Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Ormoc History
Ormoc History
UGMOK
A brief history of Ormoc
By Emil B. Justimbaste
Ugmok 3
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Jesuit Years...6
Chapter 2
The Augustinians ...16
Chapter 3
An Independent Parish...20
Chapter 4
Economy Grows...24
Chapter 5
Politics in the 1890s...28
Chapter 6
Dios-Dios in Ormoc...34
Chapter 7
Revolutionary Ferment...38
Chapter 8
Pulahan Rebellion...42
Chapter 9
Governance under the Americans...47
Chapter 10
Growth of the Sugar Industry...53
Chapter 11
Japanese Occupation...56
Chapter 12
Liberation...62
4 Ugmok
Acknowledgement
To my friends in the defunct Ormoc Historical Society who
gave me the initial push to do this research;
To colleagues who provided references on certain periods of
Ormoc’s history;
To Atty. Bingo Capahi who extended financial assistance in
one of my trips to the National Archives in Manila;
To the Ormoc Festival and Cultural Foundation Inc. which
also gave some financial assistance for one of my research trips
to Cebu;
To my family for being patient with my working habits and
all; and
To all those who think that the study of local history is im-
portant,
I owe you all a debt of gratitude.
Ugmok 5
Introduction
I
used to work as a journalist and do investigative pieces
back in the ‘90s when I chanced on an article about Or-
moc’s history. It appeared in one of the souvenir programs
that was published year after year. So I supposed that must
have been happening ever since souvenir programs were pub-
lished either by the city or the parish. People who read it, or
most of those who read it anyway, must have assumed every-
thing written in that brief historical account was Gospel truth.
But there was that glaring information tidbit that somehow
struck a false chord: that Ormoc was a ‘barrio of Palompon.’
That started me thinking. Isabel, which is nearer to Palompon,
was never known to be a barrio of Ormoc. Much less was Me-
rida. But Ormoc, which is about 90 kilometers by the coastal
road, a barrio of Palompon? That started me digging. First, I
gathered all relevant historical materials about Ormoc, whether
or not these were factual. They would be sorted out later and
examined carefully. You’ll be surprised that a lot of these mate-
rials are lying around waiting to be assembled.
In one of my trips to Manila, I would spend a day or two at
the National Library and Archives to browse the books and ma-
terials about Ormoc. At the Archives, a building beside the Na-
tional Library, I was led inside a mezzanine floor where relevant
archival materials are available for copying. The first index book
given to me was “Erecciones de los Pueblos” (Founding of the
towns). Each province has one of such books. Each town has a
list of ‘founding documents’ that can be photo copied. One sim-
ply has to indicate which of the documents one was interested
in, and an assistant would do the copying.
This is where I learned that in 1839, Ormocanons wrote a
petition to the governor general to be declared an independent
parish since it had become temporarily a visita of Palompon,
not a barrio. It was in 1850 when their petition was finally ap-
proved. In the souvenir program, it was written Ormoc became
a town in 1834. Where its writer got that information, I still
can’t figure out. Earlier than that, in 1768, when the Jesuits left
Ormoc, local officials were around to witness the turnover cer-
emonies to the Augustinians. Meaning, even then Ormoc was
already a pueblo.
Another interesting bundle at the Archives was ‘Elecciones
de Gobernadorcillos’ (The election of gobernadorcillos), docu-
ments related to the process of selecting local officials in the
1800s. I was able to gather documents related to the elections
6 Ugmok
in 1891 and 1893. These are discussed lengthily in this book.
A third interesting bundle was the ‘Sediciones y Rebellones’
(Sedition and Rebellion) also in the 1890s. This is where I got
all that information about Faustino Ablen’s arrest by the guardia
civil.
In local history research, this research process never seems
to end. There will always be data gaps and incomplete stories.
Missing links, as it were. But one must know when to stop. Or
rather decide when to say, “Enough.”
So at this point, I’d say enough, I’ve had my fill. Let oth-
ers do the work of fleshing out the details. I have laid the basic
groundwork. But a lot still needs to be done. To those who
want to take up the challenge, I’d say, go ahead, guys. It’s your
turn.
Ugmok 7
Chapter 1
The Jesuit Years
N
o one knows exactly who were the first settlers of Ormoc or
where they settled. But like most ancient civilizations, the Kaug-
mocanos, as Fr. Ignacio Alcina called them, preferred living by
the river banks and near the coast for practical reasons. They got
their drinking water from the river or from wells dug near the river and
fished in their sea.
As to why Ormoc used to be called Ogmuc, local historians surmised
that the first settlement was in a place that was depressed and shallow
compared to its surroundings. Indeed, Ormoc’s geography is situated on
the alluvial deposits of two rivers, Anilao and Malbasag, a soil rich with
natural ingredients for food to grow in abundance.
The site was large enough to sustain a large settlement of several
families, and their produce was sufficient to have surplus with which to
trade with their Asian neighbors as indicated by relics dug by American
archeologists in the early 1900s. According to Prof. Otley Beyer, ancient
gold ornaments and ceramic pieces found here during excavations were
proof of a well developed village that had trading activities with Asian
neighbors long before contact with the Spanish explorers.
The ancients were not fond of name calling as much as westerners,
although they had a system of identifying important sites with the pos-
sessive term “kan”, like kan-tubo, kan-dahug, kan-bantug, kan-adieng or
kan-alo. The collective term “Ogmuc” came much later, probably at the
time of contact with the Spanish explorers who would write place names
on their maps.
For sure, the name “Ogmuc” must have come into existence in 1571
when Miguel Lopez de Legaspi included the site as one of the places
awarded to his encomiendero Fracisco de Quiros who was empowered
to collect tributes in exchange for religious instruction. In Pigafetta’s
account, nothing is mentioned of Ogmuc, even as Magellan, according
to historian Manuel Artigas y Cuerva, was supposed to have anchored
nearby on his way to Zebu, collecting food and plenty of water.
There is also no record of Augustinian friars coming
ashore to baptize the natives during Legaspi’s time, most
probably because there were so few of them. Apparently,
the Augustinians preferred the more populous Zebu where
they would build their church of stone. It was the Jesuits who
8 Ugmok
came and stayed to preach, baptize and
provide religious instruction. It was the
Jesuit Fr. Pedro Chirino who first wrote
about the flourishing mission of Ogmuc
in his great opus, Relacion de las Islas
Filipinas, published in 1604.
Barely eight years after the Jesuits started their evangelization pro-
gram, in 1605, native warriors from at least three tribal groups from the
island of Mindanao started to pillage the thriving Ogmuc settlement.
To them, slave trading in neighboring Borneo had become a profitable
enterprise. A rich source of slaves was the Visayan islands whose datus
had submitted themselves to Spanish rule. First to come were the Karagas
Ugmok 13
Jesuit Expulsion
Ugmok 15
The vaunted success of the Jesuits in the conversion of natives to
Catholicism did not in any way deter the Spanish crown from expelling
them from the Spanish colonies. Ever since they started speaking against
the abuses of the Spanish authorities and the encomenderos, the Jesuits
were marked.
Finally, on the morning of May 19, 1768, after 187 years, Jesuit mis-
sionary work in the Philippine Islands was finished. The Pragmatic Sanc-
tion of Charles III was put into effect and 148 Jesuits were prepared for
the long return voyage to Europe and exile from the King’s domains.
The earlier accusations leveled against them, from the Spanish
crown’s point of view, were serious enough to expel them from Spanish
territories and colonies. They were charged that they preached against the
government and that the Jesuit Provincial had maintained illicit commu-
nication with the English general during their occupation of Manila.
These charges were by no means the deciding reasons for their
expulsion. The decision to do so was based upon a different set of circum-
stances. That they had preached against government abuses in the colo-
nies, particularly those perpetrated against the natives, were clear enough.
In fact, it was not just the Jesuits who used the pulpit to criticize Spanish
civilian authorities. Other orders did as well.
But the last straw seemed to be the sermons preached in Manila
in 1765 by the Jesuit, Fr. Francisco Puig. These were a series of Lenten
tirades delivered in the church attached to the Colegio de Manila. It was
just a matter of time before these reached the royal ears in Spain.
A few months after the expulsion orders were signed, a commander
of the royal navy, Don Pablo Verdote, took charge of rounding up the
Jesuits in Leyte and conveying them to Manila. The first residencia to be
closed was that of Ogmuc. In his report describing the turnover, he wrote:
“On October 4, I sailed the transport under my command into
Ogmuc Bay. On the 5th, I went ashore at the town of Ogmuc. I had
with me the Reverend Father Fray Francisco Martinez of the Order
of St. Agustin. Upon reaching the residence of the reverend father
missionary of the town, I sent for the petty governor, his officials and
the principal citizens. When they were all assembled in the house in
the presence of the said Jesuit father, I read to them the decree of the
King our lord and caused it to be translated in their language. Their
unanimous reply was that they obeyed and accepted the royal orders
of His Majesty. I then proceeded to make an inventory of the gold
and silver vessels and the arms belonging to the church of the said
town in the presence of the above-mentioned persons, who have af-
16 Ugmok
fixed their signatures below.”
Fr. Luis Secanell, the last Jesuit priest here in 1768 , left with the
boat.
T
he settlement
had not changed
much during the
172 years under
Jesuit tutelage. True, many
Kaogmucanos had em-
braced Catholicism and its
practices, and a lot of them
had become devotees of the
faith. But there was little
change in their way of life.
They were still averse to
living in the town.
The Augustinian Fr.
Agustin Maria de Castro
was profuse with complaints about their new mission, saying it was “much
distempered by the heat.” The winds were strong and there were cloud-
bursts that often made it impossible for one to leave the house, in addition
to “the hurricanes and furious typhoons; with thunders, and formidable
rays [of lightning] that kill some Indians every year, and with a thousand
other intemperances.”
De Castro complained of “snakes of all colors and shapes; the riv-
ers, seas and lagoons are full of very carnivorous caimans or crocodiles…
besides the scorpions, centipedes, mites and other poisonous vermin with
killer bites…adding that diseases are plentiful, incognito, rebellious and
incurable.”
Moreover, from anywhere in the island, they seemed to be “in limbo,
with very little news of the world”… with no “Gacetas (newspapers) or
Mercurios, (magazines).” The isolation of the missions was further ag-
gravated by the absence of “the Indians who ordinarily live in the forests,
mountains and wilderness, about three or four leagues away from the
church. They come [to town] only on Sundays to hear mass and to play the
roosters [cockfighting]. The two [existing] roads are bad, the sun is burn-
ing, the cloudbursts are many, the sandbars of the rivers are dangerous, the
horses are few and bad, for which it is better to walk on the water, and the
canoes and bancas are very flimsy and weak.”
18 Ugmok
The Augustinian Provincial Superior Fr. Joseph Victoria who made
a tour of his priests assigned to Leyte in 1770, noted that the land was
not well cultivated, and “there is not a place where the plow has entered,
because even planting for their own food was done by the hand…the lack
of roads to allow traffic has reduced that province into a lingering forest.”
But de Castro commented favorably on the fertility of the land, espe-
cially in the mountainous areas. He said:
“…the earth is fertile and productive, for rice, for cows and pigs, or
oil and coconut wine. They have much and good quality beeswax
in the mountains, excellent wood for construction, enough cocoa,
tobacco, cabalonga [sic] seed, a lot of abaca or hemp and other spe-
cies. “
One problem the Augustinians faced had to do with the communities
that they were supposed to preach
to. The Jesuits’ sudden departure
had doubtless aroused the natives’
suspicion, forcing many of them
to pack up their meager belong-
ings and leave the pueblos for the
familiar forests nearby. Unlike the
Jesuits who were welcomed by the
natives, the newcomers seemed to
be unwelcome.
“They made bad faces
at us and would run away
from the white habit [of the
Augustinian priest]. And
though we tried to caress
them and give them allowed
items according to the in-
structions that we took, these
were not enough. Especially
the children of six to twelve years, they see us as something strange
and they run like deer away from our view. And if at all we continue
to approach them, and if perhaps they could not be reached and they
were brought by force to our presence, we could see them cry, or they
throw themselves on the floor, or bite [us], or pull their hair and de-
fend themselves hopelessly, and show other extremes of sorrow that
caused our admiration. This happened in all towns.”
“We asked them about the cause of this novelty from some
Ugmok 19
simple Indians that we found during the past year. They said that the
babaylanes (that is what they call their sacrificers) had announced
in all the towns that the news priests with white habits have orders
to maim the boys and send them to Europe, to be used as bait [for
fishing], or to fatten the tigers of the King of Spain. This is something
that is believed by the Indians … “
One other major cause for worry to the newcomers were the Moro
raids that had caused a lot of trouble for the early missions more than 150
years before. Apparently, the Moro depredations had persisted even up to
1770s.
In the letter of Fr. Victoria,
“Leyte is a province that is continually invaded by the Moros, the
reason that obliges its natives to live in fear in the towns.” He said the
natives, even if they were also armed, “could neither guard nor even
keep watch of the schools and the reduced number of inhabitants that
live in nearby houses.”
The Augustinian superior noted that in the recent years, that prov-
ince alone counted two thousand captives from the year of 68 [1768]. De
Castro also wrote of the dangers brought about by the Moros of Mind-
anao. He said:
“They capture many boats of the Indians and of the Spaniards, and
what I noticed was that they took more than sixty of these in one
year. Though the towns have their baluartes (forts) and stone walls,
with stonecutters and lantacas (canons) corresponding to the capac-
ity of their residents, they often do not have enough of these [struc-
tures] in the face of the superior force and armada of the Moros. And
though you fence the church and the convent, where you can gather
the residents, [the Moros] would start a fire by throwing lit arrows,
which could roast those inside if they did not surrender or give in to
the general assault, as I have seen many times. Many thousands of
Indians have been taken captive, and for which reason the best lands
in the Bisayas are almost uninhabited. There is not a town that had
not been taken and defeated by these damned pirates in Leyte.”
That was one reason why in some pueblos, there was no lodging place
for the missionary to stay since their houses were destroyed during the
Moro depredations. Some of them had to use the baluarte for sleeping in,
Victoria said.
Despite their complaints, the Augustinians had roads and schools
built. Here in Ogmuc, they built four rural schools. Fr. Victoria in the
letter to his superior in Rome, narrated that he ordered his priests to clear
20 Ugmok
up the vicinities of the towns for the opening of roads, and to observe the
Royal tributes as established by Royal Decrees. A notable change that the
Augustinians did was in agriculture when they introduced work animals
for plowing and the use of the plow.
Unfortunately for those times, there were simply not enough Augus-
tinians to adequately replace the Jesuits. Fourteen were assigned for the
entire Leyte island, but only three took care of the pueblos in the west and
the south.
On record, only three Augustinians were assigned to Ogmuc: Frs.
Francisco Martinez, Agustin Maria de Castro and Francisco Rodriguez.
Martinez replaced the Jesuit Fr. Luis Secanell, but on the same year de
Castro took over after his stint at Boljoon, Cebu. De Castro was born in
La Bañeza Aug. 16, 1740, admitted to the Augustinian College in Val-
ladolid, passed Mexico and spent two years there in 1757. He finished
his priesthood and was ordained in Manila and appointed bibliotecario
(librarian) in 1762.
The third Augustinian, Fr. Rodriguez, was born in Santiago de Gali-
cia in 1742, educated in Valladolid and assigned to the parishes of Hilon-
gos, Ogmuc and Palompon during the years 1774-78. He was transferred
to Dulag in 1779.
The lack of priests could explain why Ogmuc reverted to the status of
a “visita” attached to the parish of Palompon sometime between the years
1778 and 1850, a period of 72 years. The secular priests would take over
only in 1850. From then on, the succession was unbroken.
In the meantime, Ogmuc would be governed by civilian authorities
headed by gobernadores, capitanes, capitanes municipal or goberna-
dorcillos, whose present-day equivalent is the municipal mayor. Unfor-
tunately, no records of them exist. The first recorded gobernadorcillo,
principales and cabezas of Ogmuc show up only in 1839.
Ugmok 21
Chapter 3
An Independent
Parish
T
he modern day towns became possible only because the early mis-
sionaries assigned to preach in native settlements exerted utmost
efforts to gather them into the center of the town, with the church
as the focal point. This is why the origins of pueblos are always
intertwined with the origins of parishes. This is especially true in Ogmuc
which became a parish as early as 1630 when the Jesuits were still preach-
ing here, according to Augustinian Fr. Elviro Perez in 1901 in his book.
When the natives started to put up their residence in the town center,
it became necessary to have some sort of a governing body, with the local
chiefs under it. At the start, the encomenderos served as petty governors.
Later, they were replaced by local chiefs or principalia, and called as gob-
ernadores, capitanes municipal or gobernadorcillos. Even in the absence
of a priest, Ogmuc continued to be governed by them.
But a pueblo without its own priest could not have been complete
because to church authorities, it was just a visita, which would be admin-
istered only at the whims of the priest of the mother parish. For all intents
and purposes, a priest played a very important role in the lives of the peo-
22 Ugmok
ple, not just in the administration of sacraments. But even in civil matters,
priests were often consulted. For instance, in the election of town officials,
the presence of the parish priest was often required.
Thus, the petition of Ormoc residents on October 20, 1839 to be a
parish independent of its matrix Palompon seemed to have been long
overdue. Signed by the gobernadorcillo Juan Simon, eight members of the
principalia, 22 cabezas de barangay and five tinientes nombrados (in-
cumbent barangay heads) and two testigos (witnesses), the petition was
addressed to the incumbent alcalde mayor (the modern day equivalent of
governor) in Tacloban Victoriano Lopez Llanoses.
In that petition, the residents argued that Ormoc already had enough
tributos (tax payers) to be able to support a parish. It had 1,907 tax payers,
much bigger than Palompon’s 626. Moreover, its distance from Palom-
pon was about six to seven leagues by sea (equivalent to 18 to 21 miles) ,
which made travel difficult for the priest. The fear of Moro depredations
was still fresh in their m their minds, and the weather was not always
favorable. Thus, visits were infrequent and dependent on whether the par-
ish priest was inclined to do so.
But the petitioners’ main arguments centered on the attitudes of the
priest themselves, Don Mateo Samson and his coadjutor Don Floren-
tino Antonio, whom they obviously disliked. They said these two priests
treated them badly and often verbally abused them even when they took
the initiative to repair façade of the church using their own funds and
resources. At time, the parish priest would take justice into his own hands
and make no distinction whether the person concerned came from a
prominent family or from the lower classes.
In fact, not a few had gone on self-exile to Dagami or Maasin to avoid
the abuses of said priests. As a result, the taxes in Ormoc had decreased.
The former alcalde mayor Don Ceferino Hernandez and Don Gabriel de
la Ballina, a lieutenant colonel of the guardia civil, were accordingly well
informed about the customs of this priest (Fr. Samson).
In some of their visits, the petitioners continued, the priests did not
give them food or water that they had to drink salt water to satisfy their
thirst.
On Oct. 31, 1939, the alcalde mayor Victoriano Lopez Llanoses fa-
vorably endorsed the petition to the office of the governor general and the
bishopric of Cebu, without objecting to the arguments presented. Nothing
was heard of the petition until 11 years later. Then on July 5, 1850, Bishop
Romualdo Jimeno Ballesteros of the diocese of Cebu, wrote to the gov-
ernor of the District and the Visayas about the said petition, asking how
Ugmok 23
Adocument from the NAtional Archives showing the petition of Ormoc residents to
make the pueblo an independent parish.
24 Ugmok
A document from the National archives showing the Spanish government approval
of Ormoc as an independent parish.
Ugmok 25
much tribute will remain with the parsonage of Palompon, with Quiot
(Isabel) attached to it if Ormoc separated. He also wanted to know if there
were already the necessary public buildings in the town of Ormoc.
In response, the governor of the district told the bishop that a year
before, in 1849, Ormoc had 1,498 tribute givers and had the necessary
public buildings. It also had a communication line with Carigara, al-
though that was imperfect and fraught with difficulties because of the
distance. The road was bad and the terrain was not favorable for travel.
The tax payers of Palompon reached 636, while Isabel had 203, totaling
839. The isolation of Ormoc made it imperative to set up a new parish
so that the spiritual needs of the residents of Ormoc could be taken care
of, which would be impossible if there was only one priest to administer
Palompon, Ormoc and Quiot.
On Aug. 16, 1850, the Cebu bishop also furnished the current parish
priest of Palompon, Bibiano Luciano a copy of the letter, In response, on
Sept. 23, 1850, Fr. Luciano Bibiano confirmed that indeed the distance
between Palompon and Ormoc was great and that travel could only be
made with great difficulty. He said this could be avoided if Ormoc had
its own priest. He also
confirmed the presence of
public buildings in Ormoc
like a parochial house
(convent), a tribunal and
school.
More important, he
added, inconvenience
could be avoided if he was
appointed parish priest of
the Ormoc Parish, which
would be good for his
well being. Being a senior
priest, he requested that he
be granted his request.
On October 18, 1850,
Bishop Romualdo wrote
to the governor general,
making his final recom-
mendation to separate
Ormoc from Palompon
parish. The bishop also
26 Ugmok
conformed to the idea that Fr. Luciano be the one assigned to Ormoc “by
right of his being parish priest. Effectively, not only for the reason that he
alleges, in justice, he should be heard in order to avoid inconveniences
that would occur later on when the parishes are to be erected, because
the rights of Priests in their parsonage during their lifetime should not be
curtailed, so that they will continue to take interest in undertaking visits,
which is a duty of the parsonages, and in case new parishes will be formed
, the original priest will not be placed in a parish worse than his own….
Palompon, with its annex can remain vacant and be provided according
to canonical right.”
Finally, the Superior Gobierno y Capitania General de Pilipinas, the
official governing body in Manila, in a resolution dated November 13,
1850 declared Ormoc to be an independent parish.
Then on December 13, 1850, Bishop Romualdo received his copy of
the resolution, which also showed Luciano Bibiano to be the first secular
parish priest of Ormoc. The parish was formally installed on December
21, 1850, evidently with much pomp and celebration.
Ugmok 27
Chapter 4
C
ompared to the
earlier years, the
last three decades
of the nineteenth
century saw commercial
agriculture expanding
in Leyte. In the 1870s, it
had become an attractive
frontier to pioneering souls.
Various factors such as
good soil, abundant mois-
ture, good drainage and
adequate labor pool made
the island the leading pro-
ducer of abaca in the coun-
try, after the Bicol region.
The growing trade in this
prime export crop had, by
the 1870s, created vibrant
provincial port towns with
expanding opportunities in commerce and shipping.
Hemp was the island’s most important export. In the 1870s, Leyte
had an annual production of 70,000 to 80,000 piculs (picos) of hemp. By
1905, the scale of hemp production had so escalated, there were 22,638
hectares devoted to the crop, producing over 11 million kilos of hemp.
The surge in economic activity is indicated by the fact that between
1860 to 1900, the population of the province of Leyte rose from 134,493
to 357,641. Ormoc’s population likewise started climbing from 11,967 in
1884 to 13,315.
Around this time, there were five main collection sites for hemp in
Leyte: Tacloban, Carigara, Malitbog, Ormoc and Palompon. The greater
portion of the hemp from the east coast, as far as south Cabalian, was sent
to Tacloban, to be shipped to Manila. All the hemp from the west coast,
including the island of Biliran, was shipped to Cebu. In 1903-04, a total of
119,352 piculs was shipped out of Tacloban, 70,000 piculs out of Carigara,
and 211,500 piculs from collecting points on the west coast. Leyte was
28 Ugmok
noted for the fine quality
of its abaca.
In the 1870s, an
informal network of
merchants and trad-
ers based in the coastal
towns, which served
as collecting points for
hemp and other crops
as well as distribution
points for incoming con-
sumer goods from such
urban centers as Cebu
and Manila. In these
towns, the hemp grown
in the hinterlands was
collected.
Many of these merchants were Spaniards and a few Chinese. In 1884,
there were four Ormoc residents who were of European (evidently, Span-
ish) descent. The Yrastorzas and Aboitizes were two of these families. This
was also the time when the patriarch of the Tans of Ormoc, Pablo Tan,
settled here and got himself baptized as a Christian with Gregorio Yras-
torza as his sponsor.
The Yrastorzas had boats that transported agricultural commodities
to Cebu and essential commodities back to Ormoc. Paulino Aboitiz, the
patriarch of the Aboitiz shipping family, initially worked in one of the
boats of Yrastorza and eventually married one of his two marriageable
daughters, Emilia. When he had his own family, Paulino engaged himself
in the trading of abaca in partnership with the Muerteguis of Palompon
and the Morazas of Baybay.
The Spanish traders in Palompon, Ormoc, Baybay, Maasin and
Malitbog dealt in abaca, buying the hemp from villagers who brought the
fiber to the coastal towns, and then selling the hemp collected to trading
houses in Cebu. As an adjunct to this business, they each operated a gen-
eral merchandise store (tienda) stocked with such common commodities
as rice, salt liquor, kerosene, candles, textiles, soap and sardines, brought
in from stores and distributors in Cebu or Manila. These commodities
were usually sold by to the villagers who came to town with their abaca.
This kind of trading was - in those days of expanding commerce in agri-
cultural crops and growing rural prosperity – a profitable business.
Ugmok 29
Pablo Tan on the other hand had a blacksmithing enterprise, fabri-
cating agricultural implements, bolos, plows, scythes, knives and similar
items, going outside Ormoc to neighboring Leyte towns to sell his goods.
He eventually made a fortune from his business and started buying agri-
cultural lands in Macabug and set up his own animal-driven sugar mill.
He met his future bride in Carigara, a Salvatierra, presumably in one
of his business trips, married her and sired 16 children, some of whom
subsequently played important roles in Ormoc’s emerging economy and
vibrant if stormy politics.
Some important infrastructures were also built during this period,
like the Puente de la Reina, an old stone bridge that people used to cross
to get to the shore at Candalong. Since there was no pier yet in those
years, boats would dock some hundred meters from the shore where they
would be met by smaller bancas from Candalong. The Puente was built
under the regime of Esteban Aparis as capitan muncipal, with the super-
vision of Fabian Fiel, on November 15, 1864 and finished June 30, 1866.
Fiel would follow Aparis as capitan municipal in his own right.
Another bridge, the Tulay de Perdon, was built by Capitan Municipal
Segundo Esmero who was penalized by Spanish authorities for failing
to meet the quota of tributos from the residents. This bridge, spanning
Malbasag River between Agua Dulce and Can-adieng, had bricks for its
foundation and was made of wood, with a roof over it to protect it from
the elements. It got its name from stories of pall bearers who would pause
to rest before proceeding to the cemetery. It was often told that the dead
man’s pall would become lighter, indicating that his sins had been lifted
after pausing the bridge. That was interpreted as forgiveness of sins. Thus
the name Tulay de Perdon.
Since Ormoc had its own secular parish priest in 1850, some of its
prominent families sent their sons to the Seminario de San Carlos for
their priestly education. By the 1870s, till 1904, Ormoc was blessed with
producing at least eight native priests, one of whom would figure out as a
founder of a pioneer Catholic School in the entire region. Note the names
of the priests and the years that they were ordained.
:
Prospero Esmero September 28, 1873
Enrique Carillo August 13, 1876
Gregorio Ortiz June 3, 1882
Juan Miroy December 21, 1889
Flaviano Daffon December 17, 1897
Pelagio Aviles November 1, 1898
30 Ugmok
Ismael Cataag August 13, 1899
Sergio Eamiguel June 5, 1904
By and large, its church was an imposing building of stone 240 yards
long, 85 yards wide and 45 yards tall, and with a roof made of nipa. It had
a parochial house made of wood, connected to the church, 150 yards wide
and 75 yards from its foundation. The parish was under the Vicaria de la
Costa Occidental de Leyte under the Diocese of Cebu.
Moreover, it already had a cemetery 250 yards on each side, sur-
rounded by trees and strong palm trees.
Ugmok 31
Chapter 5
Politics in the 1890s
M
iguel Lopez de Legazpi in 1571 was the first to organize
the municipalities in the Philippines where it was possible.
But in Ormoc, that did not seem plausible at first because
people tended to live outside the poblacion close to their
farms in scattered settlements. But even before the Jesuits left in 1768
they had succeeded in creating a set of municipal officials in lieu of the
encomenderos who were the first gobernadores. The head official was
called capitan or capitan municipal,
After some years, the municipal head was called gobernadorcillo
while the head of the province alcalde mayor. Then the title returned
to capitan again, as provided for under the Maura Reform Law on May
19, 1893. The title was substituted with jefe local (local chief) during
the Philippine Revolution and then became known as presidente mu-
nicipal (municipal president) after the inauguration of the civil govern-
ment during the American occupation.
32 Ugmok
The principalias (prominent residents), with the jefe local at their
head, were tasked with the construction of casas reales (royal houses),
tribunales (municipal halls), churches and jails. They managed com-
munal works like the repair of streets, roads, bridges and the cleaning
up of rivers. They were also tasked with propagating plants and vegeta-
bles, and the laying out of streets such that proper distances between
built houses were observed, as a precaution in cases of fire. They were
supposed to go after prohibited games [i.e., gambling] and all acts that
threatened the police and public order, such as the defense from at-
tacks by people with bad intentions; to promote the use of weights and
measures; to engage the services of guards; for postal matters; and the
accompaniment for viaticum rites.
On his part, the jefe local was not only duty-bound to take care
that the described services were completed. He was also tasked to
converge part of the obligations, among them to correct the shortage
of policemen, to require auxiliary service for the armed force [army or
navy], to dictate orders to the urban and rural police, to intervene in
the branding and transport of livestock [cows, carabaos, etc.], to watch
over the other municipes (municipal assets), to look after the collec-
tions entrusted to the balangay (village) heads and even to exercise
judicial functions, and to communicate his orders around the town by
means of bandillos (town criers).
Until the Maura reforms, the gobernadorcillo was chosen among
the twelve principalia that constituted the electoral body who were
equally qualified to occupy that position. According to the provisions
of the [royal] decree dated December 5, 1845, the gobernadorcillo
could not be chosen by electors related up to the fourth degree.
The basic qualifications of the candidates to the electoral body
were as follows: at least 25 years of age, knows how to read, write and
speak in Spanish; must have been a teniente mayor (senior deputy) or
cabeza de balangay (village head); without indebtedness to the State;
has not committed any breach of contract, etc. Once verified after scru-
tiny, the candidates proceeded to constitute the terna (triad) of quali-
fiers, wherein the occupant of the first position would be the one who
had obtained more than half of the votes; the second position went to
the one with the next number of votes; and the third position went to
the incumbent gobernadorcillo.
The gobernadorcillo was to be substituted by the teniente mayor
in case of his absence. Likewise, the gobernadorcillo, in a group gather-
Ugmok 33
When local officials were elected in 1891, the system used was still
the old one. At that time, the incumbent gobernadorcillo was Rosendo
Daffon, but that was the end of his two-year term. Another set of officials
had to be elected during the election day, June 22, 1891. This was presided
over by the cura parroco (parish priest) Fr. Lino Codilla. As in the earlier
days, elections were always held with the priest present.
The candidates for gobernadorcillo were Rufino Con-ui, Lorenzo
Daffon, Fernando Ybañez, Telesforo Cabiling, Felix Eamiguel, Dandoy
Cabiling, Estefanio Ortiz and Canuto Tomada.
Representatives from the principalia (prominent citizens) included
the six incumbent cabezas de barangay – or cabezas actuales – and the
past cabezas who had served Ormoc for 10 years or more. The cabezas
actuales were Fernando Bañez, Juan Sacay, Silvestre Tibis (Teves) ,Ygnacio
Ibe, Canuto Tomada and Catalino Gallano.
While the cabezas pasados were Felix Eamiguel, Estefaneo Ortiz,
Anastacio Bignay Andrade Sanchez, Gaspar Cabiling, Soberino Pongos
and Rosendo Dafun. These were the only people who could vote a gober-
nadorcillo and other top local officials. Each could vote for two persons,
his first and second choices of a gobernadorcillo. It was written on a small
piece of paper with the signature of the voter at the bottom.
In that elections, Fernando Ybañez won by 10 votes over Telesforo
Cabiling who got 8 votes. In the absence of Ybañez, his chief deputy who
was a personal choice, Francisco Cea, would take his place, not Cabiling.
The other appointees were Estefanio Ortiz as Juez de Sementera
(Chief of agriculture), Fulgencio Wagis as Juez de Policia (Chief of police)
and Fernando Cataag as Juez de Ganados (chief of livestock).
Ybañez had four other deputies: Fermin Casano, Florencio Tibis
(Teves) Esteban Tomapat and Eusebio Bandi. The appointed judges were
Gabino Parilla and Brigildo Ablen, while the alguacils (bailiffs) were Yri-
36 Ugmok
A document from the NAtional Archives showing the election results for goberdan-
orcillo in 1993
neo Sacay, Leon Ginoo,, Calixtro Catingub, Bonifacio Cea and Dionisio
Cabal.
That year, Ormoc had three visitas or important barangays: Dolores,
Valencia and Margen. Each visita had a teniente, a juez (de paz) and a
bailiff. In Dolores, these officials were Juan Diaz, Alejandro Domalan and
Abundio Tugonon in that order.
Valencia had Marcial Codilla, Eusebio Regis and Daniel Ocang,
while Margen had Bartolome Villamor Vicente Lilio and Gabino Bandi.
New regulations
Another document from the National Archives showing the election results in 1993
38 Ugmok
deputy), the deputy for police, the deputy for agriculture, and the deputy
for livestocks. The chief deputy functioned as regidor sindico (trustee of
the regime) and substituted for the capitan in cases of vacancy, absences
or exigencies. These positions were conferred by election through a plu-
rality of votes, by secret voting.
The hacienda municipal (municipal estate) dated back to pristine
times, because it was inaugurated along with the start of the Spanish colo-
nization of these islands. It was established by the laws of the Recopilacion
[lit., Compilation], and was known by the name Bienes de Comunidad
(Goods of the Community), the whole set of properties and resources
constituting the fundos locales (local funds) or haber de los pueblos
(wealth of the towns) to take care of the needs of the interior government.
1893 Elections
Despite the changes instituted under the Maura Law, the names and
functions of the local officials did not change in 1893. The residents who
signified intentions to become gobernadorcillo on April 27, 1893 were
Francisco Cea, Telesforo Cabiling, Leon Abiles, Mateo Solidor, Canuto
Tomada and Rufino Con-ui.
Members of the principalia who were designated as voters were the
cabezas actuales Vicente Codilla, Fausto Odac, Juan Sacay, Hipolito Matu-
gina, Antonio Bantasan, Gaspar Cabiling, Estefanio Ortiz, Mateo Solidor,
Rosendo Dafon, Catalino Orillano, Mariano Dafon and Perfecto Flores.
The 13th man in the group was the incumbent gobernadorcillo Fernando
Bañez.
Fr. Lino Codilla and Don Francisco Fernandez Bernal, local chief of
the guardia civil presided over the elections. Leon Aviles was elected gob-
ernadorcillo with 9 votes, while Telesforo Cabiling, who ran again, had
the same number of votes he had in the 1891 elections.
Appointed chief deputy was Franscisco Laude, Sixto Pongos became
the juez de sementera: Vicente Codilla as juez de policia; and Eulalio
Velasquez as juez de ganados.
Serving as alternates to Laude were Gabino Parilla, Guillermo Sacay,
Pedro Laurente and Senon Ablen as the second, third, fourth and fifth
deputies. Tomas Villanueva was selected the suplente (substitute) Five
bailiffs were appointed. They were Ireneo Sacay, Doroteo Aparis, Jorge
Colasito, Eliseo Tomada and Pedro Monteclaro.
The newly elected gobernadorcillo also appointed the tenientes,
juezes and bailiffs for the three visitas of Dolores, Valencia and Davila.
Ugmok 39
Dolores had Jugo Collante as teneiente, Domingo Omega as juez and
Nombrellano Jandoc as bailiff.
Valencia’s new teneiente was Braulio Codilla, and its juez was Nicolas
Dagan, while Daniel Ocang was designated as bailiff.
For Davila, Juan Guartizo was appointed teniente, Regino Ininte as
juez and Leoterio Centino was bailiff.
Agustin Catayoc and Emilio Parilla signed as witnesses.
The next year, there would be changes in the list of representatives
of the principalia. Appearing in the list were: Rufino Con-ui, Bernardo
Cataag, Fabian Catingud (b), Santiago Diguingco, Gaudencio Bantasan,
Agustin Catayoc, Julian Paca, Canuto Tomada, Esteban Tomapat, Ramon
Sunico, Paulino Aboites (z) and Leoncio Cea. These would constitute the
municipal tribunal under Gobernadorcillo Leon Aviles.
40 Ugmok
Chapter 6
Dios Dios in Ormoc
L
ike many towns in Leyte and Samar during this period, Ormoc
was gripped by religious unrest known as “Dios Dios” which ac-
tually had innocent beginnings. In Samar, big numbers of people
began to visit places that had patron saints known to be miracu-
lous. The Spanish-led government viewed these gatherings with alarm
and so tended to suppress them and, in fact, had some local faith healers
arrested and imprisoned.
In Leyte as early as 1862, an old woman named Benedicta had herself
called La Santa de Leyte and drew some 4,000 followers off to Mt. Agani.
She predicted that the island would sink. Benedicta began activities in
Tanauan, Leyte and attracted persons from Burawen, Dagami, Palo and
other towns. She was carried on a litter and led candle-lit processions to
the mountains.
Sometime in 1887-88, Francisco Gonzalez published a booklet, an-
nouncing his ascendance to the throne and the appearance of the mag-
nificent city of Samarino on January. Guardia Civil discovered his follow-
ers selling banners and slips of paper with prayers. The booklet instructed
that the banners must be possessed and the prayers recited every morning
at 6:00. Both banners and oraciones were supposed to preserve the people
from sickness and also from harm in a coming revolution. The slips of
paper were even signed by persons who claimed to be medicos titulares.
Rey (King) Francisco also issued cedulas to persons who accepted his
rule. Prayers on the booklet invoked Jesus, Mary and Joseph for deliver-
ance from the plague (Libranos del
Peste).”(p.55) Slips of paper with the
initials SORS, whose meaning no-
body could explain, were distributed
by a follower of Gonzales to persons
who were willing to be part of the
community (empadornado en el pa-
dron del DiosDios ). Available at one
peseta each, the slips of paper were
supposed to be an effective safeguard
against epidemics.
Besides Gonzales, there were
Ugmok 41
Francisco and Fruto Sales (presumably brothers) of Jaro who claimed to
have been sent by God to save the people from a deluge to be sent by God
to punish the perversity of humanity. Francisco was most probably the
same leader claiming to save the people of Samar from a cataclysm.
On the other hand, Fruto claimed that he saw a stream on the way to
Carigara. He dug a trench and dumped a sack of salt into the water and
told people that from there the sea was going to gush out. Fruto sold ban-
ners which were supposed to deliver the buyer from a coming pestilence
and revolution.”
Fruto Sales turned out to be far from the ruler who would herd the
peasants into paradise out of exploitation. By his own admission, he was a
26-year old jobless drifter, twice guilty of rape (imprisoned six months for
the first and three months for the second). He was able to cure a certain
woman with a herb called lacdan. He said he was not a mediquillo but
seemed to be trying to become one since he was arrested in Alang-alang
receiving medicinal herbs from Angel Flores.”
The colonial officials, of course, interpreted these as signs of subver-
sive activity. The phenomenon was happening all over the country during
this period. Because of the claims to represent God, the guardia civil
subsequently called this “dios dios”, a mockery of what real religion ought
to be. As long as there was an association that entailed some kind of reli-
gious practice of which the colonial regime disapproved, that association
was labeled as “dios-dios.”
Although in some provinces the authorities tended to be lenient,
considering the movement merely as a religious aberration, in Leyte, Pro-
vincial Governor, Luis Prats actively suppressed it or, more accurately, the
mere signs of it. Thus, from May 1889 to May 1890 guardia civil patrols
broke into a few clandestine meetings. Based on the testimonies of the
accused, the guardias usually arrested people while they were going about
their daily activities: buying food, selling abaca in the town or attending
their crops. Many were arrested in October and November of 1889.
Most of them were sent first to their pueblo jail, then sent to Tacloban
for interrogation. Prats held interrogation sessions in Tacloban, then from
there, he sent the prisoners to Manila or to a penal colony.
The arrest of Faustino Ablen, aged 36, and seven other companions
on April 5, 1890 in the mountains of Mahilawon above Barrio Patag was
part of this repressive pattern instigated by Prats. Others in the group
were Cayetano Ablen, 35; Victor Ablen, 20; Saturnino Ablen, 15; Pastor
Caliwan, 23; Cayetano Caliwan, 26; Lucio de los Santos, 22; Tranquilino
de los Santos, 16; and Martinito Doroja, 55. Lt. Benito Marquez, a guardia
42 Ugmok
civil assigned to Ormoc, was Ablen’s arresting officer with the bailiff Tran-
quilino Recias. Rufino Villafuerte and Leberato Dasona served as guides.
Confiscated from Faustino were three books written in Bisaya, three
rosaries, a crystal knob with a certain liquid, a knife and some money.
The eight were brought to Tacloban a few days later for investigation
which started April 10, 1890. The questions asked were standard for all
of them. What were their respective names, ages, civil status, places of
residence? Were they aware of the reasons for their arrest? What were
they doing in the house of Cayetano Caliwan during the time of their
arrest? What were the books and leaflets confiscated used for? Did they
buy oracciones from Faustino? Were they involved in the activities in the
mountains between Ormoc and Merida in December the previous year?
Did they know Fruto Sales, Francisco Sales and Angel Flores?
They all admitted their names, ages and residences, stating they were
farmers and that they could neither read nor write. They explained that
they only wanted to help Cayetano Caliwan’s daughter who was sick, and
that’s why they were in his house at the time of their arrest. The books
that were confiscated were important in the practice of their Christian
religion. They denied that they paid money to buy oraccione or that they
knew Francisco and Fruto Sales and Angel Flores. They also said they
knew nothing about the gathering in the mountains between Ormoc and
Merida the previous year.
The eight suspects were released apparently after finding that they
did nothing wrong.
In the meantime, the governor re-
quired the gobernadorcillo,
the principalia
Ugmok 43
and the parish priest to issue certificates of conduct for persons arrested.
This happened not only in Ormoc but in all the towns where there were
suspected members of the dios dios. All the towns were placed under a
sort of martial law with the principalia and friar curates segregating the
dios-dios from non-dios-dios.”
Certificates could contain positive or negative information. Some
certificates even stated that a few people were actually responsible citizens
but their ignorance or their desire to make money made them vulnerable
to deceivers. The majority of these conduct certificates, however, were
issued for persons labeled vagos, indocumentados, sin domicilio fijo.
Most of whom were also accused of having taken part in secret meet-
ings of dios-dios. A bad conduct certificate was as good as condemnation
to prison or exile. So no matter how ignorant the detainees were of the
charges against them or no matter how much they)denied their involve-
ment in dios-dios, they were usually deported.
At the end of the set of marathon interrogations from April to 5 May
1890, Leyte Governor Prats stated that the majority were indeed involved
in the movement as leaders or believers. Even if the members of the
movement did not take up arms against the authorities, Prats was deeply
concerned because the dios-dios activities prevented the authorities from
collecting taxes and reaching a right quota of people for compulsory
labor. In spite of exhortations by the parish priests and warnings and
punishments for the cabezas, many people refused to come down from
the uplands, resulting in a deficit in the coffers.
The immoderately heavy crackdown on the defenseless, harmless
and non-violent dioses helped transform them into a violent, though
fragmented rebel force during the Philippine American War. More than
a decade later, Faustino Ablen would figure in the more deadly pulahan
movement and cause serious trouble to the new American regime. The re-
pressive measures instigated by the Spanish authorities and the local elite
would trigger retaliatory actions from the now awakened mountain folk.
44 Ugmok
Chapter 7
U
nlike several provinces in Luzon, Leyte’s residents seemed
passive during the 1896 Katipunan uprising, but that did not
however indicate a lack of patriotism here. In the words of the
Leyteño historian Manuel Artigas y Cuerva, “we did not wait to
play our last card to help attain our desired freedom. We did not allow
such an opportunity to pass because there pulsated among our people the
idea of patriotism, which arose as a logical consequence and which the
Spaniards had awaited.”
The second stage of the struggle for independence began after the
leaders of the revolution, led by Gen. Emiliio Aguinaldo, returned from
Hongkong on May 28, 1898 [sic, May 19, 1898] to Kawit, Cavite. The
Filipino troops were subsequently victorious against those of Spanish
General Peña. That revolutionary work culminated in the Declaration
of Independence signed in Kawit on August 1 [sic, June 12], of the same
year [1898], and the news of it spread like wildfire to all the islands and
Ugmok 45
reached Leyte.
In Tacloban at that time, one of the prisoners, Alejandro Planas, who
was accused of sedition, took advantage of the situation. Armed with a
knife, he freed himself and the other prisoners, shouting: “Viva la Repub-
lica Filipina (Long live the Philippine Republic)!” His action s created a
ripple among the local population, forcing the Spanish Governor of Leyte,
Fernando S. Juarez, to turn over the control of the province to a com-
mandante (major), Gabriel Galza, the son of Europeans but born in the
Philippines. That gesture seemed to appease the rage of the locals against
the Spaniards, and allowed them to leave without any unpleasant incident.
A Filipino regime was soon established amid great rejoicing, with the
new Philippine flag raised up. A procession was at once organized “amid
loud hurrahs and enthusiasm of the people and revealed their overflow-
ing happiness for the glorious emblem that they then deliriously waved, “
wrote Artigas.
No such celebrations happened in Ormoc. But a transition munici-
pal government was set up, with Dr. Felipe Calderon appointed as jefe
local from 1898 to 1901. When the Americans took over in 1901, he was
replaced in a popular election by a native-born Ormocanon, Simplicio
Fiel, who was the first elected municipal president from 1901 to 1904. It
was during Fiel’s time that political turbulence erupted resulting from the
insurgence of the Leyte’s patriotic forces against the American invaders in
mid-1901 and the resurgence of the dios-dios, who were now transformed
into the deadly pulahans four years later in 1903.
American arrival
Peace was shattered with the arrival of the American gunships off
the coast of the pueblo on the night of January 30, 1900. An American
fleet under Brig. Gen. William A. Kobbe anchored off the port of Ormoc,
its guns trained on the town center. The Kobbe expedition was aimed at
securing the Samar-Leyte area and reopening the local ports for the hemp
trade. A white flag was hoisted on the shore of Ormoc. Kobbe and other
American officers landed and “were hospitably received by the dignitaries
of the town and in a not unfriendly manner by the entire population gath-
ered at the landing.” The gobernadorcillo, Mateo Solidor at once donned
on his regalia to meet Kobbe. Fortunately Kobbe listened to his entreaties
not to bombard the pueblo, with Solidor’s assurances that Mojica’s rebel
troops were not in town and that Ormoc was a peaceful town.
The situation in Ormoc’s hinterlands was different. Unknown to the
46 Ugmok
P
eace lasted for a few months after the surrender of Peñaranda.
Very soon, rebellion would surge again, this time led by indig-
enous peasant leaders who had not laid down their long bolos
but instead resolved to continue the struggle against the Ameri-
cans. Many of these were said to be followers of the dios dios led by an
Ormocanon Faustino Ablen.
. In the early part of October, 1902, more than 100 Dios-Dios from
Samar arrived in the island of Biliran. Acording to the American report,
the group “burned, pillaged, robbed, and killed to their heart’s content,
and then made a determined attack on the small detachment of constabu-
lary stationed at the town of Naval.” But they were repulsed and the at-
tacks persisted for several nights in succession. Although the constabulary
had lost several men, both killed and wounded, they held the band off
until Peter Borseth arrived on the scene with reinforcements. A vigorous
campaign was again waged, and after about six weeks’ work the island was
again cleared of the Dios Dios.
This time, however, those that were not killed or captured, made their
way across to the island of Leyte, instead of returning to Samar, and work-
ing along down the coast arrived in the vicinity of Ormoc.
At once the Constabulary District Commander Wallace Taylor
dispatched Lt. Crockett to Ormoc to take charge of the operations, and
detachments from Negros Or. And Occ. and Cebu were ordered in, num-
bering 125. Operations were conducted by Lts. Crockett, Hibbard, Smith
and Adams and a fierce war was waged for two months before affairs
became quiet. The Dios Dios, driven from the mountains of Ormoc, went
on a raid north, through the towns of Villaba and San Isidro del Campo,
and, met by the volunteers from Biliran, were again driven back Ormoc.
However, the American-led constabulary suffered serious reverses in
Ormoc on the night of November 14 at Barrio Dolores. A detachment of
18 men sleeping in the only building of the place was attacked at midnight
by the pulahans while the sentry was asleep. The moon was bright and
the signs left on the post against which he was leaning showed that he
was not awake when the leading pulajan cut his head from his body. The
leader, rushed by the other guards, then killed another one and wounded
two more. Junping into the room among the sleeping men, he jabbed left
and right with his bolo, killing one more Constabulary and wounding six
Ugmok 51
before he was killed. The assault was repulsed without further loss.
The Americans called them “pulahans” because of the red trousers
and a dash of red that they wore elsewhere about their sparse clothing, de-
riving the term pulahan from the word pula, which means red in Bisayan.
In the words of Governor General Smith: “The pulajan is not a rob-
ber or a thief by nature -- quite the contrary. He had his little late of hemp
on the side of the mountain, and breaking out his picul of the product he
carried it, hank by hank, for miles and miles over the almost impassible
mountain trails, to the nearest town or barrio. There, he offered it for sale
and if he refused the price tendered, which was generally not more than
half the value, he soon found himself arrested on a trumped-up charge
and without hemp or money.
Their weapon was a heavy, crescent-shaped bolo with which they
could decapitate a man at a blow. Their battle preparations consisted of
bottles of holy oil, prayer books, consecrated anting-antings, and other re-
ligious paraphernalia. Their mode of attack was a massed bolo rush. Their
battle cry was that dreadful “Tad-Tad” which means “Chop to pieces,” and
they moved into action behind waving banners.
From a military viewpoint, their tactics were unsound, as they gave
no thought to casualties. They were contemptuous of death, and they
rushed without thought of position or the possibility of encountering
enfilading rifle fire.
They could be stopped by a determined stand of accurate riflemen if
the odds were not too great. Often, the odds were too great and it resulted
in the death of every soldier who faced them. When the pulajans once got
to close quarters with their great knives, massacre was the result.
The conflict took on the nature of a civil war between factions,
resulting in the trial and conviction of Pablo Tan, one of the richest
residents in the municipality of Ormoc who was also the municipal
secretary. This man was proven to be guilty of murder and of hav-
ing visited the camp of the pulahans and making commercial deals
with them. He was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment but did not
serve his prison term as the family intervened. After that incident, all
houses outside of the town were destroyed by the pulahans, perma-
nent constabulary posts were established on the site of what had been
prosperous barrios before the insurrection against America, and the
people were required to rebuild about the barracks and place them-
selves under the protection of the constabulary.
In January, 1903, the authorities again reported the resurgence of pu-
lahan groups operating in the mountains of Ormoc under the leadership
52 Ugmok
Pulahan leader Faustino Ablen after he was captured by the Philippine Constabu-
lary at his mountain hideout in Dagami on June 11, 1907.
of Ablen. With him were his sub-chiefs, like Damaso Cajidoria, Mariano
Villanueva, Custodio Librea, Juan Tamayo, Felipe Claros, Victor Claros,
Domingo Cañiso, Nicolas Malasarte and Juan Amimipot. Cajidoria was
said to lead a band on the ranch of Pablo Tan Amimipot and Malasarte
led the group in Palompon where, years before, they were identified as
ladrones by the local authorities during the Spanish regime.
The cholera epidemic that was raging then only served to encourage
the group of Ablen who used their oraccion and anting-anting to cure the
Ugmok 53
affliction. The town proper of Ormoc was cordoned so that nobody could
enter or leave it, but that did not deter the dios dios leaders from practic-
ing their healing powers., using them to gain more adherents and sympa-
thizers.
In July 1903, the Americans used local spies to locate Ablen in the
jungles of Ormoc and Dagami and attacked their stronghold by surprise,
killing 32 pulahans and taking many prisoners. Ablen was able to escape
though. His base had in the meantime extended to Leyte’s lowland towns,
such as Burauen, Dagami, Tabon-Tabon, Pastrana and Tolosa where he
had gained plenty of adherents. Here many pitched battles were fought by
the pulahans against the Americans and their local boleros who were used
as frontliners. The pulahans were known to be supported especially by
the predominantly peasant population, using their keen knowledge of the
mountainous terrain to baffle the enemy and often resorting to ambus-
cades to harass the latter.
After their raid of Burauen, the Americans were convinced that
the pulahans were not mere bandit gangs but should be seen as an
insurrectionary force. A portion of the report of the Leyte governor in
1906 said:
“The pulahanes made no attempt to rob or molest the people of the
town their principal object being to destroy the municipal records, secure
the arms of the police and wreak vengeance upon that organization. After
remaining in the town about two hours the band retired to the mountains.
In their attack upon the police of Burauen, they assaulted only
the municipal force and a farmer (who had reportedly resisted on
the road), took possession of their arms, and destroyed the official
records; they did not touch the money of the municipality nor any
other inhabitant of the town. In their incursions on different bar-
rios toward the end of July, they committed no pillage nor offended
women. They prayed and compelled persons to follow them. They
asked for whatever they needed-rice and black and red cloth. This
conduct and the extent of the movement made some persons believe
that it was a case of sedition or insurrection.”
At one point, the military situation became alarming for the
American occupation forces that 17 seventeen companies of scouts
and four companies of American troops under Colonel Smith’s
Eight United States Infantry were operating against the pulahanes.
This according to Brig. Gen. Henry Allen of the newly organized
Philippine Constabulary. General Lee was ready to bring his com-
panies from Cebu to reinforce the beleaguered American troops in
54 Ugmok
Leyte, along with Col. Wallace Taylor to participate in operations
from Albuera and Ormoc.
The movement was effectively suppressed in the island when Papa
Faustino Ablen was captured on June 11th, 1907 in the mountains of
Dagami. Ablen’s wife and child were earlier taken on May 29, 1907.
Ugmok 55
Chapter 9
T
he arrival of the Americans brought formal changes to the local
governments. For instance, the gobernadorcillo became munici-
pal president. In essence, however, they were still the same. While
elections were instituted in the 42 municipalities of Leyte with
more people allowed to vote, manipulation was evident in several towns,
so that several dissatisfied candidates filed protests.
Order No. 40 issued by General Elwell Otis when he became the mili-
tary governor stipulated a structure for the municipal government of each
town, occupied by an alcalde mayor and municipal council, who were to
be elected by the people. Municipal regimes were supposed to be autono-
mous and decentralized, and the legitimate administrators of the interests
of the people.
This order continued to be in effect until January 31, 1901, dur-
ing which the Philippine Commission approved the general law for the
organization of municipal governments. The new law designated to each
municipality a president (mayor),
a vice-president and a municipal Term Municipal Presidents
council, and divided the munici-
palities into four classes accord- 1901 – 1904 Simplicio Fiel
1904 – 1907 Teofilo Mejia
ing to the number of inhabitants.
1907 - 1910 Francisco Galos
The municipalities were given 1910 – 1913 Jose Codilla
autonomous powers over local 1913 – 1916 Silverio Zamora
matters such as the amount of 1916 – 1919 Ricardo Zamora
taxes to be collected, which were 1919 – 1922 Agapito Arradaza
to be invested exclusively for 1922 – 1925 Agapito Pastor
their own benefits. 1925 – 1931 Agapito Pastor
The last presidente munici- 1931 – 1934 Victorio Laurente
pal appointed during the Agui- 1935 – 1941 Victorio Laurente
naldo government in 1898, Dr.
Fernando Calderon, was replaced by Simplicio Fiel in the first municipal
elections of Ormoc in 1901. He assumed the post of municipal president
till 1904 From then on, local elections became a regular fare, with more
and more citizens participating, till the eve of the Second World War in
1941.
56 Ugmok
Since the last decade of the 1800 till the end of the first decade of
the 1900s, there were no major leaps in the local economy. Manila hemp
(abaca) was still the major crop in Ormoc as well as in the entire island of
Leyte, followed by coconut. Hemp was easier to produce, requiring less
labor and bringing quicker and better returns. The prices of hemp ranged
from 5 to 8 pesos a picul since arrival of the Americans and the death of
more than 75 percent of the carabaos.
All the hemp from the west coast, including from the island of Biliran
or from the town of Leyte to the town of Malitbog, was shipped to Cebu.
The towns of Palompon, Ormoc, Baybay, Maasin and Malitbog were tran-
sit points for the enlarging hemp and copra trading.
The amount shipped from the west coast for the same year was about
211,500 piculs. At an average value of 25 pesos a picul, the trading showed
a total sale of 10,021,300 pesos. Trading in copra was even bigger. The
entire west coast of the island shipped out 250,000 piculs that year. But
compared to the previous year’s record, shipment of the two main crops
had gone down by 20 percent.
In Ormoc, shipping was bol- 1903 Ormoc Population
Poblacion 5,419
stered by the building of a wooden
Aguiting 221
pier on February 22, 1900. La Naviera Biliboy 41
Filipina was organized by Aboitiz Boroc 1,086
y Cia and Hijos de F. Escaño. Some Catayum 461
of their vessels which survived until Dayhagan 1,058
after the wra were Emilia, Picket, Dolores 1,310
Baybay Donghol 430
It was in the trading of hemp, Linao 2,699
copra and rice that Spanish trad- Magaswe 7
ers like the Aboitizes of Ormoc, Patag 380
San Antonio 1,049
the Muerteguis of Palompon, the
Sumangga 111
Morazas of Baybay and the Escaños Valencia 1,734
of Malibog and Maasin flourished Total 16,126
in the late 1800s and early 1900s,
but after the civil disturbances in the
province, the shift of their businesses to Cebu soon became evident. With
Paulino Aboitiz advancing in years, his sons were soon taking over the
family business and establishing their office in Cebu in 1910 with their
partner the Muertiguis of Palompon.
Ugmok 57
During the first few years of 1900, practically no food products were
produced in Leyte, except in the towns of Leyte, Alang-alang and San
Miguel. Indeed, much of these cereals had to be imported from other
provinces. Rice was imported and served as one of the major features
of commerce in the province. This article was brought from Manila and
Cebu to the different commercial houses, who in turn sold to differ-
ent small dealers and agents throughout the province according to the
demand.
Corn production however reached higher levels especially in Baybay
and Ormoc, bringing its prices down from P4 a cavan to 75 centavos.
Shipments of the commodity in 1903 reached over 8,500 cavans in the
entire province and were sold in the neighboring islands. Good quality
cacao was likewise produced earlier in Ormoc, Biliran and Sogod.
Despite the political instability of the time, 1903 brought about an in-
crease in population through in-migration. From a population of 8.107 in
1900, population in 1903 increased by almost 100 percent to 16,126. Inter-
estingly, 63 Chinese arrived in Ormoc that year to carve out their fortune,
eventually replacing the Spaniards in the trading of essential goods and
commodities especially since the latter were moving out to Cebu then.
But of all the Chinese immigrants, it was someone from who arrived
much earlier that prospered long after the post-war period. The China-
man who was known as Tan Buco, got married to a Christian Nicolasa
Infrastructure
M
odern Ormoc traces the roots of its progress from the sugar
industry started by the Aboitiz family in the 1920s. Small
sugar mills (called intusan) had been operating since Spanish
days, producing muscovado and kinugay for the local mar-
kets. The cane presses in these mills were carabao-drawn and cooking
of the cane juice was done in large vats until they were thick. Then they
were placed on wooden racks to dry, after which these were broken into
smaller pieces. One popular way was to place the cooked sugar inside a
coconut shell broken in half. But production of this was done on a small
scale.
The shift from abaca came in the 1920s after sugar was included in
the list of products that enjoyed privileges in the U.S. market, formal-
ized under tariff agreements. It was during this time that sugar centrals
and their huge machines were built to process sugar cane. To feed these
machines, large tracts of lands were planted to sugar cane. Although Or-
moc’s sugar industry development came much later than that of Negros
and Pampanga, it had a huge impact on the local economy and the lives
62 Ugmok
of many Ormocanons, enriching the few families who rode on the crest of
the industry development. It changed the character of the local economy
altogether, and almost overnight farmers shifted from abaca to planting
sugar cane.
The impetus for the industry’s growth came from the U. S. when
Congress enacted the Payne-Aldrich Act of 1909, giving the Philippines a
300,000-ton duty-free share of the U.S. sugar market, and in 1913 under
the Underwood-Simmons Bill, weight limitation was dropped.
It did not take long before the country’s sugar growers, especially
in Negros, took advantage of the quota and started building sugar mills
initiated by the Carlos Milling Company in 1912, with Hawaiian money
pouring in. Two other groups of Spanish investors put up small centrals at
Ilog and Kabankalan in 1916 and 1917, respectively. Then a large central
was built at Bais, Negros Oriental, in 1919.
This was followed by the erection of six large Filipino-owned mills: at
Isabela (1919), Ma-ao (1920), Bacolod (1920), Talisay (1920), and Binal-
bagan (1921), all in Negros Occidental, and at San Fernando, Pampanga
(1921), with generous loans from the Philippine National Bank which was
founded in 1916.
Ormoc’s own sugar mill in Ipil was built in 1919 with a rated capac-
ity of only 250 tons a day. Three years earlier, Aboitiz had acquired Hda.
Ugmok 63
Buroc, which was leased by one of Paulino’s sons, Guillermo, in 1921 so
he could run it on his own with partner Antonio Sagardui. Guillermo
renamed the hacienda after his daughter’s name Maria Teresa. Lease was
to expire in 1935. But when the post-war economic crisis of 1920-21 oc-
curred, prices of sugar plummeted and the factory did not operate
This would resurface in 1929 when the milling business was incor-
porated into Ormoc Sugar Company with incoporators that included
non-members of the Aboitiz family, like the American sugar technologist
Robert Denton Hind, E. B. Ford, S. H. Deebel, Martin Geary, Tiburcio
Tancinco, Bernardo Torres, Jose Sy Jong Chuy and Arsenio N. Luz. Hind
was said to be responsible for securing OSCO’s share of the quota in the
American market amounting to 80,000 piculs.
OSCO was still largely an Aboitiz venture though. The family had
to raise money from the sale of cattle from their ranch in Masbate. Two
years after its incorporation, it was producing 14,000 piculs of sugar
under Paulino Jr. as manager. For its supply of sugar cane, Aboitiz and Co.
took over Hda. Maria Teresa and turned over management to Fernando
Moraza, a cousin, younger brother of Manuel Moraza, after World War II
OSCO later sold out to Gil Montilla of Negros Occ. who secured
financing from Warner Barnes & Co. and paid P750,000 for a compnmay
which had assets worth only P360,000.
Sy Jong Chuy and Arsenio N. Luz. Hindwas said to be responsible for
securing OSCO’s share of the quota in the American market amounting to
80,000 piculs. OSCO was still largely an Aboitizventure though. The fam-
ily had to raise money from the sale of cattle from their ranch in Masbate.
Two years after its incorporation, it was producing 14,000 piculs of sugar
under Paulino Jr. as manager. For its supply of sugar cane, Aboitiz and Co.
took over Hda. Maria Teresa and turned over management to Fernando
Moraza, a cousin, younger brother of Manuel Moraza, after World War II
OSCO later sold out to Gil Montilla of Negros Occ. who secured financ-
ing from Warner Barnes & Co. and paid P750,000 for a company which
had assets worth only P360,000. In 1930, its interest shifting from sugar,
Aboitiz bought the Ormoc Electric Light Co. from the Borromeo fam-
ily, a facility which they would operate until the ‘70s as they continued to
develop their interests in shipping.
64 Ugmok
Chapter 11
Japanese Occupation
T
he stirrings of war have been felt by Ormocanons even before the
Japanese came in 1942 because of developments in Manila. The
bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese sent shock waves of fear
and anticipation on a population already charged by rumors of
war.
But instead of uniting them against potential enemies and invad-
ers, the attitudes of Ormocanons were varied, depending on which side
of the political fence one stood. Indeed, war divided the Ormocanos into
antagonistic factions which survived even long after the war.
But while many had ambivalent attitudes towards the occupation
forces, only the Tans, particularly the descendants of Pablo, seemed to
have a definite choice. This was particularly true of Angel Jr., who was
close to the Japanese, and to Dominador Tan, head of the Japanese Kali-
bapi in Manila. Before the war, Angel Jr., together with a son of President
Laurel, was sent to Japan for his studies. There he learned Nippongo in the
process.
During the war, he became the driver and confidante of the Japanese
Ugmok 65
in Leyte. A Japanese businessman known as Itoh used the Tan’s Rosa-
lie building as a business front for his spying operations before the war.
When war broke and the Japanese arrived in Ormoc, Itoh revealed his
true character as a top Japanese officer. Such actuations would have tragic
repercussions on the Tan family as the war progressed and the conflict
among the rival political clans intensified.
Mayor Hermosilla
WLGWF
liberation
T
he October 20, 1945 landing of MacArthur and thousands of his
troops in the beaches of eastern Leyte towns was a fulfillment
of a promise he made four years before when he was fleeing the
Japanese encirclement of Bataan and Corregidor. “I shall return,”
he said solemnly. That promise kept alive the hopes of Filipinos who had
evacuated from the Japanese-controlled town centers and cities and of
underground guerrilla forces who kept on hitting the enemy with hit-and-
run tactics.
That he had finally landed did not assure the immediate surrender
of the enemy. Instead, the Japanese, far from being demoralized, rallied
its troops and reconcentrated them in Leyte in the hope of stopping the
American juggernaut. The slow pace of their advance only demonstrates
the perisitence and determination of their enemy. From Palo, the Japanese
moved inland to Dagami, then Burauen and across its mountainous ter-
rain.
70 Ugmok
In the northern part of the island, the Japanese took positions in the
hills above Capoocan and Barrio Limon, guarding the road and the valley
below from well-placed foxholes and bunkers. By the middle of Novem-
ber elements of the Sixth Army were trying to force their way into the
Ormoc Valley and others were on the eastern shore of Ormoc Bay. The
Americans wanted to secure control of the valley and the port of Ormoc
and thus force the Japanese into the mountains near the western coast,
from which they could escape only by sea.
American units, far to the south, were moving westward toward
Baybay on the shore of the Camotes Sea. On the northeastern part of the
island, other US troops were making slow progress in driving down the
Ormoc corridor from the Limon- Pinamopoan- Carigara area. The area
has a mountainous terrain and used to be thickly forested, affording Japa-
nese troops good cover.
In mid-November, there was a proposal by one of the American
commanding generals, Krueger, to make an amphibious landing at a point
a little south of Ormoc. The full-scale attack was going to be made on De-
cember 5. For this, fire power from the US navy would play a crucial role
in this landing plan. The US air force was also tapped to give air upport.
The US troops were to land about three and a half miles southeast of
Ormoc, in the barrio of Deposito. This was one of the many sites selected
from among many found to be uitable. The beach area selected, though
narrow, had a surface of hard sand and gravel that could be used as a road
by vehicles. As expected, Japanese troops already had guns in place guard-
ing the area. So as theAmericans were about to land, the Japanese opened
fire. But soon these were silenced by the destroyers.
There were also Japanese 3-inch guns behind Ipil which the destroy-
ers quickly wiped out. Thus, when the American troops finally waded
ashore, they did not suffer any casualty. Within thirty-five minutes the
dvance echelon of division headquarters, including the assistant division
commander and the general staff sections, were ashore. Coming after
them were thousands of American troopers who would continue the as-
sault toward the town of Ormoc.
Japanese reinforcements
But the Japanese would not be put aside too easily. Japanese rein-
forcements from Cebu were on its way to Ormoc. A captured Japanese
field order revealed that an all-out offensive would be launched against
the Americans in the middle of November. The battle for Ormoc was not
Ugmok 71
going to be a walk in the park for the Americans. Opposition was going to
be stiff. This became evident when the American convoy steamed into Or-
moc. A Japanese convoy which comprised six transports and seven escort
vessels and with troop reinforcements was on its way to meet them.
US planes flew to intercept these Japanese vessels, resulting in a
morning of one of the most intense aerial battles of the Leyte Campaign.
Fifty-six P-47’s of two Fighter quadrons dropped 94 1,000-pound and six
500-pound bombs on the Japanese ships and strafed the vessels. Nearly all
the available American aircraft were engaged in the attack.
At 8 past that same morning, the Japanese launched a strong aerial
offensive against the American vessels in Ormoc Bay. The attacks con-
tinued for nearly nine and a half hours. The American Air Force an
hour earlier provided air cover throughout the day and “did an excellent
job.” On a number of occasions, however, the Japanese airplanes slipped
through the antiaircraft fire and the air protection and hit the American
ships. Japanese suicide aircraft struck and badly damaged five vessels.
An American destroyer Mahan and high-speed transport were badly
hit and eventually sank after the Japanese attacks. All in all, the Japanese
made 16 different raids on the American ships, during which an estimated
45 to 50 aircraft attacked the formation. Thirty-six of these were believed
to have been shot down.
After that day, General MacArthur in his daily communique an-
nounced that the entire convoy was wiped out and that some 4,000 enemy
troops lost their lives in that battle.
“The Battle of Ormoc Bay marked theend of an era of naval warfare
that hadbegun with Admiral Dewey in Manila Bay.There will be wars
72 Ugmok
and there will be naval engagements. But never again will the full force of
enemy air, sea, shore and undersea weapons be unleashed in one furious
battle.”( Irwin J. Kappes in Sea Classic Magazine November 1996)
Land Battle
Camp Downes
Ormoc town
Two infantry regiments were assigned for this. One would attack
along the highway to its front while the other would move to the north-
east and attempt to envelop the opposing enemy force. A third infantry
unit initially was to remain stationary and defend its part of the line. Or-
moc, the largest and most important commercial center in western Leyte,
possessed a concrete and pile pier at which a vessel with a sixteen-foot
draft, and two smaller vessels, could anchor at the same time.
On the route to Ormoc and in the town itself, the Japanese dug
strong defensive positions. The favored sites were in bamboo thickets, on
reverse slopes, along creek beds, and under buildings. Individual spider
holes about six feet deep were covered with logs and earth and “beauti-
fully camouflaged.” Against such positions, artillery and mortar fire did
little more than daze the defenders.
Each position had to be searched out and destroyed. To prepare
for the assault, the Americans established an observation post at Camp
Downes. Artillery fire started at a few minutes past 9 in the morning
against predetermined suspected Japanese positions.
76 Ugmok
The Navy supported the attack with its light vehicles ferrying troops
as well as weaponry. In the meantime, a company of an amphibian tank
battalion with its 75-mm. howitzers moved into Ormoc--the first Ameri-
can troops to enter the town. Then two platoons of the company moved
through the streets and sent high explosives and smoke shells into the
buildings occupied by the Japanese.
The enemy defenders were also hit from the bay from the Navy’s light
crafts, coming though the pier. For a while, a firefight resulted between
them and the Japanese defenders of the pier. It was these troops who fired
their rockets into the center of the town. Infantry troops encountered
little resistance until they neared the outskirts of Ormoc, where a deep
ravine lay between the southern edge of the town and the front lines of
the advancing troops.
An enemy force, which had dug in on both sides and along the top
of this ravine, had to be rooted out with bayonets, grenades, and mortars.
In spite of the determined enemy resistance, American casualties were
very light. At the end of the short but swift battle, Ormoc “was a blaz-
ing inferno of bursting white phosphorus shells, burning houses, and
exploding ammunition dumps, and over it all hung a pall of heavy smoke
from burning dumps mixed with the gray dust of destroyed concrete
buildings,blasted by . . . artillery, mortar, and rocketfire.”
The two advancing regiments that landed in Deposito had “squeezed
theenemy like a tube of toothpaste.” One had enveloped the northeast
flank, while the drive of another division up the shore of Ormoc Bay
banished any hopes that the Japanese might have entertained of escaping
southeast by the highway. They had no choice but to move up north.
Those Japanese left behind heroically but hopelessly fought to delay
the American advance. Situated in spider holes beneath the buildings,
they stubbornly fought back until overcome. Street by street, house by
house, the advancing American infantry cleared Ormoc, which was a
scene of gutted buildings and rubble. Many ammunition and signal sup-
ply dumps were captured, including a church that had been filled with
artillery and small arms ammunition.
As his troops were reducing Ormoc, the American General Bruce
reported to his commanding commanding general on the status of the
attack and referred to a promise that had been made by the commanding
general of the Fifth Air Force: “Where is the case of Scotch that was prom-
ised by General Whitehead for the capture of Ormoc. I don’t drink but I
have an assistant division commander and regimental commanders who
do. . . .” By 5:30 in the afternoon of December 10, one American advanc-
Ugmok 77
“...a blazing inferno of bursting white phosphorus shells, burning houses, and
exploding ammunition dumps, and over it all hung a pall of heavy smoke from
burning dumps mixed with the gray dust of destroyed concrete buildings, blasted by
. . . artillery, mortar, and rocket fire.”
ing infantry regiment pushed through the town, and established a night
perimeter on the banks of the Anilao River on the western edge of Ormoc
where it tied in with the front line of the other infantry regiment.
At long last, Ormoc was in American hands. In its drive north, the
American division killed an estimated 1,506 Japanese and took 7 prison-
ers. Its own casualties were 123 men killed, 329 wounded, and 13 missing
in action.
78 Ugmok
References