Well - known historians
all over the world, both in the past and in the modern time prove the existence of an
ancient civilization by studying their ruins, epic, artifacts, historical
accounts and current articles of written in the standard history textbooks by well-known
historians and archeologists. They did that for the Ancient China 2100 – 221 BC,
Ancient Egypt 3150 – 31 BC, Inca Civilization 1200 – 1542 AD (Modern day Peru),
Ancient Greece 800 BC – 146 BC, Maya Civilization 2000 BC – early 16th Century
(Modern day Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras), Osirian
Civilization (Modern day Mediterranean) and, Rama Empire 10,000 – 2,500 BC
(Modern day India and Pakistan). The
same rigid standard was being applied in the current study of the ancient Lakanate
of Lawan where its existence was recently uncovered.
“The Almuraya
Fortress Ruins of Laoang”
For 300 years, the Spaniards
have been systematically marginalizing the native aristocracy of the Lakanate
of Tondo and Lakanate of Lawan. Their strategy has always been the same: conquer
the natives with religion. In Tondo, the seat of power of Lakan Dula was slowly
erased by building the Sto. Nino Church right in his own ancestral home. The
same tactics they did in Lawan. They build the church right in the seat of
power of Datu Hadi Iberein and name the complex in Spanish so that the future
generations will not remember it. They name it “Almuraya”. For 300 years, the Spaniards
painstakingly remove all the vestiges of the ancient prosperous Hebrew
lakanate. They destroyed all the structures
of Almuraya by building their own structures
like churches and bahay na bato
houses, destroyed the secret passages
from “Almuraya” to the caves of Isla de Batag and the shipping ports of Kahayagan,
Kalomotan and Palapag which they converted into the ship repair station of the
Galleon Trade from the Philippines to
Mexico. They suppressed the siday, kandu, sorugmaton and other native
folklores. They changed the surnames of the natives to Spaniards. They
marginalized the native royal families who were forced to become businessmen
(mostly in arastre and coconut plantations) and forget their ancient glorious
past. Lawan, with its splendor as described in the “Bingi of Lawan” epic was
reduced into a hispanized ruins called even today as “almuraya fortress ruins
of Laoang”. Fortunately, a small piece of the grandeur of the Lakanate of Lawan
of Datu Hadi Iberein was described briefly by Fr. Ignatius Alzina in his book Historia de las Islas y Indios de Bisayas.
The book said that the settlement was ruled by a monarch called Dato Karagrag,
whose consort Bingi had an irresistible beauty that captivated other neighboring
kings, especially the dato from Albay. (Fr. Alzina lived as missionary in Samar
and Leyte for 38 years, from 1634 to 1674, working mostly in Palapag.) Describing
the place of the settlement, Fr. Alzina in his visit to the place in 1640 says,
“On the opposite side of Rawis, on the Lawang Island, which is a sandbar there
is a solid ridge of rock. It is fashioned by nature itself and it is so steep
that it looks like a façade of a wall… It was a natural fortification, due to
its great height of massive rock; it was also secured as if by a moat which
encircled its three sides. The fourth side was blocked by a palisade of strong
logs. Then too, nature also formed on one side of this rock something like a
small cove with its little beach.” It is this advanced stage of civilization,
evidenced by the Dragon Jar of Laoang and many other artifacts found within the
Lakanate of Lawan (Catubig-Laoang-Palapag) and their reign of influence like
Albay, Surigao, Butuan, Quezon Province and Mactan, and combining the fact that
the some historians are pointing to the
Hebrew - influenced Lakanate of Lawan of Datu Iberein as the seat of Ophir that
started the intermigration of Polynesian people in the Pacific as pointed out
by an Australian study on DNA – native historians conclude that for 300 years,
the Spaniards have been successful in erasing the political existence of the
Lakanate of Lawan in the memory of its people and the history of the country.
Fortunately, the surge of the clamor for identity of the present generation of
Filipinos is paving the way for the search for the real identity of the
Filipinos. One piece of artifacts that
are subject to archeological analysis of some historians today is the ruins of
the cobblestone watch tower of the Almuraya Fortress Ruins of Laoang. The use
of cobblestone is very popular in ancient Egypt and Samaria of Israel. Is it
possible that the ancient royalty of Lawan are the Hebrew – blooded people of
Ophir that initiated the migration of Polynesian people into different islands
in the Pacific?
"The
Laoang Dragon Jar, (Inalasan nga Tadyaw)"
One archeological
artifact that provided the conclusive evidence today of the existence of the
Lakanate (a native Kingdom) of Lawan as an advanced ancient civilization in the
Pacific coast is a dragon jar which is now kept by the Samar Archeological
Museum in Calbayog City, Western Samar. Carl Bordeos, the curator of the
museum said that the jar was found in Laoang, Northern Samar. It was carbon
dated by foreign archeologists to have been used as a burial jar as early as
960 AD, as old as the Laguna Copperplate that provided the evidence for the
existence of the Lakanate of Tondo. The jar is older than the coming of Islam
in the Philippines. The dragon jar was discovered by a Polish Priest –
historian by the name of Zdislaw Kobak. Historians said that the artifact is a
secondary burial jar of a royal child, which indicate an existence of a long
succession of monarch of a lakanate (a native kingdom). Historians believe that
the Laoang Dragon Jar is one of the only three known dragon jars in Asia, and
indication that the Lakanate of Lawan must have been a very prosperous kingdom
to afford such kind of a jar for a burial of a minor member of the native
royalty. Several other martabanas (burial jars), jewelries of
gold and other precious stones, and some Hebrew artifacts have been excavated
in an ancient burial ground in a place in Laoang now known as sawang, but they
are kept by private collectors (businessmirror.com.ph). A dragon jar, also
known as cloud-dragon jar, is a type of ceremonial porcelain vessel that became
popular among the ruling classes of Korea during the Joseon Dynasty
(1392–1910), China and in ancient Philippine royalty based in Lawan. They are
decorated with large dragons against a background of stylized clouds, painted
with under glaze pigments. In addition to being a generally auspicious symbol,
the dragon represented the authority and beneficence of the ruler (Philadelphia
Museum of Art). In 1754, King Yòngjo decreed that iron pigments were to be used
exclusively, except for jars having a dragon design (Covell, p.74). Because of
the scarcity of the traditional cobalt blue pigment, which was imported from
Muslim Turkestan, and was also known as “Mohammedan blue”, an under glaze brown
iron oxide pigment was also used between the seventeenth and nineteenth
centuries (Minneapolis Institute of Arts)
“Bingi of Lawan”
There lived in this
place a chief called Karagrag, who was its lord and ruler. He was married to a
lady of his rank called Bingi, a name which had been bestowed on her because of
her chastity, as we shall see. (I was not able to find out if she came from the
same town; most probably she was from upstream on the Catubig River, where she
was the daughter of the chief there.) This lady, according to what they
recount, was endowed with many fine virtues and greedy celebrated for her
beauty among these natives, so much so that, moved by the fame of her beauty,
the Datu, or ruler, of Albay got ready a hundred ships. This chief was called
Dumaraug, which means the victor, and with all those ships he weighed anchor in
his land, and within a short time came in view of the [Lawan Island] town of
Makarato.
His unexpected
arrival excited the town, but since it was well-fortified by its natural
location and it was the season of the Vendavales (the best time for going there
from Albay) when the force of the sea and its waves were strong and turbulent,
he did not venture to go straight in but took shelter instead near the beach
which Rawis Point makes with very fine sand and free of shoals, where, became
of an islet across the entrance from the sea, the surf is less obstructive and
the sea milder and calm. From there he sent a small boat with a sign of peace
to announce the purpose of his coming, which was simply to carry Bingi away as
his wife, the fame of whose beauty alone had left him love struck and with only
this would he then return to his land without making any attack and always
afterward remain their friend and protector, since he think that he is more
powerful than they, he could do it to their advantage. Karagrag, rather than
making reply, showed them how well prepared he was by entertaining them, and when
his wife was informed of Dumaraug’s intentions, she responded at once that she
was greatly surprised that for something of such little worth he: had made such
a demonstration and launched so many ships, that she was content with the
husband she had and did not care to exchange him for any other, even to the
most powerful man in the world, and that so long as he was alive, she could not
think of leaving him; and if it should be her unlucky fate to fall into his
hands captive, he should understand that though he might carry her off and
command her as his slave, that to make her his wife, she would never consent
and was ready to give her life first. Encouraged by so bold a response, her
husband Karagrag simply added that he was there waiting with his men deployed,
and that although they were not many, they were very good men, and that the
place where they were was very secure and their arms are advanced, and if he
came to try his arms in battle, they would do their duty; and if he should
defeat them, he would be lord of his wife and property, but if not, he would
return to his land empty-handed, if indeed he escaped from there with his life.
With this reply, and
in view of the superior strength and impregnability of the place for them, with
no more arms than spears and shields or at most some arrows, the chief
reconsidered and hesitated a bit but not for long, and without attempting
anything more and risking his men, he returned home just as he had come,
leaving both the chief and his wife Bingi happy.
This happened a few
years before the Spaniards came, and is still fresh in the memory of the
natives of the Lawan town, who today are their descendants. Not many years ago,
I buried a chief of the said island, who was more than seventy years old, whose
parent had been alive when this raid took place; and a son of his who had heard
it many times, related it to me with all the aforesaid details (Alcina 1668a,
4:20-23).
A bingi or bingil
was a virgin or a woman who had been faithful to one man all her life. It must
therefore have been bestowed on the heroine of this romance sometime after the
Albay raid, the first step in an historic event’s becoming a legend. The quotation
of her and her husband’s noble words indicates that the poetic process had
already had its effect by the time Father Alcina heard the story. Perhaps with
retelling over the centuries and the accumulation of apocryphal embellishments,
the tale might have grown into a full-fledged kandu. Indeed, had ancient
Visayan culture not succumbed to colonial acculturation, some Waray bard might
now be singing the Epic of Bingi (William Henry Scott).
“Laoang Twilight: The Lost Garden of
Glory”
The cradles of the
Filipino civilization. The place of light, charm, beauty and harmony with its
proud, insightful people stemming from enlightened culture originated before
the chronicles of the Garden of Eden.
I have looked back on my life and recorded
everything about my place, hence, I would like to share the wonder, glory and
majesty of my beloved town—Laoang. Just imagine what it looks like before our
time. The glorious name Laoang, the nature, lands, brackish and sea waters,
legends, mythology's, epic of heroism and the first people in their quest
through the epochs of time. This is my personal journey through my candid
readings and research. I will not twist its history but I will carve up an
expedition to its grandeur.
We must leave two things to our
descendants when we die. One is tradition and culture and, the other is our
golden history. A person without tradition and culture will fail—it is a soul
that guides us to wonder in this world, our survival and the practices of our
civilization. Through our history, people acquire knowledge and wisdom for
living. To open up new future, we need, on the other hand, to pass on to our
descendants the tradition, culture and history that has been handed down to us
over thousands of years. Colorful as it is, we must continue to educate our
successors especially the love for their native land, heroism, harmony and
Glory.
Before our time, our ancestors worked for
peace, harmony and love of our native land. People these days are raised by the
picture of a hopeless society that they could not stop and suspend the perils
of the forthcoming "human calamity". The present practices of
"denial" to our good ancient culture, and tradition of love and
harmony would lead us to our destruction, thus, developing sensitivities for
our past communities and 'silvery-water history' can truly revive the resonance
of a true character and proud Nortehanon-Laoanganon--the tribe of
pintados-Lawagnon. Our ancestors, shed their blood and tears to make us free
and happy, they didn't even fight each other rather shared their everything for
'common good', for their families, neighbors, and love of their native land.
In my expedition, in prehispanic
centuries, my town was garlanded with so many names; 'Garden of Eden', 'Dawn of
the Traders', 'Haven of Sailors', 'Land of Princess and Harmony', 'Gems of the
East', 'Shining Islet of the Pacific', 'Port of Gold', 'Twilight of the
Fishermen', 'City of Angels' and 'Land of Mystics and Miracles'. Spending time
to recall its beauty will gives me pleasure and a smile. Ah, the splendor of my
hometown! At bedtime, I would close my eyes, saying… I wish I have been there
to see and observe the real story far from the current books of history where
interest’s people were eluded inclined to their respected dimensions but not
its true accounts. I could not sleep with the sounds of leaves rustling in the
wind, the sound of the blowing wind through the reeds that keeps my imagination
alive.
I have immersed myself in understanding
the questions and finding their answers. Where did i came from? My ancestors?
As I went through, my town was once known as the 'great port' of the Far
East—"Pantalan-Sinirakan". The whole island was called
"Sirac-an" popularly known as "Lawagan" which means
"crystal torch" or something that can be associated with a fishing
boat that uses light as a bait to catch fish. Sirac-an was named and called by
the people living in hinterlands while Lawagan named by the people living in
the plains and sea shores. Native people were known as "Lawagnon",
"Lawodnon", "Sirakan", "Batacnon",
"Anoron", and "Rawisnon" but most of the natives were
called Lawagnon. They spoke four major dialects; Kawi, Waray, Lao and Baybayin.
Batag Island used Kawi due to David Dula's influence; Waray was the native
dialect of most Lawagnon and Sirakan while Lao and Baybayin were used for
trading and business with the other people.
According to legend, without the crystal
torch you could not find the island. Native people are 'naturists', they
believed in the power of nature and spirits, they can heal wounds, they can
summon good spirits to protect their land and hide them with a glow of a
'crystal torch' that evaded them from the attack of different pirates,
calamities and evil spirits.
So majestic is Laoang before, native
people in the different areas of the Lawagan land pray to good spirits. One
day, their faith was challenged by a "great tidal wave", as tall as a
50-story building but it was easily subsided when a good spirits rubble the
wave with his mighty shield and sword. Native people, young and old, saw this
picture with their eyes and believed the power of their prayer. It was not
Saint Michael the Archangel, not until the Spaniards and Jesuits established
its mission in the area. Our ancestors believed that they be can be saved by
their faith and prayer to the good spirits. This is also the light when people
celebrate its feast to the good spirits that save their lives that eventually
evolved to the Fiesta Celebration of St Michael the Archangel on the 29th day
of September but before it was celebrated on the 8th day of August following
the 'animists calendar'--It is the Feast of thanksgiving where people solemnly
pray for their lives and fortune.
The land was once inhabited by the
"Great Chieftains"," Princesses" and "Warriors of
Virtues" whose majesty, beauty and charm were known to the world.
Neighboring tribes would always visit the land; for friendship and trade, to
marry their lovely women, to train as "spirit warriors" against
invaders and pirates enlightened by good spirits.
The land was divided into three
territories and constituencies but harmony existed in every person living in
the land, they were united by one blood and honor to their sole
ancestor—pintados-Lawagnon—a great family of Lawagan land who stand 15 feet
tall who defended Lawagnon people many times against invaders and pirates.
According to "surmatanons" (epic of Lawagnon) Pintados-Lawagnon
family threw big stones to invaders that echoed Lawagnon and earned the description
of "the unconquered land". Since then, people will come for trade not
for war and invasions. This was our hallmark that we should remember day by
day. Our hospitality has reached to the whole islands of the country then to
Spain then to mexico and other parts of the world.
Moreover, the first territory was under
Dato Karawton and his consort Princess Bangipa , he ruled and managed the
"region of Anadanod" now the "poblacion of the town"
extending Baybay to Mualbual then to Calomotan. These areas were also known as
the "golden port of the pacific". The "port of Baybay" was
used by different wealthy foreign citizens and Spanish royal blood who were
honorable by the kingdom of Spain. They stayed in the area for a month to rest
and treasured the island. The "port of Calomotan" was used by Spanish
friars, officers and soldiers while the "port of Mualbual" was used
to shuttle slaves going to other areas under Spain colony to perform "polo
y servicio".
In other reign, the second territory
was under Dato Sankayon who has lovely Princesses named Rawis and Talisay who
were abducted by moro pirates in the fiercest battles in the shore of Rawis
(now Titong beach). Dato Sankayon was a bitter brother of the Palapag ruler. He
ruled the "Region of Rayang" extending from Rawis to Vigo to Oleras
up to Pambujan (now Pambujan municipality). Dato Sankayon named the two
barangays after his daughter's name. The port of Rawis was used as the Spanish
elite trading capital of the pacific and "the great indies" route
together with the galleon trade from Mexico then Rawis before going to Manila
and Cavite.
The last kingdom, the third territory
was under Dato Batac with his consort Princess Rayandayan, the land is
presently named the Batag Island. He rules the "Region of Lawod"
where most of his people were fishermen. People from different places in Asia,
Europe and Oceania went to the place for "fish business" that's the
reason why the "port of Kahagyan" now Brgy Cahayagan was made for
fish market. Most people called themselves Lawodnon and Batacnon. Batacnon
believed with the "Lady of the sea" (Senora de Salvacion) a good
spirit who performs miracles for sick people from fishing, voyage and
expeditions. The Lawodnon people were once lead by "David Dula"
grandson of Lakan Dula, the great king of Tondo, Manila. When Lakan Dula's
forces were defeated by the Spaniards, he sent a mission to keep his bloodline
thus, his grandson David Dula was hidden at Kandawid, now Brgy Candawid in the
Island of Batag, in the decree of Spanish high officials that all of Lakan
Dula's heir and bloodline would be killed if found out by the Spanish soldiers.
David rose to power and led "Lawagnon" side by side with a Palapag
hero Juan Ponce Sumuroy against the Spanish conquistadors.
The old Lawagan regions were God's
creation and His gift to presently Laoanganons. I intend to introduce the
details of the history and the accounts of great men who contributed much in
building Laoang. In these venues people would rather ask for a copy of its book
rather than reading here. This is just a short story that is inclined to the
forgotten jewel of the east but not as a complete elements of history but just
to remind other about our past glories and true character.
To my constituents, we must work together
to awaken our fellow Laoanganon of the preciousness of our true character,
history, tradition, culture and, the urgent need to regain them the rich minds
of our generation which can offer lessons from our true identity from the time
of the "crystal torch" up today. We cannot allow our rich past to
saddle in vain and to be damaged any further.
Laoang or Lawagan is one of humanity's
treasure troves, where majesty and wonderful people and its colorful history
live. The flora and fauna seem to exist as they might have on the first morning
of Creation.The riverbanks used to have pineapples, banana and mango trees.
Rice grows so well that it is possible to have three harvests in a year, even
without irrigated fields. That's how rich the soil was. Crops such as corn and US
beans could be grown just by spreading the seeds over the valley. Very little
human labor is need. Farmer who lived there did not experience to be hungry;
they went into the fields and dug up sweet potato and "agikway".
Potatoes could be harvested without annual planting which can feed even the
barrio folks. Laoang provides plenty of economic benefits just in its
agricultural lands and marine wealth. The area has vast tracts of virgin
hardwood forest. But now? Why?
Laoang provides a perfect environment for
a Garden of Eden by its people's glory. It is not just birds and fish that are
plentiful in the area but our true identity of love, harmony and glory.
Lawagnon people must lead the way in the effort to save our precious nature,
culture, tradition and history.
Simple words such as beautiful,
wonderful and fantastic can begin to describe its value.We were once great
people who lived in the "Garden of Eden".Sirac Laoang!!! (Mongas).
The Ancient Songs of the Lakanate
of Lawan
There is something in the nature
of the Warays in the Lakanate of Lawan that made them capable of sending people
to faraway places over thousand years, namely: their Hebrew - influenced civilization,
their personal adventurous character and the closeness of the bonds of their people.
Recent findings would point
to the Lakanate of Lawan as the center of biblical Ophir that became the
ancestral homeland of the Polynesians. This is evidenced by the Almuraya Ruins
of Laoang, the Hebrew – blooded Datu Iberein, the Dragon Jar of Laoang, their siday (local epic) such as the Bingi of Lawan and the name of the territory itself, Samar, which was named
after the ancestral homeland of the ruling Lakans (paramount rulers) of the
Lakanate, Samaria in the ancient Israel..
The personal
characteristics of Warays have a great influence on their tendency to sail to faraway
places. The ancient Waray tribal folk of Samar, Leyte, and Pintuyan Island were
masters of the sea. Many of whom became pirates who attacked and raided coastal
villages of present day Bohol, Bool, Cebu, the Luzon coasts and Mindanao. They
utilized a form of indentured servitude to those who they captured in their raids
and forced them in agricultural slavery even in forming ranks of their war
parties. The ancient Waray tribal folk hold similar semblance to the Vikings of
Northern Europe (Visayas: Remaining Treasures of the Indigenous People). Warays
are also describe even today as brave and principled. The Waray-speaking people of Leyte (Leyteños) and Samar (Samareños) are
a strong and proud group (Ethnic Groups of the Philippines). Waray are
known in the country for their suicidal courage. The Balangiga victory is done
by Warays, so with Catubig Siege victory. The Sumuroy Revolt has sparked the
early efforts of the natives against the Spain. The Waray descendants who were
transported from Palapag to Cavite shipyards became the main forces of the
Cavite rebellion which bloomed into the Philippine Republic.
The ancient songs of the
Lakanate of Lawan will show their mastery and feeling at ease with sea as well
as their propensity to settle in different places while being faithful to their
homeland. One of the songs you can still hear today in the Isla de Batag in the
ancient Lawan is this folk song (portion):
Makapira
ka na, makapira ka na
Balentong baliskad,
Sini nga baloto, nga
ginsasakyan mo.
(How many times, how many
times
Have you fall and capsize
In this boat that you are
riding now)
One of their songs speaks of
the slaves enjoying too much their stay in the Lakanate and are reluctant to
leave even if they are already freemen:
Diri
ko gad ginhuhunaan an pagbaya dinhi
Kay naaawil man ak, san iyo
kustombre
Labi na gud an sipyat ngan hiyum….
(well sorry, forgotten the next
line,
future researchers may just complete it)
Baman, an akon hugugma, tyempo in
mamingaw,
Matangis na man la.
(Never in my mind
would I think of leaving this place
Because I really
enjoy your customs
Specially those
fleeting glances and stolen smiles
But whatever
happens, if this flaming love
Becomes so
lonesome
I will just cry)
This next folk song is mysteriously
in Tagalog, but is being sung in Candawid in Batag Island even today, especially
among old folks. Efforts have been made to search for the origin of the song in
Manila and in the Tagalog provinces but to no avail. Local historians are saying
that this song is the favorite of the widow of David Dulay. The widow is the
granddaughter of Datu Iberein while the David is the son of David Dula y Goiti,
a grandson of Lakan Dula of Tondo. The widow thought that David has left her to
go back to Tondo. Years later, she came to know that David was executed by the
Spaniards in Palapag.
Giliw ko, nasaan ang
awa mo.
Ang puso, na sadyang
nagmamahal sa yo.
Walang bukas, at
walang anu ano.
Nilimot mo ang
lahat, nang kaligayahan.
Mamahalin din kita
kahit nilisan mo hirang.
Susuyuin din kita
magpahanggang libing tunay.
Mamahalin din kita ikaw
lang ang tanging mahal.
Nilimot mo ang
lahat.
Ng kaligayahan.
(My love, where is you
mercy
This heart of mine which is
loving you truly
No warning, no signs -- you
have left.
Forgetting all the
happiness we shared
I will still love you even
though you have left me
This love of mine I will
carry through my grave.
I will love you and you
will always be my one and only love)
Even if you have forgotten all
the happy moments we shared together.)
This closeness of people in
the prosperous civilization, the natural tendency to sail and their feeling
homey to the sea made this Hebrew – blooded natives, over thousand years, send
people through boats in the different islands in the Pacific.
References
Covell, Jon Carter & Alan Covell. The World of Korean
Ceramics, Seoul, Si-sa Yong-o-sa, 1986, p. 74
Ethnic Groups of the Philippines. http://www.ethnicgroupsphilippines.com/people/ethnic-groups-in-the-philippines/waray/.. Retrieved May 26, 2018.
William Henry Scott.
https: // archive.org / stream/ Barangay Sixteenth Century Philippine Culture And Society/ Barangay+- +Sixteenth+ Century+ Philippine + Culture+ and+Society_djvu.txt.
Retrieved April 4, 2018.
