Bankaw ha Samar Archaeological and Cultural Museum: Istorya Binisaya
Ni Gloria Esguerra Melencio
(Ginhubad tikang ha Iningles ni J. Colima Bajado)
Dida han libro ni Ignacio Francisco Alcina, usa nga padi-Franciscano, nga may ulohan nga Historia de las islas e indios de Bisayas (Kaagi han mga Tuminungnong ha mga Isla han Bisayas) nga sinurat niyan han tuig 1662, iya iginpahamtang nga an nasod Pilipinas in “samad an hiyograpiya, topograpiya, ngan klima”. Kausa niya ha pagtuo hi Francisco Colin, usa nga padi-Heswita, nga an mga tawo tikang ha Samar nga gintatawag hadto nga mga Pintados in nagtikang ha Makassar ha Sulawesi dara han kapareho nga pagsabot han mga pulong nga ‘saar’ ngan ‘samad’.
Dida han mga katuigan han ika-16 ngada han ika-17 nga siglo, bantugan nga mag-isog ngan banggiitan an mga Bisaya ha pakig asdang kontra han mga pirata nga namimihag ha Samar ngan Leyte, diin an mga bihag in iginbabaligya komo mga uripon didto ha Mindanao ug ha mga hagrani nga mga isla.
An bankaw, usa nga hinganiban han mga Bisaya, nga makikit-an ha Fr. Cantius Kobak- Samar Archeological and Cultural Museum ha siyudad han Calbayog, in usa nga ngula nga pagmatuod han mga paniguro han mga Samarnon para han ira kinabuhi- bis’ pa masamaran an tag-iya hini. An nasabi nga museum nga igintindog han tuig 1969 ngan kataliwan igin ngaran ha pagtahod kan Fr. Cantius Kobak, padi Franciscano tikang ha Poland, in nagdudumara hin mga butang han kasanhi nga maulit-ukit nga gintirok han nasabi nga padi-historyador tikang hin mgadirudila-in nga lugar sugad hin mga lungib, lubnganan, simbahan, tikang ha mga pribado nga katunaan, ug bisan pa tikang ha usa nga paragtubaan.
An nasabi nga bankaw nga may karaptan nga kahoy nga aada an kahalaba hin upat nga metros, ngan an tais in hinimo tikang hin puthaw in nagpapamatuod hank an Bankaw pagbaribad han mga conquistadores nga Espanyol. Subay han libro nira Blair ngan Robertson (The Philippine Islands), hi Bankaw in nakalikay tikang han mga kamot han mga Espanyol ngan nagtukod hiya han iya kalugaringon nga simbahan ha Carigara, Leyte. An iya pinakamadig-on nga kuta ha bukid in binombahan hin canyon, gin sunog an iya simbahan ngan pinanmatay an mga nasunod ha iya tuluohan, ngan manta, hiya in pinatay gamit in bankaw. Human, an pinugutan hiya ngan an iya pugot nga ulo in igin parada basi tarhugon an mga Bisaya hin pagdumara hin ‘insureccion’ ngan ‘rebelion’.
Kundi, diri nag uusa-an hi Bankaw.Ada hi Sumuroy han Samar ngan hi Dagohoy ha Bohol. Ngani, dida han temprano nga katuigan han ika-16 nga siglo, hi Waray Tupong in naglibot han Kabisayaan basi itabog an mga pirata nga Muslim upod na an mga manarakop nga Espanyol.
Piho manggud nga natingala hi Fr. Kobak han pagtagad han mga Samareños ngada han ira mga kaurupdan nga nagkamatay na diin nakit-an niya in mga bungo ngan tul-an dida hin dagko nga tibod. Lugaring an iba nga mga lubnganan in pinan ngaliskay na.
An espirito han Kasadangan ngan an ‘tabo’ nga tinatawag han mga social scientists nga barter trade in pagmatuod nga an mga Bisaya in mga tawo nga maabilidad ngan magduruto. An gilingan in gamit han mga Bisaya paghimo hin puto, suman, ngan iba pa nga mga karan-on.
An mga dragonjar ngan Chinese porcelain nga nabalik ngada pa han mga tuig han ika-5 ka siglo BC in nagpapadig-on han buhi nga taboan nga sistema han mga Bisaya ngan mga Insik. Ha kadugangan, an mga apelyido nga inensik ha Samar in bangin tikang han mga Insik nga negosyante han abaka dida han Espanyol ngan Amerikano nga pamunoan.
An mga gintataoy na nga ma agung, mga instrumento hin pagtukar ngan mga paintings dida ha sulod han museum in naglalaygay han Samarnon nga kaagi ngan talento. An Christ the King College Youth Symphony Orchestra in naghahatag laylay yana ha magdirudilain nga mga lugar ha aton nasod. An nasabi nga museum in nagpasundayag gihap hin mga obra hin mga pintor ha Samar.
Hi Carl S. Bordeos han Christ the King College, diin an museum makikit-an, in naghatag hin kopya ha http://philippinehistory.ph han iba pa nga mga butang nga makikit-an ha museum labot la han bankaw. An Professional American Archaeologists in naglista na ngan nag asoy ngan ginbutangan hin petsa ini nga mga bahandi han aton kasanhi.
Samtang, gawas han museum, usa han mga dalan han Calbayog in gin-ngangaranan nga Nijaga. Ini nga dalan in igin ngaran ha pagtahod kan Benedicto Nijaga nga kilala gihap ha ngaran nga Biktoy, usa nga sakristan ha Calbayog nga nagin 2nd Lt. han Spanish Army nga ha kataliwan nagsuporta ha Katipunan. Tungod hini, hiya in ginpatay ngan kinilala komo usa han Trece Martires ha Bagumbayan.
An Samar in may mga anak nga bangin waray pa makakita kon matiunan-o in usa nga bankaw, o manta di nakilala kan Bankaw. Lugaring, an Binisaya nga pagbaribad ngan paningkamot in nahapatik na han kabug-usan nga istorya han aton nasod.
Bankaw in Samar Archeological and Cultural Museum: A Bisayan Story
By Gloria Esguerra Melencio
Franciscan priest Ignacio Francisco Alcina describes Samar in his 1662 book History of the Bisayan People in the Philippine Islands as “wounded geographically, topographically and climatically.” He was one with Jesuit priest Francisco Colin in saying that the people of Samar, who were called Pintados back in time, may have come from Makassar in Sulawesi, citing the words saar and samad as both to mean “wounded.”
Noted for being warriors and juramentados in the 16th up to early 17th century, these Bisayans defended their ground against slave raiders who alternately raided and stole humans in Samar and Leyte to be sold as marked slaves in Mindanao and other nearby islands.
The bankaw, Bisayan term for spear, found in the Father Cantius Kobak-Samar Archeological and Cultural Museum in Calbayog City, is a silent proof of Samar’s struggles to survive – whatever wounds may have caused its owner. The museum founded in 1969 and later dedicated to the memory of Father Cantius Kobak, Polish Franciscan priest, houses artifacts that the historian-priest painstakingly collected from caves, burial sites, churches, private lots and even from a tuba (local wine from coconut sap) vendor.
Made of hard black polished wood that measures approximately four feet long with a one-foot sharp pointed metal at the end, the undated bankaw is the living proof of Bankaw’s defiance of the Spanish conquistadores. Blair and Robertson said Bankaw escaped the ire of attacking Spaniards in Cebu and later built his own church in Carigara, Leyte. His stronghold in the mountain was attacked with canons, his church burned down, his followers killed, and he, too, was impaled with a bankaw. His head was cut off and paraded to warn the Bisayans against insureccion and rebelion in the future.
Bankaw had never been alone. Sumuroy of Ibabao (Samar) , at the time of Alcina’s recording, had been up in arms. Dagohoy in Bohol, too. Earlier in the 16th century, Waray Tupung (meaning never been equaled), had been going around the Bisayan islands trying to shoo away both the Muslim slave raiders and the Spanish minions.
Father Kobak must be amazed with how the Samareños respect their ancestors when he found human skulls, bones, shell bracelets in urns and large burial jars. Some burial sites had already been exhausted by previous digging expeditions though.
Self-sufficiency and the spirit of the Bisayan tabo, which social scientists call barter trade, attest to the Bisayan people’s ingenuity and industriousness. The stone grinder, locally called gilingan, speaks of how early Bisayans grounded rice and rootcrops to be made into puto, suman and other native delicacies. People from up the mountains and everywhere went to the tabo to exchange their goods for products that they did not have.
Presence of ancient dragon jar and Chinese porcelain plates dated around 5th century BC reveals a lively barter trade between the Bisayans and the Chinese. Also, Chinese surnames in Samar must have come from Chinese traders who were involved in the abaca trade during the Spanish and American periods.
The rusty, ancient agungs (bells), musical instruments and paintings in the museum speak a lot about the Samareños’ own artistic talents. Christ The King Orchestra, based in Calbayog City, a first class municipality in Samar, has been making waves in the field of music around the Philippines. An art exhibit of Samar’s painters had also been launched in the museum.
Carl Sanchez Bordeos of the Christ the King College where the museum resides furnished philippinehistory.ph a copy of some artifacts found in the museum aside from the bankaw. The Professional American Archeologists have already listed, described and dated said historical treasures.
Outside the museum, meanwhile, a street named Nijaga baffles everyone who lives outside Calbayog. It turns out that the street was named after Benedicto Nijaga, nicknamed Biktoy, a sacristan from Calbayog who became a second lieutenant in the Spanish Army and later solicited support for the underground Katipunan. He was executed and later identified as one of the Trece Martires in Bagumbayan.
Samar has sons and daughters who may or may have not seen a bankaw, nor may have known Bankaw for that matter. The Bisayan resilience and survival, however, are engraved in Philippine history.
(Photo: Rosa Mirasol Esguerra Melencio)
Charting one’s own destiny in Balangiga
It was a convenient 30-minute trip to Guinmaayohan, a far-flung barangay of Balangiga in Samar. Thanks to Mayor Viscuso De Lira whom the Waray constituents call Viscoy. The rough road that was a dusty, bumpy trail was flattened and has become passable by not only the motorcycle locally called haba-habal but by four-wheel vehicles as well this September.
One of the nurses seated in front of the mini-truck the mayor newly bought for the municipal government politely offered his front seat to me and climbed atop the roofless truck instead where seated the staff spearheading the medical mission scheduled on that warm Sunday.
We passed by a plain covered with root crops intermittently dotted with green grasses on the right side of the road near the river. Driver Mario pointed it to be the place where the Americans camped on years he does not know. Maybe he was referring to the 1900s for it was on that fateful day of 28 September 1901 that the Balangiga Encounter earlier called Balangiga Massacre before it was established to be the former by virtue of Congressman Ramirez’ proposed law – had been launched successfully.
The mayor- surprised for my gate crashing (thanks to the graciousness of his tourism officer Fe Campanero) – calls it uprising though because he is taking the point of view of the Balangigaons. A young lady whom I talked to while strolling in the park facing the historic Balangiga church says the word massacre is violent and thus she prefers the word encounter over it.
Back to the Balangiga municipal government medical mission’s trip. The barangay officials in Guinmaayohan were helpful and even went from house to house to call its more than 1,600 citizens to avail of the medical services with the PCSO’s donated medicines in celebration of its 75th anniversary. It was a nationwide simultaneous medical and dental mission.
Parents, mostly mothers, came with their playful children in tow. Most of the residents complained of upper respiratory tract infections and skin lesions, according to the two doctors.
Barangay Kagawad Maxima Macasaet says they were lucky because free medicines were given during the mission. Segueing the topic to their way of life, the 65-year old community leader says they have always been lucky because land in Guimaayohan is fertile that everything grows on it.
“All we have to do is work,” she said optimistically while seated beside the six cavans of rice she bought in Tacloban then to be sold in her barangay. She is amazed at how the land her husband and she cultivates earns them Php 1,800 a week as it produces calabasa, okra, eggplants and other vegetables.
No wonder this barangay which was established in 1952 according to Barangay Captain Maria Escalo is not God-forsaken.
May the likes of these community leaders and followers strive and thrive. Guinmaayohan (a Waray word meaning for betterment), as the word connotes – sans poverty and diseases – will always be a better place. There is always hope for people whose calloused hands have been charting their own destiny.