Salong, Calaca, Batangas: Historical Data

Full transcription of the so-called “Historical Data” for the barrio of Salong 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.

[Note: At the time this document was submitted, Salong was still a sitio of Lumbang, hence the document title refers to the “Sitio of Salong.”]

[Cover page.]

DIVISION OF BATANGAS
DISTRICT OF BALAYAN
DACANLAO ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

HISTORY AND CULTURAL LIFE OF THE
SITIO OF SALONG

[p. 1]

Salong, the leading sitio of Lumbang, is in itself full of interesting events which took place a long time ago. For the past and for the present, the name Salong has never changed. It is located southeast of the poblacion of Calaca, just a little more than a kilometer’s distance from the heart of the town. It is situated along the seashore and has fishing for its important industry. This sitio is known as Salong and has maintained its official name up to the present. This sitio is about 9 kilometers from the provincial road. During the early days, people in this sitio lived in little huts or barong-barong. People gathered in these places and the sitio was also given the same name. Up to the present, its name is Salong. This sitio was organized a long time ago but the date of its final establishment is not known, but suffice it to say that it was organized a long time ago. In this sitio, there are about 120 families with a population of about 700 persons.

Since it was organized, there were several tenientes del barrio who had helped much in the administration of the sitio. Some of them were the following:

1. Mariano Talaco 2. Espiridion Talaco 3. Faustino Mendoza

4. Miguel de Gala 5. Sixto Ornanles 6. Mariano de Castro (Incumbent)

During the early days of the area, the north of the sitio was covered with talahib and cogon grasses. But as the number of people increased, the place was cultivated very well. It has a very fertile soil. The land is level and it is well suited to rice growing. At present, the sitio is very accessible. Transportation is very much easier at present because of the construction of a road to the sitio. The construction of the road has greatly helped its most important industry, fishing.

The sitio has improved very much since it was organized. The homes are of the average and many of them are the equal of those in town. There are no places in this sitio which have been inhabited before but now depopulated or extinct.

However, in this place there are no historical sites as parks, monuments and museums. There are no signs or ruins of old structures as may be seen in cities and towns. Even during the Spanish regime, no events of great interest took place in this sitio. However, [a] little sort of robbery took place. When a person in the sitio sells at least a pig, a few chickens and a carabao, at night somebody might go around and rob the seller of the animals mentioned above. Likewise, during the American occupation, no great event of interest took place. However, during the Japanese occupation, slight events took place. People were made to labor in places that the Japanese wanted to. During the period of liberation

[p. 2]

the people of this place evacuated to Nasugbu. After the period of liberation, the people proceeded with their normal activities, made improvements in their ways of living, education, and the economic life of the sitio improved. Marked improvement could be seen in the improvement of homes and the cleanliness of the community-centered activity.

FOLKWAYS

The people of this place are very courteous. When they meet each other in the morning, they say good morning and at night they usually say good evening. The younger people usually greet the older people. Men especially remove their head gear at night when they go to other houses. The expression "Sir," the equivalent of "po" in Tagalog can be heard as a very common expression especially among the younger people when talking with old ones. The expressions "May I pass through your yard" is also very common. In general, the people of this place are very hospitable. If there is any visitor in a house, especially traders and foreigners, they are usually offered food to eat and even to take a rest or sleep in the house whenever he might be overtaken by the night.

Practices in domestic life – the family has a common plate. They usually gather around and use the common plate and also a common glass. People never use spoons and forks before but instead used the hands for eating. When [the] time of eating comes, there is a bowl of water where everybody dips his hands.

People of this place are fond of attending parties. When a party is to be held, the hosts and hostesses invite the people of the sitio. Almost all of those people who are invited bring something to the celebrant. Some bring cigarettes, chickens, rice and other things. The affair is usually a whole day affair and people are quite happy in these occasions.

Birth – when a mother gives birth to a child, a midwife called "hilot" renders the services to the giving of birth. When the child is born, he is usually given a name based upon the calendar. If the baby is the first born child in the family, the mother of the girl who gave birth is given the preference to select the godmother or godfather, that is, depending whether the child born is a boy or a girl. The lighting of firecrackers symbolizes that the child has been born. Wine drinking during the giving of birth is also a common practice.

Baptism – When the child is a few weeks old or about a few months, he is baptized. He is brought to his church depending upon his religion. During the day that the child is baptized, there is full preparation. Very often it becomes a two-day affair. This is a very happy occasion. On this day, the people of the neighborhood our fathered.

[p. 3]

Burial – On the second day, the deceased is buried. Wreaths are made and placed above the coffin. The ringing of the bells is also common. The funeral is almost attended by all the people of the sitio. When the dead person is brought down the house, all windows are closed.

Superstitious beliefs – The people have many superstitious beliefs. They believe in ghosts, witches. They believe in causes of sickness called "gahoy." when the people see a rainbow, they say that the rainbow is drinking water either in the sea or river.

Popular Songs –

Puzzles and riddles –
1. Isang prinsesa palibot ng espada – penya [piña]
2. Nagdaan ang negro, patay lahat ng tao – gabi
3. Isang pagkahabahabang kahoy, labingdalawa ang dahon – isang taon
4. Isang bayabas, pito ang butas – olo [ulo]
5. Alin ang maruming hindi mahugasan? – tubig
6. Sibat ni Adan, hindi mabilang – ulan
7. Kung araw ay bumbong, kung gabi ay dahon – banig

Sayings:
1. Ang dagat ay hindi marunong mamangka, 2. Ang bayaning masugatan, 3. Walang matibay na bagin 4. Walang masamang tabako sa magaling manguwako.
5. Aanhin pa ang damo, kung patay na ang kabayo.
6. Kilala sa labong ang magiging bumbong.
7. Kapag ang tubig ay matining, asahan mo at malalim.
8. Magpakahabahaba ang prusisyon, sa simbahan ang urong.

The primitive methods of measuring time:

Source of information:

Transcribed from “History and Cultural Life of the Sitio of Salong” 1953, online at the National Library of the Philippines Digital Collections.