Lumbang na Bata, 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 Lumbang na bata 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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HISTORY AND CULTURAL LIFE OF THE BARRIO OF LUMBANG NA BATA
Part One – History
The present official name of the barrio is Lumbang na Bata.
This barrio of Lumbang has been established soon after the Filipino-American War. Formerly, this barrio was known as Puting Kahoy, but it is [now] called Lumbang na Bata. Most of the families of this barrio come from Sampa.
[A] Long time ago, there were two well-known families in the community known as Puting Kahoy. They were the Maranan family and the Valencia family. There was born in the Maranan family a very beautiful girl. She was distinguished among the other women in the locality because she [had] a very white and milky complexion. She had many suitors. One of them was from the Valencia family. The girl did not love the man. She was in love with the man whom her parents did not like. The parents of the girl liked the man of the Valencia family, so they arranged the marriage of their daughter with that man. When the date came, the girl eloped with the man whom she loved. This made [the] man very angry with the girl. As a revenge, the brokenhearted suitor killed the girl. On her grave grew a tree known as “Lanite” which is white. From that time on, this place was called Puting Kahoy to commemorate the romantic life of the young lady who was killed because of love.
In the year 1916, when the electoral precinct was divided in the municipality of Calaca, a part of the barrio Lumbang was included in Puting Kahoy to form one electoral precinct. From that time on, this electoral precinct has served as the proper name of the barrio now called Lumbang na Bata.
Part Two: Folkways
Birth – When a mother gives birth to a child, a midwife called “hilot” renders the services to the expectant mother. When the child is born, he is usually given a name based on the calendar. If the baby is the first-born child in the family, the mother of the child who gave birth is given the preference to select the godmother or godfather, that is, depending on the sex of the newly born child. The father of the child fires the firecrackers as a symbol of the newly born child. Drinking wine during the delivery of the mother is a common practice in this locality.
Baptism – When the child is several days old, he is baptized. He is brought to the church. During the day that
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the child is baptized, elaborate preparation is done. Very often, it becomes a two-day affair. This is a very happy occasion. On this day, people of the neighborhood are gathered. There is something very likeable during the preparation. Almost all of the people of the neighborhood come and help in the preparation. They are, indeed, very neighborly. The people who come to attend bring with them different presents called regalo. Oftentimes, there is [a] dance. Before the celebration has finished, the godfather and godmother give money or jewel as a present to the baby.
Courtship – During the early days, courtship was, indeed, a trivial affair. The man was quite shy to express what he feels to the lady of his choice. In spite of his shyness, he showed manifestation of his love to the lady. He fetched water from the well, got fuel, did farm work for the family of the lady and many other things. Sometimes, courtship was done by [the] parents of the men who arranged with the parents of the girls. If they agreed with each other, then they fixed up the marriage. During this period of courtship, the men never talked with the girls. However, the decision of the parents were respected.
Marriage – After the period of courtship comes the period of marriage. A day or two before the wedding, preparation goes on. On the eve of the wedding day, supper is served. It is already the beginning of the celebration. In the morning, the bride and bridegroom are joined as one by the priest by service in the church. After the ceremony, the whole party goes home to the house of the bride. Upon arrival in the house of the bride, sweets are served to the couple with the belief that they will be living as the desserts are served. The bride and bridegroom kiss the hands of their parents and their relatives. After lunch is finished, the bride and the bridegroom sit on opposite sides of the table. It is a custom that relatives give some gifts. When everything is finished, the bride is now ready to go to the house of the bridegroom. Usually, pots are broken with the belief that the couple will produce plenty of kids.
Death – At certain times, death takes hold [of] the inhabitants of this sitio. The dead person is buried the next day. At night, all the relatives and neighbors are gathered in the house of the deceased to show their respect and love to the dead relative.
Visits – Paying visits to near relatives and friends have been common up to the present time. Visitors are served in the best way they can. They show their hospitality during this visit.
Festivals – Celebrating barrio fiestas and other forms of festivals have already been a long tradition of the place. People prepare foods for their visitors.
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Myths, legends, beliefs, interpretations, superstitions, origin of the world, land mountains and caves, seas, lakes, rivers, plants, trees, animals, sun, moon, stars, eclipses, earthquakes, lightning, thunder, clouds, rain, water, wind, storm, changes of climates, other natural phenomena, first man and woman, birth of twins or more, sickness, witchcraft, magic, etc.
The people living in this place have a firm belief that God was the Creator of everything in this world, that the first people on earth were Adam and Eve. There are still remnants of false beliefs in this place. Whenever a comet appears, they predict that there will be another war which means hardship. In cases of thunder and lightning, they sprinkle vinegar in the corners of the house and cover all the mirrors with colored clothes.
According to them, the twin born to a couple means prosperity and happiness for the years to come. In case a member of the family is sick, they first ask the aid of a quack doctor who often applies “tawas cure.” The result of the tawas will be the basis of cure for the sick. People in this place still believe in the presence of anitos, asuwang, piritay, etc. and in the use of anting-anting or charm.
Teacher
Lumbang na bata