Pacifico, Santa Teresita, Batangas: Historical Data Part II
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| Historical data from the National Library of the Philippines. |
PART II
[p. 6]
would call for the parents or guardians of the man to talk about the consequence. Upon being informed, the parents of the man would bring with them sometimes fish, meat and rice, to the house of the girl. Everybody there would be there and after all, the two parties would talk about the matter. This was called “bulungan.” In the course of their conversation, the spokesman of the girl’s side would inquire the other side what they would give their son in case he was married. This thing being asked was called the “bigay kaya.” They also talked about the kind of party to be given, the wedding dress of the woman, the sponsors, and other things pertinent to the marriage.
Then, if the conditions offered were agreeable, then a specified date would be set aside for the wedding. In the afternoon prior to the marriage day, the different sponsors of either side would be given different kinds of food which were called “sabit.” Then, these people given would compute the amount of these presents and add still to this, a certain amount of cash as a donation to be remitted to the couple before the party terminated. This time of remitting the money was called “sabugan.” Not only the sponsors were the ones concerned in remitting voluntarily a certain amount of money, but everybody was invited to give as they pleased. This was usually done in the afternoon before evening.
After this sabugan, everybody would be going away, while the groom would stay in the woman’s house until the next day, after which time he would follow the woman who had gone ahead to the former’s home in the afternoon of the marriage day. Thus, the final marriage had at last materialized.
[p. 7]
(c) Death and Burial – When a person died, the relatives of the deceased talked about the cemetery where in he or she would be buried and the kind of burial they would render – whether a colorful or is simple one. They also talked about the property which she or he had left, and if something had been regarded as left, after the whole expenses were taken away, then the most respected member of the deceased’s [family] would divided equally the property left among the legal heirs.
If the deceased was a member of a well-to-do family, the burial would be a colorful one, if he was not, then his burial would be simple. Immediately after his death, every female visitor will pray for the eternal repose of the soul. This manner of praying was carried continuously for a period of thirty days. But commonly, on the eighth day, a party was held which was called “waluhang araw.” In this occasion, everybody was invited to be present to pray for the deceased. The praying was resumed again the next day until it reached thirty days, after which time, no praying was offered, except during the time of Babaan, or during the All Saints’ Day.
(e) Festivals – In time of festivals, no dances as we have now were prevalent. They had what they called as the fandango. This was also a kind of dance, only this was performed individually either by a man or by a woman. Besides the stepping and the movements of the hands and feet were quite different from the movements of the hands and feet of our present dances. Ask to the musical instruments, they used [the] accordion, or flute, while we are using guitars, violence, pianos, hearts, etc.
[p. 8]
(f) Punishments – Regarding punishments, penalties for those who had committed illegal acts, were also different from the punishments of today. During the olden times, the accused person was hogtied, making [it] impossible for him to move. If the crime committed was serious or grave enough, his two arms and feet where separately tied to four pegs, depriving him also of any kind of movements. If after rigid investigations, the accused person was considered as a murderer, or a person inciting revolutions that would endanger or affect the security of the nation, immediately, the guilty one was executed. There was no clemency or pardon as we have now.
[p. 9]
SUPERSTITIONS
The people in this barrio believe in many kinds of superstitions. Some of which are as follows:
(1) The sweeping of floors and surroundings late in the afternoon or in the evening is prohibited, because they believe that God's blessings given to them will be going away
(2) Nobody is allowed to sit on the stairs, in the early morning, for they believe they are obstructing the blessings of God that will be coming in
(3) If someone will be going to sell something, he will on his way try to secure as-is, tagpo, dawag, and other leaves, because they believe that the customers will be numerously coming to buy the things being sold.
(4) When someone is going to the cockpit and happend to see a snake on his way, he will do his best to avoid any delay, in view of the belief that he is sure of winning.
(5) In the evening, everybody will close his windows on the eastern side of a house, in view of the belief that God's blessings will not be able to escape.
(6) During the planting of rice in May, no farmer will attempt to plant his seeds during the seventh, seventeenth and twenty-seventh day of the month. They don't like to plant on these days because they believe that misfortune cannot be evaded within that year.
(7) No will place his or her money on the table, especially when someone is eating, because they believe that they will be poorer and poorer.