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A MONTHLY PUBLICATION ABOUT THE LIFE AND TIMES OF THE “BALIWAGENYOS”

VOLUME NO. 1 APRIL 2014

THE BALIWAG HISTORY IN FOCUS

In this Issue:

The Quest for the uniqueness of Baliwag

The LCI as an inspiration to Baliwag History

Significance of the Calatagan Pot

The Great Pottery Tradition

The Long Lost Legend of Baliwag

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Editor’s Note

Welcome to the maiden issue of the Baliwag History Magazine.

Mr. Delor Lauchang, a town mate and a batch mate in school told me

when we are acquainted in Facebook that he is working on an E-Book

about Baliwag History. That is good, I said, agreeing, but not

enthusiastic. I ventured to tell him that I write blog and have a blog site - then linked him to my blog. Since then, from time to time, he

prodded me to write this or that political topic. He has this acute

sense of viral potential topics, and I did not realize he has many

groups associated with him. Some topics he suggested were my type,

too, so I obliged. With our partnership, I found him to be a good

promoter of my blog. It has spiked my “like”. Then he broached me again the idea of writing about Baliwag History. He sent me raw data

of what he already started. The data piqued my interest. We traded

ideas, and we came up with doing it by installment, magazine type.

Hence, the “Baliwag History Magazine”.

We owe it to the future “Baliwagenos” that they should have a

repository of their town’s history and culture. As of today, based on

my research there is just one book exclusively dealing with Baliwag, and is haplessly inadequate in circulation. It is a book written by

Rolando Villacorte, the “Baliwag Then and Now”.

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The Baliwag History Magazine, although for now is designed in

chapter installment until such time that it can be compiled to a book

or E-Book, would attempt to augment the inaccessibility of the “Baliwag Then and Now” as a reference materials. Moreover, it will

venture on as much as possible on different tact, approach, and

perspective. As the Baliwag History is available in the internet, more

“Baliwagenos” can gain access to it free.

The Baliwag History Magazine is a collective effort, if possible, by all the “Baliwagenos”. The resources required to sustain its publication

would depend largely on people’s support. Each of us, in one way or

another can contribute. It could be in the form of submitting stories,

images, reference materials, or volunteer hours. Each of us can

suggest what chapter would be tackle in every issue.

As we get ourselves better organized, we can take pride to claim that

the Baliwag History Magazine would be a stellar accomplishment not

only for all of us, the "Baliwagenos”, but also for the citizens of the

whole country.

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Editorial

Managing Editor:

Jess Fernando

Photography Editor:

Baliwag Photography Guild

Executive Editor:

Mila Parfan- Llorente

Associate Editors:

Diana Jean Guevarra

Normita Cruz-Ramirez

Technical & Creative

Director:

Perry Evangelista

Contributors, Correspondents:

Darwin Guevarra

Sonny Vergel de Dios

Jun M.Rustia

Priscilla Navoa-Spittael

Roselle Vergel de Dios

Liz Ramos-Peralta

Tony Alejo

Photography:

Rolli Anzures

Johnnie Gonzales III

Boyet Aguila Luna

Lito Santos Tomas

Table of Contents

Editor’s Note …. P 2

The Baliwag History in

Focus… P 5

The LCI as an inspiration to

Baliwag History … P6

Significance of the Calatagan

Pot … P 10

The Great Pottery Tradition

…. P 12

The Long Lost Legend of

Baliwag … P 14

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The Baliwag History in Focus

By

Jess Fernando

The Quest for the uniqueness of Baliwag

he available known history of Baliwag, its origin, how it got its name is just

one. Briefly, the story runs like this. Baliwag then was a "barangay" which is

part of "Quingwa”, now, "Plaridel". The inhabitants of this "barangay" always

come in late to hear a mass at "Quingwa". Due to the “barangay's" tardiness, the

people of "Quingwa" called them "maliliwag”, meaning slow. Then it happened

that the "maliliwag" tag became "Baliwag". Later, the "barangay" was named

Baliwag.

No known historical record yet appeared what Baliwag was like during the Pre-

Hispanic era. There were mentioned accounts in the history books of tribes living

around Bulacan, but they were sketchy at best. Some records showed that the

early people of Baliwag adopted the generalized description culled from the

typical story of how the early inhabitants lived in certain towns and provinces of

the Philippines. That was insignificant, however, no uniqueness presented in

there. I believed Baliwag have had uniqueness of its own. This quest for

uniqueness had me on a feeding frenzy on whatever literature I could lay my

hands on about Baliwag. Further research led me to devour once more the history

of the Philippines. Then it struck me that finding that uniqueness is like chasing

the horizon. The nearer that I thought of getting there, the farther I got to my

objective. Reality dawned on me. There was nothing much of the true records

about the Pre-Hispanic Baliwag.

T

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Rediscovering the Philippine's History written by today's contemporary historian

present insights and perspectives, which I would not have known had it not been

for my quest of that uniqueness of Baliwag. The exercise had been beneficial.

New objectives are developing as I go on my search. If I cannot find that

uniqueness, maybe I could provide one - extrapolating an existing record. At the

forefront, this could be a conjectural one. However, it would supply the missing

link: That of sufficient introduction to complement the known historical records,

and that of the new ones that will be unearthed. The Baliwag History then would

have a new look for the history buffs and for the future generation of the

"Baliwagenyos”.

The Philippine's History is usually replete with legends of how certain places or

localities originate. It is a common practice for some historian to use the legend as

a preface, foreword, or as an introduction. Not that I want to deviate from the

common practice, but Baliwag, unfortunately, has no legend to start with. At the

same time, I do not want to break the tradition, so I will make a new legend for

Baliwag. As earlier said, I would not make this legend out of thin air. I would

extrapolate existing historical records so that the reader, if they attempt to

connect the dots, would find the continuity that fits together; and somehow

deduce that the legend produced, gives the semblance as an integral part of the

history of Baliwag.

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The Laguna Copperplate Inscription (LCI) as an

inspiration to Baliwag History

1987, a thin roll-up copperplate with inscriptions, measuring less than

8X12 inches was dredged up along the southeastern shore of Laguna de

Bay. This artifact is known as the Laguna Copperplate Inscription, (LCI). The

National Museum of the Philippines took possession of it, and in 1989, Antoon

Postma, a Dutch national who is the director of the Mangyan Assistance &

Research Center in Panaytayan, Mansalay, Oriental Mindoro, deciphered the

inscriptions.

The inscription as deciphered and

translated provided two facts that

dovetailed to the legend of Baliwag that I

wanted to portray. The LCI, the earliest

written record in the Philippines is a

document that forgives the descendants

of Namwaran from a debt of 926.4 grams

of gold granted by the chief of Tondo.

The LCI document cited the date of its consummation: 900 A.D. History told us

that Magellan and his chronicler, Antonio Figafetta reached the Philippine Island

in 1521. Therefore, civilization with sophisticated culture has already been in

existence in the Philippines 621 years before the Spaniards came.

Furthermore, Postma was convinced that the five places mentioned in the LCI;

Pulilan, Angat River, the village of Paila of San Lorenzo the eastern part of

Norzagaray, the Binwangan, of Obando, sits at the mouth of the Bulacan River,

are within the confines of the Bulacan Province. In addition, as Postma studied

the map of Bulacan, the North of Calumpit along the Pampanga River is the village

of "Gatbuka”, which referred to as "Bukah" in Line 2 of the LCI. Moreover,

In

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"Tundun" in Line 3 of the LCI, which Postma believed as Tondo, sits at the mouth

of the Pasig River.

Each of the five places that the LCI mentioned, although separated by varying

distances, sits along the river routes. These navigable rivers - Ipo and Angat Dam

were not in existence then – became the transport and communication hub

between locations and settlements. Since all these rivers exited through the China

Sea by way of Manila Bay, these rivers became the gateway for seafaring traders

of China and Southeast Asia, to have an easy inner access to trading, commerce,

and cultural exchanges.

Part of Baliwag sits along the Angat

River. Early people were drawn to

settle there. These settlements had

contacts from seafaring traders,

which brought goods, culture, and

ethnic influences from other

places. Baliwag, therefore, would

probably have artifacts like the LCI

kind, and probably still buried until

now, somewhere waiting to be

discovered. The artifacts could be

the remnants of vanished civilization due to natural catastrophes, epidemics, war,

pirate raids. Vanishing civilizations during the LCI era were common. The early

settlement of people around Manila, for example, who were proficient in the

Malay Language, disappeared. Vanished with them was the early writing, called

Kavi Script etched on the LCI. The Kavi Script was an extinct Javanese writing used

in South East Asia during the 600-1500, and had a big influence on the ancient

Philippine's script. As the people of the Malay Language had gone, the language

that came after that was not as developed.

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The discovery of the LCI document dated 900 A.D. strengthened my resolve of the

plausibility of extracting a legend for Baliwag. Between the years 900 A.D. when

the LCI document known to have existed, and the Spaniards landing on the

Philippines Island in 1521, evolving and dissolving civilization was a natural

phenomenon. The river played an important role for this phenomenon. The Tigris

and Euphrates rivers had been the "Cradle of Civilization" of the upper Persian

Gulf, and Huang He or Yellow River, the "cradle of Chinese Civilization," Angat

River of Baliwag could have been the cradle of civilization of the Bulacan province.

Moreover, even, if say, civilization had come and gone during the span of LCI's

period, there must be other artifacts left of the vanished civilizations.

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Significance of the Calatagan Pot

In an archeological excavation

site in Calatagan, Batanggas in

1958 a pot measuring 12cms

high and 20.2cms wide,

weighing 872 grams with

inscriptions around its neck

surfaced. The Anthropological

Foundation of the Philippines,

ATFP purchased the artifact

from Alfredo Evangelista, a

local digger who found the

pot. In 1961, the ATFP

donated the pot to the

National Museum, where it is

on display. The pot with inscription is dated between the 14th and 16th centuries;

touted to be one of the Philippine's most valuable cultural and anthropological

artifacts. This is the Calatagan Pot.

Several history buffs tried decoding the inscriptions. However, none stood out on

the work done by Rolando O. Borrinaga, Ph.D, Professor, School of Health

Sciences, and University of the Philippines. He deciphered the symbols,

determined the language used, and looked for inferences that would reveal the

pot's inscriptions purpose. In the paper he presented at the Philippines National

historical Society's 31st National Conference, he said, the Calatagan Pot

inscriptions seemed to have been written in the old Bisayan language. The artifact

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served as a receptacle for burning incense as ritual to retrieve a moribund soul

apparently abducted by dwellers of the spirit world.

Jean-Paul Potet, a French researcher who writes scholarly books in Tagalog with

M.A. and Ph.D., in his doctoral dissertation, "Morphologie du Philippin" provided

a transliteration of the Calatagan writing. He claimed that the inscription could

probably be based on an ancient Baybayin Philippine's script.

If the Laguna Copperplate Inscription found in Laguna in 965 AD, which

mentioned Bulacan as where the settling of a debt contract took place, artifacts

like the Calatagan Pot could be surmised as possible remnants of the long lost

civilization of Baliwag.

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The Great Pottery Tradition

hen an earthen burial jar dated past the 2000 years mark was found in

Ayub Cave in Maitum, Sarangani Mindanao in 1991, archeologists,

anthropologists and ancient culture enthusiasts established that, great pottery

tradition was rooted in the Philippine's culture as early as during the Metal Age.

Moreover, historian believed that the pottery industry then flourished, and pots

were exported in and around South East Asia.

W

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From Mindanao, going Northbound through Manila bay, this pottery making

tradition reached Luzon, and eventually made an inroad in the Baliwag settlement

through the Angat River. It turned out that pottery produced in Luzon, had

established good refute from the Japanese.

The Island of Luzon, “Rusun” the Japanese called it, in the 12th Century AD, had

been the object of Japanese Trade expedition. The Japanese looked for jars made

in Rusun. These jars are important in the production of the Japanese Kombucha,

tea with medicinal attributes, and Umeboshi, sour salty pickle plums. Although

highly priced, the Japanese kept on wanting them, because they act as tea

canisters to enhance the fermentation process. The Japanese, through the

marking “Rusun Tsukuro” which means, “Luzon made”, was how they identify the

jars they were buying. The Rusun Tsukuro markings composed actually of letters

of the Baybayin Philippines Script.

I theorized that the long lost legend of Baliwag in the Last Will and Testament of

Datu Gat-Bulak, which were inscribed on these Luzon Jars, could have been

written in the old Baybayin. Datu Gat-Bulak wanted his Last Will and Testament

depicts the heroism of Bal-i-Wag, his daughter, to serve as a reminder for future

generation.

Clay soil deposit suitable for pot making sat on the Baliwag's riverbank. For

centuries, the soft, moist, pliable mud, accumulated and it became an abundant

resource. Consequently, the blade stone technology, typical of the Metal Age, was

already in use by then. In addition, the use of Baybayin Philippine's script

blossomed as a language tool for the Filipinos.

Clay was one of the first writing materials known to man. It has always been

bountiful and cheap. Heat it up in a kiln or just burnt it, the writings carved on the

clay would last forever. Datu Gat-Bulak used Jar with inscription of Baybayin script

as the repository of his Last Will and Testament.

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The Long Lost Legend of Baliwag

-i-Wag, in her tender age of 16 born in a nobility household of Gat-

Bulak, the Datu of Ulakan, whose Kingdom stretched as far as 30

kilometers along the tributaries of the riverbank was atypical of her generation.

Bal-i-Wag was a precocious child. She saw things around her as though she was in

a different realm. From the other realm where she thought she came from was a

progressive culture and civilization.

However, the realm she was in right now was ancient, primitive from eons before.

She often time asked herself why she seemed so special. The “Sagigilid” slaves

surrounded her and always ready at her beckon. One day, she asked her father

why that was. Her father said, because she is a princess, the daughter of a Datu,

the most powerful man in Ulakan Kingdom. Bal-i-Wag then asked her father, we

are all the same human being, why there seems to be an inequality. Gat-Bulak

was shocked. Where those ideas of inequality came from? The idea was so

Bal

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foreign, and it just came unexpectedly. From then on, Gat-Bulak got wary of how

her daughter's brain worked.

Why her Father always go to war and brought back with him the spoils of war;

more territories, more slaves, more jars, more gold, more grains, more

domesticated animals, more water buffalos, more cows? That was another puzzle

for Bal-i-Wag. By any measure her father was a brave warrior, yet, he was afraid

of the Shaman. The ludicrously looking individual, hailed as god, who from time to

time will visit their village, and required that all the inhabitants welcomed him,

only to pick up one as a sacrifice. The Shaman made them to believe that through

his intercession the Ulakan Kingdom would keep on winning wars. On scheduled

visits of the Shaman, most

villagers did not want to

show up. However, the

Shaman is known to have

prodigious memory for

names and faces. The

Shaman would summon her

father and warned him he

has to see the person who

was not in the crowd. The

one who was absent would

likely be the next sacrifice.

Bal-i-Wag hated this. What right does this Shaman have, that give him the power

to pick people for sacrifices out of his whims? Bal-i-Wag has to do something. It

was her time to demonstrate her extreme defiant streak without fear of

authority. Before the next full moons visit of the Shaman, Bal-i-Wag escaped from

her "sagigilid" slaves, and found herself at the outskirt of their Kingdom with the

mountain people. There, she practised her knowledge of a poison tipped

"sumpit”, a blowgun.

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At the time of the Shaman's visits, Bal-i-Wag did not show up. Gat-Bulak had

fought many battles and won. However, this coming battle would be the hardest

he have to face. Gat-Bulak knew the Shaman would ask for his princess. What

would be his answer? Would he volunteer his daughter as the next sacrifice? On

the other hand, as he believed the Shaman have interceded for his Kingdom's

behalf for winning wars, to disobey the Shaman, would be a doom to his Kingdom

…

"I didn't see Bal-i-Wag," the Shaman told Gat-Bulak, when he was summoned. For

the first time Gat-Bulak's people saw their Village Chief as a thin, weak, emaciated

Datu. Not anymore the robust victorious warrior exuding with confidence. The

burden took a toll on Gat-Bulak's body. Gat-Bulak did not answer. “You know the

consequence “, the Shaman warned.

At the palace, when Gat-Bulak saw Bal-i-Wag's, he embraced her princess, and

said, “ Before the next full moon, I will make preparation. Take your mother with

you and your "sagigilid" to other settlement”. Bal-i-Wag said, “ No. I would stay

and wait for the Shaman”.

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By the next full moon,

the Shaman came

with a big entourage

holding spears,

thumping and

shouting. The Shaman

saw Bal-i-Wag

standing tall among

the throngs without

flinching as though

ready for

confrontation. The

Shaman thought …

Bal-i-Wag was not like

the sacrifices he had

picked-up before. He

was even more

bewildered when he

saw Bal-i-Wag spread

her legs apart, get herself positioned and reached from her back her concealed

"sumpit".

Bal-i-wag aimed the poisoned tipped of her blowgun to the Shaman's heart. Tsuk!

Instantly, the Shaman fell.

An eerie silence ensued for hours. The village people expected the sky to fall, it

did not. The river did not make an upheaval either. All were calm and quiet. For

days, none of the nature's elements had shown abnormal behavior, contrary to

the Shaman's threat as price for disobedience.

The hovering fear of making sacrifice vanished in Gat-Bulak's Kingdom since then.

In Gat-Bulak's Last Will and Testament, he wanted the tale of Bal-i-Wag's heroism

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inscribed to his finest collection of Luzon Jars, and let it be known that his

Kingdom be called as "Bal-i-Wag."

Like other civilization that has come and gone, Gat-Bulak's Kingdom vanished.

However, the Luzon Jars artifacts, as repositories of the Baliwag Legend, if fortune

strikes, would be unearthed someday.