Wenceslao Retana’s “El Indio Batangueño,” a Translation [Part II]

This is the second instalment of the AI-assisted translation of the Spanish colonial official Wenceslao Emilio Retana’s “El Indio Batangueño¹,” published in 1887. This particular book was among his early writings and was written with a somewhat condescending tone typical of the colonial era. Nonetheless, it gives a colorful insight about life in Batangas in the late 19^th century.

In the previous chapter, the translation was of the prologue written by the historian Manuel Sastron, known for his book “Batangas y Su Provincia.” This part begins with Retana’s actual work and includes the entire text of the first chapter.

CHAPTER I

THE FIRST INHABITANTS

Much has been written about who the first inhabitants of the Philippines may have been. It is immediately understood that, given the variety of physical types and dialects found in these Islands, their earliest settlers could not have come from a single point; all the more so because several continental regions lie close to this archipelago.

Father Casimiro Díaz, in his excellent manuscript (1) — the second part of the book titled Conquests of the Philippine Islands, written by Fray Gaspar de San Agustín — believes that “judging from the languages spoken in these Islands, it seems very likely that the first settlers came from the Aurea Chersonese (that is, Malacca) and from the islands of Sumatra and Borneo, where the mother tongue is found from which all the languages spoken in these Islands are dialects.”

“All the countries surrounding the Archipelago have ethnological significance in it, and many have contributed, in greater or lesser degree, to the annihilation of the aborigines and to the formation of this people, among whom a curious naturalist found represented all the races of the world” (2).

Mr. Lacalle affirms that this aboriginal race is that of the Aetas, which has been gradually disappearing under the powerful influence of many other peoples.

And the same author adds: “The Malay people reached the southern lands, where today are found the families that show the greatest resemblance to the inhabitants of Sumatra. In Luzon their influence may also be noted, though in a less marked way. Many pagan tribes of this island, and not a few Christianized ones, reflect the dealings of the ancient Filipinos with the peoples of China and Japan” (3).

However, the fact that this town was invaded many years ago (though after the arrival of the Spaniards) by a large number of Japanese — many of whom married the daughters of the town — leaves us uncertain whether the types we refer to come from that invasion or from much earlier times.

In any case, note how important that Japanese invasion must have been, when, after so many years without Chinese residents in Taal, one still sees in that town certain individuals whose features resemble those of the mentioned race.

Moreover, history tells us that when the conquest of these Islands occurred, the Chinese already knew some coasts of Luzon and the northern coasts of Mindoro. The nearness of the latter to the Batangas shores leads us to believe that some commercial relations must have existed between the Chinese and the Batangueños, and that the former exercised a certain (though slight) regenerating influence on the coastal towns of this province.

Focusing now on our particular subject — the earliest inhabitants of the province of Batangas — Fathers Buzeta and Bravo (4) state that “these indios are undoubtedly natives of the South Sea.” This does not contradict the opinions of the authors already mentioned, nor that of Fray Juan de la Concepción (5), who, like other writers, finds many analogies between the Filipino languages and that of the Malay Peninsula, as well as much resemblance between the physical types of both regions.

Setting aside the arguments concerning the supposed similarity between Tagalog and Malay scripts — since, according to Fray Martínez‑Vigil, a scholar of great philological knowledge, such similarity does not actually exist — we accept the view of Buzeta and Bravo. Still, we must admit that not all Batangueño features correspond identically. On the contrary, we see some heads quite similar, both in structure and in the smallest details, to those of the Chinese; and others which, without resembling the Chinese, do not resemble those of certain peoples within the same province either.

Despite this, the great majority of Batangueños share many traits of strong resemblance. The small differences observed between one group and another — especially between the lowland dwellers and those who live in the mountains — may be learned by the reader in the next chapter.

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