LIFEWAYS, ACCORDING TO

THE OLD FOLKS

Joel Q. Cayanan
Ian Paulo N. Punsalan
Karlo S. Tolentino
Instructors
 BIRTH AND DEATH

• Births were attended to by an ilut or a local midwife; capable

of handling other medical emergencies
• Sponsors for the child must give the ilut a small amount of
money – para imu (for washing), lest the child suffers from
dirty eyes (muri) for the rest of his life
• The sponsors also spend for the baby’s baptismal apparel
IN MATTERS OF DEATH,

• There are certain portents that people believe in:

• The lost of a tooth;
• The barking of a dog;
• The appearance of black moth.

• When a person dies, the coffin is placed in a lankayan a stretcher made of bamboo
and borne by 4 persons on their shoulders.
• Keeping vigil at the wake and dressing in black are traditional practices of mourning
• After the funeral, nine (9) nights of prayer (pangadi) and games (bulaklakan) ensue.
• Only after a year of mourning can relatives start wearing clothes of other color (Lukas
paldas)
 MYTHS AND THE UNDERWORLD

• Mabalaquenos believe in creatures and elementals like:

• Duendi (dwarves)
• Kapri (a cigar-chomping giant sprite that inhabits trees)
• Patianak (little goblins that live in the bowels of the
Earth)
• Nuno sa Punso (spirits who live on Earth mounds)
• Kularyut
Patianak Mangkukulam

Kapri
Manananggal
• Likewise, they also harbor beliefs in people with
supernatural powers like the:
• Mangkukulam (witch)
• Manananggal (a winged creature characterized by a
long tongue and detachable torso)
• Mambabarang (a person who wields power over
insects)
 OF THINGS THAT GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT

• The Kularyut of Sapang Balen: Sightings of this wrinkled dwarf with a

long white beard with the habit of fiddling with bamboo twigs, have
been reported since 60s.
• It is said to inhabit the thick bamboos groves at both sides of the
Sapang Balen near the Morales Bridge.
• It was last sighted by squatters who settled on the present site of
Venmari Resort (formerly owned by the Samia family)
• After a futile attempts of the owners of the property to eject the
squatters, it took a kularyut to finally get the illegal squatters packing.
• The White Lady of Mabiga: a faceless lady
dressed in white whom they say is a victim of
an accident – is said to make regular
apparitions along the acacia-lined highway of
Mabiga, Near Tierra Santa Memorial Park.
•The Devil Pig of San Francisco: A
porcine fiend from hell reportedly lurks
near the agusu tress of San Francisco,
close to the municipal cemetery
•The Haunted Agusu Trees of Clark: A
trio of agusu trees near the Mabalacat exit
of the former military base are supposed
tp be haunted, resulting in a high incident
of car accidents in the area.
• Sinukuan’s Footstep in Tabun: Children
were once regaled with stories of the giant
Sinukuan of Arayat, who, it was said made
several visits into the lowlands. According
to the old folks, one of his giant footprints
can be found somewhere in Tabun.
THE CURSE OF
MABALACAT
A legend tells us that when they were clearing the forest,
Cabezang Laureana’s workers found hidden among the
bushes a status of Nino Jesus which was much later on
presented as a gift by her descendants to Father Maxi
(Manuguid), then the parish priest of a small church made
of SAWALI and cogon grass. Up to the time the present
church was constructed by Fr. Maximo Manuguid, the nino
remained the patron saint of Mabalacat. Today, that statue of
the Nino is the icon held in the arms of the present
patroness, Nuestra Senora de Candelaria
•Perhaps, it is also fitting to note that a
Spanish Friar named Fr. Fernando Bueno
was murdered by insurrectors, but before
he died he was able to spell a curse that
this town would never achieve progress
and prominence.
MURDER MOST FOUL:
THE CURSE OF PADRE
GREGORGIO BUENO
• The history of Mabalacat town has always been
associated with the popular account of how a friar
before being killed in cold blood by a band of
hoodlums on orders from the head of a prominent
Mabalacat family, uttered a curse, saying that
Mabalacat will never prosper and thrive
PADRE GREGORIO BUENO

• The priest in question, Padre Gregorio Bueno de la Virgen del

Rosario
• Born in Tarazona in the province of Aragon, Spain
• A Recollect missionary, he was first assigned in Zambales,
serving towns of Iba and Masinloc
• Then he was moved to the convent of the Recoletos in Manila.
• He was appointed parish priest of Mabalacat on November 30,
1875
• Mabalacat by then was a primary mission viva of Upper Pampanga, an
active center of mission work from which the needs of nearby visitas in
Tarlac where administered.
• By 1897, during Fr. Bueno’s tenure, Mabalacat has a population of
around 9, 705 souls, a substantial figure at that period, a further
affirmation of town’s primal role in converting heathens and spreading
the word of God.
• Fr. Bueno was the last Recollect to serve Mabalacat and his term of 23
years was the longest. His controversial murder on July 10, 1898
triggered much speculation and unanswered questions to this day.
• Over years too, the circumstance behind his death has taken on mythic
proportions resulting in fanciful versions that range from romantic to
the improbable.
• It is a common but a hush-hush knowledge that the family
implicated in Fr. Bueno’s death was the Tiglaos.
• Recently, a direct descendant of the Tiglao – Sigfried Ranada(or
Isagani Ibarra) – currently Mabalacat’s head of culture and arts,
shed some light on this tale of lust, mayhem, and revenge.
• The common version had these spicy details: a female member of
Tiglao family went to see the parish priest to have some religious
articles blessed.
• Instead, the priest supposedly made overtures unbecoming of his
habit. Insulted the women fled home and reported the incident to
patriarch Marcelo Tiglao, who exacted revenge by ordering his
killing.
• Thus began the curse – which not only affected the town’s
march to progress, but also the fortunes of the Tiglaos (not to
mention the rained out graduation rites of the town’s high
school)
• Mr. Ranada pointed out that his grandfather Marcelo could
not have possibly perpetrated the crime cause he was
scheduled to meet with General Emilio Aguinaldo’s
revolutionary forces at that same hour.
• Friends loyal to Marcelo Tiglao purportedly carried out the
plot.
• Prof. Lino Dizon’s book, “East of Pinatubo” includes an
account of the Bueno murder based on the historical writings
of Fr. Licinio Ruiz, an Augustinian Recollect.
• It was reported that by 1897, the fervor of the Philippine
Revolution reached Pampanga and Tarlac which resulted in
the closing of some Recollect missions.
• Anti-Spanish sentiment was very strong at that time and even
priests were not spared from reprisals.
• Fr. Baldomero Abadia of nearby O’Donnel mission for one,
was killed.
• When Filipino revolutionaries succeeded in taking Tarlac
from the Spaniards, word reached Mabalacat about Spain’s
surrender at the headquarters of General Francisco
Makabulos in San Miguel.
• A horde of angry, impassioned Mabalaqueno revolutionaries –
incited by a prominent family of the town – stormed the parish
church and dragged Fr. Bueno outside where he was
humiliated in public before being charged with espionage and
shot to death by a firing squad.
• At the time of his death, Fr. Bueno was almost 66 years old.
• It is inconclusive if the padre’s curse has indeed
come true.
• Mabalacat today is designated special economic
zone of Clark and there are unmistakable signs of
progress:
• The vital linking of town to the North Expressway via
Sta. Ines
• The booming of Dau
• The burgeoning of prime real estate
• But then again, there are horror stories to tell:
• The continuing plagues from Clark’s toxic waste
• The devastation of the northern part of the town by Mount
Pinatubo

• Whether Mabalaquenos like it or not, the stigma of the curse

will continue to be inextricably linked to its popular history.
RECOLLECT PRIEST TO
MABALACAT:
“ALL IS FORGIVEN”
• The Sanggaunian Panlungsod of Mabalacat led by
Vice Mayor Christian Halili passed Resolution No.
146, series of 2017 recognizing the Order of
Augustinian Recollects (OARs) as the founder of the
township of Mabalacat and the Our Lady of Grace
Parish in 1712.
• The resolution was given to Reverend Father Emilio Edgardo Quilatan, Order
of Augustinian Recollects (OARs). Quilatan id the first AOR priest to preside
a holy mass at OLGP after the death of fray Gregorio Bueno hundreds of
years ago
• Parish Finance Council Head Luz Dungca handed over a framed replica of
the Our Lady of Grace to the recollect priest
• “ I am here to inform you that Mabalacat is the mother parish of the towns of
Botolan, Odonel, Capas, and Bamban” – Quilatan
• “Despite of such story happened in Mabalacat during the Philippine
Revolution, the death of its last parish priest Fray Bueno who is now in heaven
watching us. Whatever happened in the past, all is forgiven” - Quilatan
• According to Robby Tantingco, of the Center for
Kapampangan Studies, Mabalacat is the only town in
Pampanga to be administered by the Order of Augustinian
Recollects (OARs)
• He also cited that Fray Diego Cera, OAR, builder of the
world’s famous bamboo organ in Las Pinas, was the parish of
Mabalacat before being assigned in Las Pinas.
• Other Recollect missionaries who evangelized the pioneer
settlers of Mabalacat are: Fr. Andres de San Fulgencio, Fr.
Juan de Santos Tomas, and Fr. Manuel de San Nicolas.
END