Suggestions: New suggested exhibits to attract more visitors to
the Bayambang Museum: Home of Innovation
PIO, LGU-Bayambang
AGRICULTURE GALLERY
Artifact: Kungkong
Kungkong is an indigenous
tool made of a bamboo stem that is fashioned like a percussion instrument to
call the attention of residents in the community for various reasons. The
kungkong is hit or shaken repeatedly and the resulting cacophony serves as a
signal for residents to gather together to perform a communal task, for example,
alsa abong (lipat bahay or literally the lifting of a hut from one place to
another). It may also be used to alert the community during emergencies, as
when a thief is caught or when it is time to flee from flood and other such
emergency situations.
The kungkong is a communication tool that symbolizes unity within a community as well as the spirit of bayanihan or volunteerism in the olden days.
(A demo on how it is used would make the exhibit even more interesting.)
Artifact: An illustration of tagnawa
A
traditional practice in town worth emulating today is called tagnawa, the local
version of bayanihan. It was a practice predicated on the good nature of one's
neighbors, and it translates to voluntary giving or offering of help when
needed, be it in lifting an entire house to another location or lending a hand
in planting or harvesting crops.
The word has evolved such that the noun tagnawa has
become a verb: tagnawaen, mantagnawa.
In
the past, all the men in the neighborhood could be relied upon for communal
house-moving (or anything communal) if the need arose. It was shameful to be an
able-bodied male and not lend a hand, as when somebody's huge garong (an
ark-like wooden rice silo of sorts) needed to be moved from one place in his
yard to another. It was a spectacle to see how all the muscled men would
engineer the whole project with their bare hands, without so much a reward as a
light snack.
The
bayanihan spirit is consistent in every ethnic group in the country, be it the
tugpa, pintakasi, pasinaya, and atag practices of the Tagalogs, the cañao of
the Cordillerans, etc. We are a culture
that apparently grew out of the bayanihan spirit, out of volunteerism in the
service of building community and keeping the things that bind it. This harks back to the kinship-based nature of the precolonial social unit called barangay.
Artifact: An illustration of hospitality and neighborliness
Neighborliness
is a practice that illustrates the porousness of the local culture, the
generosity born of the purity of heart of one’s neighbors.
Up
to the '70s, the bayanihan spirit could be commonly observed in many ways. For
example, in a given barrio, a bomba or manually operated water pump owned by
just one family could be accessed at any reasonable time of the day or night by
anyone who knew how to knock on the door, granting the face showing up was
among those trusted in the community.
The
degree of openness is such that, during town fiestas, anyone who's a friend of
a friend of a relative could join the feast uninvited without shame or embarrassment. There was
no official "invited guests" list.
The
family who owned the only TV in the neighborhood would proudly let his
neighbors in (most likely from first-degree up to third-degree relatives
anyway, if not next-door neighbor), even entire families that wanted to watch
an afternoon TV show or even a series of TV shows.
Artifact: An illustration of panagturtor para’d tariwa tan libren panangan
Panagturtor para’d tariwa tan libren panangan is the tradition of foraging around for free food and freshly picked organic produce around the rural neighborhood. On any given day, one could freely ask for fronds of fresh malunggay (moringa) or ampalaya (bitter melon) shoots, for example, for the sautéed mung bean dish, or for leftover rice from lunch, must-have kitchen condiments such as garlic, or mangoes and other ripe fruits dangling in profusion in the yard. It is unthinkable, for instance, for a neighbor to harvest her fragrant jackfruit without sharing a slice, especially since everybody could smell how good it was.
Artifacts: The wealth of traditional fishing gears
A host of traditional
fishing gears, especially those specific to the Mangabul area in Bayambang,
have been listed by Agustin F. Umali in his book, "Guide to the
Classification of Fishing Gear in the Philippines" (US Government Printing
Office, January 1950). Now obscure and obsolete cultural artifacts, they
nonetheless hold potential as sustainable and non-pollutive alternative fishing
devices.
CULTURE GALLERY
Artifact: Bongbong
The bongbong is a traditional bamboo New Year's Eve
cannon that uses water and kalburo (calcium carbide) as explosive. It
symbolizes the resourcefulness of local folks by using materials around them in
multitudinous forms and for various purposes.
An actual large version may be used as a focal point around
which CSFirst Green AID Inc.’s latest bamboo curio objects may be exhibited.
Artifact: Photo or illustration
of panagcorona ritual juxtaposed with a modern-day birthday celebration of a
7-year-old child
Many local families spend a child's seven
birthday in a way that is more lavish than usual because it is deeply rooted in
the age-old panagcorona/panagkorona ritual. According to Dr. Perla S. Nelmida,
“Since precolonial times, a child who reached the age of seven has been
celebrated through a ritual called panagcorona (crowning) marking the child’s
coming of age. The seven-year-old child is garbed in festive attire and is made
to stand in the middle of the hall on a dais. Participants in this ceremony are
the youthful celebrant, the parents, the godparents, and the invited guests. In
the ceremony, the panagcorona song is sung, accompanied by clapping and
hugging."
The panagcorona is similar to an indigenous
Ilocano ritual called padapadakam and the Marinduque ritual called putungan, in
that an act of crowning is the highlight of the ritual.
Artifact: Curious objects used
in indigenous healing practices
Among other things, Bayambang is known as a town
of ‘faith healers’ using indigenous modalities such as panaggulgol or
panaggugol, panag-ilot, panagsuob, panag-gaton, panagtambal ed baltik, panagtawas,
panatawag, panagbanos, panag-larak, etc., including herbal medicine through the
use of bulo-bulong (leaves and herbs).
Backdrop: Julius K. Quiambao Medical and Wellness
Center in Brgy. Ligue offering modern medicine complemented by alternative
holistic medicine and psychiatric services.
Artifact: Illustration of the Beliefs and Practices Surrounding Death
As human beings, our fear of death is primal or instinctual. How much we go out of our way to deny, delay, or dispel it is proof of this. The fear is so morbid even though death is certain and inevitable, and that makes such a reaction amusing in the end. The local culture has a strikingly elaborate set of practices around grieving the dead and forestalling another death in the family.
The expressions of grief and the fear surrounding it can be seen in manifold ways. And the message is always, "Death is downright undesirable." In the face of the utter futility of pushing it as far back from our minds as possible, we are, in effect, saying that we were never meant for death.
Even though still overwhelmingly Catholic in religious affiliation, locals today are known to hold a variety of wake and funeral beliefs and practices that are not necessarily sanctioned by their avowed faith. These must persist for a compelling reason.
Artifact: Items Used in Traditional, Sustainable, Environment-Friendly Cleaning Practices
Cleanliness is viewed as next to godliness, that is why turning to traditional cleaning practices is second nature to locals. Unclean members are looked upon with contempt, as proven by many negative words associated with the unhygienic. The synonyms of dirty include literally dozens of words. Cleaning is therefore a routine act -- whether cleaning the body, the day-to-day objects used, the house, the farm and farm animals, or when a major occasion like the New Year is fast approaching. Panaglinis na agagamil na totoon daan refers to traditional cleaning practices of our ancestors using natural, non-pollutive agents, long before the availability of commercial cleansers or cleaning agents and cleaning tools: panaglinis na buwek gamit so dayami, panaglinis na laman gamit so igor tan 'tae', panagpesak gamit so tabig, panaglinis na ngipen gamit so ulnos na bayawas tan asin, panaglinis na pinanlutuan gamit so dapol tan buwer, panaglinis na datal gamit so gas tan kandila o epas na bulong na ponti, panag-gisigis gamit so oplas, etc.
Artifact: Daselan to illustrate
the maddeningly complicated courtship and wedding practices
The daselan document may
be displayed to remind visitors of Pangasinan’s complicated courtship and
marriage customs, which are never a casual and private affair -- they
unfailingly involve the entire household, clan or even neighborhood, as though
to say that something very important is about to happen, as indeed it is. There
is the indispensable consent of the elders or the parents particularly in
almost all stages of the marriage ceremony. From the panagdamag, segep, and
sangi, to salonson, dungo alay ngaran, down to the basay bansal, pagatin and
further on to the marriage ceremony in church, and even up to the bansal or reception
ceremony, members of both families usually have a say in them, and their
consent is actively sought.
Artifact: A copy of aligando, possibly one of the world’s longest Christmas songs
Aligando is a Pangasinan
oral tradition that has a near-epic length, thus it has to have an abbreviated
version called galikin. It is “a 143-stanza song commemorating the birth of
Jesus Christ, the visit of the Three Magi until the sojourn of the Holy Family
to Egypt. Aligando is a corruption of the Spanish word aguinaldo, meaning gift.
The manag-aligando or tradition-bearers would usually go house to house, from
January 6, during the Feast of the Epiphany, to February 2, during the Feast of
Purification. The song is, in a modern sense, like a “carolling,” but it has a
deeper religious significance to the singers or tradition bearers as well as to
the Pangasinenses. The song, which is sung in an hour or two, reflects the
community’s good values. (Reference: Prof. Rosabella A. Mendez)
Artifact: Glossary of Pangasinan idioms
Our collection of
Pangasinan idioms illustrates the kind of language Pangasinan is: rich, witty,
poetic, deep, hilarious, precise, nuanced.
HISTORY GALLERY
Most Wanted Artifact: a copy of Aguinaldo's declaration of Bayambang as the 1st Philippine Republic's 5th capital
Artifact: Col. Edward
Ramsey’s memoir surrounded by World War II personal effects
The book donated by Joey Ferrer and the military canteen and related WWII items collected by Ma’am Gloria Valenzuela may be displayed to remind everyone that Bayambang became the headquarters of the USSAFE’s East-Central Luzon Guerrilla Army in the fight against the Japanese imperial army and in honor of the many lives lost and the great heroic sacrifice and courage shown by our people.
Artifact: Old anti-rabies vaccine to illustrate that the country’s first anti-rabies vaccine was administered here
According to
the book, "Dogs in Philippine History" by Ian Alfonso, in July 17,
1910, Dr. Eugene Whitmore administered the first anti-rabies vaccine in the
Philippines at Camp Gregg, Bayambang, Pangasinan.
HALL OF INNOVATORS
Artifact: An old bicycle and
news clippings of Tour of Luzon
The object and accompanying articles remind
visitors that Bayambang is the home of the father of Philippine cycling, Atty.
Geruncio ‘Gerry’ Lacuesta.
Artifact: Arnis sticks
Arnis sticks remind the visitors of traditional martial arts
and their practitioners, one of whom is a native son who made it big in the
United States by establishing a reputation as a grandmaster and pioneering founder
of martial arts school there.
Leovigildo 'Leo' Miguel Giron was an escrima master from Brgy.
Hermoza, Bayambang who is recognized as a grandmaster by no less than the
Hollywood martial arts instructor Dan Inosanto of Stockton, California who was
among his proteges. He became a World War II veteran who founded the Bahala Na
Martial Arts Association after the war. He would eventually be recognized as
the "Father of Larga Mano in America."
No comments:
Post a Comment