Historical trivia about Santa Barbara

by Fred Natividad

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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!

In the Philippines, a way of spending the Holy Week is through prayer, meditation and the traditional Visita Iglesias. It is a pilgrimage to various churches which people intend to pray the Stations of the Cross at each stop. The Stations of the Cross has 14 stations, each capturing the journey of Jesus Christ through the streets of Jerusalem to Golgotha. Ideally this would mean that there are about 14 churches to visit.

In case you are in Pangasinan, visit the following churches:

Pangasinan is sometimes synonymous to a pilgrimage to the miraculous Our Lady of Manaoag housed in the Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Parish Church in Manaoag.

Next stop would be at the St. Hyacinth Parish Church in San Jacinto, then to the St. Thomas Aquinas Parish Church in Mangaldan.

A few kilometers away is the San Fabian Church. From San Fabian you could go to Dagupan via Bonuan Binloc. Near the junction going to the Bonuan Tondaligan Beach is the Annunciation of the Lord Parish in Bonuan Gueset. You could also visit the Simbaan Ya Bato (church made of stone), a small church beside it and within the compound. St. Gabriel the Archangel Church in Bonuan Boquig within the interior of Bonuan could also be visited.

At the heart of Dagupan City is the historic and newly renovated/ reconstructed St. John the Evangelist Cathedral  (formerly known as the Old Cathedral).

Near it is the bigger St. John the Evangelist Parish Church (formerly known as the St. John the Evangelist Metropolitan Cathedral). 

Calasiao is not just home to the famous and delectable Calasiao puto, it is also where you can find one of the oldest churches in the region, the Sts. Peter and Paul Parish Church. Although not a church, another famous pilgrimage site in Calasiao is the Senor Divino Tesoro, where a statue of crucified Jesus of Nazarene is enshrined.

From Calasiao, you could go to San Ildefonso Parish Church in Malasiqui,

St. Vincent Ferrer in Bayambang or St. Dominic Church in San Carlos City.

On the way to Western Pangasinan, pass by Our Lady of Purification Parish Church in Binmaley and the Epiphany of Our Lord Parish Church in Lingayen. Lingayen (soon to be a city?) is the province’s capital. It is also famous for its bagoong and patis (fish paste and sauce).

Although there are a lot of other notable churches along the way towards Alaminos City, I’ll just leave that your adventurous and devotional spirit.

Last stop could be at the St. Joseph Catherdal in Alaminos City. To culminate your day, stay at the one of the natural wonders of the world, The Hundred Islands.

Have a Blessed Holy Week!

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February 22-28, 2005 issue

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EVERY town in the country that existed as of 1889 has a schoolhouse known as Gabaldon building. We have one in Dagupan City. It is now 96 years old; the oldest school house in town. It was constructed in 1909. We refer to the Dagupan City West Central School.

Among all Gabaldon school buildings of the country, the one we have in Dagupan has a unique history. While built as a schoolhouse, the one we have in Dagupan City served as the Provincial Capitol of Pangasinan from 1942 up to 1945.

Our local cultural and historical committee should take note of this and act accordingly. An appropriate historical marker should be placed in the building.

Dagupan was the war time capital town of Pangasinan from 1942 up to 1945. The Gabaldon school house served as the Provincial Capitol. It was here where our war time governor, Santiago V. Estrada, Sr. and his provincial board members, held office for the duration of the Pacific war.

The provincial board secretary during the war period was BLAS F. RAYOS, founder and president of the Dagupan Institute, which later became UNIVERSITY OF PANGASINAN.

The war time mayor of Dagupan was Amado Ll. Ayson, associate of Rayos at the Dagupan Institute.

How did the schoolhouse come to be known as the Gabaldon building?

It was named in honor of Isauro Gabaldon of Nueva Ecija, who was assemblyman for two terms from 1907-1909 and from 1909-1911. He was also elected for two terms as senator of the third senatorial district.

When he was assemblyman, Gabaldon authored the law which came to be popularly known as the Gabaldon Act of 1909. Under this law, the sum of P1 million was appropriated for the construction of a concrete schoolhouse in every poblacion. This was a huge amount in 1909.

The Department of Public Works, in consultation with the Department of Education, prepared the design of the school building. It was uniform throughout the country.

Santiago Estrada was elected governor of Pangasinan in the November 1941 elections with Sofronio Quimson and Elias Cabangon as his two provincial board members.

Estrada was conscripted by the Japanese imperial army to serve as governor under Japanese imperial army to serve as governor under Japanese rule. His two board members, Quimson and Cabangon, successfully evaded the Japanese in their place. Pastor Gomez of Malasiqui and Dr. Oviedo Rous of Binalonan were installed as provincial board members.

The horse drawn caromata was the common vehicle of transportation during the war. There was no gasoline supply. Besides, all the motor vehicles were sequestered by the Philippine Army when the war broke out. These vehicles were used to transport Filipino soldiers and war supplies to Bataan in accordance with War Plan Ornage No. 3.

It is to be recalled that on December 8, 1941 when the Pacific war broke out, General Douglas MacArthur, the top military authority in the country at the time, ordered that all the towns along the Lingayen gulf be evacuated. It was anticipated that the Japanese invasion army will land at the Lingayen Gulf.

Lingayen was abandoned as the capital town. The provincial government was moved to Tayug. The Tayug convent served as the capitol building.

When Pangasinan came under Japanese rule, Dagupan was made the capital town. Thus on January 9, 1945, when General Douglas MacArthur landed at the Lingayen Gulf, he came ashore in Dagupan to capture the provincial government and then establish his headquarters at the town.

MacArthur used the Gabaldon building as his military headquarters. He used the Home Economics building as his Bachelor Officers Quarters (BOQ).

Dagupan remained as the capital town up to June 30, 1945. After that, the provincial government was returned to Lingayen.

The capitol building in Lingayen was heavily damaged by Lingayen bombardment prior to the landing of the U.S. liberation forces.

Digital Pictures of the Pangasinan Provincial Capitol courtesy of:  

Intemtem / Tupig

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The best streetfood I was allowed to eat, and which I think best represents the streetfood scene in Pangasinan, is the intemtem, known outside Pangasinan by its Ilocano name, tupig. It is made of ground rice, sugar and buco (young coconut) strips, rolled and wrapped in banana leaves, then grilled over live coals. All ingredients considered staples in the provincial food scene.

It is the quintessential provincial product - hand-made by old women using all local ingredients with a recipe handed down orally, untouched by machines and preservatives thus perishable, not available 24/7, comes in uneven shapes and sizes, packaging will not survive long distance transport, quality is not assured at all times, and cooked right before your very eyes.

I don't know where it originated, because we have tupig hawkers in the Ilocano parts of Pangasinan (popularly in Carmen, Rosales, the junction leading to and from Ilocos, Pangasinan and Nueva Ecija), intemtem in the inner towns of Pangasinan, and there is tupig, too, in Camiling (the border town of Tarlac). I don't know whether the incorporation of some parts of Pangasinan to La Union, or the close proximity of some towns to Ilcoano-speaking provinces, is connected to its origins, but what I can surely say is that intemtem is grilled and vended in churchyards, and along streets leading to churches, in almost every town in the province.

The best intemtem used to be sold in the pilgrimage town of Manaoag. They were fat, moist, with generous slivers of young coconut. But that was in the past, they have commercialized so much so that they now resemble the tupig sold in Carmen.

And yes, what I'm saying here is, the tupig vended along bus stops are of inferior quality. They are so dry, very thin, greasy, with almost no coconut and the rice isn't ground smoothly. A good intemtem should be eaten hot off the tin grill, wafting the aroma of burnt banana leaves, cooked to the inside but still moist and sticky, not soggy, slightly sweet, with coconut strips ripping off the intemtem as you take a bite.

Intemtem vendors in my hometown of Malasiqui, as in the other towns, sell only during Sundays when everybody goes to church. I always have them as a hot, pre-breakfast treat after morning mass. The rare indulgence keeps the intemtem a favorite streetfod that is looked forward to every week. For this I would gladly eat on the streets, with my parents' wholehearted approval.