Another Side of Silay: An Hacienda Life Tour

The Philippine Blog Awards-Visayas held in Silay City has just been concluded but the fun did not end there. It is good that Mayor Jose "Oti" Montelibano is tech-savvy and was very supportive of the whole event. He even honored us with his presence, prompting PBA president, Juned Sonido to comment that this is the first time that an LGU has shown real interest and support to bloggers.

Photo of Mayor Jose "Oti" Montelibano taken for PBA Facebook page

Silay City also scheduled a free tour for the participants the next day.  This was a "different" kind of tour which Mr. Ver Pacete, Silay Tourism Officer called...The Hacienda Life Tour.  The group coming from Bacolod was picked up early Sunday morning by the Silay City buses and as they reached Silay, they picked up participants who were booked in Silay inns. First stop was Hda. Adela, owned by the Unson family.  Unfortunately, I was not able to go on this leg of the tour because I was busy in church helping with the San Diego de Alcala feast day celebrations.  From their stories, I gathered that they were shown first hand the simple life of the mamumugon or farm laborer. As most of them have never set foot on an hacienda, it was a real eye-opener and a humbling experience. They were given a sample of folklore chants and composition (luwa and composo) by the  Asosasyon sang mga Mangunguma (AMA), the farmworkers' association that preserves these old traditions.

Next place they went to was Hda. Maquina, owned by the Jalandoni family.  This is where Fresh Start Organics Farm, one of the sponsors of the event is located.  The group was met by the farm owner, Ramon "Chin-Chin" Uy Jr.,  who is married to Francine Jalandoni Marañon, daughter of one of the owners of the hacienda. Here they were shown and explained on organic farming methods like the conversion of biodegradable waste into processed compost and fed to nightcrawlers.  It is the waste of these nightcrawlers that is used as fertilizer!  From there, the group proceeded to Balay Negrense where a sumptuous organic lunch prepared by Fresh Start's Chef Ronnie Guance was waiting for us (I joined the group by this time).

photo by Maricar Dabao of Viaje Negrense

Photo by Maricar Dabao of Viaje Negrense

photo by Glady Tomulto of Experience Negros

The lunch was so good! You can read about it here in Republica Negrense where blogger Mark Magallanes described it with gusto! The next and last place to go to was the Balaring Mangrove Park, but because lunch was so leisurely, meaning extending to native coffee (latte or cappucino, anyone?) post-lunch and a demo on how to make a piaya while the afternoon breeze made most of us sleepy plus the fact that the Manila group will be flying out by 5 pm, it was decided that this part of the tour be cancelled since a trip to the park and back will take about 2 hours. There will be a next time :)  I had to leave too because my mom was patiently waiting for me at the newly blessed Katilingban (Community) Center of our parish church.  I regret not being able to join the tour because this tour showed a different perspective of the city that I love.  Frankly I know all about Silay's rich history on culture and arts, the families who built the homes and mansions and the food handed down through generations. I even know many of the family secrets. But I doubt if I know anything about hacienda life.  There are also the skills and crafts that made Silay famous in the past but are slowly disappearing like the pottery shops of Barangay Guinhalaran which in my childhood used to line both sides of the highway for about a kilometer long.  Now it is down to about 2 or 3 shops only. It would be interesting to know why this is fast disappearing.

I am happy that the Tourism Office is reinventing Silay to include stories, sights and adventures off the beaten path because it is a fact that Silay has everything for everyone.  Silay's heritage is more than just its history...it's the continuing saga of the people who live and die here...like I said in previous posts the demographics of the city is changing, slowly but surely...the future belongs to the now.  All in all, it was a day well spent and as a Silaynon, I was quite proud of my city and our gracious Mayor and Tourism Officer...Thank you Mayor Oti and Mr. Ver Pacete!

Silay's Iron Dinosaurs

The Hawaiian-Philippine Company or HPCo as it is commonly called hereabouts, is the oldest and still very much operational sugar central in Silay City. It was established in 1918 and is currently owned by Jardine-Davis, a U.S. Company. Since then it has improved its facilities to meet world class standards. HPCo is also the owner of several "iron dinosaurs" or steam locomotives which are used to transport cut canes from the haciendas to be brought to the millsite. These iron dinosaurs started operations in the 1920's with Baldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia as the major supplier of steam engines.  HPCo is one of the last mills in the province that continue to use their steam locomotives until the present day.   However, maintenance is difficult and using bagasse, as fuel even though it is clean and free was labor intensive and thus, not economical. Other milling companies have already converted their trains to diesel fuel and HPCo too have converted many of their steam locomotives.  In fact, in 2003 HPCo advertised some of their steam locomotives for sale.  Two of these steam locomotives, built by Baldwin Locomotive Works  (c.1899 and 1916) were originally owned by the Honolulu Plantation Company until they were sold in 1947 to HPCo where they were used until 1998. In 2004, these two trains found their way back to Hawaii. The Kilohana Plantation in Hawaii recovered these steam engines and bought them to be used again in their newest attraction, the Kauia Plantation Railway.  For them it is a major feat to have been able to locate a matched pair of Baldwin engines with a Hawaiian history, which they will be renovating for future use. 

retrieved from http://www.kauaiplantationrailway.com/ims/halawa.jpg

Today, HPCo's trains no.5 and 7 are the only ones left running on steam.They continue to service the route from the neighboring farms to the mill site.

retrieved from http://tropicalpenpals.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/4Pa312432_thumb.jpg

retrieved from http://tropicalpenpals.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/4Pa312469_thumb.jpg

I hope HPCo management continues to maintain and preserve these trains which is part of the history of sugar in the country.  This is their contribution to heritage. These steam locomotives does not necessarily have to continue being used for transporting harvested canes, but perhaps they can be used something akin to what the Hawaiians are doing...transporting the past into the present. This is a wonderful retirement option for these trains in their old age.

Where Silay Got It's Name - The Legend Of Kansilay

Who was Kansilay?  Was she fact or fiction?  

Legend tells us that long before the Spaniards came to the shores of the island east of Panay, then known as Buglas, now Negros, there lived a beautiful lin-ay (maiden) named Kansilay in a village by the sea called Karobkob. She was the only daughter of Pinunong Bubog, the village head. Kansilay was betrothed to Lawa-an, a handsome and hard working “ulitao” (gentlemen) of the village and they were soon to wed. However before the wedding, Lawa-an joined the young men of the village for the yearly “ pangayam” (hunting for wildlife) which would be for one full moon. While they were away, pirates raided and plundered the village killing many including Kansilay's father. Kansilay gathered the other maidens and sought the help of the fairy Diwata who gave her a sword but was told that this is not a magic weapon. They fought valiantly but could not repulse the pirates. Lawa-an and the other men arrived in time to help and the pirates were defeated, but at the cost of Kansilay's life. In grief, the people lovingly buried her. One day, they saw a plant growing on Kansilay’s mound. The plant became a sturdy tree with purple-pink flowers, which they named after her, the first Kansilay tree, a tribute to a brave maiden.

That is the official version.

Other historians and history buffs give the supposition that if ever there was a Kansilay, the time period she lived was not during the datu and rajah era but much earlier. If this is true, then swords are not yet made at this time. But even this idea cannot be validated as there is not much information on the original settlers of Negros. The earliest date on record is 1565 and nothing much before that.

The original settlers of the island of Negros are thought to be of the Ati ethnic group also found in Panay, Bohol and neighboring islands in the Visayas. They most probably arrived from Borneo 20-30,000 years ago, through what is believed to be an isthmus that in the prehistoric times connected the Philippine archipelago to Borneo via a land bridge. According to some oral traditions, they also predate the Bisaya, who now inhabit most of the Visayas. An article written by Robert Lindsey says that the Ati of Negros have apparently gone extinct. This is not true. We still have Ati communities in the mountains of Silay, particularly in Sibato.

Our oral history has handed down the story of Kansilay through the centuries and preserved by our ancestors, so whether it is fact or fiction is not a really that important. Our beloved Silay exists and to me that is all that matters.

But now I wonder...was Kansilay an Ati or a Bisaya?

photo retrieved from http://robertlindsay.wordpress.com/2009/03/16/the-peopling-of-the-philippines/

source: GMA