MUNCIPALITY OF IVANA (BATANES), History and Folkways of

This simple manuscript is prepared in due compliance with the requirements of Presidential Executive Order No. 486, and Bureau of Public Schools Memorandum No. 35, s. 1952. It contains the histories and folkways of the Municipality of Ivana and its only barrio, San Vicente.

It has been a long felt need of this locality to compile and preserve its beautiful customs, traditions, and other folkways. The value of having such important documents cannot be ignored and the preparation of this manuscript and its preservation is one achievement in the history of the locality. It is an excellent source material for teachers in the Social Studies in the school, although it cannot claim exhaustiveness. The teacher had to do a lot of research to supplement it.

The Principal Teacher and his teachers formed a committee to gather the needed data for the manuscript. No records were available, so the committee had to do the painstaking job of interviewing all the oldest men and women of the localities. Acknowledgement is especially due Fr. Julio Gonzales, BERNARDO Barsana, Mariano Calatraba, and all the others who, in one way or another, helped in furnishing the needed data.

(SGD.) ANGEL BARCELONA
District Supervisor

According to some records which could be gathered from bits of records, the first foreigners to step on the island of Batan were Spaniards headed by 4 Dominican fathers, Mateo Gonzales and Baltazar Fernandez, 1688. They were accompanied by two other priests of the same order. It is said that the Spaniards first landed on a sitio presently called Jujmoron. Their choice to land there was the fact that there was an "Idiang" or settlement there which was quite very prominent, being pitched on an elevated mountain. As the Spaniards landed, they found the natives hostile. The natives attacked them, killing one Spaniard; and the Spaniards then retreated with a native captive. The called the settlement "malo Idiang" or "hostile settlment." Although that place is depopulated, it retained its present name "malodiang."

It is said that the Spaniards inquired from the captive indio whether he knew of any other settlements or "idiang" (this was thought to have been done by signs only), to which he answered by pointing south and said, "Ibngen na," which means "sheltered side." In fact, there were the idiangs in Vatang and the idiangs of "Hovek," now called San Vicente, which later on in 1784, under the sponsorship of Fr. Bartolome Artiguez, a Dominican missionary, combined to form the present municipality of Ivana. (It is worth mentioning in this connection, that the time when these Spaniards arrived was March, for a more authentic record shows that San Jose de Ibana was so named in honor of St. Joseph, whose feast falls on the 19^th day of March, when the north and northeasterly winds prevail in this region, justifying, therefore, that the place was really sheltered by the Mabatoy and Matarem mountain ranges.

The Spaniards might have thought that the "ibngen na" was the name of the next settlement. Hence, the name was "Ibana," prefixed by the name of the saint, after whose name this settlement was named — San Jose de Ibana. This name remained as it was until the late Professor Otto Schoerer, a keen student of ethnology and languages, became the provincial governor of Batanes and found through association, that the people in this place could give the sound of v easier than b. Hence, the change from Ibana to Ivana — the present name.

(a) Jose Calatraba I (b) Luciano Calderon (c) Alejandro Alcantara (d) Cornelio Abela (e) Luciano Villagranada

(f) Vicente Barsana I (g) Eugenio Agudo I (h) Jose Alcantara I (i) Bartolome Agudo (j) Timoteo Agudo (k) Jose Agudo I

1898-1904
President Councilors	Luciano Barsana I Jose Agudo I Valerio Barsana Timoteo Agudo
1904-1909
President V.-Pres. Councilors	Jose Agudo I Valerio Barsana Gregorio Agan Manuel Agudo I Valerio Agudo Luciano Adri
1909-1911
President V.-Pres. Councilors	Bernardo Barsana Valerio Barsana Manuel Agudo I Mariano Calatraba Manuel Castaño Luciano Adri
1912-1915
President V.-Pres. Councilors	Bernardo Barsana Mariano Calatraba Manuel Acosa Manuel Agudo Manuel Agueda Cirilo Agana
1919-1921
President V.-Pres. Councilors	Juan Cabitac Mariano Calatraba Valentin Agudo Elias Bartilad Mauricio Barte Jose Gonzales

1922-1925
President V.-Pres. Councilors	Domingo Cacho Mariano Calatraba Valentin Agudo Bartolome Caballes Mauricio Barte Jose Gonzales
1926-1928
President V.-Pres. Councilors	Victor Cacho Eleuterio Agudo Valentin Agudo Elias Bartilad Juan Asantor Pedro Gonzales
1929-1931
President V.-Pres. Councilors	Valerio Valones Mariano Calatraba Bernardo Alcantara Cornelio Valones Juan Asantor Emeterio Agana
1932-1935
President V.-Pres. Councilors	Jose Agudo IV Mariano Calatraba Eleuterio Agudo Domingo Agudo Catalina Agudo Pedro Gonzales
1936-1938
President V.-Pres. Councilors	Cornelio Valones Mariano Calatraba Jose Adalla Emeterio Agana
1939-1942
Mayor Vice-Mayor Councilors	Jose Castaño Federico Cabal Jose Valenciano Jose Adalla Juan Asantor Pedro Gonzales
1946-1948
Mayor Vice-Mayor Councilors	Jose Agudo IV (appointed) None Cornelio Valones Mariano Calatraba Catalina Agudo Emeterio Agana
1949-1952
Mayor Vice-Mayor Councilors	Joaquin Castaño Sixto Cabal Cornelio Valones Jose Bartilad Elias Bartilad Emeterio Agana

1952
Mayor Vice-Mayor Councilors	Joaquin Castaño Jose Javier II Pablo Valientes (resigned) Luisa A. Cabal Elias Bartilad Juan Asantor Jose Pana

a. Marcelo Castro b. Lorenzo Villanueva c. Sotero Faronilo d. Luciano Barsana e. Juan Valiente

f. Jose Cantero g. Valerio Valones h. Pablo Hortiz i. Cornelio Abela j. Santiano Fajardo k. Valentin Castaño

a. Ricardo Agudo b. Elias Bartilad c. Benedicto Estiba d. Mariano Adalla e. Francisco Verza

f. Eladio Verzo g. Pablo Valientes h. Rafael Aguada i. Juan Aceron j. Pablo Reyes

a. Courtship

Before and during the earlier part of the Spanish regime, marriages were arranged by both parents of the bride and the bridegroom. Later, marriages were arranged by spokesmen from both parties. Nowadays, the marriages are often taken care of by mutual agreement of all parties concerned. Marriages are officiated by a priest. After marriage ceremonies in the church, the parents of the bridegroom entertain the relatives in their house.

b. Death

In our place, it is a custom to form organizations for burial purposes. If one dies, all the members of the organization are forced to go to the bereaved's house to keep vigil on the corpse and are required to contribute a fixed amount to defray the burial expenses of the dead. After the burial, there will always be a Novena, after which at the ninth day, the bereaved's family will kill animals for those who come to pray every night.

c. Punishments

In the past, the punishment for any offence was lashing. During the Spanish times, however, if a person stole a chicken, the violator would be brought to a public place and, with the feathers of the chicken attached to the head, was ordered to go around to land at a bench where he would be whipped.

d. Superstitions

1. If a cricket chirps at one's window, there will be death within the family.

2. If one dreams of a boat without any person aboard, a relative will die soon.

3. If there is but only one thunder at a time, a typhoon will come.

4. If a black bird enter's one house at night, it is a very bad omen to the members of the family.

5. If one wants to know who stole anything from his properties, the one robbed should bring the things which touched the stolen property to the reefs at the breakers but without touching it with his hand. The first one to get seriously sick in the community is the one who stole the thing.

1. No matter how you cover smoke, it will always seek to come out.

2. One who tries to get everything often gets nothing.

3. In a closed mouth, no fly can enter.

4. Wherever the head goes, the tail follows.

5. A carabao cannot feel or notice the arrival of a mosquito.

In the old days in our locality, time was determined by the crowing of the cocks in the morning. This was the time for housewives to get up and cook breakfast. The time to determine the daily routines in the field was determined by the height of the sun. When the cicadas began to chirp in the afternoon, it was time to prepare things from the field to go home. The moon and some stars determined the time for supper and for going to fish at night. The appearance of certain constellations in the Milky Way and the Pleiades determined the season of the year — when the fruit yam, a principal root plant of the place, began to bear fruit and the time for its harvest.

Sa Maleng a sanahay am matda sira kaychun du tohos na nu diskod di Vatang. Arava u manganak da an kayan nu kachita da du kaydamnayan nu viayan da su karakuhan de. Nu parinen ni Maleng am ano kapaypayudion dana ano makuyab am maytayagan dana du umadi as kahap na su ichakey na du kinahahapan da mudi nuri. Mu kumapet du ichan da am tawagan na a pachatayan. As nu di makatu an tadi nu viay na. Arava u kulang dira sa aran sino u umhabas ayanan nu ichajojo na am samsaman na sira. Du maindes dana a arao am pachisolian darana nu taotau as minakpej sira a kumtuktu nia anu mayanong [blurred] da paripariñen tapiano umhos dana u maranet aya a paripariñen ni Maleng.

Minian dira du nayehakavahey auri u maylipos a nay presenta a umdiman sia. Du asa a karao am minangay sira a mandirin as kayan darana nu anong da, am nakaraya sira du sinmo nu yanan nu aschip ni Maleng. Mian pa sira du lawang am machivayat dana si Maleng. Pinakapian da su Dios nu may lipos aya as kapamide daranasia su ichakey na du among dauri. Si Maleng am sinalubol nava as du kapayehalokoy nauri a mamidi, am nu asa dira du maylipos auri am manghap su asa pated a kayo as kapavatday nasin du ayang nauri ni Maleng am niong a matuplas as kadiman naranadao.

There was a couple living in a cave just above a trail from a field where many people passed by from their way to and from their fields. This couple did not have children to look after. All they had to do was to feed their two mouths. They did not mind tilling the soil. Maleng, the husband, used to stop whoever passed from the field and get whatever he liked or whatever he thought his house needed. Maleng did not bother himself going to catch fish for viand because whoever he saw along the shore, he just got from him whatever he wanted.

The people did not like this practice, so they joined together and planned means by which they could stop Maleng's abuses. Two brothers volunteered to stop him. One day, the brothers went to fish. When they had enough catch, they landed near the cave of Maleng. Maleng, as usual, met the brothers on the seashore. When he reached the brothers, they greeted him and offered him to choose from their catch. When Maleng stooped to select his choice, one of the brothers got a piece of wood and, with all his might, clubbed Maleng at the back of his head and made him unconscious — to his death. From that time, the people lived contentedly with no one molesting them.

Dumheb ako a tumanis
Ta paydilban ko sira
Nadkel a kadaysa ko
Niya minaypanapanawat sira
Su bara nu patol
Asa du yangao na
Ichapongpong am yaken sawen
U nilaungan du maylipolipos
Akma ko sawen
Nanguyapet a tapa du kapalangpangan
A nguri su panapanayahen
U umviot a salaosao
A mapaysaa dinken
Akma ko na sawen
Yayat du kidindinan
A abu dana su makasali diiken
A dindinin.

I stoop alone and weep
For when I see my sisters
Who have been gifted with wealth, fame, and beauty
I realize that I am likened to a
Vine clinging on a rocky isolated place
Who only waits for the mercy of
The cruel north and west winds
To press my roots to the rocks.
My life likened to a twig drifted
On the shore after a storm with no one
to care to pick me up.

(SGD.) JULIO GONZALES, O.P.	(SGD.) BERNARDO BARSANA
(SGD.) MARIANO CALATRADA

(SGD.) MR. CESAR CASTILLEJOS (SGD.) MRS. PELAGIA A. ALUTO (SGD.) MISS ORENCIA AGUDO (SGD.) MISS ASUNCION ADALLA

(SGD.) MR. JOSE AGUTO (SGD.) MR. ANASTACIO BARCELONA (SGD.) MISS HERMINIA AGUDO (SGD.) MISS BERNARDA ACEBES

Transcribed from:

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