Muzon 2nd, Alitagtag, Batangas: Historical Data Part I
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| Historical data from the National Library of the Philippines. |
PART I
Full transcription of the so-called “Historical Data” for the barrio of Muzon 2nd, Alitagtag, 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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HISTORY AND CULTURAL LIFE OF THE BARRIO
Part One – History
1. Present official name of the barrio.
2. Popular name of the barrio, present and past; derivation and meanings of these names. Names of sitios included within the territorial jurisdiction of the barrio.
Present – Muzon Segundo Past – Mojon
Muzon Segundo is the popular name of the barrio. Muzon comes from the old Spanish name of the barrio which is Mojon. Segundo is attached to it because there are two Muzons belonging to Alitagtag. To differentiate one from the other, Primero was attached to the first Muzon and Segundo was attached to this barrio, Muzon 2nd.
The old name was Mojon which means boundary. Because Muzon 2nd being the southern part of the municipality of Alitagtag near the boundary of the municipality of Bauan, this barrio was named Mojon in the past. There is no sitio included within the territory of this barrio.
3. Date of establishment.
4. Original families.
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5. List of tenientes from the earliest time to date.
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Spanish Period Cabezas |
American Period Tenientes del Barrio |
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1. Juan Maranan 2. Kabesang Angel 3. Josep Jasa 4. Severino Maranan 5. Telesforo Banta 6. Nicomedes de Gracia |
1. Tininting Pasio 2. Tininting Andong 3. Tininting Maximo (Puga) 4. Segundo Hernandez 5. Saturnino Caraig 6. Anselmo Banta 7. Macario Macalingcag 8. Vinancio Jasa 9. Manuel Abu 10. Juan Caraig 11. Victorino Marquez
Dionisio Arguelles
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6. Story of old barrios or sitios within the jurisdiction that are now depopulated or extinct.
7. Data on historical sites, structures, buildings, old ruins, etc.
8. Important facts, incidents or events that took place.
(a) During the Spanish occupation.
ROMANG GABI
Romang Gabi was a bandit whose plunderings brought him to the different towns of Batangas and Mindoro. Though he was a notorious robber, he was known to raid only the convents. Perhaps, it was for this reason that the old people re-
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call his depredation with a certain fondness akin to admiration.
Roman Abratigue was his real name, but he earned the appellation “Gabi” because he was said not to get wet which is a characteristic of the gabi plant. He also had other amulets like “Bungang kalog” which made him [an] impregnable target to bullet shots. He also possessed a “taga-bulag,” a charm that enraged the Spanish soldiers who frequently trailed him. He would lean back against a wall or post and anyone could walk past him without seeing him. It was said of him, too, from the street through a narrowly-opene window into the sala of a convent.
Once, several Spanish soldiers pursued him to Sambi where he sought refuge with his contraband tobacco. Some fighting took place between the authorities and the bandits’ four men but the soldiers were unable to get Romang Gabi. He danced among the sugarcane plants within shooting range, but he was unscathed.
Later, the government caught up with him in his home. Soldiers maltreated his relatives and neighbors exhorting them to yield the notorious bandit. The outlaw then heeded the pleas of his kinsfolk and he surrendered peacefully. He was imprisoned for some time but upon gaining
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his freedom, he left for good the charmed life he led as a bandit.
(b) During the American occupation to World War II.
No important facts took place.
(c) During and after World War II
DEATH OF A BARRIO LIEUTENANT
Manuel Abu, better known as Tininting Uwel, was the barrio lieutenant during the last dark days of the Japanese occupation. The horrible atrocities of the Japanese about that time and the Japanese forces’ inability to make a last stand in Batangas province led them to retreat, leaving behind burning towns and villages, dead men, women and even children.
Nasugbu was then the only town liberated by the Americans. The town of Bauan was on fire and the Japanese soldiers were around demanding work animals and food from the civilians. Tininting Uwel was in the cornfields when a Japanese soldier came upon him. The soldier demanded that all carabaos and cows in Muzon be delivered to him. The old man pleaded for the animals of his people. Seeing the soldier unmoved, Abut brought out his credentials as barrio lieutenant. This angered the Japanese. He ordered the tiniente the surrender at once the animals he was demanding. Thereupon, the barrio lieutenant decided
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that he must choose between the trust placed upon him by his barrio constituents and the Japanese arrogance. He chose the former and scampered away. The Japanese soldier fired at him and Manuel Abu fell to the ground, dead.
NOT YET HIS END
Sometime in 1943, several Japanese soldiers went to the house of Dionisio Arguelles to borrow some chinaware. The Filipino thought the soldiers really meant to borrow his plates so that when the Japanese forgot to return them, he went to the camp to inquire.
Thereupon, the soldiers got angry, slapped him and told him to turn his back. He was just waiting for the bullets when the Japanese thought otherwise.
That day, Dionisio Arguelles went home without his plates but nevertheless he was very happy. He almost exchanged his life for a dozen plates.
THE EXPLOSION AT MUZON
Among the many oversupplied war equipment and supplies the U.S. Army brought to Batangas when the Americans liberated the country were bombs and boxes of bullets. The two Muzons were selected by the army authorities to be one of the places for the storage of said ammunitions. When the American soldiers left the province, they did not
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