Ro-aw Toctoc II! A "Thrilla in Manila" resuscitation or
sequel to "Home Alone I?" Neither. It's a celebration of
community brainstormed in 1989 by Vic Ferriol, seconded by Sarly Faminialagao,
infused with enthusiasm by Teddy Fabonan and orchestrated by the people
of Barangay Toctoc. They knew better. For years, Banton barangays
were hosts to countless "baliks" and "kamustahans:"
Sibay, Mainit, Tungonan, Togong, etc. but never Toctoc - until Ro-aw
I.
Toctoc has every reason to get no respect. Few people in Banton know
where it is! In fact, it is believed that to reach Toctoc by foot,
one has to hike 1.352 kilometers in 17 minutes. Little do we know
that Taytay and Tagaytay (sitios of Toctoc) are just right in our
backyards. And that's heckuva spitting distance from the poblacion!
There are more brickbats to toss. Toctocon is never given credit for
its "hanging coffins" and remnant of the oldest textile
cloth in the Philippines but Guyangan a sitio of Barangay Togbongan!
Southern Guyangan is Toctoc. The misnomer is as offensive as saying
that Toctocanons are "taga Guyangan" which might as well
translate to an ethnic slur. Residents in Taytay are perplexed as
well: Bantoanons never stop burying their dead in their real estates!
Yet, Toctocanons are proud to have at their feet the elementary school
where Banton 's sons and daughters learn their ABC. And it doesn't
stop there. South of Taytay is her sister, Tagaytay where the local
high school is curved out from a craggy hill and one of its buildings
erected over the site of the old pueblo cemetery. Toctoc nurtures
the living and welcomes with open arms the success stories and the
anomalies of the dead.
Who were the early Toctocanons? They were the short almost bow-legged
dark pagan brothers and sisters of the tribes from Tinaya, Bakoko,
Mainit and Kagata. The Toctocanon animistic tribe roamed and combed
Putian hill, chased the monkeys in Rumpilan, dyed their ceremonial
vestments of leaves in Tina-an, speared the "banton" (stonefish)
in Taytay's coral reefs, worshipped the "agtas" in Pang-huyogan
and quenched the thirst in Ra-o and Anu-ara.
The Indo-Malay came bringing with them the mystery of the monsoon
winds; kowtowed the gods with visions of the afterworld and intermixed
their idiosyncracies into the mainstream of Toctoc life. The Toctocanon
domesticated the goat and pig; learned to play the "kulintang;"
planted rice in Tinaan; wove the "bangkat" (large bamboo
basket) to move earth into crevices of rock for coconut and betel
nuts. They learned the art of catching "tatos" (coconut
crab); bedecked their necks with necklaces of "saga-saga"
(red wild peapods); painted their bodies and danced with the "tabidli"
(lizard) oriole and "ru-ong." They mastered the tune of
"tamboy-tamboy agong (malay drum) huni-huni paka."
The tribe revered Amang, Toctoc's native son, king of the "encantos"
and omnipotent occupant of the eternal throne of the atman in Kayatong,
Tablas island. Amang's annual visit to his birthplace was/is a cause
for celebration for it was through his (Amang's) intercession that
life's maladies were cured. For instance, "bakukang" (terminal
lesion or scab) could be healed through "bawi," "buga"
or 'buhat." And more. Never, never speak ill of Amang!
The boom of cannon, burst of gun and the sword gave way to the white
man's intrusion into the lives of the Toctocanons and its sister tribes.
The tribes, awed and shamed by the sight of the conquistador's shield
and armor and cowed with the sermon, succumbed and welcomed San Nicolas
de Tolentino. The Bicolanos, the rag-tag survivors of Muslim piracy
who came later, ironically, toe-held a place in northern Guyangan
called Tagu-an it Moros. They intermarried with the Toctoc tribe,
probably introduced "ginata" and improvised the ritual of
courtship with the immortal words, "namomoot ako sa imo."
"Te amo," said Fray Pedro de San Agustin who moved his "visita"
in the mid 17th century from Bakoko to where the old church and "muralla"
are now located. A man of the cloth yet a military genius, the "padre
capitan" saw the rocky shoreline from Hipit to Toctocon a natural
barrier that would protect the northeast plank of Fort Nicolas from
the Muslim raids. Farther south, he built a bulwark on Onti hill manned
24-hours by Toctocanons. Here, the sentry spanned his visions southward
where Romblon, Corcuera, Sibuyan and Tablas loomed and where the Muslims
vintas plied in search of loot and human cargo. Eagle-eyed the Toctocanon
steered Banton pueblo out of harm's way. Who says the Toctocanon had
not contributed to the preservation of Christianity?
In the meantime, Amang and his minions were almost forgoteen, his
influence rooted into the underground and the Toctocanons, stubborn
to Western ways, settled on celebrating the "king's" annual
return in whispers. For the sermon of the Recollect friar was gospel:
you go to heaven or suffer the fires of hell. The friar tempered his
wisdom occasionally with the blessings of Solomon, toyed Job's patience
into the Bantoanon psyche; retold the miracle at Canna; footnoted
the parable of the mustard seed Ambivalence notwithstanding, the Toctocanon
listened well.
The comedia or moro-moro became the "westerns" in Banton.
The good guy (Christian) and "bad guy" (Moro) -characters
played mostly by Toctocanons. "Sadaw" a community dance
participated by young women in honor of Senor San Nicolas, became
the standard annual offeing, this practice traceable to Nang Taling's
ancestors."Kinabayo", anyone?
The background music in comedia was provided by the "banda"
whose members were self-taught Toctocanons who ravished the note from
the "kayutang" and fine tuned it into the "torotot,"
drum and trombone. Thanks to the bloodlines o Maestro Kulas, the glory
days of the Toctoc band filtered into Calatrava, Simara, Sibale and
Odiongan.
Meanwhile, the "pasyon" was recited almost nightly during
Lent in Tagalog or vernacular depending on the verbal preference of
the host. A Toctocanon usually would prove his recitation mettle without
notes against a visiting Marinduqueno. In church, the Perez and Faminialagao
genealogies served as cantors and oftentimes in the absence of the
priest, blessed the souls of the departed. It seemed Banton's literature,
dance and music obviously partial to the manipulations of the friar
became the monopoly of Toctocanons.
Yet, Toctoc remained a handmaid to Barangay Hambi-an when the Ilongos
and Tagalogs came probably in the middle of the 18th and early 19th
centuries. The Ilongo brought the "habyon" (handloom), "Amay
Namon" and "pasug-ot" into the Toctocanon household.
"Kobay,' "pinoypog," "talingyas" and "panayap"
to mention a few enriched the Asi vocabulary in geneal and Toctoc
in particular. The Ilongo settled in Mainit but the hum of the handloom
echoed for centuries in Gutusan and Tina-an.
The Tagalog gained a foothold in Booy, the "heel"of sitio
Taytay where a renegade from Cavite shipyards by the name of Emmanuel
settled to become the common ancestor of the Faigao clan. The adopted
Toctocanon with the help of his sons Raymundo and Cayetano, raised
a few cattle and hog, their pastureland spanning from where the elementary
school is now located to uphill Taytay. In later years, finding Taytay
very limiting on their farm and livestock, Raymundo and Cayetano settled
in Solokan (Siokan) a sitio of Barangay Yabawon.
The Toctocanon and her sister tribes now mixed with Bicolano and Tagalog
blood, welcomed the 20th century when the Americans entered bringing
book, krag rifle and promise of democracy. Who did they turn to to
assist them to count apples? Maestro Esteban Fabicon from Toctoc.
Rufo Faigao, a Toctocanon became presidente municipal five
years after Banton town was named after William Atkinson Jones an
unknown congressman from Virgina, U.S.A.! That same year, Toctoc cut
its apron strings from Barangay Hambi-an.
It took an ape in the middle 1930's to break the rumblings of tribal
innocence in Banton. Banton shared national limelight when it was
discovered that the Toctocanon burial caves had relics of textile
finery and chinese pottery dating back to ancient dynasties. Without
fear of desecrating the tribal dead, the "kabaongs" (hardwood
coffins) were hosited up from the burial caves and brought down to
the poblacion and locked up in the ammunition cell of Fort Nicolas.
The coffins, unmarked and unsung were at the mercy of the local thieves.
Legend has it that during night time, passerbys could hear the moaning
of the dead in "Suyor." The curse, like King Tut's, persists.
Ro-aw Toctoc II. It now seems Toctoc has come of age to look back
and share the limelight of respect that has eluded her for centuries.
She is now asking what happened to the relics of her burial caves.
She questions her place in Banton's history. She is deeply concerned
about her coral reefs most of them broken into smithereens by nature
and man.
