Day of the Kapampangans

By Robby Tantingco

This week, I urge all Kapampangans in the world—all one million of us—to celebrate Aldo ning Kapampangan (Pampanga Day) by making just one solemn commitment: to be proud of our history and to trust our destiny.

For indeed, we Kapampangans probably got more blessings than other people in this country did, and probably more blessings than we deserve. Our luck should give us enough confidence that we are destined not only to survive but also to prevail.

Ilocanos, for example, got a craggy strip for a homeland, and Visayans got scattered islands and Tagalogs a disorganized territory, but in the case of Kapampangans, God put us all together in one spot and in the best possible location—the central plain of the largest island, protected by mountain ranges on both sides and irrigated by a network of rivers and streams that empty into a bay. From the riches that the land easily yielded, we learned to be more traders than farmers, and developed a cuisine that's unlike any other.

God also gifted us with a beautiful language which the colonizers reconfigured by imposing on it an alien orthography. Instead of withering, our language thrived and even bloomed, producing a sublime literature whose volume and variety invite comparison with that of Elizabethan England.

Surrounded by a sea of different ethno-linguistic tribes, which made us insular in our world-view, we became patriotic and fiercely protective of our independence and way of life, so that when the Spaniards came in 1571, we were the only ones on this island who fought them. The first Filipino to give up his life to preserve his people's freedom—the first stirrings of nationalism—was a Kapampangan.

Our belligerent ancestors were eventually pacified, but in the end, they still outsmarted the enemy—because they proved that Kapampangans could defeat them even in their own turf. When they allowed us to train in their royal army, for example, we became so good that they totally depended on us in their expeditions and military campaigns; they even entrusted the capital city's entire royal army under the care of a Kapampangan (Francisco Laksamana in 1662).

When the Spaniards allowed us to study in their exclusive schools, we turned out to be brighter than they were and soon, the slaves they had thought were only good for cutting timber for their shipyards were graduating as doctors of laws and doctors of sacred theology. The country's first priests, first nuns, first missionaries, first president of the archdiocesan seminary, first woman authors and founders of orphanages and religious congregations— yes, they were all Kapampangans.

As Prof. Randy David puts it, Kapampangans became "the brown bearer of European culture and Enlightenment reason… who did not deserve to be enslaved by a foreign power" because they could beat that foreign power "in all the things by which human achievement is measured—art, education, engineering, philosophy, literature."

All Kapampangans should read the story of Martin Sancho, the Kapampangan who recited the entire catechism (in Spanish!) before an astounded King Philip II in 1587, barely 16 years after the Spaniards landed in Luzon. And he was only 10 years old.

Or the story of Phelippe Songsong of Macabebe, whose sanctity was already so well known while still doing missionary work in Guam, that when he died in 1684 at age 73, the Spanish Governor and military officials of that island carried his coffin on their backs and buried him with all the pomp and pageantry befitting a canonized saint of the Catholic Church..

The Spaniards themselves recognized Kapampangans as unique among the natives. King Charles II of Spain cited Kapampangans and only Kapampangans "for making important contributions to the defence of the entire colony." Fray Gaspar de San Agustin called us "the Castilians of these islands" and invented the formula "one Spaniard plus three Kapampangans equals four Spaniards." Jose Felipe del Pan referred to us as "the loyal companions of our disgraces and of our glories. Kapampangans, and only Kapampangans, were with us in that century of frustrations when we were harassed on all fronts. Brave people!" Juan de Medina wrote that Kapampangans always left their villages to join the army "in a fine appearance, for the villages donate money for their uniforms." Even the British journalist A.P. Thorton wrote in 1762 that the British were amazed by the military skills of Kapampangans, "who repeated the assaults (unlike Indians who fled at the sight of better armed British) and died like wild beasts, gnawing the bayonets." Kapampangans, del Pan wrote, were "the grand curiosity" of the region.

Other Filipinos today mock us for this loyalty, but loyalty was a sentiment expressed by only one sector of Kapampangan society. Another sector consistently expressed another sentiment—rebellion— and these two sentiments and two sectors coexisted throughout history. It is this dichotomy that makes our role in history truly colorful and unique. We were loyal where loyalty was deserved, or necessary, or expedient, and we severed our ties when it was time to do so. In the tradition of that Macabebe chieftain who became the country's first martyr for freedom, Kapampangans rose in arms whenever the conditions outraged their sense of justice, as in their revolts against the encomienda system in 1585, against the unpaid rice supplies in 1660, and finally against the cumulative abuses of the Spaniards in 1896.

Through the years of American colonization and Japanese occupation, Kapampangans— again, ahead of their compatriots in other regions—burned with fervor for social justice. It was Kapampangans who founded the country's first labor union (Union de Chineleros y Zapateros de Filipinos, by Felixberto Olalia in 1920), the socialist party (Partido Sosyalista ng Pilipinas, by Pedro Abad Santos in 1932), the guerilla movement in World War II (Hukbalahap, by Bernardo Poblete in 1942), the communist armed forces (Hukbong Mapagpalaya ng Bayan by Casto Alejandrino in 1950 and the New People's Army, by Bernabe Buscayno in 1965), the Kabataang Makabayan (by Nilo Tayag, in 1970) and the National Democratic Front (by Satur Ocampo, with Joma Sison, in 1973).

Warriors and defenders of the poor and the oppressed—this is the true nature and true calling of Kapampangans. God may have pampered us with natural resources and the colonizers may have treated us with favoritism, which gave us a veneer of vanity, conceit and softness, but deep inside, we are intensely altruistic, even heroic, maybe even messianic (which is why we left our Muslim and pagan ways in 1571 to embrace the religion which appealed to us, Christianity) . The boast Queng leon queng tigri e cu tatacut, queca pa? probably comes from the land itself—so beautiful and so vulnerable that we must defend it at all costs.

We nearly lost it all when Mount Pinatubo erupted in 1991. Now, in the midst of a cultural renaissance, our provincial and municipal leaders have chosen to waste their energies on a senseless duel-to-the- death that threatens to bring the entire province down with them.

I hope that our province's 436th founding anniversary will be an occasion for them to finally work together, instead of making it yet another battleground for their bitter, senseless fight.

Kapampangans on "Kababayan LA"

Mon David and other Kapampangans interviewed in a Filipino talk show regarding the celebration of Pampanga Day in Los Angeles, USA.

Watch the video here:

‘Parol’ a big hit in Austria

By Cynthia D. Balana, Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines -- Philippine “parol” or Christmas lanterns are a big attraction at the annual Wiener Christkindlmarkt (Vienna Christmas Market), a popular and centuries-old Austrian holiday tradition that attracts millions of local residents and tourists.

A report from the Philippine Embassy in Austria said the event was highlighted on November 19 by the ceremonial lighting of 60 colorful Philippine parol on a specially-designated “Philippine tree” at the Wiener Rathausplatz (Vienna City Hall square).

Ambassador to Austria Linglingay Lacanlale and Vienna City Councilor Elisabeth Vitouch presided over the ceremonies witnessed by members of the diplomatic corps, Vienna City officials, members of the Filipino community in Austria, as well as Christkindlmarkt’s crowd of promenaders and shoppers.

In her remarks, Lacanlale traced the origins of this most celebrated symbol of Filipino Christmas and the special place it occupies in Filipino families’ homes during the holiday season.

The ceremony was followed by a reception that treated guests to traditional Filipino Christmas delicacies such as salabat (ginger tea) and kakanin (rice cakes).


The event was a joint project of the Philippine Embassy in Vienna and the Vienna City government, with the support of the city government of San Fernando, Pampanga, and the Filipino community in Vienna.

A separate parol display featuring 30 Pampanga lanterns was inaugurated in another historic Austrian city, Salzburg, on November 22.

The Philippine Embassy first introduced the Philippine parol in Vienna in 2006, when it opened a parol exhibit at a prominent Viennese Palmenhaus (tropical greenhouse) in an event that also commemorated the 60th anniversary of the establishment of Philippine-Austrian diplomatic relations.

Why national unity is so hard to achieve

INSIDE CEBU By Bobit S. Avila
Wednesday, November 28, 2007

In last week's briefing by the Strategic Studies Group, I was given a copy of the National Security Review, a publication of the National Defense College of the Philippines (NDCP), for the month of August. I was lucky to be sandwiched by Comm. Mariano Sontillanosa (ret.), AFP vice president for research and special studies of this publication, and Dr. Cesar Pobre who wrote a very interesting article, "The Quest for National Identity: An Imperative to Building the National Community."

Dr. Pobre told me that he was also a historian and thus we do have common interests, plus the fact that he is a neighbor of my first cousin, Gen. Rufino Ibay Jr., a retired police director. Dr. Pobre asked me to make objective comments about his piece. However, since it is quite long, I will only make one comment on this piece. So allow me to reprint excerpts of his article.

Dr. Pobre wrote: "A nation strongly built is a nation secure. To be strong, it must have unity. In addition, to have unity, it must have, among others, a national identity. Hence the quest for national identity is an imperative to building a strong national community."

I fully agree with his observation; after all, there should be something that ought to unify all Filipinos for as long as everyone is given equal opportunity, as a nation ought to give its citizenry.

However, in his chapter about the lack of unifying symbols, Dr. Pobre said, "One such symbol is a common language… we need to have one, which we can speak and write, and by which we can connect 'our inner selves to the realities of community life." This is where I differ from Dr. Pobre's thoughts.

There are many in this country who still insist on having a single national language policy, which groups like the Save our Languages through Federalism (Solfed) or those who belong to that Internet group dubbed Defenders of Indigenous Languages throughout the Archipelago (DILA) strongly believe is detrimental to the many cultures that have survived in the Philippine archipelago long before the name Philippines was even invented.

In fact, when this issue surfaced during the SSG conference, Atty. Manuel Faelnar of DILA clearly pointed out that having a common language that is forced upon non-Tagalog-speaking Filipinos have only disunited this country.

The reason is very simple. As the old saying goes, we had 400 hundred years in the convent and 50 years of Hollywood until we finally got Philippine Independence. An ethnic group composed of Tagalog nationalists is now forcing its own language to those of us who do not speak that language. This is why we look at Imperial Manila as another colonizer!

In his column (I'm sorry, I only have a printed copy that has no date or what newspaper it was published), "Fastfood for Thought" written by the late Vicente Albano Pacis entitled "Conceived in Sin, Reared in Ignorance," he wrote about the national language: "After Linggo ng Wika, the truth must be told that the so-called National Language was conceived in unmitigated sin, reared in total ignorance, and maintained in style through constant constitutional dodging."

Mr. Pacis added: "According to official records and documents, the language provision approved by the Constitutional Convention of 1934-1935 was as follows: 'The National Assembly shall take steps towards the development and adoption of a common national language based on existing native languages. (Concon record, Vol. IX, pp.470-471). When the Constitution was printed, this provision was tampered with to read, 'Based on one of the existing native languages.'

Somebody had inserted 'one of the' between the words 'on' and 'existing.' The simplicity of the insertion of only three short words, one of only two letters and two of only three letters each, might have been additional temptation to the crime's perpetrator. This was the unmitigated 'Original Sin.' But who was the original sinner? Abangan!"

This article proves that someone monkeyed around with the 1935 Constitution and today those who continue to espouse a national language based on the Tagalog language has to look into this article and tell us honestly if the tampering of the 1935 Constitution was done in good faith. I have written volumes that having a common language is no guarantee for having a national unity. God knows that the American Civil War killed five million Americans who spoke the same language. So, too, with the Spaniards.

National unity will come with the recognition of the other major spoken languages of this country. It's high time we accept the reality that Filipino is nothing but Tagalog in disguise. Call it what it really is… Tagalog, then allow Cebuano, Ilonggo, Waray, Kapampangan, Bicolano and Ilocano as the national languages of this country and we shall see national unity.

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For e-mail responses to this article, write to vsbobita@mozcom.com. Bobit Avila's columns can also be accessed through www.philstar.com. He also hosts a weekly talkshow, "Straight from the Sky," shown every Monday, 8 p.m., only in Metro Cebu on Channel 15 of SkyCable.

The Lahar Sculptures of Dapyo

Dapyo is a Kapampangan sculptor who molds creations using lahar material. Check out some of his works which he puts on sale.









Dapyo, his lahar sculptures, and his bonsai may be found at Kilometer 95 (past the Kamikaze Shrine), National Highway, Mabalacat, Pampanga.