Balayan, Batangas: Historical Data Part 1

PART I

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Full transcription of the so-called “Historical Data” for the Municipality of Balayan, 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.

[Cover page.]

[Introduction.]

I N T R O D U C T I O N

This work is in compliance with the desire of his Excellency, President Elpidio Quirino, as expressed in his Executive Order No. 486, dated December 7, 1951, Re – PROVIDING FOR THE COLLECTION AND COMPILATION OF HISTORICAL DATA REGARDING BARRIOS, TOWNS, CITIES, AND PROVINCES.

This brief work in some way answers the President’s wish “for our advancement that such data be re-gathered and brought up to date from time to time, to serve as a source of inspiration and guidance for our future generations, as well as a source of materials for historians, investigators, and researchers” and that this work is urgently necessary because “the manuscripts, books and other publications forming the collections of the National Library were almost entirely destroyed during the battle for the liberation of the City of Manila from the Japanese; and that, among the documents destroyed were those manuscripts containing important data relating to the history and culture of our barrios, towns, cities, and provinces – manuscripts which were collected and preserved by virtue of Executive Orders Os. 2 and 136, dated January 26, 1911, and January 3, 1939, respectively.”

Although this work is not expansive enough as desired, this nevertheless may become a living testimony of the efforts exerted by the teachers in the municipality of Balayan in spite of the meager source or sources of information available as most records,

[Introduction p. 2]

official or not, had also been destroyed during the war or neglected by their owners and keepers to rot and waste under the influence of time and nature’s destructive agents.

To the few living old men of Balayan who made [the] most of this work available, Mr. Ceferino C. Deguito, local historian, researcher, philatelist, archeologist, novelist, and dramatist; Mr. Troadio Frontera, who gave some of his valuable recollections of the data contained in this report; Mr. Casiano T. Calalang, the tireless director of the Balayan Institute, writer of note in English and [the] National Language; the Lopez family, the town’s keeper of important books, documents, and historical data; the old men of the different barrios of Balayan – we owe them so much for their kindness and their cooperation for the happy completion of this brief and humble historical treatise on the municipality of Balayan. The committee, therefore, acknowledges their sincere effort to cooperate in the direction of accomplishing its objective as set forth in Executive Order No. 7, dated December 7, 1951, and General Office Memorandum No. 34, s. 1952, dated April 28, 1952.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS

[p. 1]

HISTORY AND CULTURAL LIFE OF THE
TOWN OF BALAYAN

One of the progressive towns of Batangas is a place in the western part of this province. “Balayan” is the present artificial name of this town. In the early days, from 1570 to 1677, the former name of this municipality was “Kumintang.” “Kumintang” was a song, only heard then, at the time in this part of the country and derived or named after Datu Kumintang who was then the ruler at that period.

Three years later, in 1590, Kumintang was changed to another name, “Balayihan,” a tongue-twisted word which was straightened into its present form – Balayan by the first Jesuit historian, named Chirino, which meant a place where [a] marriage ceremony was performed.

Not until 1578, although previously given already such name was the official establishment of Balayan made.

Pigafetta, in his voyage with Magellan, mentioned Balayan as an old thriving village long before Christianity had been established on its shore. As the founders of Balayan could never be ascertained as to who they were, the then Datu Kumintang and his elders who came over to the Philippines from Brunei as early as 1894 were the supposed founders. This datu was a grandson of one of those early datus of Brunei.

Prominent persons of notable families at the time held leading official positions in the town of Balayan which were as follows:

During the Spanish regime:

After the reign of the Alcaldes Mayores, the Capitan Municipal took over the reins of the government which are enumerated in chronological order. They were as follows:

[p. 2]

[p. 3]

Aside from the Alcaldes Mayores and the Capitan Municipal as running the Balayan government, the town also had the priests (Cura Parroco) who made possible the spread of Christianity in the community. They are enumerated in order with the dates of their tenure in office.

In addition to these priests, the town had also these maestros municipal who were:

Immediately after the Spanish regime, the American rule got under way. During this new regime, prominent statesmen of Balayan took hold of the presidency who were then elected by the majority vote. Here they are arranged in the order of their incumbency:

[p. 4]

Vice-President

Each term had its own president, vice-president, secretary, treasurer, justice of the peace, chief of police, and several policemen, and many councilors.

Secretary

Treasurer

Justice of the Peace

Chief of Police

Councilors

[p. 5]

At the outbreak of the Second World War on December 8, 1941, the Japanese landed on our shores and a government was established by them. These officials were no longer elected by the people but were appointed. The alcalde, vice alcalde, chief of police, and justice of the peace were appointed by the Japanese Army. These appointed officials were:

On July 4, 1946, the Republic of the Philippines was inaugurated under the presidency of the late Honorable Manuel Roxas. Alcaldes of the towns were called mayors since then. The following are the municipal officials of Balayan:

[p. 6]

Councilors

1952 to date Councilors

Balayan has some historical sites like Bombon, Dam Ballelos and old ruins like the town church which is a reminiscence of Spanish structures.

Bombon, which is located in the southeastern part of the poblacion and along the coast of Balayan Bay is worth remembering because it was the first place where the Moros from the Visayas landed when they came to this town. These Moros were led by Datu Puti.

Dam Ballelos, which is the name of one of the streets in the poblacion, got its name in memory of a man, Damaso Ballelos, who fought bravely and was killed by the Americans.

The church, which is in the northwestern part of the poblacion, was wholly built through the forced labor known as Labor Tax during the Spanish regime. The people being poor could not pay their taxes in cash and they were made to work for fifteen days every year.

In addition to the above historical ruins and sitios important facts, incidents and events also took place during the Spanish rule, likewise with the American rule.

During the Japanese regime, 1941-1945, very few people from the poblacion were killed by the Japanese. Among those who were killed were Dr. Rodolfo Bahia, Mr. Amador Deguito, Mr. Lorenzo Galvez, Mr. Luis de Guzman, Mr. Federico Gaa, and Mr. Damaso Maningat. No houses were burned in the poblacion except Mr. Jose Lopez Manzano’s home in Gumamela, about several hundred meters from the poblacion. The Japanese soldiers went from house to house to get whatever they wanted especially rice, clothing, and many other things. They also got working animals, like carabaos, cows, and horses. They also got calesas, carts, and also trucks and automobiles and used them in carrying war implements and other things in their travels.

[p. 7]

The first Japanese soldiers came to this town in 1942. Very few people stayed in the poblacion because most of them went to far away barrios to live temporarily. The Japanese civilians established an association called the Dai Nippon. They compelled the farmers of the locality and the neighboring barrios to plant cotton instead of sugar, rice, and other crops. These Japanese soldiers did not stay long in the poblacion. In 1944, [a] great number of Japanese soldiers came to this place. They were so many that they occupied the two large school buildings and many large houses in the poblacion. Some of the people who hated the Japanese because of their abuses formed a secret move known as Guerrilla Organizations. When the Japanese learned this movement, they caught and tortured those who were reported to them as guerrilleros. Among those who were killed were Dr. Rodolfo Bahia, Mr. Amador Deguito, and Mr. Lorenzo Galvez.

Very few classes were opened in the public schools during this time. Many children would not attend the classes because they were afraid of the Japanese and many others were in the far away barrios. The textbooks that were used were the same textbooks used before the war. They only told the teachers to cut or cover the back parts that were pertaining to American and Filipino heroes and patriots. All the Japanese, both soldiers and civilians, went away from this place sometime in December, 1944. The American soldiers who landed in Nasugbu in January, 1945 arrived here in March of the same year. They stayed in this place for about three weeks to liberate the town.

Following World War II, the following accomplishments were made in the poblacion:

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