

has chosen to work all these years in an unpretentious studio adjoining his home in l3arrio Stu. Cristo . Here, loca l and foreign art dealers and lovers occasionally come and see him. The sweet smell of success hasn't gone to his head either. A self-effacing man , he'd rather be remembered as a man of value -- to his adopted hometown - - than as a man of success. Ask anybody in town about a pintor and his name " invariably pops up." Pilltor and Castro in Baliwag are one and the same. But the world that Castro lives in is not all beauty, idealism or romanticism. It has its ugly side too. He h as to contend with some forces of crass materialism which probably is peculiar only to Philippine art society. These unhealthy forces are in full play at Mabini, Manila's art center, where the sole gauge of an artist's true worth , it seems, is the volume of sales. The name of the "game" is tutok , which literally means " holdup" - - evidently at the point of a brush. It is a practice resor ted to by unscrupulou s "artists" who are outright pla· giarists. They do not only copy the successful painter's pictures or individual style to the minutest detail ; they also forge his signature. Others, less unethical , merely pirate highly salable original style and subjects and pass off the plagiarized creations as their own. Castro himself had been a favorite victim of these " holdu ppers." Heaven only knows how many times they had done it to him. On one particular occasion, he made the discovery by chance. The rich matron who thought she had bought a genuine Castro still-life was even showing it off to him at her mansion . It was a giant canvas - - a perfect fraud , Castro himself thought, save for the size that he had never attempted before. Poor Castro, he never had the heart to tell her the awful truth. He could only envy the unknown in1postor for the "fabulous" sum she had paid supposedly for his own " masterpiece."

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DIOSDADO R. MENDOZA

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F Dading had lo st eith er faith in himself or hope for a better tomorrow, he would have been either a desperado or, at best , a tailor instead of a prosperous and well-respected Lion and cursillista that he is today. He had been so economically depressed that , at one time , he was practically on the verge of tempting the Devil himse lf to tempt him. Perhaps he could have gotten rid of the terrible temptation by just y ie lding to it. but his basically religious nature had got the better of him. Diosdado R. Mendoza, the struggling, starving young art student, prayed hard enough for more strength and poise against adversity. Dading's travail s began ever since he could remember. Born of obscure parents,* he had to help the family make a living as a cochero and zacatero. He worked his way thu s through high school (BaJiuag Academy) , with his daily baon coming from the proceeds of zaca te sa le . More than anything else he wanted to be a fine artist. But the exigencies of the time demanded that he pursue co mmercial art. and so commercial art it was that he pursued at first with youthful ambition. He stayed at a friend 's house in Ton do where he worked as houseboy and cook. At the same time he went to some unknown art schoo l where he whetted his creative appetite. When he finally secured a job as janitor-office boy at a metal engraving shop in Quiapo , with a PI daily compensation, he attended night classes at the UST Bellas Artes y Escultura. He was so happy over his "great fortune .. that he wrote his beloved parents in Baliwag about it. But in his letter he got himself carried away and so he exaggerated a bit. He told them that he had just been employed as full -time designer or artist at the engraving plant who se workjng conditions he praised to high heavens. Dading's glad parents neve r c;uspec.: ted that 'De.ding was born 1n Scibang on March 14 . 1928, th e son of Ricardo M encJoza c.ncJ Juana Romano . His fath er w as an irrigation ditch tender and his mother a hilot.

the nearest thing their young so n ever got to be as a .. professional artist" was as a mere 111iru11 who intense ly watched the regular art designer at work . They never knew , either, that Dading was slaving for a measly peso a day and that. to keep body and soul together ,hewouldjust take a cup of black coffee for lunch. Common were the days , too , when he had to walk to and from school every day and when he had to use the cheapest kind of drawing paper in school. l3ut Dading's parents discovered the bitter truth one day in 195 2, while he was dutifully sweeping and scrubbing the office floor . with a soiled handkerchief tied around his head. Upou seeing each other both parents and son were too dumbfounded to speak. When he recovered, Dading made a clean breast of everything. The rude discovery naturally broke the couple's hearts. In a trembling voice , the father spoke up: ''Mabuti pa, anak, e umuwi ka na sa atin at kahi't na tuyo e kakain ka." "Hayaan ninyo , Tatang, at tataas din ang suweldo ko ," Dading responded weakly. I le said he had decided to stick it out there in the stuffy engraving plant till he learned everything there was to learn about the business. His father attempted to discourage him. Even if Dading had learned the "tricks of the trade," he pointed out, where on earth would he get the needed capital to put up his own engraving shop? At this juncture the old man came direct to the point. '' Kami ng inang mo ," he said dejectedly. ' ·e nagsadya rito upang ipaalam sa 'yo na hindi ka na namin mabibigyan ng panomatrikula b pagka ' t wa l a nang magpautang sa amin.'' The bad news exploded like a bomb. Dading felt like breaking into tears. 22 1

222

BA L/WAC: THEN AND NOW

The old man th en suggest ed that O;iding t ro phies. pin s. medallions and plaques. ,\t first drop his art study and in stead shift to the .. art busine ss wa s naturally slack . li b sho p was in congru ou ly located i11 a neighbo rho od where of tailoring ." .. Magugutom ka Jang sa karera ng 'yan," he the tradi tio nal eco no mic ac t1v1 ty i ~ the smoked-fish bu sines . admonished Dading. ''Mab uti pa hu . \l ang Dad1ng. c tin apa ;mg To change the subj ect. Oading o ffered to give his unex pe cted visitors ··somethin g fo r itind·1 ninyo at ~ i g ur ad o n g 111:ow I can J ffo rd to drin k co ffee with Dading's art work. the employe r promp tly crea111 in i l ... he say JOI-: inglv . /\nd no mu re named him assistant designer at P2 a dav . t rud ging the du s t ~ . trcc t fo r hi111 beca use he Now. somehow. he was able to send some has hi s own ca r an d jee p . money to his fo lk s back lro me . But his newUad ing attribut e hi s goo d fo rtun e not to found seat had barely wanned up when he plain hard work a lo ne. He po ints to the succun1bed to the marital urge. With P500 foo t-tall statue of San P:.in cra io wh ich occup ies borrowed from a loan shark Dading tied the a prominent spo t in hi o ffice . matrimonial knot with the former Dolo res "That image !ta bro ught me good luck Lazaro whom he had met at a birthd;iy p;irt _ . sin ce I acqu ired it in 1953 .'' Ire says ever I !is new civil ~tat us embnldened Dading to fe rvently . San Pa ncra io . tile patron o f labor. approach hi~ stingy employer fo r the long a 12-ye ar-old boy wh o wa. beheaded by was overdue ~alary increase . He asked for PS a day . Roman in fide I . "Hakit mo kami idadamay sa kasal 1110'! " In ado ni ti ·i~-law> As he himself piously asserts : "Malapit ang small house (where he was stay111g with Im sa taong marunong magniahal sa 111C ay napaga nda na rin pagka' t it~ ·Y konkn: to na at may anyong makahago. Anµ mg•• mamamayan. laluna i.J11g mga pinuno al kaµi1wad 11µ barrio counci.1 ~11 ng PTA. !!ayundin