Calamias, Ibaan, 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 Calamias in the Municipality of Ibaan, 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 CALAMIAS)
PART I HISTORY
1. Present official name of the barrio - - Calamias
2. Popular name of the barrio, present and past, derivation and meaning of this name.
In the olden days, the barrio had no name. Afterwards, they named the place Putol because of the road extending across the barrio. It did not take long when the name was changed to Calamias due to some happenings and consequences.
In the olden days, Calamias was not separated from Tulay nor was it with the barrios of Lipa. It came to be such only not long after when the Spaniards came. The barrio was not yet inhabited by many people. It was said that long ago, there were no people living there except those who passed by. As the days grew old, the passersby realized that the place was suited for some farming, and some people tried to farm the real [apparently wrong word or missing word] although they did not reside there permanently. In the course of their going to the place, some noticed the abundance of the fruits and the tree calamias. Because they found it favorable to farm in the place, many decided to live there. The place had no name. Because this tree was of use to the people, many would go there and gather fruits for their own use. Whenever somebody would ask them where they got the calamias, they would answer, “Sa calamiasan.” They continued to go there and talk about this calamiasan, when at last the people were accustomed to call [the place] Calamiasan. Because calamias is the root word of that calamiasan, the place was called Calamias by many, until the present time.
3. Date of establishment:
This barrio was established during the Spanish regime about the middle part of the 19th century. Nobody could tell when.
4. Original Families: Macatangay, Rabino, and Ramos.
5. List of Tenientes from the earliest time to date:
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Manuel Macatangay Gildo Torino Francisco Verana Juan Verana |
Colas Marasigan Gregorio Verana Sixto Ramos Aurelio Macatangay |
6. Story of the old barrio sites within the jurisdiction that are now depopulated or extinct.
7. Data on historical sites, structures, buildings, old ruins, etc.
8. Important facts, including incidents or events that took place.
b. During the American occupation to WWII – NONE
c. During and after World War II
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9. Destruction of lives, properties and institution and during the wars, especially in 1896-1900 and 1941-1945.
During the Japanese occupation, some of the men were killed by the Japanese and some by the bandits.
b. Measures and accomplishments towards rehabilitation and reconstruction following World War II.
PART II FOLKWAYS
10. Traditions, customs and practices in domestic and social life: birth, baptism, courtship, marriage, death, burial, visits, festivals, punishments, etc.
Marriage –
Before marriage, the lover rendered certain personal services to the girl’s family and gave the customary dowry. The length of the lover’s servitude and the amount of the dowry were usually fixed in the marriage contract. Any violation of the marriage contract was penalized with a heavy fine.
Punishment –
In criminal cases, whenever the court was in doubt as to who [of] the accused person[s] was guilty, the trial by ordeal was resorted to.
In case of theft, when several persons were suspected of the crime and the real culprit could not be determined, the following ordeals were used: first, the suspected persons are each given a spear and compelled to plunge into the river, he who rises to the surface first is considered guilty; second, a stone is placed in a vessel of boiling water and all the suspected persons are ordered to take it out; he who refuses to do so, or whose hand is scalded the most, is declared guilty; third, each of the suspected persons is given a lighted candle of the same make and weight, he whose candle dies out first is adjudged. [guilty]
Burial –
The ancient people in this place believed in life after death. They believed that a man is composed of an ethereal body and of an eternal soul. Because of their belief in a future life, the early Filipinos took care of burying their dead. They embalmed the corpse, using certain herbs and perfumes, and placed it in [a] hardwood coffin, boats as burial jars, together with clothes, weapons, foods, tools, drink, gold and slaves. The burial places were near or under the house, in the caves, and on certain headlands overlooking the seas. The professional mourners were hired to chant the noble deeds of the deceased. The bereaved family and friends mourned by using black garments.
Superstitious beliefs –
The Filipinos believed that when a young girl sang before a stove of fire, she would marry an old widower. When a hen cackled at midnight, an unmarried woman was giving birth to a bastard child. When a pregnant woman combed her hair, she would give birth to a hairless child. When a cat wiped its face with its paws, a visitor was coming to the house. When a girl had white spots on her fingernails, she was not constant in love.