Calumpang Dam Totally Destroyed

The Calumpang River Dam which is the main structure of the Santa Cruz-Mabacan River Irrigation System was totally destroyed last September 25, 2006 at the height of Typhoon Milenyo’s fury. The 50 year old dam collapsed because of the unabated river sand quarrying downstream. According to this report, the government will spend 160 million pesos of taxpayer’s money to construct a new dam upstream. It will take the government two years to build a new dam. In the meantime, the rice farmers of Pila will have to install temporary shallow wells to irrigate their rice fields.

President Ramon Magsaysay personally officiated on February 24, 1956 the ground-breaking ceremonies of the P3,180,000 Santa Cruz-Mabacan river-irrigation project at Pila, Laguna.

1818 Pila Population

Below is the population of Pila in 1818 or seven years after the completion of the town transfer to sitio Sta. Clara:

1. Individuos Contribuientes de Natural y M. = 1117
2. Reservados = 157
3. Soltieros y Solteras de Naturales y Mestizos = 404
4. Escuelas y Parbulos = 347
5. Españoles = 0
6. Mestizos Españoles = 3
7. Morenos = 0
8. Negros convertidos = 0
9. Sangleyes Cristianos = 0

Total = 2028

1. Bautizalos = 63
2. Casados = 28
3. Difuntos = 45
4. Numero le tributes o familias contribuyentes = 558

Source: Aragon, Ydelfonso de. Estados de la poblacion de Filipinas correspondiente a el año de 1818: lo da ad publico a Excmo. Ayunamiento del M.N.Y.L. ciudad de Manila. Manila: Imprenta de D.M. M. Por D. Anastacio Gonzaga. 1820.

The Pila - Jala-jala Story

There are two secondary sources confirming Jala-jala, Rizal was part of Pila, Laguna namely:

Foreman, John. The Philippine Islands. London: S. Low, Marston & co., ltd. 1899.

Dery, Luis Camara. A History of the Inarticulate: Local History, Prostitution and Other Views from the Bottom. Quezon City: New Day Publishers. 2001.

We are still searching for the Pila – Jala-jala primary documents specifically the Pila lawsuits or Jala-jala claims during the 17^th and 18^th century.

On page 359 to 361 of the The Philippine Islands, Foreman wrote the following story:

LOS BAÑOS (the baths) owes its origin to the hot springs flowing from the volcanic Maquiling Mountain, which have been known to the natives from time immemorial when the place was called Maynit, which signifies “hot.”

At the close of the 16^th century these mineral waters attracted the attention of martyr Saint Pedro Bautista, who sent a brother in his Order to establish a hospital for the natives. The brother went there, but shortly returned to Manila and died. So the matter remained in abeyance for years. Subsequently a certain Fray Diego de Santa Maria, an expert in medicine and healing art, was sent there to test the waters. He found they contained properties highly beneficial in curing rheumatism and certain other maladies, so thenceforth many natives and Spaniards went there to seek bodily relief. But there was no convenient abode for the visitors; no arrangements for taking the baths, and the Government did nothing. A Franciscan friar was appointed chaplain to the sick visitors, but his very incommodious residence was inadequate for the lodging of patients, and, for want of funds, the priest abandoned the project of establishing a hospital, and returned to Manila. In 1604, the Governor General, Pedro Bravo de Acuña, gave his attention to this place, and consented to the establishment of a hospital, church, and convent. The hospital was constructed of bamboo and other light material, and dedicated to Our Lady of Holy Waters.

Fray Diego de Santa Maria was appointed to the vicarage and the charge of the hospital. The whole was supported by gifts from the many sick persons who went there, but the greatest difficulty was to procure food. Several natives made donations of lands, with the produce of which the hospital was to be maintained. These gifts, however, proved insufficient. The priests then solicited permission from the villagers of Pila (on the lake shore near Santa Cruz) to pasture cattle on the tongue of land on the opposite coast called Jalajala, which belonged to them. With their consent a cattle-ranche was established there; subsequently, a building was erected, and the place was in time known as the Estancia de Jalajala. Then the permission was asked for and obtained from the Pila natives to plant cocoanut palms, fruit-trees, and vegetables. Later on the Austin and Franciscan friars quarreled about the right of dominion over the place and district called Maynit, but eventually the former gave way and ceded their rights in perpetuity to the Franciscans.

In 1640 Los Baños (formerly a dependency of Bay, under the Austin friars) was constituted a “town.” The Franciscans continued to beg one concession after another, until at length, in 1671, stone buildings were commenced – a church, convent, hospital, bathing-pond, vapour-house, etc., being contructed. Natives and Europeans flocked in numbers to these baths, and it is said that people even came from India to be cured. The property lent and belonging to the establishment, the accumulated funds, and the live-stock had all increased so much in value that the Government appointed an administrator. Thenceforth the place declined; its popularity vanished; the administrator managed matters so particularly for his own benefit that food again become scarce, and the priest was paid only 10 pesos per month as salary. In Jalajala a large house was built; the land was put under regular cultivation; tenants were admitted; but when the property was declared a royal demesne the Pila inhabitants protested, and nominally regained possession of the lent property. But the administrator re-opened and contested the question in the law-courts, and, pending these proceedings, Jalajala was rented from the Government. During the long process of legal entanglements the property had several times been transferred to one and another until the last holder regarded it as his private estate.

At the beginning of last century Jalajala came into the possession of M. Paul de la Gironniere, from whom it passed to another Frenchman, at whose death a third Frenchman, M. Jules Daillard, became owner. On his decease it became the property of an English Bank, from whom it was purchased by the Franciscan friars, in 1897, for the sum of P.50,000, and re-sold by them to a Belgian firm in 1900.

Luis Camara Dery wrote a similar story on page 52 to 53 of his book:

The Franciscan administrators of the hospital did not just rely on external help. They endeavored to supplement their meager resources by cultivating the land, devoting it to agricultural crops and raising of livestock. Thus, the native families residing in sitio Danpalit learned additional skills which enabled them to meet the various colonial requirements. Sometime in 1670, the Franciscan administrator negotiated with the town of Pila, Laguna for some of its vacant lands to server as pasture lands for the excess herds of cattle that the hospital had in sitio Danpalit. The Pila townfolks gave sitio Jalajala, on of their vacant lands. The hospital was allowed to use it as its pastureland but ownership remained with the townfolks of Pila. On 1 September 1673, the Franciscan father provincial petitioned the governor-general to allow his order to build a church and convent at sitio Jalajala for a member of their Order who would be assigned as the religious minister of the said sitio. By this time, sitio Jalajala had become a major transit point for those coming to and from the hospital in sitio Los Baños. It had also become a residence of many bagamundos (“persons without fixed residences”) and converted inhabitants. The petition, according to the Franciscan father provincial, was thus influenced by the need to serve their religious requirements a newly-converted Christians. Moreover, the inhabitants of Pila volunteered to build said church and convent if they would be exempted from the polos y servicios personales by the colonial government for a period of one and one-half years. The governor-general approved all these petitions.

The church and convent at sitio Jalajala was inaugurated on 1 October 1678 and San Pascual Baylon was chosen as the sitio’s patron saint. Fray Lucas Sarro, definidor of the Franciscan Order, celebrated the first mass at sitio Jalajala. The sitio was also made a Visita of the town of Pila. Thus, the early beginnings of Jalajala was also influenced by the hot springs of sitio Los Baños.

Jose Burgos: A Laguna Town for 194 Days

During the Philippine-American war, Juan Cailles, the General and Politico-Military Governor of Laguna issued a decree creating the town of Jose Burgos, Laguna.

General Camp. No. 4, TIERRA LIBRE,

(Laguna), November 19, 1900

To the local presidentes of Lumban, Longos, Paete, Paquil, Siniloan, Famy, Mavitac and Santa Maria.

I take the pleasure in informing you that I have this day approved provisionally the proceeding in the matter of the organization of the new town of “Jose Burgos” from its matrix Nagcarlan and comprising the barrios of Cabubuhayan, Lagulo, Sibrolan, Maravilla, Bancabanca, Lagatan, Bucal, Mojon and Calumpan of the aforesaid town, and Dita, Mojon, Buhanginan and Bancoro of the town of Lilio; also approving the election of officials who shall form the “Junta Popular” of the said town as well as the organization of the Popular Committee of the same.

I furnish you this for your information and the proper action.

Transmit this communication from one town to another and the last one shall return it to this office with the acknowledgments of all.

JUAN CAILLES,

General and Politico-Military Governor.

(Source: Philippine Insurection Record, Exhibit 1120. Original in Spanish. Contemporary copy. P.I.R., 941.9)

Juan Cailles with 600 officers and men armed with 386 rifles and 4,000 rounds of ammunition surrendered to the Americans on June 24, 1901 ending the dreams of the people of Jose Burgos.

Of the three martyred priests, Father Jose Burgos is the most popular in Laguna. In Pila, Laguna, instead of the usual Philippine acronym Gomburza, the town chose to write it starting with the name of Jose Burgos, Burzagom, and even named a street this way.

The Music of Judge Ramiro R. Relova

Every Pileño will never forget the late Judge Ramiro R. Relova and his music. Please visit this link and enjoy viewing the short video clip of Judge playing the piano. The video was uploaded by his grandson, Michael.

Historic Payla!

Payla made history today! Not the Payla in Norzagaray, Bulacan but our very own Filipino Flyweight Boxer. Violito Payla defeated Somjit Jongjohor of Thailand to capture the 15th Asian Games Flyweight Gold Medal via 31-15 rout.

The Laguna Copperplate Inscription Purchase Story

Below is the story prepared by Ramon N. Villegas regarding the source of the Laguna Copperplate Inscription. Antoon Postma gave us a signed copy of the story which can be downloaded here. The Laguna Copperplate Inscription came from Albert Dealino of Siniloan, Laguna. Albert Dealino and several individuals from Pila, Laguna (Barcenas, Estrada, Ambrocio etc) are second generation antique dealers. Their parents were porcelain brokers during the great Laguna pot rush in the 1960s which haunted the National Museum and brought happiness and sorrow to collectors. The stores of these traders can be seen along the highway from Labuin, Pila, Laguna to Duhat, Sta. Cruz, Laguna..

Re: Provenance of the Lumban Codex

After a conversation (5 July, 1990) with Fr. Antoon Postma, I attempted to independently verify the alleged providence of a metal plaque inscribed with an old Southeast Asian script, which came to the attention of the National Museum in the first half of 1990. It was purported to have come from Laguna. There were some suggestions however, that if the artifact were not a forgery; then it may have come from a non-Philippine site. The plaque’s seller, Venancio Magbuhos is known to handle pieces from other Southeast Asian countries.

Magbuhos confirmed to this writer, however, that the piece came from William (Bill) Elwell, a coin dealer in A. Mabini, who bought it from Albert (Abet) Dealino, another coin dealer, originally from Siniloan, Laguna but also residing in Metro Manila.

I had the opportunity to interview Dealino on the 10^th and 12^th of this month. He has been known to me for over twelve years, as a generally trustworthy dealer of antiques. He learned from his father Manuel, a dealer since the 1960’s, whose antiquarian training came from the late Don Felipe Hidalgo.

Dealino acquired the Codex for P350.00 in August 1989. The strange writing on metal intrigued and challenged the numistmatist in him. He tried to decipher the script, looking up his college history textbooks. Giving up, he exhibited it in the bourse of the Philippine Numismatic and Antiquarian Society (PNAS, founded 1929). Scores of viewers saw it (including this writer, who miserably failed to realize its importance at that time). Dealino tagged it at P5,000.00, and nearly gave it to collector Vicenta Escobar’s counter-offer of P3,000.00. Fellow PNAS member Elwell bought it at Dealino’s asking price, and subsequently passed it on for double to Magbuhos, who offered it to the National Museum.

Dealino acquired the Codex from a source he had cultivated over many years: workers in a sand and gravel quarry in the delta of the Pagsanjan River, in Sitia Wawa of Lumban town. On the to Dealino’s hometown, Siniloan, the workers had been trained by Dealino to watch out for artifacts as sand or gravel was conducted to trucks via conveyor belt. The workers had, over time, recovered coins, gold ornaments, stones adzes, small clay and porcelain artifacts, jade ornaments and others. Dealino pays them token amounts for each find, but shells out beer money even when there are no finds.

The Lumban quarry is near a gravesite, already opened by pothunters years ago, on the west bank of the river, some kilometers inland from the shore of the lake. There, Sung and Ming porcelain, though “not as good as those found in Pakil” (on the Eastern shore of the Lake), were found. Presumably, alluvial deposit built up the present delta, but the site must have originally been the mouth of the river. Pothunters had also opened up minor sites in Pagsanjan town, upriver.

Dealino knows of no other metal finds of like size or technology in that area: no mirrors, containers, bowls, utensils or the like. However, gold ornaments found in the same manner over the years include a Palawan-type “Ling-ling-o” ornaments (A. Gutierrez); a ring with zoomorphic figures on the shanks (B. Yap); a garment clasp (R. Villegas) and other ornaments (W. Villareal).

From these interviews we may include:

a. The codex was a surface find in Sitio Wawa, Lumban, Laguna on or shortly before August 1989.

b. The site’s assemblage of artifacts and its geological character indicate alluvial deposition. It must be pointed out the out that August is the beginning of the rainy season proper.

c. The Lumban Codex may be reasonably associated with the ancient Lumban or Pagsanjan settlements.

Addendum: The manufacture of large objects of metal, such as this plaque, requires a degree of skill and knowledge of metallurgy different from the crafting of small ornaments of gold. The latter is quite malleable. The presence of almost pure native gold did not necessitate knowledge of refining and forming techniques. The working of base metals on the other hand would have required knowledge (and availability) of imported copper and tin, and annealing and forming techniques. The absence in that site of related artifacts of similar manufacture suggest, that we cannot, at the moment, attribute to the Lumban Codex to an industrial tradition in that locality.

(Signed) Ramon N. Villegas

Makati, 14, July 1990

Cc: Fr. Antoon Postma

Dr. Alfredo Evangelista

File

1903 Pila Population

The first Philippine census during the American period was conducted on March 2, 1903 in accordance with Section 6 of the Philippine Bill of 1902. Below is the 1903 census report for Pila, Laguna:

Pila Total Population = 6,040

Poblacion (Santa Clara) = 1,623
Banca banca = 89
Bucal = 38
Concepcion = 100
Daniw = 84
Labuin = 378
Linga = 1,021
Masico = 264
Nanhaya = 662
Masapang = 72
Mojon = 131
Pansol = 246
San Antonio = 93
San Benito = 131
San Felix = 48
San Francisco = 188
San Miguel = 120
San Roque = 615
San Vicente = 43
Tubuan = 94

It is interesting to note that that the census included barrio San Vicente which is not part of current Victoria or Pila.

The seven barrios above namely: Banca-banca, Nanhaya, Masapang, San Benito, San Felix, San Francisco, San Roque and Daniw are now part of Victoria, Laguna.

Based on the 2000 Census, the total population of Pila was pegged at 37,278 while Victoria was listed with 29,765 individuals. The population of Old Pila grew 10 times since 1903.

Source: Population of the Philippines: by islands, provinces, municipalities, and barrios / taken in the year 1903. United States. Bureau of the Census. [Washington. D.C.]: Department of Commerce and Labor, Bureau of the Census: Gov’t Print. Office, 1904

Manila Champion defeats Pila Team in Volleyball Semis

Hope Christian School outclassed rookie laden San Antonio de Padua College Girls Volleyball Team, two sets to nil yesterday in the semifinal round of the 6th F.C. Toribio Cup at the University of the East Recto Gym. The 2006 Manila Volleyball Champion will meet Toribio Cup defending champion University of Santo Tomas on December 9, 2006 for the championship plum. UST defeated UE Warriors in the other semifinal match 2-1. The young SAPC team will battle 2005 UAAP champion University of the East for the bronze medal.

SAPC is assured of the highest Toribio cup ranking since joining the Manila-based volleyball league last year. With an average age of 14 years, SAPC is the youngest and has the most number of freshmen players among the semifinalists.

Vocabulario de la Lengua Tagala by Fr. Domingo de Los Santos O.F.M. On Sale At eBay

The 1835 copy of the Vocabulario de la Lengua Tagala by Fr. Domingo de los Santos O.F.M. was offered for sale at eBay last September. Staring bid was pegged at $3,999.00. No bids were received till September 19, 2006 closing.

The Vocabulario de la Lengua Tagala was first published in 1703 in Muy Noble Villa de Tayabas and was reprinted in 1794 and 1835. Only one copy of the 1703 edition is still extant today and is now at the King's College Library in London. The 1703 copy was among the valuable documents looted by the British in 1762. King's College also has a copy of the 1794 and the 1835 edition. Ateneo de ManilaUniversity and National Library has a copy of the 1794 edition while University of Santo Tomas and Filipinas Heritage Library has a copy of the 1835 edition similar to the one being sold.

Pailah is Pila, Laguna

By Jaime F. Tiongson

This author wrote an e-mail to Antoon Postma and suggested that Pailah in the Laguna Copperplate Inscription is Pila, Laguna. In his reply, Antoon Postma (2005) wrote that “ai” in Pailah or Payla is a dipthong and can not develop into Pila as suggested. The list below shows that the Tagalog dipthong /ai/ can develop into /i/ or /e/ in disagreement to what he has stated. The following are examples of such development:

1. Baynat (SB, 1613 page 116) to Binat (UP, 2001, page 121)
2. Saynat (SB, 1613 page 367) to Sinat (UP, 2001, page 787)
3. Taynga (SB, 1613, page 458) to Tenga
4. Baywang (SB, 1613, page 617) to Bewang (UP, 2001, page 116)
5. Mayroon to Meron (UP, 2001, page 553)
6. Kailan (SB, 1613, page 60) to Kelan
7. Bayki to Beke (UP, 2001, page 111)
8. Kaysa to Kesa (UP, 2001, page 442)

Before the arrival of the Spaniards, Tagalog had only three vowel phonemes: /a/, /i/, and /u/. The list was later expanded to five vowels with the introduction of Spanish words. In Tagalog phonology, the dipthong /aI/ can also be pronounced [e~E~eI] and /e/ can sometimes be pronounced as [i~I] thus the development of Pailah to Pila and the rest of the words above.

Laguna Copperplate Inscription bears the date 900 A.D. (Postma, 1992). The Laguna Copperplate Inscription was written during the Emergent Filipino Period [1 to 1500 A.D.(Jocano, 1998) or 500 to 1521 A.D. (Solheim, 2002)]. Jocano (1998) defines this period as the appearance of definable political, economic, and religious organization and certain dominant patterns of culture such as burial practices, ceramic art, and social statuses. The placenames in the Laguna Copperplate Inscription namely: Tundun, Puliran, Pailah and Binwangan are the leading centers of trade, commerce as well as governance of the whole region (Francisco, 1995)

According to Wilhelm G. Solheim II (2002), there are three such concentrations of population known archaeologically to have been in place before A.D. 1000 here in the Philippines. The three emergent Filipino Period areas are Butuan, an area on the shore of Laguna de Bay and an area on the shore of Lake Taal.

In 1967, a team from the University of San Carlos and Locsin group led by Dr. Rosa C.P. Tenazas conducted another archaeological study in Pinagbayanan, Pila, Laguna. The team uncovered Iron Age burials. Tenazas (n.d.) wrote in her report: “The presence of earthenware pots quite different from those encountered in the Sung levels in size and form, as well as in decoration, set them off as a distinct cultural horizon.” She further wrote: “Due to the fact that pots had no association with export ceramics, they tentatively have been attributed an Iron Age date. The burial locations not too far below if not on the same level as the lowest Sung burials, would put it just prior to trade contacts with China near the end of the first millennium A.D. or a little earlier.” The team of Tenazas also uncovered Philippines’ oldest horse bones and crematorium.

In the same year, the Esso-Elizalde archaeological team supervised by Dr. Robert Fox and Mr. Avelino Legaspi of the Anthropology Division of the National Museum conducted excavations in Pinagbayanan and Bagong Pook, Pila. The team recovered 12^th to 15^th century trade potteries (Valdes, 2003).

The series of archaeological studies and vast amount of trade potteries recovered in Pila, Laguna led scientists and archaeologists to conclude that Pila, Laguna is an important pre-hispanic center of culture and trade. The scientific conclusion became one of the bases for declaring the town of Pila, Laguna a National Historical Landmark[1].

Historian Dr. Luciano Santiago (1997) wrote that “some scholars believe that the copper plate inscription refers instead to barangays in Bulacan Province rather than in Laguna. However, the places referred to in Bulacan are nowhere as significant in Philippine prehistory as those in Laguna”. The Postma suggested Paila site which is located in San Lorenzo, Norzagaray, Bulacan is not even listed as one of the barangays of the said town. The town of Norzagaray was named after General Fernand de Norzagaray y Escudero, Govenor General of the Philippines from 1857-1860. Barrios Casay, Lawang, Tigbi and Bayabas of Angat were formed into the town of Norzagaray during his governorship. (Erecciones, 1764 -1890).

Postma (1992) defines Pulilan as the area along the south east Laguna de Bay area which includes Pila. He further wrote that Pila is within the area of Pulilan and LCI clearly indicates two separate localities with each own leader. This is the reason why he chose instead Pulilan, Bulacan and Paila, San Lorenzo, Norzagaray, Bulacan. This author already explained previously that Pulilan is not the south east area of Laguna de Bay but the Laguna de Bay itself and Puliran Kasumuran[2] is the Laguna de Bay water source. The Puliran Kasumuran region includes present town of Nagcarlan, Liliw, Mahayhay, Lucban, Tayabas and distinctly separate from Pila, Laguna

If Kasumuran is the source of water of Pulilan, Bulacan (Angat and surrounding communities including Norzagaray), the Paila of San Lorenzo, Norzagaray is within the Kasumuran region of Pulilan, Bulacan. Using the same argument raised by Postma above then Paila in Norzagaray is not the Pailah in the Laguna Copperplate Inscription.

____________________
[1]The National Historical Institute of the Philippines declared the town plaza and surrounding ancestral houses a National Historical Landmark on May 17, 2000.

[2]According to the article of Antoon Postma in Sulat sa Tanso January/February 1996 issue, page 5, sumur in Malay and Java means “well” and in Tagalog sumur means “bukal” (bukal=pinagmumulan ng tubig, UP Diksyonaryong Filipino, 2001)

Sources:

Almario, Virgilio S. ed. 2001. UP Diksiyonaryong Filipino. Pasig City.

Ereccion del Pueblos-Bulacan, 1764-1890. Paper creating the barrios Casay, Lawang, Tigbi and Bayabas into new town named Norzagaray, apart from Angat. Bundle no. 45, Legajo no. 129.

Francisco, Juan R. 1995. “Tenth Century Trade/Settlement Area In South East Asia: Epigraphic and Language Evidence in the Philippines,” National Museum Papers: Vol. 4, No.2:10-35.

Jocano, Landa F. 1998. Filipino Prehistory. Quezon City.

Kuang-Jen Chang, “A Comparative study of trade ceramics as grave goods in Pila, Laguna and Calatagan, Batangas, SW Luzon, the Philippines,” presented at Congres International, European Association of Southeast Asian Archaeologists, 11^th International Conference, Bougon, France, 2006.

Postma, Antoon. 1992. “The Laguna Copperplate Inscription,” Philippine Studies 40:183-203.

Postma, Antoon, <mangyanhc@catsi.net.ph> “Reply to letter for Mr. Antoon Postma from the Pila Historical Society Foundation Inc”, Personal Email (11 November 2005)

San Antonio, Francisco de. 2000. Vocabulario Tagalo. Tagalog-Spanish Dictionary. Quezon City.

San Buenaventura, Pedro de. 1613. Vocabulario de Lengua Tagala. Pila.

Santiago, Luciano P.R. 1997. “The Roots Of Pila, Laguna, A Secular And Spiritual History Of The Town (900 AD To The Present),” Philippine quarterly of culture and society 25:125-155.

Solheim, Wilhelm G. 2002. The Archeology of Central Philippines. A study c hiefly of the iron age and its relationships. Revised Ed. Quezon City.

Tenazas, Rosa C.P. n.d. A Report on the Archeology of the Locsin-University of San Carlos Excavations in Pila, Laguna (September 4, 1967 – March 19, 1968). privately printed.

Tiongson, Jaime F. The Laguna Copperplate Inscription and the Route to Paracale in “Heritage and Vigilance: The Pila Historical Society Foundation Inc. Programs for the Study and Preservation of National Historical Landmarks and Treasures,” presented at Seminar on Philippine Town and Cities: Reflections of the Past, Lessons for the Future, Pasig City, 2006.

Tiongson, Jaime F. 2004. The Paracale Gold Route. Unpublished Manuscript. Cited in Santiago, Luciano P.R. 2005. “Pomp, Pageantry and Gold: The Eight Spanish Villas in the Philippines (1565-1887),” Philippine Quarterly of Culture and Society: 33:57-75.

Valdes, Cynthia O. “Archaeology in the Philippines, the National Museum and an Emergent Filipino Nation,” Wilhelm G. Solheim II Foundation for Philippine Archaelogy, Inc. 25 Feb 2004. http://homepages.uni-tuebingen.de/alfred.pawlik/Solheim/philippine_archaeology.html

________. 2003. “Pila in Ancient Time,” in Treasures of Pila. pp 3-6.

Vocabulario de Lengua Tagala Celebration

The Pila Historical Society Foundation Inc. is organizing the 400th celebration of the printing of the Vocabulario de Lengua Tagala by Father Pedro de San Buenaventura. Interested parties who want to be part of this important celebration may contact the Foundation thru this email address.

As part of the commemoration preparation, the Foundation will post on this website various articles about the Vocabulario.

Interested parties may download the draft English and Tagalog version of the El VOCABULARIO DE LENGUA TAGALA DE PEDRO DE SAN BUENAVENTURA, OFM Valor historico y linguistico de un importante incunable hispanofilipino written by Cayetano Sanchez Fuertes of Ibero-Oriental Franciscan Archive, Madrid. The English translation was done by Virgil Reyes while the Tagalog translation was provided by Father Emmanuel Marfori.

Antoon Postma gave us a copy of an article he wrote in 2001 describing the seven Tagalog vocabularios written during the Spanish period. Of the seven vocabularios, only four were printed while the remaining three are currently being edited by Antoon Postma.

Antoon Postma is the editor of the Ruiz Dictionary and San Antonio Dictionary, both were published by the Ateneo de Manila University. He is now busy editing the Blancas de San Joseph dictionary and will be published by the same university soon. Download Tagalog Vocabularios article.

San Antonio Dictionary is the second dictionary written in Pila, Laguna.

How much was the Vocabulario de Lengua Tagala by Pedro de San Buenaventura in 1613? Antoon Postma gave us a microfilm copy of the tasado(appraised) and it cost 30 reales! It is worthwhile to note that the cost was edited out in the 1994 reprint of the vocabulario.

The first printed book in the Philippines, the Doctrina Christiana, the tasado was only 2 reales.

Download pdf of both 1994 reprint and microfilm copy of the tasado and compare! Please note that the British Museum seal is also absent in the 1994 reprint.

Pila Artifacts at the University of San Carlos Museum

A team of archeologists led by Dr. Rosa C.P. Tenazas from the University of San Carlos in Cebu City conducted an archaeological study in Pinagbayanan, Pila, Laguna from September 4, 1967 to March 19, 1968 together with the group of Cecilia Locsin.

The team uncovered Philippines’ only prehispanic crematorium dated 12^th to 14^th century and three inhumation Iron Age burials dated near the end of the first millennium or earlier (900 AD). (see picture of Pinagbayanan Crematorium)

The recovered imported proto-historic tradeware ceramics and Iron Age potteries are housed at the USC University Museum in Cebu City.

Every Taga-Pila should visit the USC University Museum collection to learn more about Pila’s heritage and culture.

The 250 to 300 specimens currently in the Pila Museum are from the Elizalde-Esso archaeological diggings in Pinagbayanan from May to October 1967.

They Painted The Town (Hall) Red

Last year, the Office of the Mayor of Pila, Laguna re-painted the Pila Municipal Center in shocking red. The colonial structure which was inaugurated on June 13, 1931 during the 700^th death anniversary of St. Anthony of Padua is traditionally painted white. The town hall is a colonnaded American period structure designed by Architect Paulino G. Agra.

The red town hall caught the attention of the Heritage Conservation Society and is one of the heritage structures featured in the their 2007 Krag and Concrete Calendar.

The Pila Municipal Center is a perfect match to the red and white quasi-Romanesque facade of the Sta Lucia church of Sta Lucia, Ilocos sur. It is worthwhile to note that the town of Sta. Lucia has two barangays named Pila, Pila West and Pila East. Pila in Ilocano means very hard earth (tierra muy dura).

Pila School Gains Semis in Toribio Volleyball Cup

San Antonio de Padua College High School girls volleyball team outplayed Holy Trinity Academy, 25-7, 25-17, yesterday to barge into the semifinal round of the 2006 Toribio Cup at the University of the East Caloocan Gym.

The three-time Milo Best Women's Volleyball League champion will battle Hope Christian School on December 3, 2006 at the UE Recto gym. University of the East will face University of Santo Tomas for the other championship slot.

San Antonio de Padua Raiders defeated Hope Christian School in the recently concluded Nestea Inter-Secondary Beach Volleyball tournament held at the La Salle Greenhills sand court and will try to beat the same school again. SAPC Raiders went home with the Beach volleyball crown last August with Hope Christian School placing second and UST, third.

En route to the Toribio cup semifinals, the SAPC Raiders defeated St Anthony School of Lagro and Valenzuela National High School in straight sets.

SAPC Raiders also won the Laguna Unit 3 Volleyball crown last November 11, 2006 and will represent Unit 3 in the Laguna Provincial Meet scheduled on December 5-8, 2006. The 2002 and 2003 Laguna Champion will attempt to regain the crown from University of Perpetual Help Biñan.

No Water, No Rice

Typhoon Milenyo (international codename Typhoon Xangsane) which hit Laguna and surrounding provinces last September 29, 2006 is now history with all major damages fixed, electricity restored and uprooted trees and billboards removed but the effects of the strongest typhoon to hit the area since Typhoon Rosing are still being felt in Pila, Laguna.

The Calumpang River Dam which supplies water for Pila’s rice fields still has to be repaired and according to unconfirmed reports, it will take 1 to 2 years before the National Irrigation Administration complete the installation of a new dam which means no rice for 2 to 4 crop cycles. The dam was damaged at the height of typhoon Milenyo’s fury.

Lanzones production which peaked this year after more than ten years of poor production brought about by the ash fall of the Mt. Pinatubo eruption and Typhoon Rosing in 1995 will again go down. Coconut farms also took a beating. As a consequence, copra output will remain low within the next two years.

Yesterday, travel to Pila was affected by the mudflows in Calamba. Mudflows and floods continue to disrupt highway traffic in Calamba since Typhoon Milenyo ravaged the resort capital. Heavy shower causes mudflow from Mount Makiling to Pansol and Bucal in Calamba.

Please read related story.

New Kababayan Hero

Ronnie “Calamba” Alcano is the new World Pool Champion. He defeated 1996 WPC champion Ralf Soquet in the finals, 17-11. En route to the championship, Alcano defeated two other WPC champions, 1999 WPC Champion Efren “Bata” Reyes in the round of 64 and 2005 WPC champion Wu Chia-Ching in the quarterfinals.

Alcano is from Calamba City. He is the third Filipino WPC champion. Efren Reyes won the championship in 1999 and Alex Pagulayan in 2004.

No wikipedia yet for this guy but with his patented soft break and winning the championship crown in front of his Kababayans, an article about him will definitely be on the wiki site soon.

Puliran in the Laguna Copperplate Inscription: Laguna de Bay or Pulilan, Bulacan?

by: Jaime F. Tiongson

According to the Laguna Copperplate Inscription website, Antoon Postma first thought that Pailah was Pila, Laguna and Puliran was the southeastern area of the lake because that was what the place was called in the old days. The website further states that “Pila was then part of the area known as Pulilan. However, he opted to take Pulilan and Paila both along the Angat River in Bulacan as better candidates because the document clearly referred to two separate places, not one inside a larger jurisdiction.” Antoon Postma statement that Pulilan is the southeastern area of the lake was probably based on the San Antonio Dictionary which he edited. In page 213 of the San Antonio dictionary, Pulilan was defined as: "El lugar, que esta a la manzo izquierda de donde sale el sol en la Laguna, como Pila, Lumban hasta Bay, y los que estan al Oriente en la Laguna, que son Paete, Pangil, llaman Silangan. Y asi, ir a Pila y Lumban, es: namomulilan, ir a Paete y Pangil, es: Naninilangan."

The Pulilan entries and examples in the Vocabulario de Lengua Tagala written by Pedro de San Buenaventura may refine the definition above. There are several entries in the 1613 San Buenaventura Dictionary that clearly defines Pulilan as the old name of the Laguna de Bay. The following are the entries in the SB Dictionary about Pulilan:

1. Laguna: Dagat pp: L. asi nombran en comun a la Laguna de Bay, dito sasang dagatang ito, en toda esta laguna. l. Dito sasang doongang ito (SB page 383). (The L. after the pp. means used in Laguna)
2. Laguna: Pulilan pp: M. de Bay en respeto de Manila, namumulilan .3.ac. ir acon tratar de Manila y sus contornos a la laguna de Bay, ipinamumulilan .3.P. lo q llenan, aco, y, namumulilan, boy a la laguna a tratar, tagapulilan ca, eres natural de la laguna? Preguntan en Manila: (M after the pp means used in Manila) (SB page 383)
3. Laguna: Doongan pp: respeto de los del Bondo y Tingiuianes, tutugpa aco sa doongan, boy a la laguna, doon sasang doongan man, aungue sea alla en toda la laguna. (For those living in Nagcarlan, Liliw , Mahayhay, Laguna de Bay to them is Doongan). (SB page 383)
4. Laguneros: Taga-doongan pp: respeto de los Tingues, y taga Pulilan, respeto de Manila. (SB page 383)
5. Ir: Pulilan pp: M. los de manila a la laguna de Bay. Vi. Laguna. Maygi at acoy mamumulilan hani? Bueno ser ir yo a la laguna, que te parece? Mamulilan ca, ve a la laguna de Bay. (SB page 372).
6. Ir: Lovas pc: A Manila los de la laguna y tinges, lungmolovas .l. ac.l. naglolovas .2. ir a Manila, ylinolovas .1.P. lo que lleva a uender, linolovas. lo a que va alla, imp: lumovas ca, ve a Manila, anong ylolovas co? que e de llevar alla? lovasin mo ang asin, ve por tal a Manila. (SB page 372)
   

With the above definitions, it is crystal clear that Pulilan is the Laguna de Bay. However, for the past two years this author is at a lost interpreting the LCI using the above Pulilan definition. Is Ka Sumuran the Lord of the Lake? Is there such a ruler? The problem was settled when Antoon Postma gave this author a copy of the Sulat sa Tanso January/February 1996 issue. In page 5 of the newsletter, he wrote that sumur in Malay and Java means “well” like Sumur Bandung or Candi Sumur Upas in Indonesia and in Tagalog sumur means “bukal” (bukal=pinagmumulan ng tubig, UP Diksyonaryong Filipino, 2001). Kasumuran is not a name of a person but a placename. Kasumuran is a region of wells and springs, the source of water. Puliran Kasumuran in the Laguna Copperplate Inscription thus means Laguna de Bay water source.

A quick look at this satellite image will show that the most likely candidate for the Kasumuran region is the area from Nagcarlan, Laguna to Lucban, Quezon including Mt. Banahaw, Mt. San Cristobal and Mt. Lucban. As a testament to the vast amount of water in the area, the first two hydroelectric power plants in the Philippines, the Botocan and Caliraya Hydroelectric Power Plants were constructed in this area. The Botocan Falls and the Pagsanjan falls are also located in this region. Liliw and Nagcarlan municipal water supply comes from the mountain springs and Volcan de Agua is the Spanish name of Mt. Banahaw.

The P'u-li-lu in Chu Fan Chih book written by Chao Ju-Kua in 1225 most probably is the Laguna de Bay. William Henry Scott suggested that "P'u-li-lu is Polillo island" old interpretation must be rejected because of the remote and rugged Pacific coast of Luzon is unlikely to have attracted Asian shipping and the name itself looks supiciously like the Spanish diminutative for Tagalog pulo (Scott, 1984). However, since Laguna de Bay is inland, the source of the precious branch coral shan hu must be further investigated.

As for Pulilan, Bulacan, the place probably got its name in reference to the great Candaba Swamp beside the town. According to the Municipality of Pulilan website, the town of Pulilan, Bulacan was created out of the districts of Baliuag and Quinqua. Quinqua is from the Pampango word "kengwa" which means on the other side (of the Candaba swamp).

Kababayan Hero

Last year, a kababayan was featured in the Philippine Daily Inquirer newspaper. Published on page A19 of the February 27, 2005 issue of the newspaper was the heroism of Apolinar Tabernilla of Pila, Laguna. His heroism was caught on camera by the Agence France Presse and Associated Press. Inquirer was able to track down Tabernilla and his story through the pictures. Please read full story.

PHILIPPPINE TOWNS & CITIES: Reflections Of The Past, Lessons For The Future

The Heritage Conservation Society (HCS), in collaboration with the Urban Partnerships Foundation, and the University of the Philippines History Department, will be conducting a seminar on November 8, 2006 at the Development Academy of the Philippines, San Miguel Avenue, Pasig City. The seminar aims to promote heritage conservation as a strategy for urban development and revitalization that will redound to local socioeconomic growth.

Pila Historical Society Foundation Inc. will present the coordinated programs of the group for the study and preservation of Pila, Laguna historical sites and treasures representing a recently identified phase of our national history.

Download seminar program and objectives.

Laguna Copperplate Inscription and the Route to Paracale

The Pila Historical Society is actively working on a different interpretation of the Laguna Copperplate Inscription found in Lumban River in 1989. The Pila Historical Society is collaborating with Antoon Postma and other scholars on a new interpretation of the LCI that may further unlock its secret. The society firmly believes that the placenames in Bulacan as suggested by Antoon Postma are nowhere as significant in Philippine prehistory as those in Laguna especially the town of Pila (Santiago, 2003). The group believes that Paila which was mentioned twice in the Laguna Copperplate Inscription is the present town of Pila. Antoon Postma wrote in one of his correspondence to the society that Paila or Payla is a diphthong and can not develop into Pila as recommended. The society noted and informed Antoon Postma of the development of several tagalog words namely: baywang to bewang, baynat to binat, kailan to kelan, mayroon to meron, taynga or tainga to tenga. The dipthong ai became e or i.

Puliran is not the Bulacan town of Pulilan but the Laguna de Bay. According to the Philippines’ oldest printed dictionary, Pulilan is the old name of Laguna de Bay (San Buenaventura, 1613, page 383). Kasumuran is not a name of a person. According to Antoon Postma, the root word of kasumuran is sumur which means source of water. Puliran Kasumuran thus means Laguna de Bay water source. Puliran Kasumuran most probably is the region from Nagcarlan (Laguna) to Mauban (Quezon). As a testament to the vast amount of water of the Kasumuran region, the first two hydroelectric power plants of the Philippines were constructed in the same region. The Botocan Hydroelectric Power Plant and Caliraya Hydroelectric Power Plant were built before World War II and provided electricity to Manila and surrounding areas up to the present. The famous Pagsanjan and Botocan Falls are also within the Puliran Kasumuran region.

Binwangan is not the nameplace in Obando but Binawangan, Capalonga, Camarines Norte, the town next to Paracale, the source of gold of the Tagalogs. Capalonga and Paracale were listed in early Spanish chronicles as part of the Tagalog region (Blair and Robertson, 1903-1909). The Laguna Copperplate Inscription which was dated 900 AD defined the boundaries of the Tagalog region from Tondo to Capalonga, Camarines Norte. The same region occupied by the Tagalogs six hundred years later when the Spaniards conquered Luzon. It is interesting to note that Juan de Salcedo used the same route to capture the gold mines of Paracale (Blair and Robertson, 1903-1909). Perhaps the people who wrote the Laguna Copperplate Insciption are related to the Indios Mutilaos found by the Spaniards during the conquest of Pila and the Puliran Kasumuran region and were conceded (repartimiento) to Juan Lopez de Goyaz and Llorente Machado in 1572 (Nuchera, 1994).

In October 3, 1997, J. G. de Casparis wrote to Antoon Postma and suggested that the word dikrama in line 4 of the LCI means marriage. He also wrote that it is a solemn word for “to marry” in new Javanese and in Old Javanese under krama and panakramen meaning “to join in matrimony.” The Laguna Copperplate Inscription could have documented the marriage and love story of Jayadewa and Namwaran.

He also suggested in his 1994 letter that ganasakti is not a name of a person but a function. He noted that the term literally means “strong in counting” or “who acts as an accountant”. Bisruta is also not a name but a person who is famous or learned. Pila Historical Society recommends additional archaeological studies in Pinagbayanan and surrounding areas, Kasumuran region and Binawangan, Capalonga, Camarines Norte in light of the recent Laguna Copperplate Inscription findings.