Concluding Chapter of the book titled Gaps and Fissures in the History of Capiz soon to be published. Copyright protect. With authors permission. Chapter 6 Toward Narrative Fusion in Capisnon History Capisnon history has often been ignored, if not overlooked, in national history writing projects. Two reasons may be cited: first, the paucity of historical narratives on Capiz that can contribute to discourses on national identity formation and cultural heritage; and second, the main reliance on oral accounts that hardly pass accepted tests of folkloricity. These reasons thus point to fissures and gaps in Capisnon history. History simply pertains to a story about the past that is significant in understanding the evolution of a people, place and/or things. Significance is proposed or ascertained by a historian by virtue of his or her professional training and experience, and such significance is subject to the concurrence of colleagues or peers. Significance must be reflective of the society’s shared values that are embedded in narratives. What happened in the past cannot be changed. However, change in values may take place as a result of the society’s responses to its internal dynamics as well as to challenges posed by its external environment. As values change due to the internal and/external forces impinging on the society, the historian may present the past as stories of the people who had practiced those values as mechanisms for internal integration and external adaptation. Gaps and Fissures Capisnon historiography, i.e., the interrogation of the manner by which the history of Capiz has been and is written by various history writers, is still in its infancy stage, thus it hardly attracts the academic interest of established historians beyond Capiz. Recently, though, history writing in the province has raised issues that point to fissures and gaps in Capisnon historiography. This book, in a modest attempt, examines a few of these gaps and fissures. The interrogation of the colonial accounts of Capiz (Chapter 1) brings about alternative discourses on how the history of Capiz may be rewritten. These discourses include a) the “history from below” and Pantayong Pananaw discourses, b) the nusantara discourse or c) the combination of a and b toward integrated historical accounts of Capiz. In line with this interrogation, local myths and legends as sources of historical and cultural data (Chapters 1, 2 and 5) are privileged as long as they pass appropriate tests of folkloricity (e.g., E. Arsenio Manuel’s vertical and horizontal tests of folkloricity) (see Appendix 5). The interrogation also raises the need to study the roles in history of not widely known local heroes, like Juan Jarce, Macario Lukso, Cauayuay and Conitnit (Chapters 4 and 5). The interrogation further unravels the Spanish colonial project of weakening the social influence of the babaylans (Chapter 5) in the development of a Capisnon community, a project whose hegemonic residues are manifested in the contemporary “aswang stigma” (Chapter 1) being perpetrated by mass and social media. If the aswang stigma is unfavorable in Capiz, can this image be used as a propaganda (Chapter 5) against political candidates with questionable character in order to guide the Capisnon electorate to vote wisely every election season? The fractures in colonial and elitist accounts (Chapter 2) can also be reconstructed based on how the natives themselves, not their foreign leaders, had developed their own settlements (in other words, the process of pagpuod) throughout Capiz in face of pressures for them to toe the line of their foreign or elitist rulers. The mainstream accounts of World War II highlight the effort of Manuel A. Roxas, the future Philippine president, to collect food supplies for Filipino soldiers stationed in Sibuyan Island. But the World War II Memorial Shrine (see Chapter 4) at the Dinggoy Roxas Provincial Park creates an “opening,” strongly calling for more information on authentic war heroes, like Cpl. Pio Bunsalan and Capt. Porfirio Magdaleno. The maragtas as folk history or what Clavel calls Capisnon “history from below” (Chapter 5) (see also Clavel 2010) resonates with the native view that before the intrusion of any foreign group (particularly the Spanish colonizers), Capiz and the other Panay provinces had thriving human settlements. Capiz, from precolonial times to the present, is still in the process of pagpuod (Chapter 2), or human settlement development. The interrogation may also focus on how Judy Roxas (Chapter 5) served as a political enabler for her husband (Senator Gerardo Roxas in the 1950’s and 60’s) and two sons (Representative Dinggoy Roxas and Senator Mar Roxas) from the 1980’s to 2013. It will provide Capisnons with significant and valid context in fully understanding the phenomenon of political dynasty and its implication to their social progress and cultural identity. The Call for Further Historical and Cultural Studies The last time segment covered by this book is World War II, which implies that there’s still a lot of gaps and fissures in Capisnon history that must be pinpointed and explained. These gaps and fissures from the post-war period to the contemporary times may be about people, places and/or events. On people. Appendix 2 may be of some help in finding a starting point for research on people. From 1999 to 2004, the Center for Capisnon Studies & Development Alternatives (CapisDev) cited Capisnons and their foreign rulers who “had rendered significant or outstanding service to Capiz province. An exhaustive study on each of them is needed based on the Pantayong Pananaw and history from below research perspectives. These individuals are: Juan Jarce, Valentin Delfin, Gen. Saturnino Javillo, Gen. Esteban Contreras, Macario Lukso, Juan Faduga, Pascual Barza and Sacristan Mayor Antas (for Revolutionary Heroism); Jayme Alba, Ricardo Borres and Macario Peralta Jr. (Guerilla Warfare during World War 11); Jose Altavas and Remus Aquillo (Nationalist Advocacy); Babailanes Cauayuay and Conitnit, and Paciencia Villareal (Women Empowerment); Ceferino Bacanto and Jose Castro (Children Empowerment); Datu Hagnaya, Pres. Manuel Roxas (particularly for what he did for Capiz province), Ludovico Hidrosollo, Trinidad Villa, Cornelio Villareal Sr., Juliano Alba, Carmen Dinglasan-Consing, Simeon Dadivas, Leoncia Villanoy and Ramon Arnaldo (Political Leadership); Spanish friars Angel Abasolo, Alonso de Mentrida, Agustin Estrada and Felix Velasco, and Datu Cayongyong Mahinay (Community Development); Alicia Alcantara, Msgr. Vicente Gonzales, Agustin Masa and Maestro Marok (Education); Cornelio Villareal Jr. (Technocracy & Development); Frederick Meyer and George Viterbo (Medicine); Ismaelita Floro-Luza (Capisnon literature); Victor Corpus (Environmental Advocacy); Josefa Abiertas (Law); Maria Garcia Ford (Philanthropy); Judy Araneta Roxas (NGO leadership); Jovita Fuentes (Music); Jaime Cardinal Sin (Religious Broadcasting); Elena Gardose Francisco (Oral Tradition); Datu Angul, Margarita Roxas de Ayala and Joaquin Elizalde (Business/Commerce); and Miguel Lopez de Legazpi and Gobernadorcillo Qunitanilla (Colonial Governance). This roster of outstanding Capisnons and some of their colonial leaders who developed the Capisnon puod is useful to Local Government Units, especially the municipal governments, which aim to honor the local heroes of Capiz. CapisDev had come up with such roster as part of its advocacy that local heroes – and not only relevant national heroes – must be known by all sectors of Capisnon society for their contribution to the evolution of the puod. On places. Sublangon in Pontevedra, for example, was an important place in the life of Cauayuay and Conitnit. This was their hiding place when the Spanish authorities were hunting them. Specifically, the colonizers wanted to stop them from doing healing rituals, which the former perceived to be queer means of sorcery. From Sublangon the two women moved to what is now Bailan for their own safety. Today, Bailan should be studied for its role in preserving the folk medicine of Capiz throughout the Spanish period. Talon in Roxas City was a place of resistance to the Spanish colonial rule, as Dr. Leothiny Clavel suggests in his Foreword to this book; thus, like Bailan, its role in undermining the powers of the Spanish authorities is a challenging topic for research. Suhot Cave in Dumalag was a ceremonial site in precolonial and early Spanish times; kwardra (stable) in Barangay VI, Roxas City was a symbol of Spanish might during the Spanish regime; and during the American time Le Liong building on Roxas Avenue was the site of big events (like Chinese New Year and birthday celebrations, wedding receptions and business meetings of Chinese and Capisnon elute organizations). Also, these three places – actually structures – each had a significant contribution to the development of the puod. On events. There’s a lot to study, as Roxas City and each of the 16 Capiz towns have their respective historical narratives. The town of Panay, in particular, saw major skirmishes between Capisnon and Spanish and then American forces during the colonial period. These skirmishes should be understood within the Pantayong Pananaw and “history from below” frameworks because these skirmishes indicated how the Capisnons as freedom fighters dealt with the far more superior arms of the colonial rulers. Specifically, these historical events are worth studying: the Battle of Tapaz (February 24, 1897); the Battle of Tanza del Norte (May 4, 1897); the Battle of Balisong (June 17, 1898); the first civil government (1892-1899) that saw Capiz under Spanish civil governors; the establishment of the second civil government (April 15, 1901) sponsored by the Americans; the Japanese invasion (April 16, 1942); the environmental destruction of typhoon Undang (November 5, 1984); Martial Law in Capiz (1972-1981); and the fury of Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan). Nusantara, on the other hand, is a suitable framework for studying the migration of people from distant places to Capiz towns like Dao and Tapaz in any historical period. By bridging the information gaps and exploring the narrative fissures in Capisnon history using the “history from below,” Pantayong Pananaw and nusantara lenses, one may be able to provide a substantial account of how Capiz as a puod is evolving. The focus on such evolution does not discriminate against presentation of history from the elitist or colonial views because these views are still relevant to the writing of a comprehensive Capisnon history. Yet, what is compelling about this focus is its attempt to put on equal footing the common man’s view of history. The narrative fusion of these polar views is necessary because the framing of Capiz as an evolving puod entails a wholistic presentation of its society, culture and environment in various times.
Posted on: Mon, 21 Jul 2014 04:51:43 +0000
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