Dilao, Balayan, Batangas: Historical Data
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| Historical data from the National Library of the Philippines. |
Full transcription of the so-called “Historical Data” for the barrio of Dao, Balayan, Batangas, the original scanned documents at the National Library of the Philippines Digital Collections not having OCR or optical character recognition properties. This transcription has been edited for grammar, spelling and punctuation where possible. The original pagination is provided for citation purposes.
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REPORT ON THE HISTORY AND CULTURAL LIFE OF DILAO AND LAGNAS
1, Dilao is the present official name of the barrio.
2.
a. The present name is Dilao, past name Dilaw derived from a kind of plant. When a group of Spaniards reached this place, they found many rooted plants scattered and planted in every direction of the place. They were attracted to pick the flowers and were surprised to find them very yellow, and at the same time pulled one plant and they found out that the root crops were also very yellow. The leaves were long and looked like the leaves of camia. They were hungry and were looking for someone to talk with. They met an old man and asked the name of the place, but the old man thinking that the Spaniards were asking the name of the plants spoke the word Dilao. So that the Spaniards named the place Dilao.
b. The sitios included in this barrio are the following:
2. Bangkulang
3. Tuklong
3. Dilao has been established ever since the Spaniards came.
4. It was first inhabited by a few regarded persons, such as: Cabeza de Ogoy, Cabesang Oyong, Cabezang Pedro, Cabezang Fernando, and Cabezang Potenciano.
5. When the Spaniards came, those Cabezas were changed to Tenientes, as the following:
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1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. |
Teniente " " " " " " " |
Tomas Vivas Nazario Lainez Corilo Lainez Pascual Camilon Juan Data Felipe Gonzaga Lucas Almario Ruperto Baral |
6. No sitios depopulated in this place.
7. The Spaniards were very strict and troublesome leaders during their occupation of the place. The people starved and many were severely punished with very slight offenses, which caused the civil war between the Spaniards and the Filipinos, as Insurrectos. Houses were all turned down to ashes by the Spaniards. Everything in this place was burned by the Spaniards.
8. Not long after the Americans came, several headquarters were established in different sitios. Natives of this place volunteered as soldiers especially when the time that they discovered the support of the Americans to the Filipinos. No killing of lives happened when the Americans came. The people lived on ease and peace. But the outbreak of the war between Japan and the United States on Dec. 8, 1941, gave a hard blow to the peaceful living people of Dilao. Again, the people suffered much in the hands of the Japanese. Once, a group of Filipinos pounded rice for the Japanese. When they had finished the work, they fatally injured and put to death for many suspicions they had with Filipinos. Volunteer Guards were formed to guard this place from enemies. [The] English language was abolished but instead Niponggo was insisted and taught to children. Pictures that pertained to Americans were censored or turned off. In this place, farming was almost disregarded because of fear of the Japanese.
9. Very people survived during the Spanish occupation, for no houses were left unburned by the Spaniards. Only those who were able to flee to the mountains were fortunate to return to their place and build another
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hut to live in. No schools were built during that time. The children learned good manners and many prayers from their elders.
PART II
10. Traditions and Customs and Practices in Social Life
It was their belief that if the first child of the couple is a boy, it will bring a great success to the family. The baptism of the child is so elaborate that even the smallest child in the barrio is confined in the party.
When a man falls in love with a girl, he has to serve for almost a year before he is accepted. He has to fill all the jars with water every day. He has to plow the field, to harvest and do all the work for the family.
When one dies, almost all men are able to go with the funeral because it is one of the farthest barrios of the town. They hold festivals very often, with simple visitation of the Blessed Virgin in the tuklong.
11. They believe that the first man and woman was Adam and Eve, as other Catholics believe.
12. Their popular songs were:
b. Sa dakong sikatan ng Araw
c. Lulay
d. Original etc.
Their popular games were as follows:
b. Tubig
c. Sikyo
d. Throw the Can
e. Sulot-sulot bundol
f. Piko
Then “tupadas” after the work were the old amusements.
13. Puzzles and riddles:
2. What month of the year do girls gossip the least? (February)
3. If the goat faces east, to what direction does his back point? (Sky)
2. What lives inside the house, that when taken out of the house will surely die? (Turtle)
3. What four letters when uttered will frighten the thieves? (O, I, C, U)
14. Proverbs and Sayings:
2. As we live, we hope.
3. A santol tree will never bear a mango fruit.
4. Patience is bitter but its fruit is sweet.
5. Money is the root of all evils.
2. Crowing of cocks and noise made by the birds.
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2. Shadows cast by the sun.
16. Folktales
HELPFUL HANDS
There once lived three rich sisters who did nothing except to clean their hands. One day, while taking a walk, they met Ana who had been their neighbor. They saw Ana untidy. Hands are full of soil because she had just finished helping her parents in the farm. Instead of greeting Ana, the three sisters turned their backs as if they didn’t know her. Suddenly, the three sisters met an old woman with a heavy load on her head. The old woman stopped for a while and requested the three sisters to help her take off the load on her head. They didn’t mind the request of the old woman. They got mad and scolded the old woman. The old woman was very much disappointed at what she heard, so she continued on her way. By and by, she met Ana. “Will you kindly take off the load on my head? I want to rest a little,” said the old woman. Without hesitation, Ana gave her help to the old woman. The old woman took a deep breath after the load had been taken off from her head. “Your hands are dirty. They are full of soil. They are hard, but they are the most beautiful hands. Beautiful hands are those that help the needy. As a reward for your helpfulness, take this handkerchief. This is a very kind handkerchief and whatever you desire will be granted by this handkerchief.” After saying these words, the old woman vanished.
The first thing that entered Ana’s mind was to have a good harvest. She asked the handkerchief to give her [a] good harvest, and it was granted. Every year, she made a good harvest; and for five successive years, she became the richest person on the hills of Dilao.