Historical trivia about Santa Barbara

by Fred Natividad

Posted by:

On November 13, 1899, Santa Barbara had a five-hour brush with history long before 1945 when General Douglas Macarthur set up his first land command post in Santa Barbara after his Lingayen Gulf landings.

The story of this earlier brush with history is based on a reading of a diary of Telesforo Perez Carrasco, a junior officer in General Aguinaldo's army. The diary was translated from Spanish and published in English in 1986 in Manila by the noted Filipino writer, Nick Joaquin. Mr. Joaquin appears to be a Carrasco descendant.

Back in 1899 the United States of America, then a new emerging power, decided to try its hand in colonialism. It refused to leave the Philippines after its navy demolished the Spanish fleet on Manila Bay. Filipinos, thru their leader, General Aguinaldo, did not foresee this, thinking that America was their ally in driving the Spaniards out. Not surprisingly,

Filipinos were incensed and dared the might of a well trained, sophisticated (for its time) American army.

Enter the story of Telesforo Perez Carrasco as can be gleaned from Nick Joaquin's translation of Carrasco's diary. A Spaniard, Carrasco was a non-com in the Spanish army. Fleeing from a love affair he volunteered for service in the Philippines where he married instead a Filipino girl in Tanauan, Batangas. On June 1, 1899, eight years after he arrived in the Philippines, he was captured by Filipino revolutionary troops in Bulacan.

Carrasco not only waived repatriation to Spain but he even joined General Aguilnaldo's peasant troops, who, after defeating the Spaniards, were now facing a new enemy, the United States of America. Eventually, among various assignments and missions, Carrasco became a part of Aguinaldo's rear guard at Tirad Pass. There he witnessed the death of his commander, General Gregorio del Pilar, who was felled by an American sniper.

Rewinding to Santa Barbara's brush with history…

… It was November 12, 1899. The US army has been relentlessly chasing General Aguinaldo who fled from Bulacan to Pangasinan. From probably Calasiao or Dagupan he headed to Binalonan. Before Binalonan is Manaoag where Lieutenant Carrasco was sent to observe enemy movements.

He was about to leave Manaoag when he was informed that Americans were coming from the direction of Binalonan! He quickly went with his troops into the opposite direction to warn General Aguinaldo's party. Thus warned, everybody turned back.

They arrived at Santa Barbara at 1:00 a.m. of the 13th. After about five hours they left for Pozorrubio. There is an anecdote about this supposed flight to Pozorrubio but that's another story from a Santa Barbara writer and historian, Resty Basa of Banaoang.

So there it is for Santa Barbarans to be proud of: the hometown's brush with history was General Emilio Aguinaldo's stopover for a mere five hours!

Calasiao Puto

Source:  

One of the two standard companions to pansit guisado, that stir-fried salty and greasy dried stick noodles that is a staple fare in birthdays and other parties in the province, is the Calasiao puto, these teeny-weeny moist and bouncy semi-flat rice balls Pangasinenses are quite proud of (the other one being latik).

I grew up on Calasiao puto, and it, along with Manaoag puto, defined how puto should be for me. Needless to say, though I enjoy other kinds of puto made in and around the country, Calasiao puto is the special puto I hanker for and still serve during special occasions. Good thing the quality has not deteriorated over the years - in fact, it seems to have improved, the quality becoming consistent. This may be due to government efforts to promote the product, and regulating its production and sales.

This puto is made and exclusively sold, of course, in Calasiao, a town in the central part of Pangasinan where the Pangasinan language is exclusively spoken. Calasiao is also the second pilgrimage town in the province (after Manaoag), being the home of the miraculous Señor Divino Tesoro.

In front of the town plaza are lined up endless kiosks selling nothing but provincial sweets, the highlight and main come-on being the puto, heaped on the center of the table and sold according to weight, although until a few years ago it was sold by the number of pieces, the price pegged at a hundred of the sweet treats. Don't be daunted by this, because the Calasiao puto is the smallest of its kind, and one can easily finish half a kilo (or about 50 pieces) in one sitting (or maybe that's just me).

It is made from rice, still in the traditional way - ground via heavy flat stone grinders, sweetened then steamed. What you get is a small, glistening, moistly sweet white ball, embodying the perfect concept of makulnet (malagkit/maligat, I can't figure out the exact term in English and nobody I know knows either) that is a very far cry from the cake-like consistency and texture of other puto.

I don't know if it is the rice used (grown in the area?), the equipment used (worn by hundreds of years of use?) or the local water used to steam the puto, but the Calasiao puto can never be exactly reproduced outside of Calasiao, even in my hometown which is the neighboring town of Malasiqui. So beware! Just like how Bonuan bangus cannot really be bred outside of Bonuan, the "special Calasiao puto" you buy outside of Calasiao is probably just pretending to be the real one, although it may be a very close approximation. Unless, of course, you particularly know that the vendor bought the puto from Calasiao.

To further illustrate, just recently a Calasiao puto-maker was brought somewhere else in the country to teach the locals how to make Calasiao puto. Result - a close copycat but not the real McCoy, and the sponsor, who spent for the puto-maker's airfare and accommodation, was disheartened.

So this is just a long story to tell anyone out there who comes across this post and think of asking me for a recipe. Sorry. You can't make a Calasaio puto.

Me, I resigned myself to that fact, and I enjoy puto whenever I go to Manaoag and Calasiao, or really go out of my way to buy for special occasions. Ordering in advance is not necessary, since the puto is made and available round-the-clock, 24/7. I guess total production for a day can feed the total population of the province, and Pangasinan is the second most populous in the country.

As with other puto, it is good with cheese. In my family we serve it with grated cheddar/quickmelt cheese sprinkled on top of the heap, although I think this is unfair since the puto at the bottom do not get their fair share of cheese. I like them skewered on sticks like a barbecue with their individual cheese cubes. But, let me tell you a little secret, Calasiao puto is better spread with Kraft's Cheez Whiz, even the pimiento variety. The cheese spread is better attuned to the moistness of the puto than the dry cheese cubes.

There is also a kutsinta variety, which is as moist and sweet as the original puto. Definitely mas makulnet than ordinary kutsinta. Bite-sized, too.

Pangasinan Peninsula 

By Restituto C. Basa

Source:
April 26-May 2, 2005

Posted by:

Enjoy the Surip Adventure! Surip is located at Baranggay Tiep, Bani, Pangasinan.

All photos taken last May 2005 by Blackboard using his Nokia 3660 cellphone.

By Restituto C. Basa

Source: People’s Digest Newsweekly

October 16-22, 2001

Posted by:

VILLASIS is a town of honey bees. Located on the northern bank of the great Agno River, it is in the heartland of the vast Agno valley. It has a land area of 8,047.48 hectares which is a fertile agricultural area.

Villasis and its surrounding towns raise a huge volume of corn, after rice. This is the reason why Purina, the leading manufacturer of animal feeds, selected Villasis as the site of its manufacturing plant. Corn is the raw material in the manufacture of animal feeds.

Origin: The town started as a barrio of Malasiqui, the town to its west. Its ancient name was Pandoyocan, a Pangasinan word which means a colony of oyocan, a variety of honey bees.

Its separation from its mother town was initiated by Fr. Fernando Sta. Maria, parish priest of Malasiqui. The decree which created it into a town was issued by the Rt. Mons. Miguel Espeleta, the bishop of Cebu who was designated acting governor general. The decree was dated October 18, 1759. This date is recognized as the foundation of Pandoyocan as a town.

Villasis: During the years 1760 up to 1850, community life in the town was tumultuous. It would appear that there was a comparatively big number of Spanish residents in the town. The natives resented the domineering ways of the Spaniards. There was constant friction between the two groups.

It should be noted that in 1762 Juan dela Cruz Palaris of Binalatongan (San Carlos) led what is called in history the Palaris revolt. The unrest of the natives of Pandoyocan undoubtedly was inspired by the Palaris uprising in Central Pangasinan.

In 1850, the Spanish governor general was Antonio Urbiztondo y Villasis. He came to Pandoyocan to reconcile the warring factions to restore peace and order. He succeded. Eventually, the name of the town was changed from Pandoyocan to Villasis, in his honor.

Trade route: One factor that accelerates the development of the town’s economy is its favorable location. It lies along the Manila-Ilocos roadline. This is the most important trade route in Midwestern Luzon. This same roadline branches westward to Dagupan and Lingayen at Urdaneta.

Through this highway, farm crops harvested from the town, particularly vegetables such as eggplants, tomatoes, mongo beans and others, could reach the Metro Manila markets within three hours by trucks and buses, or within two hours to Baguio, and within 45 minutes to Dagupan.

Villasis is a major vegetable basket.

Because of the excellent existing means of transportation and communications in Villasis and throughout Pangasinan, students from the town have easy access to the good colleges and universities in Manila, Dagupan, Baguio and Urdaneta.

The town has produced an associate justice of the Court of Appeals in the person of Justice Teodoro Primicias Regino.

Transportation between Villasis and Metro Manila is available 24 hours a day.

Villasis is bounded in the north by Urdaneta, in the northeast by Asingan, in the southeast across the Agno river by Rosales, in the southwest by Sto. Tomas and Alcala, in the west by Malasiqui.