After two semesters of immersing myself in the academe I finally decided to unwind and have some peace of mind. Several locations came to mind at first – Vigan, Tibiao, Siquijor, Cebu – but ultimately I decided to revisit Dumaguete City “The City of Gentle People,” the capital of Negros Oriental. I first set foot in the place in the mid 2000’s, when I was still working as an Auditor at BEMI.
The etymology of the name of the city itself gives a hint at its curious past. Jesuit priest cum cartographer (map maker) Fr. Pedro Murillo Velarde used the name Dumaguete in 1734 in his now famous map, although Diego Lopez Povedano referred to it as Dananguet in 1572. The name Dumaguete was derived from the Cebuano word daggit “to snatch” and ultimately from its derivative term dumaguet “to swoop,” in reference to the frequent marauding attacks by Muslim raiders on this coastal community in retaliation to Spanish aggression in Mindanao during the Spanish-Moro war (“About Dumaguete”), considered by some historians as one of the longest anti-colonial wars in the world (Kamlian), lasting for over 300 years. Inhabitants were captured (daggit) and sold as slaves in Sulu, according to several scholars.
The colonial Spaniards called the Muslims “one who submits (to God) (Arabic )” Moro (plural: Moros), which is simply the Spanish term for the English word Moor, which in turn was derived from the Latin mauri, a reference to the Berber tribes who inhabited the ancient Roman province of Mauritania in northwest Africa, (today the states of Algeria, Mauritania and Morocco). The word Moro has no ethnographic meaning but can refer to all Muslims, Berber or Arab, who conquered the Iberian Peninsula. Originally, the Spanish conquestadores applied the word to all inhabitants of Mindanao, Sulu and Palawan, thinking that they were all followers of Islam and later the Spaniards infused the word with derogatory connotations. Thus, the people in Moroland refused to be called Moros until the word was transformed into a symbol of nationality and identity (Kamlian; “History of Moorish Spain”).
These raids by vengeful Muslims took place in many places, especially in the Visayas, and included Cebu, Southern Leyte, Northern Samar, Bohol, Negros, and Panay. Today, all one have to do is just to look for watchtowers in coastal communities, and be confidently sure that such areas were vulnerable and favorite sites of piracy in those times. In fact, an island in the Visayan Sea and its largest municipality are named Bantayan, which is the Cebuano term for watchtowers (in addition to fortresses and stones walls) that the Spaniards built in different parts of the Philippine archipelago for refuge and protection from Moro attacks. Bantayan islands itself has not less than 18 watchtowers!
The old name of Cebu was Sugbu and most of us will associate it with pinasugbo, the thinly sliced fried saba banana chips dipped in brown sugar syrup and sprinkled with sesame seeds, but the name is actually the Cebuano counterpart of the Hiligaynon word sugba. The name doesn’t mean that the place is scorching hot but rather refers to the “scorched earth” tactic where inhabitants burn everything the invaders could use (Teves). The native Cebuano inhabitants had the habit of burning their homes, mostly made of light and flammable materials, every time they evacuated the coastlines for the mountains so that the houses can not be used by the invading Muslims.
Another place in Negros Oriental that gives us a piece of this historical puzzle is Guihulngan, whose name was derived from the Cebuano word guinhulugan “where it was dropped.” During my travels to this town I was told that the community had a large bell in the past which was rang every time there was a raid. In one of these attacks, the bell was supposedly captured by the invading warriors and thrown to the sea so that the villagers can no longer use it.
Iloilo City in Panay Island has a district called Molo. It is said that the name came about after a Spaniard was tasked to find out the name of the place. Said Spaniard asked a Chinese, who shouted “Molo! Molo!” after seeing the incoming seafaring Moro marauders. Apparently the Chinese would pronounce R as L (as the Japanese will pronounce L as R).
So why talk about Bantayan, Sugbu, Guihulngan, and Molo in an article about Dumaguete? Simply because some of Dumaguete City’s major tourist attractions are hinged upon this common history of coastline piracy. Having a background will make you look at these landmarks from a different perspective and with more meaning.
In Conserving Fortified Heritage, it was written that, “The church-fortresses were important contact zones for Spaniards and Filipinos, and are testimonies to the social and cultural history of the Filipino people,” and “The churches have remained the dominant monument in many towns. Their size, design, construction, military and defense functions also relate suitably to the Philippine geographic conditions” (Jain and Hooja).
The Campanario de Dumaguete (the Dumaguete Belfry in English), located along the main Perdices St., is Dumaguete City’s version of the bantayan or watchtower. The coral bricked, pentagon shaped Campanario de Dumaguete is the oldest bell tower/belfry in Negros Oriental and the Visayas, having been built in 1811 (Pagarigan). In between the belfry and the adjacent church candle vendors can be found, selling candles for P1.00/each (P3.00 in Bacolod City) since devotees regularly light candles at the grotto area of the belfry.
Just beside the Dumaguete Belfry is the St. Catherine Alexandria Church (Dumaguete Cathedral), which is the largest church in Dumaguete City (Pagarigan) and the oldest stone church in Negros Oriental, having been “originally built in 1754-1776, reconstructed in 1885, and extended with present facade in 1935” as documented in a chiseled sign in one of the exterior walls of the church. St. Catherine of Alexandria became a cathedral when Dumaguete was officially erected as a diocese in 1955 (Miguel).
Just across the Campanario de Dumaguete and the St. Catherine Alexandria Church is the Quezon Park, named after President Manuel Luis Quezon Y Molina, who came to Dumaguete to escape the Japanese during World War II en route to Mindanao. The Quezon Park, Dumaguete’s equivalent of the Bacolod Public Plaza in Negros Occidental, celebrated its 100th year last September 17, 2016 (Tilos).
The Quezon Park, with an area of about 1.5 ha., is especially crowded during Sundays as churchgoers will hang around there to relax with their families. There’s a playground for children and vendors sell different food stuff and beverages. The Dumaguete Tourism Office, located on one side of the park, gives assistance to both domestic and foreign tourists, and the City Hall is just across the park. Fast food chains, banks, stores, and the Dumaguete Public Market are nearby the park since it is already within the downtown area.
(To be continued)
REFERENCES
Jain, Shikha and Rima Hooja (ed.). Conserving Fortified Heritage: The Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Fortification and World Heritage. New Delhi: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2015.
Kamlian, Jamail A. “Who are the Moro People?” Philippine Daily Inquirer. 20 Oct. 2012.
<http://opinion.inquirer.net/39098/who-are-the-moro-people>
Miguel, Dennis Kit. “Saint Catherine of Alexandria Cathedral-Parish, Dumaguete City.” Recollect Churches in Negros. 14 Aug. 2011.
http://negrosrecollectchurches.blogspot.com/2011/08/saint-catherine-of-alexandria-cathedral.html
Pagarigan, Kimmy. “Dumaguete Belfry.” Dumaguete Info. 4 Jun. 2015.
<https://www.dumagueteinfo.com/dumaguete-city/dumaguete-belfry-3/>
Teves, Diji. “Real Origin of the Name ‘Cebu’ and ‘Sugbu,’ The.” Y101FM. 23 Apr. 2017.
<http://www.y101fm.com/features/lifestyle/cebu-s-best/5420-the-real-origin-of-the-name-cebu-and-sugbu>
Tilos, Jennifer C. “Dumaguete Quezon Park Celebrates 100 Years Anniversary.”
22 Sep. 2016.
http://news.pia.gov.ph/article/view/1111474357060/dumaguete-quezon-park-celebrates-100-years-anniversary
James U. Sy Jr. 