Calingatan, Mataasnakahoy, Batangas: Historical Data - Batangas History, Culture and Folklore Calingatan, Mataasnakahoy, Batangas: Historical Data - Batangas History, Culture and Folklore

Calingatan, Mataasnakahoy, Batangas: Historical Data

Batangas History
3 Jan, 2018
Historical Data graphic
Historical data from the National Library of the Philippines.

Full transcription of the so-called “Historical Data” for the barrios of Calingatan in the Municipality of Mataasnakahoy, 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.

[p. 1]

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*        PART ONE: HISTORY        *
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I. Present Official Name of the Barrio.

Situated in the northeastern part of the municipality of Mataasnakahoy is the barrio of Calingatan, which is one of the nearest barrios of the municipality. Since its establishment way back in the 19th century, this place has been christened and popularly known as “Calingatan.” This name is derived from our native dialect “nakalingatan,” which in short means to say that the place had been neglected. The misfortune and other troubles always knock at her door.

II. Original Families

The original families of this barrio were the Hernandezes, Lubises, Lescanos, Arandas and Moradas.

III. List of Tenientes from the Earliest Time to Date

The following is a list of the tenientes from its earliest establishment to date, from whom peacefulness and unity of the Calingateños can be attributed: Magno Lescano, Carlos Morada, Teodoro Hernandez, Jose Lubis, Emiterio Lescano, Rafael Lubis, Paulo Lina, Catalino Aranda, Juan Hernandez, Jose Lina, Pedro Lescano, Marciano Lubis, Leoncio Reyes and Bernabe Postillos.

IV. IMPORTANT FACTS AND INCIDENTS THAT TOOK PLACE

A. During the Spanish Occupation

During the Spanish occupation, the inhabitants of Calingatan underwent a highly lame-table incident. It was the cholera epidemic. As revealed by the old folks, this place was almost completely depopulated during that time. According to them, one who dug the grave of a dead person in the morning could not be sure whether the following day he was still living.

B. During the American Occupation

The American occupation marked certain progress in the lives of the Calingateños. They came to realize the importance of education, which made desirous in sending their children to school. As a result, illiteracy was partly reduced in Calingatan even during its pioneering days.

C. During World War II

World War II has records in history critical days and great sufferings and destruction of [the] lives of many Filipinos. Calingatan is fortunate not to have been affected much by those ravages. The civilians, however, were forced to evacuate to the vicinity of Taal Volcano during the latter part of 1944 to the earliest part of 1945. There were only two persons who were massacred by the Japanese soldiers as compared with so many lives that perished it its neighboring barrios. They were Francisco de Villa and Martin Bayani. The former was killed for he was insane and did not like to hide, and the latter because of his old age, he could no longer be evacuated.

[p. 2]

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*     PART TWO: FOLKWAYS     *
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A. TRADITIONS, CUSTOMS, AND PRACTICES IN DOMESTIC AND SOCIAL LIFE

1. Special Recreation –

During the early days of the establishment of Calingatan, subli, rigodon, and barrio folks gathering in the late afternoon were the forms of social enjoyment of the people.

2. Courtship –

Courting was not done during those days as the parents of the male and female were the ones who made [a] contract for the marriage of their sons and daughters. Marriage was as usual but as a superstitious belief, the man was left in the house of the girl after [the] marriage for at least two days. After this period, he could go to his wife who used to wait for him in his house. A man and woman might not be known to each other, but they might be wedded if their parents wished to.

3. Early Form of Punishment –

If a person was suspected of a crime, he would be forced to lie flat on a bench. He would be beaten for so many times until he told the truth. If he would not tell the truth, he had to lie on the same bench with two legs inside two holes of a board so he could not move. He could not be set free unless he revealed the truth.

4. Popular Songs –

Among the popular songs of the Calingateños were the kundiman, original, kutang, verso, and awit.

5. Games and amusements –

During their spare time, one can see the Calingateños being amused by playing eskrima, pandanggo, and huego de prenda. They have also so many primitive games such as: supo, tatsing, sipa, tanakad, piko, uwak-uwakan, himbabao, sungkahan, sakayan, and batikubri.

6. Puzzles and Riddles –

Tagalog English
Pag nakaupo ay mahaba
Pag nakatindig ay maigsi 		Short when standing
Tall when sitting.
Saan man ako magtungo
Dala ang sariling radyo. 		Wherever I go,
I carry my own radio.
Ang araw ay hinipo ko
Si Bonifacio ay nagtakbo. 		I touched the sun,
Bonifacio ran.
Isang butil na palay
Sikip sa boong bahay. 		Only a seed of rice,
Can't be accommodate by a house.

[p. 3]

7. Methods of Measuring Time

Time was measured by the early inhabitants of Calingatan by the use of the sun and by the crows of the cocks. They also used the flowers of [the] “patola” as a device by which time could be measured. According to them, when the flowers of this plant were already opened in the afternoon, it was already 4 o’clock P.M.

8. Folktales

WHY [THE] MAKAHIYA CLOSES ITS LEAVES

There was once a beautiful but extremely shy and sensitive girl. When there were visitors, she would run away and hide herself. She could never look at or speak to strangers. She would rather be alone than be with anybody.

One day, laying in the woods, what do you think she saw? A group of strange-looking men hunters, who were, perhaps, in search of some wild animals. The more she ran, the more they seemed to pursue her. When she realized that she would be overtaken, she fell on her knees, “Mother dear, please take me and hide me for I am afraid,” she implored. The men were about to touch her when lo! She was gone. Instead, there appeared a small plant with beautiful tiny flowers and leaves. When the men touched the plant, the leaves suddenly closed and shrank away. The thorns pricked their fingers. The shy girl had been changed by a fairy to a plant, the sensitive plant, or the “makahiya” in the dialect.

Notes and references:
Transcribed from “History and Cultural Life of the Barrio of Calingatan,” 1953, online at the National Library of the Philippines Digital Collections.
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