Locloc, San Luis, Batangas: Historical Data
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| Historical data from the National Library of the Philippines. |
HISTORY AND CULTURAL LIFE
OF THE BARRIO OF
LOCLOC
[p. 1]
HISTORY AND CULTURAL LIFE
OF THE BARRIO OF
LOCLOC
Part I – History of the Barrio
Locloc is one of the twenty-two barrios of the town of San Luis. It is located on a hill that lies south of the poblacion. The hill serves as the boundary line between the municipalities of San Luis and Bauan.
Since the early days and up to the present, the place has been called Locloc. This name originated from the Tagalog word “luklok,” meaning sit down. Because the barrio is on a hill, the people going to Locloc have to sit down and rest many times along the way through to the steep and rugged pathway. Still, upon reaching the top of the hill, climbers will have to sit down to relax their tired legs.
A story told by old folks of the barrio tells how the place got its name. During the early days, some people from the lowland happened to climb up the hill. Because they were not used to climbing steep hills, they stumbled in [a] sitting position when they went down the hill. One of them said, "To go up and down the hill, you have to sit, sit, and sit, so let us call it ‘locloc’ because you have to sit, sit, and sit whether you like it or not." So, from that time on, the place was called “Locloc” until it became the official name of the place.
The exact date of its establishment is unknown. However, old folks of the place assert that the barrio was established during the latter part of the Spanish period. This is accorded to the fact that these old folks heard stories about the Spaniards from their grandparents.
Some people believe that this barrio was officially established sometime in 1901 when the town was not yet a part of Taal. San Luis became a part of Taal for the second time in 1904.
This barrio has for its sitio a small settlement which extends from the western part of the barrio dumb to the sea coast. It is called the sitio of Ligpo.
The first settlement in the barrio was made by a man [named] Paterno Villostas and his wife Maria together with their four children Martin, Juan, Esperdiona, and Felipa. The four children married in other places but they also settled there. They became the nucleus of the Salazar, Hernandez. de Villa, Onda, and Diokno families and which up to the present constitute the majority of the families in Locloc.
Since the early days, the people of the place where peaceful and unified due to the leadership of the following heads of the barrio:
| 1. Policarpio Hernandez | 8. Agapito Salazar |
| 2. Calistro de Villa | 9. Valeriano Salazar |
| 3. Nicomedes de Villa | 10. Agapito Salazar (son of No. 8) |
| 4. Domingo Salazar | 11. Leon Hernandez |
| 5. Josef de Villa | 12. Donato Ilagan |
| 6. Pablo Onda | 13. Leon Hernandez |
| 7. Victorio Hernandez |
Nothing could be said about important facts, events and incidents that happened in this barrio during the Spanish time.
[p. 2]
What could only be recalled was the burning of the houses in the barrio by the Macabebes after the people were told to go to Banayo and concentrated for a time by the Americans.
With the coming of the Americans, the barrio progressed. The people became conscious of the education of their children. They sent their children to school in the poblacion. During the latter part of the American period, a private school was opened by one, a native who had the opportunity to finish the normal course at the Philippine Normal School (now Philippine Normal College). This advocated the opening of a public school in the barrio some years later.
During World War II, peace reigned in this barrio. Except for a little scarcity of food, the people were not disturbed much by the war. They were able to do their work peacefully and in the manner the people wished to. The people did not see massacres as seen in places destined by the Japanese soldiers. Sorrow came only to mothers whose sons were in the army.
After the war, the people continued to live in the way they lived before. They began to send their children again to school. People attend to their work and the farm and continue to trade with the people in the lowland. Many families became richer than before because they became the owners of some fish traps.
The people up to the present live like good neighbors and trouble in the place seldom happens. People are peaceful and law-abiding.
Part II – Folkways
Traditions, customs and practices
in domestic and social life
The people of this barrio have their own traditions, customs and practices in birth, baptism, courtship, marriage, death and visits. Some of them are regarded as their laws.
BIRTH:
When a mother is giving birth, the father is told to go away from the mother. Usually, he is told to go downstairs. This, they believe, will lessen the mother’s labor.
After birth, a pair of chickens (a hen and a rooster) are killed. If the child is a boy, the cock is first killed and when the child is a girl, they kill first the hen. They say that the chickens’ lives are substitutes for the mother’s and the child’s lives.
The child’s cord is cut off by a very sharp razor or a sharp split of bamboo. This is done so that the child will grow intelligent and quick to learn.
Immediately after birth, the child is given a bath. On the basin where the child is bathed, silver coins are placed. They do this for [an] economic reason.
The mother is not allowed to take a bath for one month after her delivery. All the time she uses, drinks warm water usually boiled with roots of medicinal plants and herbs.
For two weeks, the mother is attended by a midwife who attends to her and the baby. She massages the mother’s abdomen to restore the womb in [its] place.
[p. 3]
BAPTISM:
The people in the barrio are all Roman Catholics so their children are baptized in the Roman Catholic church.
A godfather or godmother is selected, who gives the child some money after the child is baptized. Usually, there is a baptismal party where friends, relatives of the child and the godparents are invited.
[The] “Pahinao” system is also practiced in the locality. Immediately after the godfather and the child reach home from the church, people flock around the godfather for the “pahinao.” The godfather throws some coins for the group to push each other to get the coins. At this point, the people make much rejoicing.
COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE:
It is still a practice in this place for a young man to do some services to the young woman’s parents. This is even done before the young man proposes to the young woman. The young man must show his faithfulness, devotion to the young woman, and respect for the young woman’s parents before his mission is considered.
The young man’s parents do a day of service plowing the field of the young woman’s father in case he is a farmer. The young man’s parents invite some farmers to help them do the work. On this occasion, the young man’s parents bring the food and it is often termed as “dala ang kusina” (the kitchen is carried).
Then some firewood (of the best kind of wood) is brought to the lady’s house. Usually, half [a] dozen or a dozen faggots are brought.
The firewood is then followed by some gifts, usually fish. When the fish is accepted, that means that the man’s avowal is acceptable to the young woman’s parents. Then the fish is divided among the young woman’s aunts and uncles.
When the young man’s proposal is favored by the young woman and her parents, then they call for the young man’s parents for the “bulungan” or “pamanhikan.” In this “bulungan,” plans for the wedding are made. The date for the wedding is set and the sponsors to the wedding are selected. Other matters are talked about like the preparation for the wedding, the dowry for the bride, the bride’s trousseau, and other requisites for the wedding.
In some cases, the young man’s problem becomes serious when the dowry asked by the young woman’s parents amounts to so much that they cannot afford to comply with it. In this case, the young man’s services become useless and he does not marry the young woman.
At the wedding day, the young man’s parents and relatives continue to serve the bride’s parents and kin and they are treated as visitors that day.
When the young couple reaches home from the church, they are met by an old woman who gives them a certain kind of dessert called “kalamay.” This is done in the belief that by doing so, the man and his wife will lead a happy and harmonious life. Some people throw uncooked rice to the couple so that they may live in abundance.
The wedding party is terminated with a “sabangan.” The groom’s kin and friends give some money to the bride and vice-versa. In some cases, gifts are given instead of money. Then, the money received by the bride and the groom are put together and then entrusted to the wife by the groom.
[p. 4]
After the “sabangan,” the bride is escorted to the man’s home. The man is left to follow the next morning.
DEATH AND BURIAL:
It is the custom in the place to mourn for the dead. This is done by the members of the family and the nearest relatives.
When a member of the family dies, the family refrains from cleaning the house especially sweeping the floor or the ground for four days, cooking vegetables where marungay [malunggay] leaves are used, and taking a bath until after four days have passed.
When the bier is taken down the house, all windows are closed. An elder throws out of the house through the door a coconut dipper filled with water and a broom, or a rolled mat.
On the way to the cemetery, people who go with the funeral procession do not look back. The persons carrying the coffin must not say anything or else the bier becomes very heavy.
Just after burial, a novena in the dead man’s house is started and lasts for nine consecutive days. On the eighth day, the dead man’s kin and friends come again to offer another prayer for the repose of the soul of the dead. When the family can afford, a well-prepared dinner is given to those who come to pray.
VISITS:
Visits are usually made when a neighbor is sick, met an accident, or when one comes home after an absence of a long period, or when the family comes home from a pilgrimage to a shrine. In most cases, especially when [a] visit is made to a sick [person] or a mother who has just given birth, gifts are brought.
Beliefs and Superstitions
Like other people, the barrio folks have certain beliefs. They believe in the “tikbalang,” witches, “kapre,” “ingkanto,” “aswang” and the “tiyanak.” These beings are believed to appear only at night and do some harm or play pranks on people. The “tikbalang” sometimes misleads the people on the way at night so travelers often lose their way. The “tiyanaks” are supposed to be little creatures that can change their form as they like and play pranks on people, especially on mothers on the family way.
The people in this barrio also believe that diseases are not only caused by microbes, but also by some people who have supernatural powers to make others sick. They are called “mangkukulam,” “magpapahabol,” and “manggagahoy.” The mangkukulam appears only at night. The mangkukulam is believed to carry fire in his mouth and on his fingers and cause sickness to people who use the water where the mangkukulam dips his fingers in jars of water left uncovered at night. The “magpapahabol” may cause harm to anyone he wishes to torment by means of an insect called “barang” or “bukbok.” The manggagahoy may cause a person to suffer from a severe headache just by a glance to a person he wants to harm. This pain can be relieved by applying to the one suffering a mixture of chewed buyo, lime, and betelnut, by the person possessed with “gahoy.” In many cases, the people say, this treatment has proved effective. Sometimes, the treatment effects no cure so they have to resort to doctors.
[p. 5]
AMUSEMENTS:
The people of the barrio have several forms of amusements. They play many kinds of games, dance the native dances like the “subli.” The young men enjoy serenading. The popular songs are the “Tubig-tubig” (patentero) and the “Taguan” (hide-and-seek). The most popular song is the “Huluna” sung by the mothers when lulling their babies to sleep.
(Bend the tree while it is young, for it is still easier to do so. When it hardens and lengthens, harder will it be to bend.)
(A house may be of stone, but dwellers are owls;
A small hut is better where dwellers are true souls.)
>METHODS OF MEASURING TIME:
The people measure the time from the position of the sun or by the length of their shadows in the daytime and by the crowing of the cocks at night. Some people have clocks in their homes and some own watches.
[p. 6]
Thought the place is difficult to reach because of the difficult means of transportation, the place in some days to come will be progressive and advanced in culture because the people are industrious, thrifty and ambitious.
Data gathered and compiled by:
[Sgd.] (Miss) MELECIA D. SALAZAR
Informants:
1. [Sgd.] Agudo Onda
2. [Sgd.] Aniceto Hernandez