San Isidro, Taysan, Batangas: Historical Data - Batangas History, Culture and Folklore

San Isidro, Taysan, Batangas: Historical Data

Full transcription of the so-called “Historical Data” for the barrio of San Isidro in the Municipality of Taysan, 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.
Historical Data
[Cover page.]



S A N - I S I D R O



[p. 1]

1. San Isidro is the present official name of the barrio.

2. The popular name of the barrio at present is San Isidro. Its name is not derived from [the] name of [a] person or saint, but its name was given by the municipal board of Taysan during the administration of Captain Felix Ona, as Mayor in the Spanish time. It was part of the barrio of Bukal during the early times.

Kabaong, Kalamyas, and Romana are the sitios included within the territorial jurisdiction of the barrio.

3. It was established in the year 1901 according to Mr. Placido Ramirez, one of the original families residing in the barrio.

4. The original families were:
a. Gregorio Carag
b. Lorenzo Carag
c. Agaton Bianzon
d. Placido Ramirez
e. Fernando Lontok
 f. Lorenzo Lontok
g. Valentin Gutierrez
h. Benedicto Subye
i. Valeriano Dizon
j. Prudencio Ramirez
5. List of tenientes from the earliest time to date:
a. Valentin Gutierrez
b. Lorenzo Lontoc
c. Sotero Gutierrez
d. Mariano Capili
e. Gregorio Guerra
f. Catalino Mayo
g. Diego Ebete
h. Basilio Guerra
i. Demeterio de Castro
j. Calisto Africa
k. Policarpio Ramirez
l. Roman Garing
m. Policarpio Ramirez
n. Lorenzo Escobilla
o. Vicente Escabel
p. Crisanto Conti

q. Juan Escabel

[p. 2]

6. In the eastern part of the barrio, there is a small place surrounded by hills. It is thickly populated. It is called the sitio of Kabaong. In the southern part lies another sitio with the name Kalamyas. There was a big kamyas three on the bank of a stream, so the people called it Kalamyas River and the sitio of Kalamyas. It is hilly and mountainous and thinly populated. In the southern part of the barrio is another sitio named Romana. Its name was derived from an old woman named Romana, the first settler. Under her supervision, the neighbors built a small well at the source of the Bukal River. From the earliest date till the present, it is called Pook of Romana.

7. In 1901, under the distinct leadership of Captain Felix Ona, and a barrio lieutenant whose name was Sotero Gutierrez, [a] large part of the barrio was covered with forests, and only huts were built. Later, the said barrier was invaded and robbed by outlaw during the Spanish occupation.

8. During the Spanish occupation, San Isidro got its name. The people wear maltreated by the Spaniards. Under the hands of the Americans, at first the pound was under President Geronimo Briones. People feared much to face the Americans. Many hid themselves as best as they could, others went to town with the hope of freedom. They carried provisions for their needs. The president sent out word that all people must go to town. Then, the Americans invaded the barrio, burned every house found. After some weeks, the people were given freedom to go to their respective homes. They built huts to live in. People were given root crops to plant. When the crops were grown, sad days happened. Young locusts sprang up in different places in the barrio and destroyed the crops.

[p. 3]

People we are buried in depths of sadness. During this period, women were given passports to get palay from the Americans for their support. After many years, people lived peacefully and contented under American control. As to the political, educational, economic, and religious [aspects], great developments were introduced by the Americans.

During and after World War II, people did not suffered much under the hands of the invaders. Many of the people did not evacuated from their homes but only hit themselves along the wilderness of the barrio. Some of the houses were burned by the Filipino [and] Japanese soldiers. After the American-Japanese War, the barrio of San Isidro progressed a little until at present. It has about 749 inhabitants and more less 150 houses. Through our school examples, people are encouraged to improve our community living. Health, sanitation and education were improved.

9. Live were not condemned. Properties and houses were destroyed and in 1941-1945, institutions were set aside. Following World War II, accomplishments toward rehabilitation and reconstruction were great.

[p. 4]

PART - - - TWO

10. Traditions, customs, and practices in domestic and social life:

As to birth, [the] customs and practices in the past were the same as to the present. Baptism was also the same as it is with the present.

Courtship during the past had different movements as it is now. During the past, a man courting a lady could not enter any lady’s house with his hat on his head. He could not even enter the sala, and could not even talk with the lady on the line of courtship. He had to serve her parents as long as they were not married.

In the past, the dead person was only wrapped with [a] mat and buried. Visits and festivals were supervised by the barrio lieutenant at his own expense. Pangaw was the punishment given to any wrongdoer during the past, that is the feet of a criminal were confined in a hole of a big wooden block.

11. Ask to the beliefs of most, the origin of the world was from the dim [?] darkness that nothing had ever lived except hour Creator. Land, mountains and caves were formed when God drain the water from the surface of the earth and conserved in lowland levels to the sea. Plants, trees and animals were our inheritance from Seth and Cain, sons of Adam and Eve. The sun and the moon were brothers. It was said that when Seth and Cain were on their way home from a walk, they found a silvery and glittering object. They played much with it. At last, Seth through it to the ground and played with his feet. Suddenly, it broke into halves. By the divine power of God, they became the sun and the moon. Eclipses were formed with dark thick clouds. Earthquakes, lightning and thunder were the sudden contact of the four elements that existed on earth. Clouds and

[p. 5]

rain are also formed by the four elements. When the hot air was overpowered by the cool air, the hot air evaporated into the air and forms clouds, and when it reached the cool atmosphere, it dissolved and fell as rain. When, storms, and clouds [and] changes of a climate were caused by the turning of the earth around its axis. When the moon was overpowered by the sun, the day was hot, but when the sun was under-powered by the moon, the day was cool.

The first man and woman where Adam and Eve, whose twin suns were Seth and Cain. Many people believed that sickness came from the food we ate and another was from the natural science of the sky during the departure of the Old Year. It was said that when we see clouds spread like a broom in the sky at that moment, the year to come was mercy to animals if not to the people. Life was fearful. Many still believed in witchcraft. The divination of the people in the past was also the same as it is at present.

12: Games: Tubigan, wrestling and Bintakaturo.

Amusements: Pandango, awitan and patahan.

13: Riddles:

a. Pinalayaw-layaw, kamukha’y may sakit, kinawilihan di mo naman inibig. Treated well like an illness, living in it [without] willingness, but you do not like it well. (Jail)

b. Kapirasong lasona di mabayadan ang halaga. Only a half-piece, but nobody can pay its price. (Image of our Creator)

14: Sayings:

a. Kung saan nadapa, doon babangon. Where you fall, there you stand.

b. Ang oras ay ginto. Time is gold.

[p. 6]

15. The old method of measuring time was by the sun, moon, stars and birds and chickens.

T H E    E N D

Notes and references:
Transcribed from “History and Cultural Life of the Barrio of San Isidro, Taysan, Batangas,” 1953, online at the National Library of the Philippines Digital Collections.

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