Changing of the guard in my hometown

The newly-elected mayor, vice-mayor and seven members of the Sanggunianng Bayan during their proclamation by Comelec on 10 May 2016 . Photo by the author.

In the recent May 2016 elections, a woman was elected mayor, the first in the history of my hometown San Narciso, Zambales.  Dr. La Rainne Abad Sarmiento and her close rival to the post crushed the incumbent's hopes for a third and final term. It was her first try, and she succeeded with an integrated campaign network in all the town's barangays.

Sarmiento joins five other women who will head local government units for the next three years starting 1 July: three re-elected (San Felipe, San Antonio and Botolan towns) and two newly-elected like her (Cabangan and Masinloc towns) .

Sarmiento's victory toppled the 'dynasty' (the town folks' term) of the Lim brothers.  The older one completed three terms, and the younger failed to clinch a third term. The full-blooded Chinese brothers, scions of one of the owners of the local hardware store, are Filipino citizens.

In one way, the Lim brothers upset the long-held prejudice against 'non-locals' by blood or origin in elections for posts in the local government. The first 'non-local' or 'gang-gannaet' (stranger in our Ilocano idiom) was elected town councilor in the 1971 elections. He was from northern Zambales married to a local teacher. Before him, the local photographer attempted but he was rejected even if he had been a long time resident of the town.

The vice mayor and municipal councilors (in polo barong) elected before the declaration of martial law. 

From the collection of the author.

The 1971 elections was a historical turning point. It was the last democratic elections before Ferdinand Marcos imposed martial law in September 1972, nine months after the winners in the November 1971 elections took their oath  on 31 December 1971 (photo above).  

I was a fresh engineering graduate from the University of the Philippines, and my candidacy was an impulsive decision, unplanned.  I was the youngest of that last batch. Aware that I was elected only for a four-year term, and with no end of martial law in sight, I resigned in 1975. The rest served the Bagong Lipunan regime until the elections on 30 January 1980, the first local and national elections after the declaration of martial law.

The 1980 elections did not bring a change of leadership. The mayor got a renewed mandate, and he would serve until the EDSA revolution of 1986.

EDSA I, in a sense, was a turning point in local history. President Corazon Aquino replaced the 1,550 mayors of the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan party and four non-KB, and likewise municipal council members all over the archipelago with officers-in-charge until elections were held under the new Constitution of 1987.  The incumbent, a medical doctor, had already been mayor since January 1963. Cory Aquino replaced him with another medical doctor as officer-in-charge. They would face each other in the elections of 1988. The OIC lost that race to the long-serving doctor mayor. It was in the 1992 elections that the former clinched the title; the latter no longer ran for re-election.

The election results of 9 July 1846: San Narciso contra los temblores. From the Ereccion de Pueblos SD-14126 of the National Archives of the Philippines.

The first turning point in the history of San Narciso governance was the election of local officials on 9 July 1846. This was in accordance with the orders of Governor-General Narciso Claveria prior to his approval of a memorandum from the Alcalde Mayor of Zambales dated 11 July 1846  creating a civil town called San Narciso out of the four Ilocano barrios of Cabangan town.  The barrio of San Marcelino was included on 1 October 1846.

In the election results the town was described as "San Narciso contra los temblores" (literally, San Narciso against earthquakes), and the following were elected:   Teniente (absoluto) - Don Fruto Apolinario; Juez de policia (police) - Don Miguel Labrador; Juez de palmas (palm trees) - Don Timoteo Andres; Alguacil primero - Don Patricio Erese; Alguacil segundo - Cosme Agustin; and Alguacil tercero - Vicente Toledo.

Since San Narciso was a civil town still under the jurisdiction of Iba, the capital, and it had no parish yet (it was visita of the Iba church), the town head was called teniente absoluto but was actually discharging the duties and responsibilities of a Gobernadorcillo.

There were subsequent elections for teniente absoluto until the town was emancipated from the civil and ecclesiastical jurisdiction of Iba on 12 May 1849.  On this date also, barrios Bobolon, Sindol, Pamisarauan and San Marcelino were separated from Alasiis, which became solely the town of San Narciso.

Bobolon became San Felipe but Sindol opted to remain its barrio. San Felipe and Sindol were initially visitas of San Narciso. The civil towns of San Marcelino and Pamisarauan as San Antonio were attached to the church in Subic.  Until they obtained independent parishes from their religious matrices, the town heads were addressed as teniente absoluto. 

The election of  the first Gobernadorcillo, ministros and subalternos of San Narciso was held on 7 December 1849.  Teniente absoluto Don Fruto Apolinario was re-elected, this time as Gobernadorcillo, for the year 1850.

Ministros elected were:  Teniente primero (first lieutenant; in a way the vice gobernadorcillo) - Don Tito Mariano; Juez de sementera (agricultural lands) - Don Esteban Canonizado; Juez de policia (police) - Don Valentin Mayor; Juez de ganados (cattle/farm animals) - Don Joaquin Velasco.

Subalternos: Teniente segundo - Don Fermin Rivera y Valdez; third to fifth Tenientes - Martin Natividad, Pioquinto Matias and Toribio Bernabe; first to fifth Alguacil (policeman)  - Agustin Villanueva, Agustin Lucas, Julian Guerrero, Juan Vigilia and Faustino Somera.

Of course, through the years, there were other turning points in the history of San Narciso local elections: the last election before end of the Spanish regime, the first election under the Americans, the governance during the Japanese occupation and first one after World War II.

The zing of Zambales: cove exploring and island hopping

Note:  This photo-essay appeared in the 25 Apr - 01 May 2014 issue of the FilAm Star, 'the newspaper for Filipinos in mainstream America,' which is published weekly in San Francisco, CA. This blogger/author is the Philippines Special News/Photo Correspondent of the said paper.
 

The Zambales Mango Festival was held earlier in March but for true-blue Zambaleños, the feast of the golden yellow kalabaw or piko varieties comes around Holy Week.  Between San Narciso and San Marcelino towns is the diversion road informally called the Mango Highway, and at this time, the fruit stalls there are teeming with green and golden ripe Zambales mangoes. The sweetest variety is called Santa Elena grown in Sta. Cruz town, but the supply dwindles fast especially after the choice picks have all been packed for the export market.  It is very seldom though that the locals and the out-of-town visitors specifically ask for this variety.  

 There is more fun in Zambales though than looking for Santa Elena mangoes.  This has something more to do with geography.  The province is hemmed by the West Philippine Sea, and all but two of its 13 towns lie along the more than 100 miles of coastline. On the eastside is the Zambales mountain range with its famous peaks, Mt Pinatubo, which blew its top almost 25 years ago, and Mt. Tapulao, which hosts endemic flora and fauna with new species discovered a few years ago.  

The rugged coasts include beautiful beaches and coves that have become popular destinations of local and foreign tourists and nature explorers these recent years. 

Beach resorts can be stringed from Subic to Sta. Cruz.  Busloads of beach lovers from Manila and nearby provinces usually stop at the Subic resorts.  Surfing aficionados though flock to Pundaquit in San Antonio, La Paz in San Narciso, and some more resorts further north. 

Zambales takes itself as a major surfing area in the country. The almost linear beaches are wont to be rough during some months of the year, creating big waves that surfers love to ride on. Surfing tournaments have been held here.  In the Crystal Beach Resort of San Narciso, surfing tutorials have attracted a growing clientele of this water sports. 

The hub of cove explorations is Pundaquit, the fishing barangay (village) of San Antonio town whose coastal boundary turns around Sampaloc Point, the western tip of the terrestrial arc of Subic Bay.  From here, the explorer can select his cove destination going southward from the nearest,  Anawangin, to the farthest and biggest,  Silanguin.  Between them are Talisayin, now privately-owned, and Nagsasa.  The boatride to Anawangin is 30 minutes; to Nagsasa is roughly one hour; and to Silanguin almost two hours. 

We have gone on a family trip to Nagsasa, going around rocky formations to get there, and getting a distant view of the white sands of Anawangin and Talisayin coves set against verdant green forests, predominantly of agoho trees, on the low mountain sides.

According to the Aytas who manage Nagsasa, there was no sandy beach before Mt. Pinatubo erupted in 1991.  The lahar that deposited on Nagsasa and other coves became their white sand beaches.

The coves were in fact forbidden territory before 1991 when there was the US naval facility in Subic-Olongapo, and a US naval communication center in San Antonio. The mountainous stretch along the coast was the target practice area of the US armed forces, and it was dangerous even for fishermen to come near the shore during military exercises.  Mt. Pinatubo hastened the termination of the US bases in Subic and Clark, but it created new touristic coves along the coasts of San Antonio, Zambales. 

Except for variations in their terrestrial structures, the coves are very pristine:  the sea in varying degrees of blue, white sandy beaches, and rugged low brown mountain walls with curtains of green agoho trees.  In Nagsasa, there is a very shallow stream that curves as it flows to the sea, thus breaking the monotony of the white sandy shore. 

The coves do not have the amenities one expects in places like Boracay or El Nido. In Nagsasa, there are comfort and bath rooms; and huts or tents can be rented.  The Aytas maintain a store for basic necessities, and operate a power generator for a limited time during the night. Definitely, there are no mobile phone signals. 

Nagsasa and the other coves are best for camping.  The waters are definitely clean for swimming being so far away from the sewerage of population centers.

The coves can be accessible to hikers and mountain climbers.  For Nagsasa, the starting point for the guided mountain trek is a fast food restaurant in Subic town, and this would, according to the Ayta guides, take from three to four hours because of frequent rests and photo-ops of the trekkers.

Pundaquit is also the most convenient jumping-off place for the Camara and Capones Islands.  A boat ride may not take half an hour to get there.  Camara is all rock, hence, Capones is the preferred destination for camping, picnicking and snorkelling. 

From our beachfront in San Narciso, one has to depart for Capones very early in the morning, preferably before the sun is up.  It takes almost an hour to get there.  The joy of the landing comes in seeing live corals, sea weeds and small colored fishes swimming around, through the clear and calm sea water.   

The early hours are good for swimming and snorkelling.  Capones is a rugged island with sparse vegetation, white sandy beach and rough rock formations.  It’s a must that first-time visitors climb the old lighthouse, more than a century old, built by the Spaniards in the early 1890s. 

Late hour departure from Capones is not advisable since the sea gets rough.  In our experience, we boarded the boat for home as soon as we have finished our lunch.  The better course is to camp overnight, and depart after breakfast and the morning swim. 

Our most recent venture is in Magalawa Island, neighbor to San Salvador and San Miguel Islands, all of them between Palauig and Masinloc towns.  All three are inhabited fishing villages. They have public elementary schools and San Salvador has a high school. 

Magalawa is the perfect destination for beach lovers.  It can be reached from Palauig town by boat in 30 minutes.  One can drive to barangay Luan for the boat that can take you there in about 10 minutes.    

This island is still pristine:  white sandy beach and green vegetation along the coast.  Visitors have a choice between the public swimming area and a privately-owned resort.  

Being a fishing village, there is plenty of sea food to buy for lunch picnics.  At the resort, boats are for hire for whole-day leisurely rides around the island or out at the open sea.  

Definitely smaller than Magalawa Island of Palauig is Potipot Island of Candelaria town.  It is said that it’s sandy beach is whiter than Boracay’s, and that it would take about an hour to explore the whole of Potipot. 

It’s summer, and it’s the best time to explore the coves in southern Zambales, and hop from one pristine island to another starting from Capones in mid-province to Potipot in the north.  May be it’s also time to get a surfboard, learn the rudiments, get thrown off every now and then until the art of riding waves is fully mastered.

Domingo Ramos (Palm Sunday) of old

Blessing of the ramos [palaspas, Tag.] at the St. Michael the Archangel Church in Fort Bonifacio, 24 March 2013.

It's a good thing something distracted me from going to the Sta. Cruz church in Manila for the afternoon Domingo Ramos mass yesterday.  It rained so hard in the afternoon that some places in the metropolitan area were 'treated' to the usual flashfloods.

We were in our sister's place in the AFP housing village and the St. Michael the Archangel church was just a short walk away.  As expected the street leading to the church was lined up with vendors of palaspas (artfully crafted young coconut leaves) to be blessed by the priest, brought home and hang by doorways to ward off evil, according to folklore.  In San Antonio, Zambales, people don't use these artistic coconut leaves but instead bring a branch (ramo, Sp.) of the Zycas zambalensis, an endangered specie, to the Palm Sunday service.

The vendors were telling me that they came down from Laguna as early as Friday with hauls of coconut leaves, and camped on streets around the church where they fashioned the artistic ramos.  After the early evening mass, they were lamenting they still had plenty to sell, adding that there were really not as many churchgoers as in previous years.

We remember that in our childhood in San Narciso, Zambales where there are many who carry the family name Ramos (it came all the way from Paoay, Ilocos Norte in 1837 and was not replaced by an F surname from the Narciso Claveria catalog in1850), young girls including our five sisters had major roles in Aglipayan church activities during the Holy Week.

Their first appearance was on Domingo Ramos.  Both the Roman Catholics and the Aglipayans built several small house-like bamboo structures walled and roofed with white curtains or bedsheets called kubo-kubo where the little girls dressed in white with cardboard angel wings were posted as if they were looking out from a window.  When the priest (representing Jesus Christ) paused in front of a kubo-kubo, they strewed flower petals to the beat of their song in Latin, 'Hosanna Filio David,' that they had rehearsed with the cantoras for several weeks.

Their rites of girlhood in white dress and angel wings continued through the processions of Holy Thursday and Good Friday and culminated during the early dawn sabet (Iloc.; salubong, Tag.) rites of Easter Sunday.  Here they sang the story of the resurrection in Ilocano, being joyful only at the Nagungaren (He has risen!) Alleluia chorus, as they watched a suspended a large flower open its petals in which one of them, previously chosen because of better singing projection, was hidden and now brought down to lift the black veil of the sorrowful Virgin Mary when the Risen Christ was brought before her.

The kubo-kubo ritual of Domingo Ramos in our town has become part of history. This year, the Aglipayans have adopted the new form, which the Roman Catholics have been using for a long time: the palaspas rites in the church yard before the priest leads the congregation to the church for the holy mass.  For almost two decades now, the Catholics too have an image of Christ riding a donkey in the procession to the church.

Artistic ramos is something we share with the Mexicans who also use coconut fronds as shown by the lower photo from the latest issue of Atencion San Miguel, a bilingual publication of the library of San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.  (Source:  http://www.atencionsanmiguel.org/2013/03/22/palm-sunday-in-the-city/)

Palm Sunday palaspas of San Antonio, Zambales from the endangered species Cycas zambalensis

Hossana with palaspas of Cycas zambalensis leaves.

It was not in our itinerary this Holy Week to go to San Antonio, Zambales for the Palm Sunday services.  

But a week ago, we were visiting Dr Domingo A Madulid, head of the Botany Division of the National Museum, to check if it's possible for him or his staff to teach high school kids how to prepare plant specimens for botanical identification in a youth camp in San Narciso town.

San Antonio faithful wave Cycas fronds for the blessing.

His ears perked up when we told him we're from that place, and pretty soon he was excitedly telling us of the new Philippine species of Cycas (common name, pitogo) that he and Dr Esperanza Maribel G Agoo of De La Salle University discovered in the hilly grassland of barangay Pundakit in San Antonio in 2005. They were working on a research project funded by the Haribon Foundation's Threatened Species Program, De La Salle U and the National Museum.

Of ten species of Cycas in the Philippines (Lindstrom etal, 2008), this one is found only in the "steep and rugged hills in Zambales" and to honor the province, Dr Madulid and Dr Agoo called it Cycas zambalensis. 

They've tagged it as a “critically endangered species” considering the threat posed by occasional burning of the grassy hillsides to promote new growth for cattle and goat grazing, collection for the horticultural trade, and the use of the fronds for the palaspas of Domingo de Ramos or Palm Sunday (Madulid & Agoo, 2005) at the start of the Holy Week.  

Close-up of palaspas from Cycas zambalensis.

He urged us to attend and photo-document the early morning Palm Sunday services in San Antonio because, he said, almost all the churchgoers will be waving the Cycas fronds during the blessing ceremony. There were indeed just very few who used the artistically constructed palaspas from the young coconut fronds. These were brought down from the hills, a parishioner told me.  We don't know if it's a zambalensis that's standing near the church with several fronds clipped off. 

May not be zambalensis but a chamberlainii or rumphii.

Before the doors of the church opened for the entrance of the parishioner's to the church, we were able to reach the parish priest, Fr Joey Corpuz, and told him about the zambalensis, with emphasis on it's being a threatened species.

We were surprised that Fr Joey found it very appropriate to cite the endangerment of the plant (and he remembered the scientific name to emphasize that it's endemic in their town), which he compared to the seeming disappearance of the live singing of the pasyon tradition because people now are conveniently resorting to recorded versions.

On the bus ride home later in the day, we read in the newspaper that the theme of the Alay Kapwa Lenten action program of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) this year is environment consciousness.

Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez was reported to have said, “Part of the saving act of the Lord is not just the human person but also the work, the whole of creation, and a very important part of creation is of course, ecology."

For the people of San Antonio, to keep their tradition of commemorating the triumphal entry of Jesus Christ to Jerusalem, it would be best for them to take measures for the conservation and preservation of Cycas zambalensis.  One way could be to help propagate the species by planting it in their yards or in their farms in the same manner that the imported species Cycas revoluta is used as ornamental plant all over the country.

References:

• Madulid, D.A. & Agoo, E.M.G. (2005). A new species of Cycas (Cycadaceae) from the Philippines. Blumea 50:519-522.  Retrieved from http://docserver.ingentaconnect.com/deliver/connect/nhn/00065196/v50n3/s12.pdf?expires=1303046667&id=62324983&titleid=75002419&accname=Guest+User&checksum=259C75F04C116D7FD2F9ABD8873F86E4 

•  Madulid, D.A. (1995).  A pictorial cyclopedia of Philippine ornamental plants.  Makati, Metro Manila:Bookmark, Inc.

• Lindstrom, A.J., Hill, K.D., & Stanberg, L.C. (2008). The genus Cycas (Cycadaceae) in the Philippines. Telopea 12(1):119-145.  Retrieved from http://www.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/91871/Tel121119Hil.pdf