MUNICIPALITY OF INFANTA (PANGASINAN), History and Cultural Life of Part III

Ages and ages ago, the rice plant was just a humble and useless little weed. Its ears bore no grains. It did nothing but spend the hours of the long day playing with the wind.

It happened one day that the goddess Kuan-Yin, known as the divine Chinese mother of mercy, descended to earth on one of her frequent visits to the world of man. Her wanderings took her to the the corners of China where she saw with pity large numbers of people over the land in dire need of food.

Her noble heart melted at the sight of such suffering and poverty. "I must do something to help the poor ones," she sighed.

In silence, she stood, looking all around her. Soon, her eyes fell on the idle rice plant by the road. To its side, she went at once and gently said, "With this little plant, I shall make use to help my poor people." She opened her tunic and bared her divine white bosom. With her hands, she pressed her right breast, and squeezed out a few drops of milk, the milk of life, which she dropped on the ears of the plant. She pressed her left breast, dropping the same milk on the ears of the plant. Alas, her milk soon began to give out.

Happily, all the ears of the plant were now filled with the milk. She said, "O plant, bear them in abundance and feed my hungry people." Her task done, she returned to heaven. Thus was born the precious grain called rice, as white as the milk of Kuan Yin.

Once, when this country of ours was ruled by rajahs, there lived a rich and powerful man, Rajah Mataas. He was a haughty and unjust ruler whose [missing word, probably "words"] were law and whose anger was the scourge of his subjects.

He had a beautiful daughter named Mayume who was known not only for her beauty, but also for her good character. She fell in love with a handsome young man named Maralita, who was poor. Mataas did not like Maralita, summoned him to his home and insulted Mayume.

Mayume, although young, possessed the heart of a true Filipina. Her love for Maralita altered not, in spite of her father's will and cruelty. Maralita could not visit Mayume for his life was at stake if he did.

One day, he saw a white handkerchief being wagged at the top of a long bamboo pole. Maralita came nearer and saw Mayume summoning him to come. Maralita came nearer and saw Mayume. The two eloped in fear of Mataas' anger. There, they planted a tree which seemed memorable to them. Since then, they called the bamboo tree KAWAYAN, meaning a place of beckoning.

Formerly, the ilang-ilang had no blossoms. One day, she cried and prayed to God that she be given any blossom of any kind. The next day was stormy and it happened that two poor butterflies were flying here and there. Because the storm was so strong, these insects took refuge under the mango tree. They asked permission from the tree, but unfortunately, the mango tree shouted at them. So, the butterflies flew away and continued flying until they reached the ilang-ilang tree. The tree invited them to shade under its wide-spreading branches. They stayed there until the following day. The storm was already gone, so the butterflies had to continue their journey.

In reward to the ilang-ilang, they gave a certain blossom which she liked very much. Thanks, the butterflies had give her what she needed afterwards.

Long ago, there lived a beautiful maiden in a small cottage near the river. She was a lover of Nature and had many kinds of flowers in her garden.

One day, when she went to the river to get water, the water fairy appeared and said, "Beautiful maiden, I appear to thee now to ask you to become my wife." "O! Water fairy," answered the maiden, "I'm a mortal and you are a fairy. How can I ever love you?" "You may not love me now, but someday you may make up your mind. I will be waiting for your answer."

Days, weeks, and months passed by. It was spring and the birds were chirping in their nests. The flowers bloomed towards the west. The beautiful maiden was happy and forgot all about the water fairy. Tonight, bells would be ringing calling for her wedding.

That night, the water fairy was reciting a very nice poem — The Girl that I Admire. Before her wedding, she went to her garden to start her plants. There, she found the water fairy waiting for her.

"O! Beautiful maiden, will you answer me now and will you go with me to become my wife?" asked the water fairy.

"I have always told you before that I cannot love you because I'm engaged to somebody."

"So you don't love me?" asked the water fairy. "I will then transform you into a plant. If someday you will make up your mind to marry me, water will wet your leaves, meaning to say that you are ready to marry me."

But the leaves of the gabi plant did not become wet until now, showing that the beautiful maiden is still not ready to marry the water fairy.

A hen was once engaged to a hawk. They loved each other dearly, such that the hawk gave a ring to the hen as their remembrance. The hawk told the hen not to lose it and the latter consented.

One day, the hen ran as fast as she could for she was frightened. Unfortunately, the ring was lost and she was not able to find it anymore. The hawk became angry. He punished the hen. He required her to keep on scratching the ground until she found the ring. Since then, until now, the hens keep on scratching.

During the former days, the angels and the devils were in constant war. In one of their greatest battles, the devils lost thousands and thousands of lives. The battle ground was filled with human blood. In order to know the amount of blood spilled on the field, God sent the pigeon, a beautiful bird with a white leg, to measure the depth of the blood. The bird, instead of using any other material, used her legs. The blood reached up to her knee. Until now, the red color of the blood was not removed from her legs.

The crow was once a very beautiful bird with white and silver feathers. The bird was owned by Bathala, the god of gods.

While he was still on earth, a very big flood arose over the land, wherein most of the people died. When the flood was over, Bathala, who was then living in a high place, sent a pigeon to see the damage done by the flood. The pigeon did not come back at once. Bathala could no longer wait for him. So, he sent another to follow the first one. The second bird found the first bird very busy eating human flesh. She reported her to Bathala. Bathala got angry and punished her by changing her white feathers into black and her once sweet voice was changed to a very harsh one.

One day, the cows and the carabaos were busy grazing on the meadows. After eating, they went down to the river to take a bath without asking permission from their master. They removed all their clothes and put them on the same place. When the master could no longer see them, he began to look for them. With a long stick in his hands, he ran to the river and there, he found them taking a bath. When the animals saw their master coming, they ran at once to the bank and dressed up. The cows were very much afraid, so they did not see what clothes they wore. The same thing happened to the carabaos. They had exchanged clothes.

As we see them now, the cow has very loose skin and the carabao has a tight skin.

When the world was still young, there were only two powerful living things in the universe. They were the sea and the sky. They were best friends and loved each other like brothers. In the course of time, each began to crave for more power, trying to compete in all undertakings each of them had. The sky tried its best to undo whatever accomplishments the sea had done, and so with the sea also. Their competition grew keeners and became

There was once a time in the days of old when the sky was very near the ground that a man could easily touch it with his hands. Late in the afternoon, a couple in a certain place pounded rice for supper. Because they were in a hurry, they forgot all about the sky. So, they raised their pestles so high, that the sky was struck with a heavy blow. All of a sudden, the sky went so high that the couple was very much surprised. It went up with a strong force that even the pot with the fire, the glowing embers, and the comb of the woman went with it. These things were scattered in the sky. Later on, the pot with the fire became the sun, the glowing embers became the stars, and the comb of the woman, the moon.

Many say that the earth, once upon a time, was very plain. There were no mountains, rivers, lakes, seas, and big trees as we see them now. In this earth, there lived a very big and powerful giant. One day, he was so hungry that he dug the earth with his powerful arms to look for something to eat. The holes were varied in depth, some were deep and some were shallow. Water came out from them. Since then, these big bodies of water became the lakes, oceans, seas, and rivers. The piled earth also became the mountains, volcanoes, and hills where trees and other plants grow.

It was Christmas time in a certain place once upon a time. The people were very happy giving gifts to their friends, relatives, and loved ones. A man thought of giving a present to his friend, but he was too poor. Because of his eagerness to uphold the spirit of Christmas, he thought of stealing a pig in a nearby barrio. On his horse and basket in his hand, he stole a fat pig from one of the richest families in that place. God, knowing that what he did was wrong, punished him by throwing him into the moon. The black spot that we see up in the moon during moonlit nights is the man that stole a pig one Christmas time.

A certain Malayan traveler once upon a time boarded a junk for China. He had with him a magic salt grinder. It so happened that they needed salt and nothing could be taken in the junk. The traveler provided the salt with his grinder. Because he and his fellow passengers were very much interested in the grinder, they forgot all about it. The junk was filled with salt until it sank into the water.

That is why until now, it is very salty because the salt grinder keeps on grinding in the bottom of the sea.

Once upon a time, there were two friends. They were very close and true with each other.

One day, one of them stole the other's clothing. When the man whose clothing was stolen learned that it was his friend who got his clothes, he got angry. With a stick in his hands, he ran after the stealer. The stealer climbed a tree in order to protect himself. But the man threw the stick at him. Accidentally, the stick pierced the rectum of the stealer. There it remained and could not be removed. Later on, hair grew on the stick. Then, hair began to cover all parts of his body. The stealer began to lose his power of speech and didn't want to come down from the tree anymore. He made the tree as his home.

The stick became the tail of the stealer who, after all, became the monkey.

Once upon a time, the birds and the animals were bitter enemies. Many times, they engaged themselves in war.

One day, a very fierce battle took place between them. The coward bat did not know which way to help. He hung himself from a tree watching the battle. When the animals were winning, he flew at once to them, fought with them against the birds. But when the tide of battle went in favor of the birds, he changed his mind. Instead of helping the animals, he fought against them. The birds asked him why he came. But his answer was that he was a bird because he had wings. When the animals were winning again, he sided with them for the second time. He told the animals that he was an animal because he had feet and teeth. Such was the life of the coward bat.

In a nearby forest, there lived an industrious fisherman. One day, he came home with plenty of fish. As soon as he arrived, he washed the pot at once and put the fish in order to cook it. The moment he turned his back, a big white pig came and ate the fish in the pot. Upon seeing the pig, the man with hands full of the soot from the pot ran after the pig. He caught the pig in the body but it was very strong, and the pig got loose. His dirty hands just left dirty marks on the body of the pig.

The once lived a crab who was the ruler of all living animals on earth. One night, King Crab, as he was called, was awakened by a loud noise made by the frogs. The king got angry and called for them. He asked, "Why are you very noisy? Don't you know that I am sleeping?"

The frogs answered, "Yes, because the turtle carries its house on its back. We never saw him like that before." The king called for the turtle.

"Why do you carry your house on your back?" asked the king.

"Because the firefly might set it on fire, so I will not have my home anymore," answered the turtle. The king, in his anger, called for the firefly.

"The turtle is afraid of you because of your fire. You might set his house on fire," said the king. "Why?"

"If I will not carry a fire, the mosquito will bite me," he answered. "So, the mosquito has the fault." "Where is that rascal?" said the king.

The mosquito appeared before him. "I was disturbed last night because of you. Why do you bite the firefly?" The mosquito did not answer. When the king was about to strike him, he flew direct to the king's face and stung him. The king slapped his face, killing the mosquito. When the other mosquitoes learned of the death of their brother, they got angry. They went to the king to seek revenge. But the king, upon seeing them, ran into a hole. He remained there until now. Night and day, the mosquitoes keep on flying near the hole, waiting for the crab to come out.

That is why sometimes, mosquitoes go to our ears, for they are waiting for the King Crab to come out.

Once, there lived a happy couple near the foot of a big forest. One day, they took a walk in the forest in search for something to eat. By chance, they came to a very beautiful and attractive garden, full of pretty and multicolored flowers. The garden was owned by a fairy. The couple was fascinated very much by the beauty of the garden, so much so that they began to pick some of the flowers without asking permission. The fairy saw them and got angry.

"Why are you picking my flowers? Did you ask any permission from me?" the fairy said.

"We thought this garden is not owned by anybody," said the couple.

"I will punish you for this!" With his wand, the fairy changed the couple into butterflies. Since then, butterflies have gone from flower to other flowers.

There once lived a rich man named Lucoy, who was very selfish. Although he had much rice in his house, he would never give any away to the poor.

One day, an old beggar came to Lucoy's house to ask for food. Lucoy was very rude to him and told him to go away. The beggar, who was somewhat deaf, again asked for food. Then, Lucoy seized him and pushed him roughly out of the house.

The beggar stumbled and fell. When he was on his feet once more, he said to Lucoy, "A great misfortune will soon befall you."

That evening when Lucoy came home, he saw saw a swarm of insects around his house. The air was filled with the noise they made. He went inside and found that all his rice had been changed into insects which we now call locusts.

Hundreds of years ago, a castle called Hinard Castle was built on the rocks by the sea in Fraserborough, Scotland. The castle was occupied by a cruel feudal lord. Near the castle was a wine tower, a part of it.

The lord had a young daughter whom he wished to marry to an old duke. But the daughter was already engaged to a knight of his father without the knowledge of the latter. One evening, he found them conversing and he determined to separate them. He threw the knight into the dungeon of the wine tower. The father continued to urge the daughter to be married to the old duke.

One day, the lord dragged his daughter to the dungeon and showed the skeleton of her lover. He told her that if she would not consent or follow the desire of her father, she would suffer the same fate. Instead of consenting, she grasped the skeleton of her lover and ran to the top of the tower and jumped to the rocks below. There, she died.

Just below the tower, one can see a brownish stain in the rock, which is believed to be the place where the maiden fell. When a storm blows over the rocks, one can hear the noise made by the chains of the lovers. When the sea is in full tide, one can see the outline of the maiden with her long hair floating among the seaweeds on the top of the rocks.

Apollo, the god of the sun, was about to shoot an arrow at the heart of Lila, a very beautiful woman who was picking flowers one day, when Venus, the goddess of the moon, called for him.

As Apollo started across the heavens, Lila looked at him and felt deeply in love with him. Lila went home and told her mother about handsome Apollo, that she was in love with him, and that she wanted to follow him.

Her mother consented, and so Lila went. She walked and walked until she reached the end of the world. After the rain which Jupiter gave her, she ascended the rainbow to the castle of Apollo. A servant opened the door and asked her to see the sun god. But the servant warned her that any mortal or human being who sees the god will be blinded, but she insisted on seeing him. The moment she cast her first glance upon Apollo, Lila was blinded.

As she went down the rainbow, she lost her steps and fell to the earth dead. The trees saw her as she touched the ground, and whispered the sad story to the wind; the wind carried it to the windows of her house; and the windows rattled it to her mother. When the mother learned of the death of her daughter, she was very sad and cried, "Lila, alack, Lila, alack"

When Apollo heard the story, he pitied Lila and changed her into a bush bearing fragrant purple flowers as beautiful as the girl herself. As the people mourned for her, they shortened, "Lila alack" into "Lilac," and forever after, we call the bush the lilac bush.

PREPARED BY COMMITTEE NO. 2

(SGD.) Miss Araceli Millora - Chairwoman
(SGD.) Miss Diana Roseta - Member
(SGD.) Mrs. Isabel F. Vallarta - Member
(SGD.) Mr. Placido M. de Vera - Member

It is noteworthy to mention that in the field of educational endeavors, Infanta occupies an enviable position in this province. It is due to the fact that [because of] Infanta, "dust" among the municipalities of Pangasinan can still be seen through the scholastic achievements of her scholars in the secondary schools and colleges.

On the other hand, it is a sad thing to note that Infanta has produced but two authors lately. This elucidates the fact that there were no articles or even works which treats the Philippines written during the infantile age of this municipality. This does not mean, however, that the early inhabitants of this place did not have literary interest. They did, as manifested by the presence in those days of troubadours who composed songs and poets who recited poems as the need for them arose. The foremost among them was Mr. Casimiro Mirador.

Nevertheless, these songs and poems were not written, nor were they handed down to the succeeding generations. That is why we can find no trace of them now.

At present, Infanta can boast of her two budding writers in the persons of Atty. Herminio Beltran and Atty. Manuel Madarang.

Atty. Herminio Beltran is the present Justice of the Peace of this municipality. Aside from his intriguing work as judge, he is [unreadable] engrossed in the practice of his profession. But, in spite of the encumbrances, he still can manage to save a part of his time for writing articles for the Free Press and other newspapers and magazines.

He is consiered the "poet laureate" of Infanta. Since his college days at the University of Sto. Tomas, he wrote poems which were published in the school's official organ, "The Varsitarian."

Inspired by his friends, he collected all the poems he wrote, and with his strong determination, coupled the financial support of the brunt of the town's populace, which is comprised mostly of teachers, his plan of having his book printed went through easily. Now, his works are a nice collection of poems entitled "Dawn and other Poems," which was printed and copyrighted in 1947.

This book includes many poems written by the same author which were published in the different papers. The following is a list of those poems as published in the different newspapers and magazines set opposite their tiles:

1. "Dawn"	Graphic, March 15, 1934.
2. "Cinquain"	The Philippine Magazine and Teofilo del Castillo's book, "A Brief History of Philippine Literature," 1937.
3. "Night"	The Philippine Magazine, 1937.
4. "Summertime in Balaki"	The Herald Midweek Magazine, January 13, 1935
5. "Rain"	Graphic, August 15, 1935.
6. "Nostalgia"	The Sunday Tribune Magazine, September 24, 1933.
7. "One in a Dream"	Argonaut, Jan.-Feb., 1936.
8. "Sonnet"	Spectrum, Dec. 1933. Selected as the Best Poem in the December issue of "The Spectrum" and given the prize donated by Prof. Jose M. Hernandez.
9. "Life is so Frail"	Sunday Tribune Magazine, January 14, 1934.

10. "Death"	Philippine Magazine, October 1935.
11. "Letter to God"	The Varsitarian, October 10, 1938.
12. "Sonnet to Mother"	Philippines Free Press, April 17, 1935.
13. "Sonnet to Father"	The Varsitarian, July 10, 1939.
14. "On Looking at My First Photograph"	Argonaut, October 1937.
15. "Let There be Sadness"	Unitas, November 1938.
16. "Your Songs"	Graphic, July 20, 1933.
17. "A Sonnet"	The Manila Student, September 1933.
18. "Love is Inconstant"	Philippine Journal, December 1937.
19. "Parting"	Philippines Free Press, April 11, 1936.

While the incumbent mayor of Infanta, Mr. Rosauro Mores, may be appropriately called the sword of the crusade for a clean municipal government, we have Atty. Manual Madarang as the pen of this crusade for good government. He may likewise be called an advocate of the democratic form of government.

The turmoils caused by the conflicting ideologies of the two most powerful governments in the world has impelled him to delve into the study of government. After a series of serious studies and careful delibration, he was able to gather incontrovertible proofs that democracy is better than communism. From his research work, he deduced propositions which, he believed, if implemented, will mitigate the chaos in this world. There propositions advance a religious-political ideology which accomplishes the idea of people's rule as a means of achieving justice and peace in all dimensions: local, national, and global.

His works were printed and copyrighted in 1947 with the inspiration and financial support of friends acting as a lever to push his plans through. His book is entitled "Propositions on Democracy." This is a brief for democracy, justice, and peace.

The following is a synopsis of the book:

Republicanism, capitalism, communism, socialism, fascism, nazism, and all other political-economic ideologies have been tried and failed — they all result in some form of autocracy which is always associated with subjugation and domination, denials and betrayals, corrupton and scandals, insecurities and fears, conflicts and strikes, revolts and wars.

Christianity, translated into a religous-political system that operates through a real and true democracy, will establish a government and society where liberty and security, justice and peace for every man go hand in hand.

This political system is patterned after the law of God. It centralizes on the organization of the political will that comes from the Christian soul and enforces the Christian law in society.

The following propositions explain the causes of social inequities, describe the process of democracy, show how through it all, intelligent and educated citizens may participate in the organization of the political will:

Proposition 1 - Social Polarities

Society is more than a contract: it is a polarity.

When two personalities are mutually exclusive, their dependence is reciprocal; or when two persons are reciprocally dependent, their qualities are mutually exclusive.

One social pole cannot function without its opposite pole. They attract and depend upon each other.

The aim of all social polarities is reciprocal advantage. If the relations between the opposite poles are peaceful, their peace is enjoyed by the other people; but if their relations are attended by conflicts, other people suffer.

Each pole is either active or passive, depending on whether or not it wields or exercises control over the opposite pole, at any particular instance. From this view, rulers, governors, judges, legislators, landlords, capitalists, employers, and enterprisers are active poles, generally; and the subjects, people, laborers, workers, tenants, consumers, servants, and pupils are passive poles, generally. During elections, the subjects and the people that make up the sovereign become the active poles when they wield their elective power, and the candidates become the passive poles.

Proposition 2 - Expansion

Wealth expands through work want. Work and wants are attributes of human personality, and they modify each other.

When personal development is high, enterprise is expansive, labor is efficient, and wants are many and varied.

When personal development is low, there is practically no enterprise, labor is inefficient, and wants are few.

Proposition 3 - Ownership

The economic life of man depends upon the values produced by him with land, capital, improvements, and other means of production.

Consequently, those who own these means of production control, in varying extents, the economic life of those who do not own them. The former enjoys economic power to the same extent that the latter labors under economic dependence.

Proposition 4 - People's Welfare

The welfare of the people is the supreme law. This proposition is the only solution to the conflict between common ownership and private ownership.

Proposition 5 - Ruler's Welfare

In a body politic, rulers occupy positions of subordination and obedience. This ruler's authority and subjects' subordination are an absolute necessity among people living under any form of political organization. Without it, there is social disorder; with it, social discipline.

Proposition 6 - Popular Vote

In a popular democracy, where the people [govern] themselves as one welfare unit, directly solve and settle the conflicts among themselves, free from the dictations of those who aspire for and promote exclusive or partisan welfare.

Proposition 7 - Election of Laws

This proposition means that the people's voice is God's voice.

In a popular democracy, the word democracy mean's people's rule. A republic is a representative democracy, based on the proposition that the will of the representative is the will of the people. It ignores the proposition that there are vital issues on which the will of the elected conflicts with the will of the electors, on which the will of the rulers conflicts with the will of the subjects.

This results in distortions and misrepresentations of the people's wishes, and the substitutes of the latter by the personal wishes of the elected representatives.

While issues and laws are discussed during election campaigns, voters are allowed to vote only for men, but not for laws. And the personalities of candidates overshadow the importance of issues and law.

Proposition 8 - Alternatives

In human relations, conflicts of desires and interests on any issue, split the people into several opposing camps.

A close observation during election reveals that issues and conflicts are decided not by the whole electorate but by some few voters who, by shifting from one side to another, cause changes and reversals in the relative positions of the conflicting groups.

Proposition 9 - Sovereign Will

All officials originally owe their offices and powers from the ballot. But it is the will of the officials, not the will of the people, that actually rules and governs. It has been observed that this indirect practice of representation of sovereign will is very unjust and defective because of the existence of the ruler-subject conflict. The exclusive welfare of the elected frequently defeats the general welfare of the electors.

The only way by which the people can effectively assert their sovereign will and bring its full weight to bear is to elect laws aimed to promote their exclusive interests. Bilateral checks and balances, not unilateral wisdom, are the true guarantees of equity.

Proposition 10 - Democracy

Democracy means' people's rule. It is a government run directly by the people. In practice, it is a government run by elected governors responsible to the people. In a democratic concept, the elected governors are no other than the people, and their official acts are expressions of the people's will.

Prepared by:

(SGD.) Mr. Florentino Viray
(SGD.) Miss Fidencia Millora
(SGD.) Mrs. Dolores M. Viray

Transcribed from:

History of Infanta, online at the National Library of the Philippines Digital Collections. The pagination in this transcription is as they appear in the original document.