Dila, Calaca, 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 Dila in the Municipality of Calaca, 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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DIVISION OF BATANGAS
DISTRICT OF BALAYAN
CALACA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
I. HISTORY AND CULTURAL LIFE OF THE BARRIO OF DILA
1. Present official name of the barrio – DILA
2. Popular name of the barrio:
b. Past - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Kolung-kulong
The barrio is called Dila because of its natural structure. It is a hilly, range-like place, four to three kilometers in length and about two hundred meters in width, bounded on the east and west by deep ravines that meet at the southern part of the barrio. The northern part of the barrio becomes narrower and narrower, forming like a tongue. It is this natural shape of the place from the barrio has begotten its name.
Dila has only one small sitio, called Mangot-got. This sitio is west of Dila and is separated from Dila by a deep ravine. Mangot-got is about half a kilometer in length and about one hundred meters in width.
3. Date of establishment – The barrio was established just after the Filipino-American War.
4. Original families: The original families were a few settlers who came from the barrios of Sinisian, Pook and Agoncillo.
5. List of tenientes –
b. Present - - - - - - Elias Alvaro
6. Story of old barrios or sitios within the jurisdiction – None.
7. Data on historical sites, structures, buildings, etc. – None.
8. Important facts, incidents or events –
b. American Occupation to World War II – Before the coming of the settlers to the place, the barrio was so thickly covered with forest, cogon and talahib, that made it a convenient hiding place for robbers and insurrectos. It was only after World War No. II that settlers from Sinisian and Lemery came to settle in the place and began to clear the forest. The land was planted to crops, and little by little the population increased. Now, it has become a progressive and happy place to live in.
II. FOLKWAYS
The people are hardworking and industrious. They live happily and contented. They are friendly to strangers and kindhearted to friends. They often go to church on Sundays, attend fiestas, [unclear word] to gathers. When someone gives birth, people who come to visit the newly-born babe
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are served food with chicken or fish. Children are all baptized in the Roman Catholic Church. During the baptismal party, friends, neighbors and other relatives are invited to come.
Courtship is practice in the barrio in the hardest way. The win a girl, the man has to work for months and weeks in the house of the girl, doing all kinds of work like a servant. The man has to wait for the decision of the girl and her parents.
Marriage is highly observed. A big party always follows a marriage ceremony. During the marriage, a big sum of money is given to the newlyweds to tide them over during the early part of their married life. Sometimes, the couple is also given work animals and a piece of land to start with, thus assuring them stability in life.
When people die, they are taken to the church for final benediction before they are taken to the cemetery. The relatives and families mourn for the dead by wearing black clothes. A daily prayer for nine days is said for the repose of the soul. The mourning is made for one whole year.
The people also believe in superstitions. The howling of dogs and the cackling of hens at midnight have ominous portent of death. Even the color of the sky before and after sunset is given due meaning by the people. The people believe that God created the world with its mountains, caves and rivers.
The popular songs in this place are kundimans or what the people call “Pangkat.” People are fond of outdoor games such as softball, etc. Often, the young men go out at night serenading for amusement. Riddles are based from all things created by God, as land, seas, lakes, mountains, sky, stars, etc.
The common proverbs are:
2. Pag may hirap ay may ginhawa.
3. Pag may utang ay magbabayad.
4. Pag may sinaksak ay may titingalain.
For those people who have no watch, by looking at the sun they could estimate the time. At night, time is based from the crows of chickens and the songs of the birds. During the rainy days, they could interpret the time by observing the leaves of trees.
Some people purchase books written in Tagalog. For those people who cannot read, they ask other persons in case they want to find out about documents of ownership and brands of purchased materials.
NAZARIO LACAZAR
REGALADO CORNEJO