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Islas
de los Pintados:
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Nestled
in the bosom of the Philippines central seas are islands which
Spanish conquistadors called Islands of the Painted People, Islas
de los Pintados, because of the ancient people's custom of
tattooing. Tattoos expressed a person's role and achievement in
society. Men tattooed themselves almost totally while women were
tattooed only in select parts of their anatomy, like arms. Tattoos
served like a piece of clothing, and complemented the simple cut
of clothes and jewelry, which the people wore.
Land. This cluster of islands consist of
- six
large ones–Panay, Negros, Cebu, Bohol, Samar, Leyte;
- seven
medium–Guimaras, Siquijor, Bantayan, Mactan, Camotes,
Biliran, Panglao
- and
many small ones, some named Maripipi, Capul, Lauang, Batag,
Cabilao, Olutayan, and countless unnamed island and isles
The
Visayas is situated around 12.5 to 9 degrees latitude north; 121
to 126 longitude. Its
climate is tropical and has marked seasons of rain, cool and dry
enjoyed by the rest of the Philippines.
Its northern islands are within the typhoon path with the
island of Samar being buffeted the most, hence its depressed economic
condition.
The
islands are either of volcanic or marine origin. The islands of
Panay and Negros are primarily volcanic, and the lofty volcanoes
Mount Kanlaon in Negros Occidental and Mount Talinis near Siaton,
Negros Oriental supply not only the energy needs of the island
but neighboring islands as well. But Cebu and Bohol are mostly of limestone
and fossilized coral giving away their marine origins.
Name. The islands, however, are known collectively
and locally as the Visayas. The name’s
origins are nebulous, some hypotheses have been proposed one suggests
that the name derives from the Shrivijaya Empire based in Palembang,
Sumatra. A major
maritime power it influenced much of Southeast Asia from the 7th
to the 12th centuries, it had converted to Islam toward its later
history after being Hindu-Buddhist.
However, the almost total absence of adherents to Buddhism
or Islam in Visayas at colonial contact (1521) suggest otherwise.
One could hypothesize that a kingdom deeply attached to
Islam would have brought the religion to the Philippines.
Islam came to southern Philippines through Arab traders
and through the Borneo route and had not advanced much beyond
Mindanao in the 16th century.
Bisaya in archaic Tausog means slave; however, this is
a case of later development when Visayan caught by slave raiders
were being traded in Jolo to supply the manpower needs not just
of the local datus but of Dutch merchants who run an active trade
in Batavia (Jakarta). A
Spanish missionary, Ignacio Alzina, writing about the history
of the Visayas in 1668 claims that the term comes from aya or caya, meaning a happy person.
Pre-history. The nebulous origins “Visayas”
coupled with a poor knowledge of the region’s history prior
to colonization seems to be the reason why the Maragtas story
and the subsequent tale of wise lawgiver Datu Kalantiaw is accepted
as historical truth in many places, notwithstanding the dubious
origins of the stories. Briefly the Maragtas narrates that a group
of Borneans , fleeing persecution and headed by Datu Puti arrived
in the Visayas, in the 13th century where they encountered
the dark complexioned Ati under Datu Marikudo.
The Borneans negotiated with the Ati to allow them to settle
along the coast in exchange for a golden salakot, basin and necklace. In the 20th century, the Maragtas was retold as
an epic poem by the Ilongo poet, Ricaredo Demetillo, The Barter
of Panay; staged as a multi-media drama, Dularawan, for the inauguration
of the Cultural Center of the Philippines, and has become the
subject of a dance suite by the famous Bayanihan Dancers.
The rest of the tale is taken as historical truth (complete
with dates) as shown in the following quotations from government
publication (DOT Website) about:
Iloilo
Irong-Irong appears in the Maragtas legend of the coming of the
ten Bornean datus to Panay who bartered gold for the plains and
valleys of the island from a local Ati chieftain. One datu, Paiburong
by name, was given the territory of Irong-Irong in what is now
Iloilo. For 300 years before the coming of the Spaniards, the islanders
lived in comparative prosperity and peace under an organized government
and such laws as the Code of Kalantiaw.
Capiz
Capiz is another province whose name possesses
a rather interesting etymology It was named based on the story
that when the Spaniards came to Capiz in 1570, it was the time
when Datu Bankaya’s wife of the Aklan district gave birth
to twin daughters. Twin is "Kapid" in the local dialect,
so the Spaniards adopted the name Capiz (Kapid) as inadvertently
miscommunicated to them by the natives.
Capiz, known as Aklan in pre-Spanish times,
was one of the early settlements of the Malayas, centuries before
the coming of the Spaniards to the Philippines. It was part of
the Confederation of Madjaas, formed after the purchase of Panay
by the Bornean datus from the Negrito king named Marikudo.
And
Aklan:
Aklan is the oldest province in the Philippines,
organized in 1213 by settlers from Borneo as the Minuro it Akean
to include what is now Capiz.
The capital of Aklan changed location several times. Towards
the end of the 14th century, Datu Dinagandan moved the capital
to the present site of Batan which was captured in 1399 by Chinese
adventurers under Kalantiaw, who forthwith ruled Aklan.
In 1433 the son of Kalantiaw, Kalantiaw III laid down a written
code of laws now known as the Code of Kalantiaw. The short-lived
Kalantiaw dynasty ended when Kalantiaw III was slain in a duel
with Datu Manduyog, legitimate successor to Datu Dinagandan.
When Manduyog became the new ruler, he moved the capital to Bakan
(ancient name of Banga) in 1437. Several datus succeeded
Manduyog when Miguel Lopez de Legaspi landed in Batan in 1565,
Datu Kabayag was ruling Aklan from what is now the town of Libacac.
Unfortunately
as the historian William Henry Scott has pointed out the Maragtas
goes no further than 1907.
“the Maragtas is an original work by Pedro A. Monteclaro
published in mixed Hiligaynon and Kin-iraya in Iloilo in 1907
which claims to be nothing more than that. It is based on written and oral sources
then available, and contain three sorts of subject matter—folk
customs still being practiced or remembered by old folks, the
description of an idealized confederation whose existence there
is reasonable grounds to doubt and for which there is no evidence,
and a legend recorded in 1858 of a migration of Bornean settlers,
some of whom are still remembered as folk heroes, pagan deities,
or progenitors of part of the present population of Panay.
There is not reason to doubt that this legend preserves
the memory of some actual event, but it is not possible to date
the event itself or to decide which of its details are historic
fact and which are the embellishments of generations of oral transmission
(Scott 1984:103).
Regarding
the Code of Kalantiaw, Scott observes that its source is “the
Marco-Pavón Antiguas Leyendas.” Jose E. Marco of Pontevedra, Negros Occidental was a stamp
collector and antiquarian who brought to the director to the American
director of the National Library, Alexander Blair, supposedly
ancient manuscripts about the Visayas.
The Pavon manuscript was allegedly written by Fr. José
María Pavon y Araguro, a priest of the Diocese of Cebu
and assigned parish priest of Himamaylan (1843-49 [50?]).
In 1848-49, the Recollects took charge of Negros and Pavon
presumably returned to Cebu. Other historians aside from Scott doubt
the authenticity of manuscripts presented by Marco to the National
Library. Regarding
the Pavon manuscript, Scott concludes: “The Jose E. Marco
contribution to Philippine historiography …appear to be
deliberate fabrications with no historic validity.
There is therefore no present evidence that any Filipino
ruler by the name of Kalantiaw ever existed or that the Kalantiaw
penal code is any older than 1914” (Scott 1984: 134).
The
postwar impetus to provide the Visayas a facile prehistory does
not deny that the Visayas had a rich history.
Although the archaeological of the islands is very much
incomplete, tantalizing evidence of rich culture have been found. In the island of Banton, Romblon (politically part of Region
4, Southern Tagalog, though culturally Visayan) a warp ikat cloth
was found in a burial site.
Dated to the 12th century it is probably the
oldest example of ikat weave from Southeast Asia.
The Museo de Iloilo display not just Neolithic pottery
and implements but a gold death mask unearthed in Oton.
Samar is yielding many gold ornaments from areas controlled
by the NPA. These prehispanic jewelry finds its way to the antique market,
though badly documented regarding provenance, and almost useless
archaeologically. Cebu’s
University of San Carlos displays artifacts unearthed within Cebu
City during an archaeological excavation conducted by the University. Bohol’s Baclayon church stores some
haligi or house posts (claimed to be pre-colonial) recovered from the
Dauis Strait.
All
these evidences point to a rich history needing reconstruction. Extensive excavations along the Tanay
River have uncovered prehistoric evidence of settlements, of associated
artifacts, including Chinese trade ware, suggesting a lively commerce
along this waterway.
Languages
and dialects. The Visayans speak a variety of related languages,
not just dialects, although dialect varieties exist.
The
principal languages are
- Hiligaynon,
with variations especially marked among the Ilongo, Antiqueño
and Capiznon, spoken in the provinces of Iloilo, Capiz, Antique
and Negros Occidental
- Sugbuhanon
, Bisaya, Binisaya or Cebuano Visayan is spoken in Cebu, Negros
Oriental, Siquijor, Western Leyte, Bantayan and Camotes; and a dialect, characterized by the hard pronunciation
of “y”, Boholano or Bol-anon in Bohol, although
constant interchange between Cebu is slowly eroding the distinctions;
- Popularly
called Waray (because the prevalence of the rolling “R”
sound) but Samar-Leyte Visayan by linguistic scholars is the
language distinct to Samar and Eastern Leyte.
Other
minor languages exist
- Akaenon
or Aklanon spoken in Aklan,
- Kinaray-a
or Kin-iraya, an older variety of Hiligaynon, is spoken in the
interior towns of Panay Island.
- Abacnon,
Capulon, a cognate of Tausog, spoken by about 1500 persons in
Capul Island, off northern Samar
- Although
Romblon and Cagayancillo now belong to Region IV, Southern Tagalog
and Masbate to Region V, Bicol, inhabitants of these islands
speak a language akin to Hiligaynon
- Rombloanon
in Romblon
- Bantoanon
in Banton
- Masbateño
in Masbate
- Cagayancillo’s
lingua franca is Hiligaynon as most of the inhabitants are
from Iloilo or Antique.
These settlers continue maintaining economic ties with
Panay for it is far more convenient to sail to Anini-y on
Panay’s southwestern tip than to go to Puerto Princesa
under whose political jurisdiction Cagayancillo falls.
- and
a variety of languages tribal languages spoken by minorities:
the Sulod of Panay, Bukidnon, Mahagat and Karolon of Negros,
and Ati or Ayta.
Administration. For purposes of administration the islands
are divided into Western, Central and Eastern Visayas. Western
Visayas is made up of the principal islands of Panay and Guimaras,
the province of Negros Occidental and nearby islands and islets.
Central Visayas is made up of the islands of Cebu, Bantayan, Camotes,
Bohol, Panglao, Negros Oriental, Siquijor and nearby islands and
islets; and Eastern Visayas, Samar, Leyte, Biliran, Lauang, and
neighboring islands.
Travel: The Visayan islands, though related
culturally, are distinct from each other, so that island hopping
becomes a pleasant experience of variety. And most islands are
physically not too far from each other, on the average 20 to 30
nautical miles distant. The distance is even made shorter by the
ready availability of fast, hi-tech catamaran type ferries that
sail from the principal harbors for adjacent islands, approximately
every hour. It is possible to plan trips so that you can tour
an island one day, and be on the next island the following.
It
is also possible to travel by public transportation from one island
to the next. A bus
line connects Bacolod City, Negros Occidental with Cebu.
The bus is loaded on a roro (roll in, roll out) ferry for
the sea crossing. Within
the islands aside from buses, FX vans are available.
These are probably more convenient because of their frequent
trips and few stops along the way, although sitting is tight because
the vans are small and crowded.
Our
island-hopping heritage tour of the Visayas takes advantage of
this convenience. It begins with Cebu as a hub, moves south to
Bohol, then north to Dumaguete, Bacolod, Iloilo, ending in Capiz
for the culture buffs or the very popular white-sand beach of
Boracay.
To
get from Manila the Cebu the most convenient way is to travel
by air, however, sea travel is also available.
The government has recently rationalized the roro services
between islands. It is now possible to travel to Boracay,
Aklan from Cubao, Quezon City, Metro Manila. The trip takes 15 hours. From then onwards public buses are available. But be warned, the buses may lack in comfort.
So the bus and roro option are for the adventurous.
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