Books that Mention Bayambang Town

Books that Mention Bayambang Town

Except for historical documents, the town of Bayambang is hardly ever mentioned in publications that lean toward fiction and popular culture. So encountering our town's name in notable works here and abroad, even just in passing, is a little cause for celebration.

Thanks to Bayambangueños who are wide readers, we were tipped of the following information, and of course yours truly had to find and pore over these materials.

1. "Po-on: A Novel" F. Sionil José

"Po-on: A Novel" -- written by F. Sionil Jose 1984 -- is a saga of an Ilocano peasant family who fled to Pangasinan to escape oppressive Spanish authorities at a time when the colonialists' power was waning and another colonist power was taking over. And that's the perfect setting to add a chapter wherein a member of the family crosses the bridge over Agno River from Bautista to Bayambang to deliver a letter from one adviser, Apolinario Mabini, to the Filipino revolutionary leader General Emilio Aguinaldo.

2. "Lieutenant Ramsey's War: From Horse Soldier to Guerrilla Commander (Memories of War)" by Edwin Price Ramsey & Stephen J. Rivele (2005)

During World War II, an American soldier finds himself trapped by Japanese forces in Bataan and hatches an escape plan together with fellow survivors. He succeeds and rises up to lead a guerilla army. In his long escape route across Luzon, he heads the East Central Luzon Guerrilla Area resistance with headquarters in Bayambang and stays in this town for a few months in secret, with stories of how he narrowly escapes the enemy. In his autobiography, he even mentions a Bayambang native, Major Claro Camacho of Brgy. Nalsian, as his aide-de-camp.

3. "Little Manila Is in the Heart: The Making of the Filipina/o American Community in Stockton, California" by Dawn Bohulano Mabalon (2013)

This book traces the history of the Filipino-American community in Stockton, California by focusing on how the immigrants were able to forge an identity and create a community thanks to immigration policies, American colonialism back home, and the conflicts and difficulties they had to face due to race, gender, labor, and political realities in the United States. I know I am scraping bottom here, but Bayambang town was mentioned in passing only because of the four escrima masters from this town that made Stockton and California their home: Leovigildo 'Leo' Miguel Giron of Brgy. Hermoza (who also became eventually became a WWII guerilla back home in the Philippines) and his mentors, Benito Junio of Brgy. Inirangan, Julian Bundoc of Brgy. Carungay, and Fructuoso Junio of Brgy. Telbang.  

What other notable books due you know mention our town? 

(Acknowledgment: Sylvester Quintos, Joey Ferrer)