HistoryofSantanderCebu

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THE HISTORY OF SANTANDER, CEBU
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THE HISTORY OF
SANTANDER
ZONA HILDEGARDE S. AMPER
JOSE ELEAZAR R. BERSALES, PH.D.

EDITOR
The Provincial Government of Cebu

Cebu City
2014
Copyright 2014 © Cebu Provincial Government
All rights reserved. Printed in Cebu City, Philippines.
This publication is protected by copyright, and permission must be
obtained from the publisher prior to any prohibited reproduction,
storage in a retrieval system, or transmission in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or likewise.
Research and editorial management of this project was carried out

by the University of San Carlos Cebuano Studies Center.
The National Library of the Philippines CIP Data
Recommended entry:
Amper, Zona Hildegarde S.

The history of Santander / Zona Hildegarde S. Amper ;
Jose Eleazar R. Bersales, editor. -- Cebu City : The Provincial
Government of Cebu, c2014.
p. ; cm. – (Cebu provincial history series ; No. 45)

1. Santander, Cebu (Philippines)--History. 2. Cebu
(Philippines : Province)--History. I. Bersales, Jose Eleazar.
II. Title.
DS689.S264 959.9523472 2014 P220120952
ISBN 978-971-9972-48-8
First Printing October 2014
Photos in the gallery were provided by the respective LGU.
ii
Republic of the Philippines
Province of Cebu
OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR
Message
ON BEHALF OF the Provincial Government of Cebu, I convey my deepest
gratitude and congratulations to everyone involved in the Cebu History Project,
especially the University of San Carlos-Cebuano Studies Center and the Provincial
History Committee, the writers, researchers and the Board of Editors. Their
dedication and commitment have contributed immensely to the success of this
gigantic task.
Cebu is truly proud of its precious history. Its span is a long one, full of the
trials, the battles, the victories that make Cebuanos great. When it was discovered
by Spanish explorers in 1521, they found a people with a rich culture and heritage,
speaking our own splendid Cebuano language. Cebu is the cradle of Christianity
in Asia, and it is where Philippine history marked its resistance to foreign
domination.
In our history as a people, we faced challenges, won our battles, overcame
tremendous calamities, natural and man-made, because we believe that we can.
We look back, and our history is an endless source of our pride. We look
forward, and our pride – our Cebuano pride – is what gives us the power to make
history. Ang atong kasaysayan mao’y atong garbo. Ug ang atong garbo mao’y atong
gahum sa pagsulat sa atong kasaysayan.
HILARIO P. DAVIDE III

Governor (2013 - present)
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Province of Cebu
OFFICE OF THE VICE GOVERNOR
Message
It is with exceptional pride and profound fulfillment, that I had been a part in
the undertaking of the preservation of Cebu’s vibrant and priceless past. With the
definitive history of our beloved province of Cebu, we and the future generations
can look back with justifiable gratification and self-respect on Cebu’s chronicles of
yesteryears.
The progressive and historic odyssey of Cebu was mainly due to its people.
Their sterling qualities, resourcefulness, industry and courage are captured in
Cebu’s stories of its beginnings. Now the present generation’s obligation is to
carry on what their ancestors had done and continue the golden history of Cebu
and live their lives with a deeper sense of cultural identity as Cebuanos.
As Chairman of the Cebu History Committee and Vice Governor of the Province
of Cebu, I extend my sincere gratitude to all the members of the committee, writers,
researchers and all those who, in one way or another, contributed to the writing of
the history of Cebu.
We dedicate this book to every Cebuano, most particularly to the students, our
hope for a brighter tomorrow.
Cebu Provincial Capitol, Cebu City, August 19, 2013.
AGNES A. MAGPALE
Vice Governor (2011 - present)
v
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Province of Cebu
OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR
Message
It is with great honor and pride for me to say that Cebu has done it again,
another first in the history of the Philippines.
As the only province so far to undertake the writing of a definitive history of
its towns and cities, Cebu has again showed leadership, this time in the field of
preserving local history for the future generations.
From the selection of the capable writers for each of the 44 towns and eight
cities, to the replacement of those who failed to deliver as expected; from digging
treasures in the various archives to searching each corner of the barangays for
elderly people who hold memories of the past, the process took much time.
It took more than one elective term to complete this huge, trailblazing
undertaking.
Concern about protecting or promoting the interests of local politicians in the
history books were raised, but the professional, non-partisan editors from the well-
established University of San Carlos Cebuano Studies Center tediously pored over
the pages to address that.
Even before Cebu could finish the project, many other provinces have already
showed interest in doing the same for their places.
Now we have another proof that Cebu is not just the place where Philippine
history began. Cebu is the province that makes history.
Enjoy reading the story of this one great province – rich not only in terms of
assets and warmth and pride, but also rich in history.
GWENDOLYN GARCIA
Governor (2004-2013)
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University of San Carlos
OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT
Message
“Ambitious” was the first description I heard when I first came to learn about
the project. “Daunting” summarizes the responses I was to encounter in the course
of its implementation. “Definitive” seems to be the term of the day that frames
announcements of its launching.
For one to find a place in the sun one would have to first find a place to stand,
a point from which to survey one’s surroundings. And what is more solid ground
than one’s birthplace, more meaningful context than one’s communities, and more
worthy memories than one’s life-stories? In order to thread a narrative, however,
one would need to choose from the many strands that constitute its sources of
significance. That is precisely the core of the suggestion that history (kasaysayan in
Tagalog) is best appreciated as the recounting of meaningful events (pagsasalaysay
ng mga bagay na may saysay). And since our subject is Cebu, Cebuanos and all
things Cebuano, I suppose we would have to consider history in analogous terms,
as kasaysayan sa mga bililhong sugilanon, kaagi o kasugiran.
The notion interpellates a commonly critiqued trait of Filipino culture, which is
its propensity to live in an eternal present, itself leading to various commentaries.
An oft-repeated critique is that this childlike mindlessness about the past leads
to an inability to learn its lessons, which is why, among others, we continue to
elect unworthy leaders of our body politic. Another is that the past has been so
painful or shameful that historical amnesia is our way of seeking transient relief.
Whatever the case this project, by the mere fact of its execution, will “definitively”
reshape the discourse about the history of Cebu, in its individual towns and cities
as well as of the Province as a whole. The University of San Carlos was only too
glad to partner in this project because as educational institution it was only being
true to its role as a keeper of the community’s memory and as a handmaid of its
transmission.
Like most professional histories, the research, writing and editing processes
encountered the difficulties inherent in the enterprise – the lack of primary
ix
resources, the difficulties of assessing sources, the vagaries of interpretation and so
on. In that sense this series lays no claim to being definitive as last word, but only
being definitive as authoritative primary accounts of their subjects. Individually
and collectively it advances frameworks within which to unify its data and offers
perspectives through which meaningful narratives can emerge. Serious history, by
aiming to arrive at the “historical truth”, accepts from the very outset that there
will be multiple points of departure, alternative schemes for organization and
occasionally contending interpretations. The University of San Carlos takes pride
in the integrity of its researchers and only asks that challenges be based on equally
serious scholarship.
Historiographers know that their stories serve purposes higher than their
current pursuits. Notably, historical accounts, wherever responsibly done, lay
solid foundations for construction of the future. Merely by faithfully recording
what transpired one can imagine what-ifs, and by pointing to dead-ends foreclose
their replication. Learning of the past becomes learning from the past, which in
turn becomes imagining for the future. We can reimage ourselves from what our
forebears have already achieved and with the resources and tools of the present,
design and produce a future whose direction and meaning we can anticipate. To
the degree that this becomes at all possible, University of San Carlos considers part
of its educational mandate fulfilled, namely its mission to foster hope.
Together then with the Provincial Government of Cebu, the Cebuano Studies
Center of USC offers its readers many hours of instructive, enlightening, fruitful
and stimulating story-telling.
FR. DIONISIO M. MIRANDA, SVD

University President
x
RAMON ABOITIZ
FOUNDATION INC.
Message
Let me congratulate the Province of Cebu and everyone involved in the creation
of the Cebu History Project!
The Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI), in its vision to touch people and
shape the future, believes that learning our history gives us a sense of who we
are. The appreciation of what our predecessors had accomplished and knowledge
of our local history will chart the future we want for ourselves and our children.
RAFI’s commitment to promote awareness and understanding of Cebuano history
and heritage is greatly manifested in the making of Culture & Heritage as a focus
area. The publication of an official provincial history is certainly aligned with
RAFI’s dream of cultivating that pride of place.
To fully realize the transformation and progress of our society and nation
requires the participation of everyone. The work in coming up with the 55-volume
histories of Cebu’s towns and cities exemplifies the extent of collaboration
contributed by the provincial and local governments, academe and scholars,
and non-government organizations. The outcome of this collaboration will help
facilitate the historical literacy of the Cebuanos in general and our high school
students in particular.
We are pleased and proud to be part of this project.
ROBERTO E. ABOITIZ
President, Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc.
xi
xii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
CEBU HISTORY COMMITTEE:
Chair - Hon. Gwendolyn F. Garcia

Co-Chair - Hon. Agnes A. Magpale
Vice-Chair - Dr. Resil Mojares
Project Manager - Mr. Rene E. Alburo
Members:
Hon. Victor A. Maambong

Hon. Peter John D. Calderon
Hon. Wilfredo S. Caminero
Hon. Juan P. Bolo
Hon. Arleigh Jay C. Sitoy
Hon. Adelino B. Sitoy
Ms. Evangeline L. de Paula
Dr. Erlinda K. Alburo
Mr. Emmanuel G. Guial
Mr. Basiliso M. Sungcad, Jr.
Mr. Wilfred Lucas M. Toledo
Cluster Editor:
Cluster 1 - Erlinda K. Alburo, PhD

Cluster 2 - Emelio S. Pascual
Cluster 3 - Romola O. Savellon, PhD
Cluster 4 - Jocelyn B. Gerra, PhD
Cluster 5 - J. Eleazar R. Bersales, PhD
Cluster 6 - Madrileña L. de la Cerna, PhD
Sangguniang Panlalawigan Members (2013-present):
Hon. Agnes A. Magpale – Vice Governor

Hon. Julian B. Daan – 1st District
Hon Raul D. Alcoseba – 1st District
Hon. Peter John D. Calderon – 2nd District
Hon. Christopher R. Baricuatro – 2nd District
Hon. Alex S. Binghay – 3rd District
Hon. Grecilda Sanchez-Zaballero – 3rd District
Hon. Sun J. Shimura – 4th District
Hon. Joven J. Mondigo, Jr. – 5th District
Hon. Miguel Antonio A. Magpale – 5th District
Hon. Jude Thaddeus D. Durano – 5th District
Hon. Thadeo Z. Ouano – 6th District
xiii
Hon. Arleigh Jay C. Sitoy – 6th District
Hon. Celestino A. Martinez III, ABC
Hon. Carmen Remedios Durano-Meca – President, PCL
Sangguniang Panlalawigan Members (2010-2013):
Hon. Gregorio G. Sanchez, Jr. – Vice Governor (2010-2011)

Hon. Sergio B. Restauro – 1st District
Hon. Wilfredo S. Caminero – 2nd District
Hon. Alex S. Binghay – 3rd District
Hon. Cesar Ian Geronimo R. Zambo – 3rd District
Hon. Sun J. Shimura – 4th District
Hon. Agnes A. Magpale – 5th District/ Vice-Governor (2011-2013)
Hon. Miguel Antonio A. Magpale – 5th District (2012-2013)
Hon. Jude Thaddeus D. Durano – 5th District
Hon. Thadeo Z. Ouano – 6th District
Hon. Arleigh Jay C. Sitoy – 6th District
Hon. Bea Merced Calderon – President, PPSK
Hon. Teresita D. Celis – President, ABC
Hon. Alfred Francis M. Ouano – President, PCL
Sangguniang Panlalawigan Members (2007-2010):
Hon. Gregorio G. Sanchez, Jr. – Vice Governor

Hon. Juan P. Bolo – 1st District
Hon. Wilfredo S. Caminero – 2nd District
Hon. Victoria G. Corominas – 3rd District
Hon. Cesar Ian Geronimo R. Zambo – 3rd District
Hon. Jose Ma. C. Gastardo – 4th District
Hon. Agnes A. Magpale – 5th District
Hon. Rosemarie D. Durano – 5th District
Hon. Victor A. Maambong – 6th District
Hon. Wenceslao Gakit– 6th District
Hon. Bea Merced Calderon – President, PPSK
Hon. Teresita D. Celis – President, ABC
Hon. Alfred Francis M. Ouano – President, PCL
The Cebu History Committee wishes to acknowledge and thank the National
Archives of the Philippines for generously providing all its records on Cebu for
use in this project. The committee also thanks Ramon Aboitiz Foundation, Inc. for
sponsoring the First Plenary Session for writers and editors, and for providing an
office for Project Management towards the end of the project.
xiv
The writing of this book was made possible through the Cebu Provincial Town
Histories Project undertaken through a partnership between the Cebu Provincial
Government and the University of San Carlos.
Special thanks go to Vice-Governor and chair of the Provincial History
Committee, Hon. Agnes A. Magpale, and Cebu Governor Gwendolyn F. Garcia
whose dedication to enhancing cultural heritage awareness has made this project
a success. Special thanks also to Professor Jose Eleazar R. Bersales, former chair of
the USC Department of Sociology and Anthropology and provincial consultant on
Museum and Heritage Affairs; to Dr. Erlinda K. Alburo, director of the Cebuano
Studies Center; and to Mr. Rene E. Alburo, project manager, for giving me the trust
and opportunity to take part in this endeavor. I also acknowledge Lauren Ligaton,
my project assistant, who ably facilitated the provision of logistical support to
make this undertaking possible.
I also wish to thank the cooperation and support provided by the good people
of Santander, led by Mayor (now Vice-Mayor) Wilson S. Wenceslao and Vice
Mayor (now Mayor) Marilyn S. Wenceslao. Special mention goes to municipal
councilors Eliseo V. Audiencia, Cesar C. Pintac, and Jesusa J. Estaño; Municipal
Market Consultant Luciano C. Buscato; Municipal Planning and Development
Officer Jonathan Buscato; SB Secretary Tata Puspus; and other municipal officials
and personnel who in one way or another provided assistance in the conduct of this
study. My thanks also to Leonidas Buscato of the San Gabriel the Archangel Parish
Office, for accommodating me whenever I visit Santander and for sharing valuable
information regarding events, practices, traditions, and the religious history of the
town. I am also grateful to Rev. Fr. Brandit Bohol and Rev. Fr. Henry Visitacion
who provided me details on Santander’s religious history intertwined with town
politics, economy and culture. I must not fail to mention my gratefulness also to
my elderly informants, despite some lapses in memory and hearing, who readily
and enthusiastically shared their stories and experiences on various episodes in
Santander’s past; and to the barangay officials and personnel of barangays Talisay,
Canlumacad, Liloan, Looc, Bunlan, Candamiang, Liptong, and Cabutongan who
provided information regarding specific significant events in their respective
localities.
Thanks go also to my friend Giovanni “Jojo” Villamor of the Office of Population
Studies of USC and resident of Santander who provided me the initial information
regarding various aspects of the town’s history and pointed me to several key
xv
informants who could provide more information on Santander’s economy, politics,
religion, education, and culture over time.
Finally, I thank my family (Nanay, Tatay, Manang, Ate, Jojo, Soysoy, Dini,
Jezjez, and Papu) who patiently supported me while I was writing this book, and
the late Dr. Harold Olofson, my mentor, who helped me develop my potential as
a researcher and writer.
xvi
CONTENTS
PAGE
Acknowledgement xiii
Preface xxi
Historical Timeline of Santander, Cebu xxiii
INTRODUCTION: AN OVERVIEW OF SANTANDER 1

Origin of Town Names 1
Land Area and Classification 5
Physical Features 6
Topography and Slope 6
Soil Type 6
Climate 7
Vegetative Cover 7
Population 8
Language 9
Economy 10
Livelihood 10
Agro-industrial and Commercial Establishments 11
Politics and Local Governance 12
Education 14
Health Facilities 14
Transportation and Road Network 15
Housing 17
Utilities 18
Religion 18
Fiestas and Festivals 20
Summary 21
CHAPTER ONE. THE TAÑONG SETTLEMENT 23

Legends 23
General Description 24
Physical Appearance 25
Dwellings 27
xvii
Food and Farming 27
Social Organization 29
Religion 30
Trade 30
CHAPTER TWO. FROM TAÑONG TO SANTANDER: THE

SPANISH COLONIAL ERA 32
General Context 32
Campaign Against Moro Raids 33
Agricultural Production 35
Population 37
Establishment of Pueblo de Santander 38
Establishment of a Parroquia 39
Education 43
Public Works 45
Day-to-day Living 46
Local Delicacies 47
Summary 48
CHAPTER THREE. SANTANDER DURING THE AMERICAN

PERIOD 49
Municipal Formation and Town Politics 51
Road Networks and Transportation Facilities 52
The Cotton Industry 54
Education 55
Religion: The Entry of Protestantism 57
Summary 60
CHAPTER FOUR. SANTANDER UNDER JAPANESE OCCUPATION 61

Japanese Presence Before the War 61
General Context 62
The Japanese Occupation of Cebu 63
The Japanese in Santander 64
Civilian Evacuation and the Emergence of the Guerrillas 64
Life in Evacuation Areas 68
Post-War Situation 69
Summary 69
PHOTO GALLERY 70-75
xviii
CHAPTER FIVE. SANTANDER AS “MURO-AMI COUNTRY” 76
National Context 76
Local Politics 78
Revival of Muro-Ami Fishing Operations 80
Muro-Ami Operations 82
Muro-ami and the Local Economy 83
Profit-Sharing in Muro-Ami 84
Religion and Fiesta Celebrations 85
Transportation and Road Networks 88
Utilities 89
Education 90
Summary 91
CHAPTER SIX. THE PEAK AND EBB OF MURO-AMI: 1986 TO

2001 92
General Context 92
Local Politics: Welcome to Abines Country 93
Continued Operations, Competition and Complaints Against Muro-ami 95
The “New Muro-Ami” and Other Alternatives 97
Church vs. State 99
Water Terrorism 102
The Decline of the Abineses 103
Population 104
Agriculture and Fisheries Production 105
Education 106
Summary 107
CHAPTER SEVEN. FUTURE CHALLENGES UNDER A NEW

LEADERSHIP 109
Breaking Away from the Past 109
Starting Anew 110
Education 111
Improving Utilities 111
Tostado Festival and Tourism 113
Religion 114
The Gateway of Southern Cebu 115
Flash Floods: A Challenge to Tañonganons 116
Summary 116
ENDNOTES
REFERENCES
xix
xx
PREFACE
This book is a fruition of many data sources, including archival records, theses,
dissertations, books, journal articles, internet sources, official local government
unit (LGU) files as well as oral historical accounts of local residents. It begins
with an overview of Santander in the Introduction, including its location, physical
environment, economy, name origins, politics, religion, education, health care
systems, among others.
Chapter I presents life in a Visayan village prior to Spanish colonization. The
absence of specific information, both written and oral, regarding pre-colonial
Santander and many other towns was already foreseen. Thus, it was surmised
that life in pre-colonial Tañong is generally similar to other Visayan villages at
that time. The works of historians and anthropologists, specifically William
Henry Scott, Landa F. Jocano, and Jesuit missionary Ignacio Francisco Alcina
on pre-colonial life in the Philippines and in the Visayas proved very helpful in
reconstructing aspects of this era.
Chapter II presents the changes effected by Spanish colonization on various
aspects of life in Tañong, later named Santander by Spanish friars. Data was still
scarce, due to the fact that Tañong only became a pueblo in 1867. Before that,
it was merely a barrio of Oslob. Nevertheless, the writer had to make do with
what was available. Local narratives also proved to be helpful as some elderly
informants shared with me stories told to them by their grandparents about life
during the Spanish colonial period in Santander.
Chapter III presents American colonial influences and changes in the economy,
politics, infrastructure and other aspects of life in Santander. Still with a dearth
of information, the writer made do with what was available. Santander was
relegated back to being a barrio of Oslob town in 1902 and it was only in 1918
when it once again became a separate municipality. Thus, data on the different
municipalities of Cebu province sometimes do not include Santander. Again oral
historical accounts proved very useful and valuable in the writing of this chapter.
Chapter IV focuses on the town’s experiences during the Japanese Occupation
or World War II. Books about the Japanese Occupation in Cebu are used for
xxi
contextual discussion, while oral accounts of elderly informants about their
personal stories and experiences provided the details.
Chapter V dwells on the so-called “Muro-ami and Abines period” of Santander.
It discusses how all aspects of the town’s life are intertwined with the dominance
of Muro-ami fishing and the Abineses in Santander. Since this is more recent
history and because this was a very controversial period in Santander’s history,
many written sources were available and oral accounts were also very detailed.
Chapter VI discusses the decline of the Muro-ami and Abines dominance in
the town – the various factors for the decline, its effects and changes in the lives
of Tañonganons. Chapter VII describes current conditions in Santander under the
Wenceslao administration as well as future challenges.
Being a non-Tañonganon, I found it quite interesting to unravel the history
of a town that I was not familiar with. Putting all the pieces together -- from the
available written sources and the rich oral history -- was also a challenging task.
Hopefully this book would provide every Tañonganon, young and old, with a
glimpse of their past and its implications on their present-day lives.
xxii
HISTORICAL TIMELINE
OF SANTANDER
1606 Tañong is established as visita of Boljoon
1848 Tañong becomes a visita of Oslob
1867 The town of Santander is created.
1897 The parish of Santander is established.
1903 Santander reverts to being a barrio of Oslob town.
1907 Catholics, led by Spanish friar Silverio Perez, attack the local
Protestant congregation in Santander led by Balbino Luzano.
1918 Santander is reestablished as a municipality.
1920 Muro-ami fishing method is introduced by Japanese fishers.
MARCH 1942 A Japanese plane crashes in the waters off Santander.

1942 The stone stairway leading to the coast in Barangay
Poblacion is bombed by the Japanese.
APRIL 1942 Japanese forces land in Cebu.
1944 A plane crashes in Barangay Canlumacad.
1945 Muro-ami fishing is revived by local fishers.
1945 World War II ends.
1954-1956 The Catholic church is torn down and replaced with a new
one by parish priests Miguel Ortega and Roque Plaza.
1968 Santander Rural High School is established.
1971 Crisologo A. Abines is elected Mayor.
1972 The Liloan-Looc Waterworks Association is established. (In
xxiii
2004, it is renamed Santander Municipal Water System).
1973 The Santander Municipal Wharf is established
1986 Willy Wenceslao is appointed Officer-in-Charge (OIC)

Mayor of Santander by the Department of Interior and Local
Government Secretary Aquilino Pimentel, following the
ascendancy of Pres. Corazon Aquino.
1986 The Basic Ecclesial Communities (BEC’s) are established.
1987 Crisologo A. Abines is elected 2nd District Congressman
1988 Encarnacion Abines-Go is elected Mayor
1989 An Abines-led protest action occurs against parish priest Fr.

Henry Visitacion.
1990 A national ban on Muro-Ami Fishing takes effect.
1992 Priscilla O. Abines, wife of Rep. Crisologo Abines, is elected

mayor of Santander.
1993 The Santander High School becomes a National High School

and is transferred to a new site.
1993 The Sanayon Water System is established, with engagement

agreement with the local government unit of Samboan.
1993 The Sanayaon Complex is established.
1993 The DA-LEAD Project is established in Santander.
1998 James Arnold Abines, son of Crisologo Abines, is elected

mayor of Santander.
1998 The parish priests of Santander, Samboan and San Sebastian

lead protest actions against the Abineses.
1999 Pompeo Bureros, an employee of a rival fishing firm of the

Abineses, is killed by Crisologo Abines’ men.
1999 The Santander Public Market is constructed.
2001 Wilson S. Wenceslao is elected Mayor of Santander
2003 The Santander Municipal Water System expands its area of

coverage.
xxiv
2003 The Municipal Wharf in Talisay is turned over to the
Wenceslao administration.
2004 The Municipal Cemetery is established.
2005 The Cuadro Alas Navigation Lines is established.
2006 The Tostado Festival is launched.
2007 A satellite school of the Lyceum of Cebu is established in

Santander
2009 Flash Floods hit Santander.
xxv
xxvi
INTRODUCTION
AN OVERVIEW OF SANTANDER
S
antander is located approximately 134 kilometers south of Cebu City. It is
the southern-most municipality of the province of Cebu, bounded by the
municipality of Oslob on the northeast and by the municipality of Samboan
on the northwest. To the southeast is the Bohol Strait, and at its southwest is
Tañon Strait. Santander serves as the gateway of Cebu to the neighboring province
of Negros Oriental with its three ports/wharves – one in Barangay Talisay, which
serves barges and ferryboats bound for Tampi, Amlan, Negros Oriental; and two
others in Barangay Lilo-an for pumpboats and fastcrafts bound for Sibulan, Negros
Oriental. Regular bus trips ply the Cebu-Negros route via these ports.1 In the
1800s, under the leadership of Fr. Julian Bermejo (parish priest of Boljoon starting
in 1802) four stone watchtowers or baluartes were built in Santander as part of the
defense of the southeastern coast against Moro raids, 2 to guard the Tañon strait
and the entrance to the coastal towns of Negros located across the strait. These
underline Santander’s importance as the southern gateway of Cebu.
Origin of Town Names

Santander’s location along Tañon Strait was the reason why the place was
originally called Tañong. The people were called Tañonganons. The name
Tañong was said to have been later changed to Santander by one of the visiting
Spanish missionary-priests, after Santander, Cantabaria, his hometown, which
was situated in the north coast of Spain.
A Coast and Geodetic Survey of Panay, Negros, Cebu and adjacent islands
done in 1906 describes Tañon Point, the southernmost end of Cebu Island, as low
and sandy and surrounded by a reef a little more than 200 yards wide, with an
anchorage south of the point in 5 ½ to 7 fathoms; but is exposed to the tidal streams
that enter and leave Tañon Strait. The document states that the village of Santander
2 S A N TA N D E R
is situated on high ground near the point. The church is very conspicuous and has
steps leading down to the shore.3
Tañon Strait is a narrow channel between Cebu and Negros in the central part
of the country with a total coastline of 452.7 km and a total area of 3,108 square
kilometers extending from the northwest portion of Cebu up to Santander, the
southern-most municipality of the province. It is 14 miles wide at the northern
entrance, and 3 miles wide at the southern end.4 Tañon Strait is home to 14 of the
26 species of cetaceans found in the Philippines, and serves as a migration corridor
for whales, dolphins and other marine mammals. In May 1998, then President
Fidel V. Ramos signed Presidential Proclamation 1234 to ensure that this important
habitat of marine mammals would be protected. It is also the extension of a major
fishing ground with the Visayan Sea in the north, and the Cebu Strait in the south.
According to sources from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources - Region
7 (BFAR-R7), Tañon Strait is among the top ten major fishing grounds in the
country. The entire length of the strait is considered as municipal waters for all
of the 36 municipalities and cities of Cebu and Negros islands that share the strait.
The law provides that the sea, up to 15 kilometers from the coastline, is considered
municipal waters, and local fishermen are given the priority to fish in its waters.
The widest distance between Cebu and Negros reaches roughly 30 kilometers.
The Santander-Negros stretch is the shortest distance across Tañon Strait, at only
7 kilometers.
The municipality of Santander is composed of ten barangays, six of which are
coastal, namely Talisay, Canlumacad, Liloan, Looc, Poblacion and Pasil. Four are
mountain barangays, namely Bunlan, Cabutongan, Kandamiang and Liptong. Of
these barangays, only the name “Poblacion” traces its origin to a Spanish term.
The word poblacion in Spanish means center of population. This barrio may have
been the town center created by the Spanish missionaries, since it is located on a
slightly elevated area set back from the coast, thus protecting it from the rampant
Moro raids at that time.
The names of some of its barangays such as Pasil, Liloan, Looc, Talisay, and
Liptong are probably original Sugbuanon names suggesting geographical or
natural reference points. The term lilo from which barangay Liloan’s name may
have originated means whirlpool. Whirlpools, or more specifically, eddies, abound
in its waters resulting from the meeting of opposing currents (locally called salibod)
from the Tañon Strait and the Bohol Strait. According to local residents, the
whirpools are especially vigorous three days before “mopatay ang buwan” (there is
S A N TA N D E R 3
new moon) and three days after. There are stories that a Spanish galleon capsized
in these waters due to the strong whirpools or eddies abounding in the area. In
fact, there have been many Japanese as well as Filipino treasure hunters who have
tried to dive and find the shipwreck, but due to the strong cross-currents they have
not been successful.5 The 1906 Coastal and Geodetic Survey describes Liloan Point
as sandy and steep, with an old stone fort. Vessels can anchor near the point at
depths of between 7 to 14 fathoms. A very steep incline extends all the way to the
bottom and the currents run very strong. Between Liloan Point and Tañon Point,
counter-currents coming from the opposite direction pass very close to the coast.6
The term looc on the other hand, literally means bay or cove. Barangay Looc
is located along such a bay. The 1906 Coastal and Geodetic Survey describes this
area as the south entrance of Tañon Strait. From Liloan Point the coast turns due
east for 2 ½ miles to Tañon Point, characterized by an almost uninterrupted sandy
beach .7 Barangay Looc is located between the Poblacion and Barangay Liloan.
The bay is formed like a letter C. It serves as a hiding place for fisherfolks during
windy and stormy days at sea. The seawaters of the bay are always calm and
peaceful, because of its sheltered location. Old folks used to say that the place was
“na-luop” (meaning located inland). The name later became Looc.8
Pasil in Cebuano pertains to an area near the seashore which has become rocky
due to the action of the sea. Pasil was said to be the original settlement site of
Tañong prior to Spanish colonization. But because of the rampant Moro raids
on settlements along the southeast coast in the 1700s and 1800s, Spanish officials
organized a town center further away from the coast.9 The poblacion of Santander
is located on higher ground as compared to Pasil.
Barangay Talisay is named after the tree species locally named talisay (Terminalia
catappa). It is a large tree which grows by the seashore bearing edible nuts. One
such tree grew along the coast of the barangay, giving shade to travelers, fishers
and shell gleaners (manginginhas) over the years. The talisay tree is no longer
there as it was uprooted by big waves during a storm. The barangay’s original
name, however, was said to be Campisot (or Kang pisot) pertaining to the pisot nga
balat, a species of sea cucumber which was once abundant in the area during low
tide and was a popular source of food for the locals at that time. The name was
changed to Talisay in 1948 as a consequence of a resolution filed by one of the town
councilors, Casiano Miramon who hailed from this barangay, and subsequently
approved by the municipal council.10 As discussed above, it is apparent that the
4 S A N TA N D E R
names of Santander’s coastal barangays have something to do with the sea and its
surroundings.
Some of Santander’s mountain barangays may also have derived their names
from plants and from bodies of water. Cabutongan, an upland barangay which
was originally a sitio of Brgy. Kandamiang, probably derived its name also from
a bamboo species locally called butung. Butung (Gigantachloa levis) is a kind of
spineless bamboo which is thick, straight and smooth. Given that this species of
bamboo may have been abundant in the area, the Historical Data Paper prepared
by the school principal of Santander in 1953 points this out as the origin of the
name Cabutongan. This should debunk the misconception that the name of the
barangay was derived from “butong”, a Cebuano term for the young and green
coconut fruit. Another sitio, that of Kalunasan, in Brgy. Liptong, is also named
after another type of spineless bamboo called lunas.11
Barangay Liptong itself may have derived its name from a body of water in
the area. In Cebuano the term liptong means a lake formed by a river as a result of
an obstruction. In Santander, the term used by old folks was libtong which means
pool of water. The river that runs near the Liptong Elementary School is made
up of a series of small falls and pools of water, the most well-known of which is
Ambakon Falls which leads to the lowest pool.12
There are also barangay names apparently implying ownership, such as
Canlumacad (Kang Lumacad) and Kandamiang (Kang Damiang). But based
on information from the Santander Historical Data Paper, the term Canlumacad
suggests “fast walkers”,13 apparently derived from the root word lakad (which in
Tagalog means “walk”). In Cebuano however, the term lakad means to step over.
And since Canlumacad is located between barangays Liloan and Talisay, the term
could have been used to mean to step over to the next barrio. But according to
local folklore, this place was originally called Cambuyong (from Kang Buyong).
Buyong is said to be the original settler in this area described as itikon (like a duck)
because he was short (less than 3 feet in height) but had a big butt. His real name
was Jorge and he was nicknamed Buyong or sometimes as “Jorgeng itikon”. His
descendants were also like him and they were the ones inhabiting this place in the
past. Thus, the place was called Cambuyong. This barangay was originally a sitio
of Barangay Liloan, while its southern section used to be part of Barangay Talisay.
During the term of Mayor Sol Abines in 1972, upon then Cebu governor Eduardo
Gullas’ directive, a new barangay was created in Santander. According to one
barangay official, at that time, each municipality was required to have at least 10
S A N TA N D E R 5
barangays. Since Santander only had nine, a new one had to be created. Thus
Cambuyong became a barangay. It was renamed Canlumacad, a connotation
that its original settlers were very short people and could be easily stepped over
(kalakaran ra)14
The Historical Data Paper traces the name Kandamiang to the presence of
many trees and shrubs spread all over the area,15 in reference to the Cebuano word,
“damyang”, which means “spread-out”. Local folklore, however, suggests that
Kandamiang is derived from a certain Damiana (the ‘kang” or “kan” in Cebuano
denotes ownership or possession). Damiana was said to be an old, unmarried local
dressmaker who was well-known for making nice clothes from locally-woven cloth
made of cotton and maguey fibers. She was so well-known that people referred
to the place where she lived as Ka Damiana (meaning, Damiana’s place). This
was how Kandamiang derived its present name. But before it was referred to as
Kandamiang, its original name was Canibihan, which referred to a dominant form
of vegetation which used to grow there.16
There is one barangay name, that of Barangay Bunlan whose origin is not clear.
The nearest derivation may be from the term bunul which means to make the soil
firm and compact. The original term may have been bunulan (as verb) and later
shortened to bunlan.17
Land Area and Classification

The municipality has a total estimated land area of 3,567 hectares, of which
2,953 hectares is classified as rural, while only 209 hectares is urban. Of the ten
barangays, Bunlan has the largest land area with 581.86 hectares, followed by
Cabutongan with 554.44 hectares. The smallest barangay in terms of land area is
Brgy. Canlumacad with 171.6 hectares; followed by Pasil with 271.91 hectares. The
other barangays’ land areas in hectares are as follows: Talisay, 368.47; Liptong,
356.01; Looc, 345.86; Kandamiang, 341.76; Poblacion, 293.4, and Liloan, 281.69.
Generally, the mountain barangays have a larger land area compared to the coastal
barangays.
In terms of land classification, 866.3 hectares are classified as reservation/
timberland, while 2,700.67 hectares are certified as alienable/disposable land.
Thirty-six percent (36%) of Santander’s land area is devoted to agriculture, while
only 0.16% is classified as industrial zone. Production forests consist of 52.22%,
1.48% is tourism zone, and the remaining areas consist of roads, bridges, cemetery,
open space and other uses.18
6 S A N TA N D E R
Physical Features
TOPOGRAPHY AND SLOPE
Santander’s topography is characterized by mountainous rugged terrain

that rise to an elevation of 200 meters. It also has gently-sloping contours in
the central part of the municipality and flat but narrow plains along its coastal
area. The municipality’s land slope could be generally classified into three (3)
significant types. The first type is the 3 to 18 percent slope, or gently-sloping to
rolling lands. These are areas highly suitable either for agricultural, residential,
industrial, or other related uses. These areas comprise a total of 1,202 hectares
or nearly 34 percent of the total area of the municipality and are found mostly
in the coastal barangays. The second type is the 18 to 30 percent slope, which is
characterized as hilly or undulating to moderately steep lands and are generally
considered marginal lands as most agricultural crops grown here require tillage.
This constitutes 31 percent of the municipal land area or a total of 1,117 hectares.
Areas with 30 to 50 percent slope are classified as forestal areas. This makes up 33
percent or 1,165 hectares of the municipality’s total land area.19
SOIL TYPE
In terms of parent material contained in the soil, the municipality of Santander,
just like its neighboring municipalities, is dominated by limestone in over 98% of its
total land area which accounts for 3,485.66 hectares. The remaining 81.34 hectares
(2%) are built-up areas.20 Its soil type is largely Faraon clay and Bolinao clay.
Faraon clay is characterized as very dark brown to black when moist, and brown
to reddish brown when dry. It is plastic and sticky when moist and it becomes
hard when dry. The subsoil ranges from yellowish brown to grayish brown; the
texture is coarse and granular; more carbonates and lime rocks are present. The
substratum is highly-weathered limestone, which ranges from light gray to gray,
structureless, and wholly made up of carbonates. The bedrock stratum is hard
corraline limestone, gray to almost white structureless mass. Being derived from
the weathering of limestone rocks, it is generally high in calcium content. A high
content of organic matter is also present in this type of soil. Eighty-nine percent
of the municipality or 3,161.4 hectares is composed of this type of soil, most of
which is located in well-drained areas, particularly in the hilly and mountainous
areas. Bolinao clay on the other hand, is reddish brown in color and developed
from the weathering of dark to reddish-colored coralline limestone. This soil
type is moderately friable when dry but sticky when wet. The subsoil is clayey,
S A N TA N D E R 7
only slightly compact with brownish red color. It has good, coarse and block-like
structure. This type of soil covers the remaining eleven percent of the municipality,
or 405.6 hectares.
Soil erosion is one of the most common forms of land degradation which affects
the environment and the population. Various degrees of erosion ranging from
slight to severe are experienced by the municipality. Slight erosion affects 1,201.09
hectares (33.67%) of its total land area. This type of erosion typically occurs along
trails and creeks. Moderate erosion affects 1,117.05 hectares (31.32%) of its total
land area, characterized by the occurrence of a number of well-defined rills and
gullies along waterways and slope breaks on cultivated land. Severe erosion
affects 1,167.17 hectares or 32.72% of the municipality’s total land area. This is
most visible on steep, hilly or mountainous areas with slopes above 30 percent.21
CLIMATE
Like in other municipalities in the southern portion of Cebu Province, the
municipality of Santander falls under a climatic type which is characterized by a
period of short dry season (one to three months) without a pronounced maximum
rainfall. Relative to suitability of the municipality’s climate to agricultural
production, the Bureau of Soil and Water Management (BSWM) identified two
prevalent zones in the municipality: moist and dry. Agro-climatic zones are
contiguous areas sufficiently similar in their land and climatic characteristics.
Specifically, the variables considered under this climatic classification are: rainfall,
temperature, elevation, landforms and vegetation. Moist agro-climatic zone has
an annual rainfall range of 1,500 to 2,500 mm and occurs mostly on upland to hilly/
mountainous areas. Moisture deficit during the dry season is moderate. Most
of the municipality’s present agricultural area falls within this zone. Dry agro-
climatic zone meanwhile has an average annual rainfall of less than 1,500 mm and
occurs mainly on lowland and upland/low hill areas in the municipality. These
areas experience significant moisture deficit during the dry season.
VEGETATIVE COVER
Of the municipality’s total land area, shrubland has the highest share with
nearly 52 percent covering around 1,850 hectares of land. Agricultural lands
devoted to coconut, corn and banana account for about 46 percent or around 1,636
hectares, while those for miscellaneous uses (particularly settlements) account for
2 percent or 81 hectares of land area. A look at the actual situation, however,
shows that current vegetative cover of the municipality has shifted to dominant
8 S A N TA N D E R
agricultural use, particularly corn plantation, in areas identified as shrubland. In

fact, corn is now considered as the dominant agricultural crop of the municipality,
both in terms of area cultivated to the crop and in terms of volume of production.
Population
Based on the 2007 Census of Population, Santander registers a total population
of 15,294. Its population grew by 1,452 from its 2000 population of 13,842 persons
in 2,895 households. Inter-censal population growth rate for the period 2000 to
2007 was 10.49%. In terms of population distribution as of this period, Barangay
Poblacion has the highest number of residents with 2,407, followed by Talisay
(2,050) and Liloan (1,906). The old town center, barangay Pasil, only claims a
population of 1,447 - lower than that of Bunlan and Looc. Bunlan, a mountain
barangay even has a higher population (1,877) making it the fourth highest in
terms of number of residents. Looc, a coastal barangay, comes fifth with 1,673.
The three other mountain barangays register smaller populations, with Liptong
having 1,249, Cabutongan with 1,025, and Kandamiang with 906. The barangay
with the smallest population is Canlumacad, formerly a sitio of Barangay Liloan,
with a population of 754.
Population density for the whole municipality is 4.29 (42.9/km2) persons per
hectare. This figure suggests a sparse population. Barangay Poblacion, which
is the town’s central district, has the highest population density of 8.2 persons
per hectare. Two other barangays with high levels of urbanization because of
its ports, also register higher population densities with Liloan having 6.77
persons per hectare and Talisay having 5.56 persons per hectare. The three other
coastal barangays likewise have higher population densities compared to the
four mountain barangays, and even higher than the municipal average. Pasil’s
population density is 5.32 persons per hectare; Looc, 4.84; and Canlumacad, 4.39.
Of the four mountain barangays, Liptong has the lowest population density at
3.51 persons per hectare; followed by Bunlan with 3.23; Kandamiang with 2.65.
Cabutongan has the least number of people per hectare with only 1.85.
In terms of population age distribution, data show that Santander has a young
population, with 5,177 or 37.5% of its total population in the year 2000 belonging
to the 0-14 age group. These belong to the bracket of young dependents. Old
dependents aged 65 and above, on the other hand, comprise 7% (972 persons)
of the total population. Those belonging to the productive ages of 15-64 account
for 55.5% (7,692 persons) of Santander’s total population. The overall dependency
ratio is 79.94, with a youth dependency ratio of 67.30 and old-age dependency
S A N TA N D E R 9
ratio of 12.64. This means that every 100 people in the productive ages of 15 to 64,
look after roughly 80 dependents (67 young and 13 old dependents). In terms of
sex distribution, 50.6% of Santander’s population is male while 49.4% is female.
The average household size is 6.1. One hundred percent of the barangays
have electricity, with 90% of households energized. Ninety-two percent of the
total population of the town have access to potable water, with 85% of these at
level 3 (private faucets connected to the community water system), 10% at level 2
(community water system with shared faucets) and 5% at level 1 (communal water
sources). In terms of cooking fuel, 77.7% of these households use wood; while only
11.4% use liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). Most of the households do not own
consumer durables such as television sets, refrigerators, washing machines and
the like. The common consumer durable owned by 64.6% of the households is the
radio but most households may also have television sets.
Language
Tañonganons speak the Cebuano language, also referred to as Sugbuanon,
Sinibuano, Binisaya or Bisaya. This language is spoken by around twenty million
people in most parts of the Visayas and in some parts of Mindanao. The 1975
Philippine census shows that 24.1% of the population are native Cebuano speakers
as compared to 21% for Tagalog.22 But since the current language policy of the
Philippines promotes the use of Filipino, which is largely based on the Tagalog
language, as the national language, Cebuano has taken a back seat as a regional
language. The educational system uses Filipino (Tagalog) and English as the
languages of instruction. Mass media, including newspapers, television channels,
radio stations, also make use of either Tagalog or English.
There are two major Cebuano dialects that prevail – the “Cebu City Cebuano”
and the “provincial Cebuano”. There are also Cebuano dialects in specific areas,
like Bohol, Davao and much of Northern Mindanao and Leyte. The dialect
associated with Cebu City Cebuano speakers makes use of a lot of shortened
words, especially those with the letter l (e.g., di for dili, wa for wala) and a lot of
borrowed words from English or Tagalog. The provincial dialect is commonly
spoken in the municipalities further away from the City, particularly in the south.
There are slight variations also in the intonation and accent. A significant change
in the words and intonation become evident farther to the south or to the north
of Cebu City. Towards the south, the tone becomes somewhat sing-song with
parts of sentences spoken with either a higher or lower tone. Thus, Tañonganon
10 S A N TA N D E R
Cebuano is far different in accent and intonation compared to the Cebuano spoken
in Cebu City. But with the proliferation of Tagalog and English, Tañonganons have
also learned to speak and write well in these languages. Also, some Tañonganons
who acquired a college degree in Cebu City have been influenced by the Cebu City
Cebuano dialect. These have all led to changes in some terms used. However, the
most evident aspect of language that has remained in the Tañonganon Cebuano is
its accent and intonation.
Economy
LIVELIHOOD
Santander is classified as a 4th class municipality in terms of income as of July
2008. This means that its total annual income is above P20,000,000. In the year 2000,
its municipal income was only P15,794,274.76. Between 2004 and 2007, however,
its annual income alrwady averaged P25.107 million. The major agricultural
products include corn, copra and cassava. The mountain barangays are the major
agricultural producers while the coastal barangays are largely dependent on
fishing as a primary source of livelihood. In terms of agricultural production,
91.96% of the total estimated agricultural lands of the municipality are planted to
corn, a staple crop. This indicates that farming in the municipality is mostly for
subsistence and for local consumption.
Muro-ami, a once popular method of fishing in these parts of the Philippines,
had been a primary source of income for most Santander folk. For more than 30
years, muro-ami fishing method was widely practiced in the Philippines. The
method, introduced into the country by Okinawan fishers shortly before World
War II, involves the use of a drive-in net designed for fishing in coral reefs. Each
swimmer carries scare lines tied to an oval rock weighing four to five kg. This
technique involves sending a line of divers to depths of 30-90 feet with metal
weight, repeatedly dropping the rocks at the end of the scare line on the corals to
drive fish out and into waiting nets. This procedure creates noise and disturbance
at the sea bottom, driving schooling and bottom-dwelling fish towards the bag-
net. The method is quite destructive as it breaks branching and other delicate hard
corals. Because of complaints about the destructive effects of the use of rocks on
corals as well as the use of minors in its operations, the Bureau of Fisheries and
Aquatic Resources (BFAR) banned muro-ami throughout the Philippines in 1989.
S A N TA N D E R 11
From the early seventies to the late nineties, Santander and the neighboring
municipalities of Oslob and Samboan, were known as “Muro-ami country”, as
well as “Abines country”, owing to the fact that the Abines family dominated the
town’s political and economic institutions. Research indicates that a very complex
relationship of dependency had developed between the fishing communities in
Oslob and Santander and the Abines family during this period. At that time,
the Abines family wielded considerable political and economic power in these
municipalities, employing local residents in muro-ami fishing with a total of more
than 20,000 dependents. In addition to their fishing enterprise, they also owned
land and sea transportation facilities, credit and retail outlets, and held political
seats in Congress and in the local government unit. The Abines’ hold on the
municipality only waned in the early 1990s, when the government banned muro-
ami in December 1989.23 This was because of reports by the International Labor
Organization (ILO) regarding the employment of children in muro-ami fishing
as well as the environmental concerns raised behind the practice of fishing in
coralline niches. This led to the decline of the dominance of muro-ami in southern
Cebu, resulting further to the decline of the economic and political influence of the
Abineses. With the demise of muro-ami, former fishers, divers and laborers either
returned to subsistence fishing in municipal waters, or sought employment in
other commercial fishing vessels outside Santander. Others engaged in subsistence
farming and construction work.
AGRO-INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL ESTABLISHMENTS

There are four (4) agro-industrial establishments in the municipality, as of the
year 2000. Two of these comprise a corn mill and a feed mill, the latter exclusively
for producing feeds for pigs. The existing piggery situated in Brgy. Bunlan is
currently being serviced by a breeding station located in Brgy. Poblacion. Catering
to the domestic corn processing needs are the existing corn mills that are located in
barangays Looc and Talisay.
Santander has sparsely- distributed commercial activities, with Brgy. Poblacion
being the main center with the barangays of Liloan and Talisay, as growth centers.
While it is to be expected that commercial establishments are concentrated in
urban centers, there is a significant number of commercial establishments outside
the urban area of the municipality. The central business district of Santander
is not quite formalized, although most businesses in the poblacion are located
along the highway near the municipal hall. The old school building where the
Santander High School used to operate was converted into a public market during
12 S A N TA N D E R
the incumbency of Mayor James O. Abines in 1999. It was also during this time
that 12 resorts or visitor accommodation units were established. In terms of type of
commercial establishments, sari-sari stores predominate with 93 percent share of
the total establishments, followed by restaurants with only a 2 percent share as far
second. The total number of sari-sari stores is noted to be growing at an average
of 5 percent per year from 1996 to 2000. A Petron gasoline station operated by the
Lomotos family started operations in 2005 in Barangay Poblacion. Previous to this,
a Shell station was operated in Talisay from 1972 up to the early 1980s by Olpiano
Busmion. From the 1980s until 2003, the Lomotos family also operated a Caltex
station at the Poblacion.
Politics and Local Governance

Santander belongs to the second congressional district of Cebu province,
which also includes the towns of Argao, Dalaguete, Alcoy, Boljoon, Oslob on
the south-eastern part, and the towns of Alcantara, Alegria, Badian, Dumanjug,
Ginatilan, Malabuyoc, Moalboal, Ronda, and Samboan on south-western portion.
As mentioned, the Abineses lorded over local politics here since the 1970s, with
Crisologo Abines being mayor of Santander for fifteen years. Even as muro-ami
fishing had been banned by government, operations continued clandestinely and
thus the Abineses still maintained economic and political power for several more
years thereafter. Crisologo Abines was also the Second District representative for
three terms in Congress from 1987 until 1998. However, in the 1998 congressional
elections, because he could no longer run for a fourth term, his wife, Priscilla ran
for the seat instead. She lost, however, to Atty. Simeon L. Kintanar of Argao town.
Although they lost a congressional seat, the Abineses still maintained control over
local politics in Santander, as their son, James Arnold was elected mayor in 1998.
Crisologo also ran and won as mayor of nearby Samboan town. Congressman
Kintanar again won as Cebu second district representative in 2002, this time,
against Crisologo. James Arnold ran for reelection as mayor but lost to Wilson
Wenceslao, son of the Abineses’ long-time political rival, Willie Wenceslao. These
losses signaled the waning political control of the Abineses in this southern part
of Cebu.
The current mayor of Santander, Wilson Wenceslao, is now into his third
term. The vice mayor is his mother, Marilyn S. Wenceslao. The congressional
representative of the second district, to which Santander belongs, is now former
Cebu governor Pablo Garcia. He was formerly Cebu’s third congressional district
representative, when Abines was still the Congressman of the second district.
S A N TA N D E R 13
By virtue of the Local Government Code of 1991, Local Government Units

(LGUs) are primarily tasked to promote the general welfare of the inhabitants of
their respective territories. The Santander LGU as a political unit belongs to the
Provincial LGU of Cebu. LGUs are both a political subdivision of the national
government and a corporate entity representing the inhabitants of its territory.
As a corporate entity, it carries the voice and interests of all the residents of the
municipality of Santander and is responsible for promoting their general welfare.
The municipal mayor is at the helm of the LGU. He is aided by department
heads who serve as the local municipal cabinet. The mandatory departments of a
municipal LGU are the following: Accounting, Agriculture, Budget, Civil Registry,
Engineering, Health, Land Assessment, Municipal Development Planning, and
Treasury. Also under the municipal mayor are the offices of Social Welfare and
Development, Human Resources, and Tourism. These offices have been devolved
from their respective national offices with the aim of bringing services closer to the
municipal constituents.
The legislative department of the LGU is the Sangguniang Bayan or Municipal
Council presided over by the municipal vice mayor who acts as the administrator
of the Sangguniang Bayan as a unit. The presidents of the municipal Association
of Barangay Chairmen (ABC) and of the Sangguniang Kabataan also sit in the
SB as ex-officio members. The SB has a secretary who acts as its records keeper.
As a rule, the function of the council is for municipal legislation. It is organized
into various committees including health, agriculture, women, cultural heritage,
infrastructure, among others. During the Abineses’dominance in town politics, all
municipal councilors were loyal to the Abineses. But with their decline, some
municipal councilors shifted allegiance to the Wenceslaos, the political rival of
the Abineses. This is common in Philippine politics wherein politicians change
political parties as easily as changing one’s clothes, so to speak. This practice is
commonly termed as “balimbing” (a sour fruit with many sides). Those who did not
“balimbing” to the Wenceslaos either lost or decided not to enter politics anymore.
Even municipal heads of offices and barangay officials once loyal to the Abineses
also shifted allegiance when the Wenceslaos won the mayoralty contest in 2001.
According to many informants, this is to ensure that they won’t be sacked and that
they would still continue gaining political favors from the new administration.
Even Abines’ political supporters and muro-ami managers shifted loyalties to the
Wenceslao administration.
14 S A N TA N D E R
Education
There are presently seven (7) public elementary schools in Santander, with
an average teacher-pupil ratio of 1:31. These are located in barangays Poblacion,
Talisay, Pasil, Liloan, Bunlan, Kandamiang and Liptong. There is a primary
school in barangay Cabutongan offering classes until the fourth grade. Another
public primary school in barangay Looc offers only until the second grade. Only
one barangay does not have its own public school, but it is within a reasonable
distance from the nearest school facility. All ten barangays of Santander have a
day-care center for pre-school age children. There is however, only one (1) public
secondary school in the municipality – the Santander National High School located
in a 15,188-square meter lot in Brgy. Poblacion. Santander also has one private
school offering only kindergarten classes
In terms of educational attainment, 97.61% of the population were enrolled
at the elementary level as of 2010, while 96.89% were at the high school level.
Data also show that, at the college level, slightly more males (14%) were able to
complete college courses while females registered only 11%.
Health Facilities
As of 2010, the town had one Rural Health Unit which operates under the
supervision of the Municipal Health Center (MHC). Each barangay, however, also
has a health center. The MHC acts as control center and coordinates provision of
health services for the catchment or service area of these health centers. The 2006
MHC data shows that there are 7 midwives, a municipal health officer (MHO), a
municipal health nurse (MHN), and a sanitary inspector in the local government
service. The municipality also has three ambulances for medical emergencies.
There is no hospital however in the municipality, but a district hospital is located
in the adjacent municipality of Oslob.
The operation and maintenance of district hospitals was devolved from the
Department of Health to the provincial government. Cebu had 19 district hospitals
upon implementation of the Local Government Code, but this had been trimmed
down to 16 when the cities of Mandaue and Lapulapu took over the management
of their respective district hospitals. Lapulapu took over the operations of the
Lapulapu District Hospital as well as the Sta. Rosa District Hospital on Olango island.
Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia is planning to turn over the operation, administration
and maintenance of other district hospitals to a cluster of component cities and
municipalities being served by each medical facility. In July 2008, the Oslob
S A N TA N D E R 15
District Hospital was turned over to the BOSS cluster (Boljoon, Oslob, Santander
and Samboan) in southern Cebu. The mayors of BOSS signed an agreement on May
7, 2008 with the Department of Health (DOH), which established their inter-local
health zone (ILHZ). The agreement with DOH states that the ILHZ board, “as a
matter of policy, shall have full autonomy in the administration and management”
of Oslob District Hospital. A Memorandum of Agreement was also signed by
Gov. Garcia and Mayors Ronald Guaren (Oslob), Wilson Wenceslao (Santander),
Raymond Joseph Calderon (Samboan), and Vice Mayor Merlo Derama on behalf of
Mayor Deogenes Derama (Boljoon) in a ceremony at the Capitol Social Hall. With
the turn-over, it would now be the mayors of these four municipalities who will
have full possession and control over the buildings, improvements, facilities and
equipment of the Oslob District Hospital. However, ownership of the buildings
and other facilities will remain with the Province. The towns will shoulder all the
necessary maintenance, operation and other expenses (MOOE) necessary for the
hospital’s operation. As assistance, the Province gives P1 million to each town for
this purpose.. The Capitol, however, will continue assuming responsibility over
all personnel requirements until June 30, 2009, so as not to disrupt operations.24
Transportation and Road Network

At present Santander has a total road network of 61.3 kilometers, an increase
of about 13.4 kilometers from the total length of 47.90 kilometers in the year 2000.
Among the various road types, barangay roads make up the largest portion of
the total road network of the municipality, constituting 37.7 kilometers. National
roads in Santander total only 12 kilometers, while provincial roads total to almost
two kilometers and municipal roads, 9.6 kilometers. Most barangay roads are
mostly paved (ewither coreted or asphalted) while the entire length of national
roads is asphalted. Provincial and municipal roads are paved with concrete.
The municipality’s main arterial road (national road) is linked by 4 bridges. Of
these, the Aroma and the Talisay bridges are the longest with each bridge having
a length of 15 meters. The Looc-Liloan Bridge, which serves as boundary between
barangays Looc and Liloan, is the shortest bridge at only 5 meters in length. A
fourth bridge, the Pasil bridge is, 10 meters long. All these 4 bridges are 6 meters
wide, have a capacity of 5 tons, are made of concrete and asphalt and are currently
in good condition.
16 S A N TA N D E R
Nearly all roads of any classification have been fitted with certain types of
drainage and sewerage system. The municipality, like most of the municipalities
in Cebu, relies solely on its topography to serve as its drainage network. As a
result, certain areas in barangays Looc and Poblacion are flooded during heavy
rains. In February 2009, flash floods hit Barangays Pasil, Poblacion, Looc, Liloan,
Canlumacad and Talisay, affecting around 250 families and damaging several
roads and bridges.
Land and sea transport facilities in Santander had been monopolized by the
Abineses during their thirty-year dominance of the town. Prior to this, land
transportation was available in Santander via Bisaya/Sesaldo Trans, Gillamac
Transit, Travelways and Cebu Autobus. The ABC Bus Company was the only one
plying the Santander-Cebu City route during the reign of the Abineses. But with
their decline, ABC’s franchise was bought by the Vallacar Transit Corporation
based in Negros. Presently, the municipality of Santander is being served by two
bus companies, Ceres Bus Liner owned by the Vallacar Corp. and Sunrays Bus Co.,
owned by the Figues family, plying the Santander-Cebu route and vice-versa. The
buses are complemented by vans-for-hire (GT Express) operating within the same
route.
Public utility multicabs and tricycles also ply the national road connecting
Santander’s coastal barangays and neighboring municipalities. Motorcycles-for-
hire (locally called habal-habal), on the other hand, serve the transportation needs
of both coastal and mountain barangays. Although considered illegal, as their
registration is for private use, these habal-habal are well-patronized especially
by those living in upland barangays. They can take their passengers to their
destinations in a shorter duration of time and over unpaved roads or even trails.
Each habal-habal can accommodate as many as five persons per trip. It can also
carry cargoes such as sacks of rice or animal feed. One wonders though, how these
two-wheelers can negotiate the tricky mountain roads and trails safely.
There are three existing ports in the municipality, two private and one public.
The existing public port, which is also classified as Roll-On Roll-Off (RORO) port,
caters to the ferry boats plying the Tampi, (Negros Oriental) – Talisay (Santander)
crossing. The private port, meanwhile, accommodates motorized bancas plying
the Sibulan, (Negros Oriental) – Liloan (Santander) route. Another private port
owned by the Cuadro Alas Corporation was established around 500 meters away
from another private port in 2005. This other port is intended for fastcrafts plying the
Sibulan-Liloan route and also owned by Cuadro Alas. These ports accommodate
S A N TA N D E R 17
both cargoes and passengers. Those taking the Ceres Bus to Santander usually
disembark at the new port and take the fastcraft to Sibulan. On the other hand,
those taking the V-hire going to Santander, usually disembark at the older private
port and take the pumpboat going to Sibulan. Cargoes are usually transported
to Negros Oriental via the municipal port in Talisay, Santander. Port operation
is becoming a focal point of the town’s economy. In fact, the main comparative
advantage of the municipality over other municipalities in the southern part of
the province lies in its ports and in its accessibility to Dumaguete City in Negros
Oriental. At present, the three ports accommodate more than 500 visitors a day
to and from Negros Oriental. However, one limitation is that there is no formal
public terminal and no parking facilities in Santander. Only informal terminals
and parking facilities exist in barangays Talisay and Liloan to accommodate
passengers coming in and out of the town’s seaports. Because of this, nearly all
public utility vehicles use main streets as their parking area/terminal.25
Housing
The total number of households in Santander in the year 2000 was 2,895. This
figure is nearly double its 1969 level. However, the increase in population is not
directly correlated with increase in the number of household units. This may be
due to the fact that there are several nuclear families occupying one household,
especially among the less economically-stable families. As per NSO data, housing
units in Santander are of the single- type of dwelling unit. This means that the
housing unit is not attached to any other housing unit, and thus stands as one
structure. In terms of housing materials, around 54% of all housing units have
galvanized iron roofs, while around 43% are of nipa, pawod (saksak), sinibit (coconut
leaves) or anahaw leaf roofing materials. Less than one percent of these dwellings
are of concrete material while another one percent is a combination of both light
and concrete materials. Also around one percent are of makeshift or improvised
materials. In terms of floor area, around 33% have less than 10 square meters while
around 32% have between 10 to 19 square meters of floor area. Larger dwellings
of between 20-29 sq. m. of floor area constitute a mere 19% and still a smaller
percentage (7%) constitutes those having between 30-49 sq. m. Only 4.7% have a
floor area of fifty sq. m. or more. The data obtained for year 2007 show that only 15
households have a floor area of 200 sq. m. or more. These data imply that housing
units in Santander are of modest size, and therefore reflective of the low to middle
income-level of most households. As to toilet facilities, 46% of households have
18 S A N TA N D E R
water-sealed toilets while 16% of dwellings do not have toilet facilities at all. The
rest of the households do have antipolo-type toilets.
Utilities
All ten barangays of the municipality already have electricity served by the
Cebu Electric Cooperatives Inc. (CEBECO), the first rural electric cooperative
organized in the province of Cebu registered with the National Electrification
Administration (NEA) on April 22, 1972. CEBECO has three main centers
serving almost all municipalities in the province of Cebu. Santander is part of the
CEBECO I service area which covers 18 southern municipalities including Carcar,
Sibonga, Argao, Dalaguete, Alcoy, Boljoon, Oslob, Santander, Samboan, Ginatilan,
Malabuyoc, Alegria, Badian, Moalboal, Alcantara, Ronda, Dumanjug and Barili. It
serves a total of 366 barangays in these municipalities.
The Santander Municipal Water System, developed during the term of Crisologo
Abines and expanded and improved during the Wenceslao administration,
provides for the water needs of the municipality. To date, 83% of all the households
in the municipality have direct water supply, while the remaining 17% are serviced
indirectly through communal systems of water distribution.
Telephone lines have also been installed in Santander powered by Globelines.
It provides connectivity to other municipalities and cities in the province of Cebu
with no additional charges under Globelines’ One-Province-One-Rate policy.
Aside from landlines, Santander can also be reached through mobile phones
using either Globe, Smart and Sun Cellular networks. In the digital age where the
internet plays a big role in connecting various parts of the world, Santander is now
part of this global network, powered by Globe Broadband services.
Religion
Santander, as with all the towns in Cebu, is predominantly Catholic. The parish,
however, is comparatively “young” since it was established as such only in 1897,
during the twilight years of the Spanish regime. Before its elevation into a parish,
it used to be a visita of Boljoon, together with the other visitas of Alcoy, Nueva
Caceres, and Oslob. As visita, Santander had no resident priest and was simply
“visited” at regular intervals by priests of the mother parish. With the elevation
of Oslob as a parish in 1848, Santander fell under its jurisdicition, still as a visita.
S A N TA N D E R 19
The town’s patron saint is Saint Gabriel the Archangel (San Gabriel Arcangel),
revered as such for being God’s messenger to Mary. Earlier, however, upon being
established as a parish in 1897, the town revered two patrons – Mary, Mother of
God and the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The choice of St. Gabriel as the town’s patron
saint came a few years after the establishment of the Parish. No explanations,
however, are available to shed light on the change in the town’s choice of patron
saint.
The present church in Santander is no longer the original church which was
constructed during the third term of Fr. Mauricio Alvares as parish priest of Oslob
and completed in 1898 under its first parish priest, Fr. Gregorio Santiago. This
church was built employing the standard method employed by Spain (mamposteria
and tabique de pampango), and was oriented towards the sea. In 1954, however,
parish priest Fr. Miguel Ortega decided to destroy the original church structure
and started building the present church to re-orient it towards the national road,
and no longer towards the sea. Construction was continued and finished by his
successor, Fr. Roque Plaza in 1956.
The feast day of St. Gabriel was originally celebrated every 24th of March.
However, this event experienced several changes in the dates for celebration
especially during the administration of the Abineses. The dates were adjusted to
April or May, to coincide with the return of muro-ami fishers who were employed
by the Abineses and were mostly from Santander. To date, the towns’s fiesta has
been set for every second or last Sunday and Monday of April. Interestingly, not
all of Santander celebrates this fiesta of San Gabriel. The barangay of Talisay and
the southern section of Canlumacad which are both situated near the Santander-
Samboan boundary, celebrate the feast day of Our Lady of Consolacion in the
parish of San Sebastian in Bato, Samboan. This feast day falls on the first Sunday
of September.
The Santander parish has been involved in many controversies at different
periods of its history. The first of such controversies occurred between 1906 and
1907 and was centered around the resistance against the inroads of Protestantism.
In more recent years, conflicts between the parish and the Abines administration
flared up as a consequence of perceived human rights violations perpetrated by
the Abineses. Still later, sometime around 2006, a parish priest was accused of child
abuse and molestation. More details on these will be discussed in the appropriate
chapters of this book.
20 S A N TA N D E R
Fiestas and Festivals

Coinciding with the town’s fiesta celebration, the municipal government in
the year 2006, initiated the Tostado Festival, which focuses on the town’s delicacy
– the tostado, a sweet biscuit baked in traditional ovens using coconut husks and
firewood. The street dancing, which is the highlight of the festivity, portrays the
different movements of the bakers as they make the tostado. The town’s barangays
participate in this competitive street-dancing. The delicacy is baked using
traditional egg-beaters and mixers. Young children help in the preparation, by
taking turns in beating the eggs and in mixing all ingredients. The adults ensure
that the correct proportion of ingredients is obtained, and that the right oven
temperature is maintained.
Prior to the staging of the newly-conceptualized Tostado Festival, the usual
cultural presentations at the town plaza which run parallel to the nine-day novena
masses held in the church, are staged every night, sponsored by specific families
or organizations from within the municipality. During the term of the Abineses
in Santander politics, cockfights usually accompany fiesta celebrations. A large
cockfighting arena was constructed within the Sanayon Complex located at the
elevated portion of Barangay Pasil. This was envisioned and developed by the
Abineses as an agrofair cum convention center for the second congressional
district of Cebu. However, it was not maintained with the change of leadership
in the district and in the municipality. Allegedly, the land on which the Sanayon
complex is built is titled to the Abineses, making it private property, instead of
government property.
Fiesta celebrations are a time for homecoming of residents working or residing
outside the municipality. In the religious sense, it is a time for thanksgiving to
the town’s patron saint who is perceived as a protector and an intercessor. This
is why people attend the novena masses and the fiesta mass to give thanks to
their patron saint who had showered blessings upon them and protected their
town and their families in the preceding year. Preparations for the fiesta consist
of fattening a pig some months prior to the celebration, to be slaughtered on the
fiesta day and cooked and served as main dish on the fiesta table. Some also
gather over a number of months, ingredients for the tostado – flour, eggs, lard,
and sugar. Guests do not only eat at the fiesta table but are also given small packs
of food (called bring-house), especially the tostado to be brought home with them.
The importance of the fiesta to the Tañonganon is clearly evident in the decision
to adjust the date of the fiesta celebration to coincide with the return of muro-ami
S A N TA N D E R 21
fishers from their 10-month fishing expedition. This underscores the importance
attached to the fiesta by the townspeople.
Aside from the town fiesta, other fiestas are held in the different chapels
abounding in Santander’s barangays. Just beside the Catholic church is a chapel/
shrine dedicated to San Vicente Ferrer (St. Vincent) constructed through the efforts
of the Kapunongan ni San Vicente (Association of St. Vincent) under the leadership
of Pedro ‘Ingko Pedot’ Serencio. There are three chapels each in Barangays Looc
and Cabutongan; four each in Barangays Poblacion and Bunlan; two each in
Barangays Pasil, Liloan, Liptong, and Kandamiang; one in Brgy. Canlumacad;
and another in Brgy. Talisay. These chapels have different patron saints and thus
have different fiesta dates. There are still nine-day novenas in each of the chapels
prior to the fiesta. There are also programs prepared each night, including “bayle”
(dance), presentations and the like. Cockfights are also organized as part of the
fiesta activities. On the fiesta date, each household prepares food consisting of
various dishes. In some cases, the feast is prepared in the chapel wherein all
households will just go and partake of the meal together.
Summary
Santander is a municipality that links Cebu to its neighboring province
of Negros Oriental in Central Visayas, via land and sea travel. This is a logical
outcome because its distance across Tanon Strait is the shortest distance from
the island of Cebu to Negros. Regular bus and ferryboat trips ply this route.
However, despite its strategic location in linking the two provinces, Santander
remains a fourth class municipality with a relatively small population relying
generally on subsistence fishing and farming, as well as tourism, or on jobs outside
the municipality. Over a long period of time, Santander was known as Abines
country and muro-ami country. All aspects of the municipality were controlled by
the Abineses by virtue of their control of muro-ami fishing operations upon which
the majority of the population relied for their livelihood. But times have changed.
The decline of the Abineses’ power in Santander has led to many changes in the
Tañonganons’ economy, politics, education, religion and all other aspects of their
lives. Modernization and technological advancement have also brought other
changes to the Tañonganons’ way of life at present.
But what was Santander like in the past? To be able to give every Tañonganon
a link with their past, the succeeding chapters will present a historical sketch of
22 S A N TA N D E R
life in Santander starting from its beginnings as a pre-colonial settlement, to the

time it was established as a pueblo under Spanish colonial rule, to when it was
relegated back to being a barrio of Oslob early in the American colonial period,
and re-established as a municipality later on, to the Japanese occupation during
World War II, to the peak and ebb of muro-ami fishing, and up to the present time.
CHAPTER ONE
THE TAÑONG SETTLEMENT
B
efore the Spaniards arrived in the island of Cebu, the largest settlement
was said to be located at the port of Cebu (present-day Cebu City).
Archaeological evidences have likewise pointed to this fact. But aside from
this large settlement, there were also other settlements that dotted the coastline. The
east coast of the island appeared to have been the most heavily populated stretch
on the island.1 Apparently, Tañong was one of these settlements, although it might
have been only sparsely populated because of its location at the southernmost tip
of the island.
Legends
Although there is not much literature regarding Tañong prior to Spanish rule,
legends narrated by some old people in Santander, point to the possibility that the
place was already a settlement even before the Spaniards established pueblos and
parishes in Cebu. One way of reconstructing pre-historic society and culture is
through legends, myths or stories told by our ancestors about their own forebears
and what happened to them thereafter. One legend in Santander is about a man
named Crispin, an “anting-antingan” (one imbued with super powers due to some
amulet) from Carcar town. He was said to be able to move very fast and jump
very high. Because of his powers, he established rule over the Tañong settlement,
setting up his headquarters at the site where the present municipal hall is. Crispin
had henchmen also from Carcar who exacted taxes from the Tañong settlers. This
went on for years. But there came a time when the settlers couldn’t take his tyranny
anymore, so they chased him up a cliff and he jumped so high that he was trapped
in some thorny vines which choked him to death. This may just be a legend, but
it points to the possibility that there were already settlers in the area even before
the Spaniards firmly established their presence in Tañong.
24 S A N TA N D E R
General Description
For lack of archaeological data, pre-Spanish Tañong could not be specifically
described. But based on literature on pre-Spanish Cebuano society and culture,
we can surmise that the same runs true for the Tañong settlement. Like other
pre-Spanish settlements in the Philippines, Tañong was already inhabited. As
Alcina wrote, the natives of the Visayan Islands were commonly known either as
Bisaya or Pintados. Early Spanish observers believed that Bisayans were mostly
descendants of the Malayans as evidenced by the substance and structure of their
language. Aside from language, another basis for the explanations on origins of
the Bisayans, was the practice of tattooing. Many wrote that the inhabitants of
Cebu, Bohol, and Negros were most probably from the Islands of Macassar (note:
Makassar was the dominant trading center of eastern Indonesia in the early 16th
century), from Java, or from Borneo. There are also archaeological evidences of
trade, such as in pottery and plates, found in pre-historic sites, which point to the
possibility that as a result of trade relations, people from these neighboring places
settled in the Bisayan islands. As Alcina wrote, “they were much closer to them
and not far from the Moluccas and in ancient times they had better relations and
communications with them than at present.2”
Except for sparse populations inhabiting interior mountain ranges, all
sixteenth-century inhabitants of the Bisayan islands lived along the seacoast or
along the banks of navigable lakes or rivers. Their means of transportation were
boats. Communities were said to be connected rather than separated by water,
as they traded their wares from island to island, across bodies of water.3 The
settlement at Tañong was no exception. Based on the narratives of early Spanish
chroniclers, Jocano describes the early Filipino settlement pattern as “clustered
villages lined along sheltered bays, coastal areas and mouths of big river systems”.
On most islands, the near-coastal settlement patterns were found in lowland areas;
while in the interior portions, settlements were located along the headwaters
of big river systems or their tributaries. These villages were of various sizes,
ranging from 50 to 2,000 people. Characteristically, these early communities were
lineally constructed. Along the coast of Cebu, Leyte and Bohol, lineal community
arrangements predominated.4 Most of the present-day southern municipal centers
of Cebu are located along the coast. These centers may have been the site of pre-
Spanish settlements. In Tañong, the original settlement site was said to be in barrio
Pasil, which is located near the shore. In later years, this site was abandoned due
to the rampant Moro raids in the southern part of Cebu.5
S A N TA N D E R 25
Physical Appearance
The earliest inhabitants of Tañong, like the rest of the Bisayans, were usually
more corpulent, better built and somewhat taller than the Tagalogs. Most of the
males were dark-skinned as they went about half-naked in the sun. The women
were fairer than the men because they usually remained at home. Their faces
were round and their eyes black; they were generally small in stature and had flat
noses.6
Teeth-filing practices (which they called sangka) were common among both
male and female Cebuanos, as well as other Bisayans. This practice entails a
horizontal filing of the front surface of the teeth while the sharp lower edge is
straightened and widened, causing the teeth to be equally aligned both lengthwise
and side-wise. This is done by an expert with a slender stone file, who sometimes
removed half the tooth in the process. Once filed, the teeth were colored in different
ways by chewing whatever could put some color on the teeth, like betel nut, for
example, which give the teeth a red color.7 Aside from this, there were also some
natives who put gold on their teeth either by inlays, crowns or plating. Among
Bisayan women, the hair was usually given much attention. They took extreme
care in keeping it clean, well-combed, and washed it with barks of trees as a kind
of soap. They also used fragrant oils, such as sesame, to make their hair grow
better and to kill lice. The men normally did not grow their hair as long as that of
the women, except in some parts of the Bisayan islands.8
Both men and women customarily wore earrings of gold, making two or
three piercings in the ears. Over time, the hole gets larger because the earlobe gets
distended by the weight of the adornments attached to it. Two types of earrings
were worn by both men and women – one which is concave and round worn in a
way where only the gold is seen and not the flesh; the other is worn over the first
one and is fastened to the piercing so it cannot fall off. One such gold earring was
uncovered in an archaeological excavation in Boljoon, also a southern municipality
of Cebu, situated just a few kilometers from Santander.
All Bisayan men usually tattooed themselves, starting at about age of twenty.
The ordinary type of tattooing included the whole body starting from the ankle
going up to the groin. The abdomen was seldom tattooed, but at the back, tattoos
started from the waistline up to the neck.9 These tattoos were symbols of male
valor, and as such, were applied only after a man had performed courageously
in battle and accumulated more tattoos on his body as more courageous or heroic
26 S A N TA N D E R
feats were performed.10 The women did not tattoo their bodies. However, very
often their hands bore tattoos of very fine design.
Early male inhabitants of Tañong, again like the rest of the Bisayans, wore
bahag (loincloth) with a wrap-around length of four to five meters and a width of
slightly less than one meter. It was fastened securely to make sure both the front
and back from the waist down were adequately covered. The bahag was worn
while at work in the fields. The older men wore a tight-sleeved, kind of frock with
a low- cut neckline worn with the front open, called badu.11
An ordinary headdress, a piece of cloth used as a turban and called pudung
locally, was usually worn by males. The more common ones among those of
lower social status were made of abaca and wound twice around the head, leaving
the center of the head exposed. Those of higher stature in the community wore
pudung of linen embroidered with silk and wound many times around the head,
giving it a more bulky and imposing appearance. The women, on the other hand,
wore short skirts made of abaca, while the aristocratic women wore skirts usually
made of linen embroidered with silk or cotton of various colors. Women also wore
a kind of badu as a blouse that was short and usually covered only the area of the
breasts and barely reached the waist.12
Bladed weapons, at least a dagger or spear, were common accessories of the
Visayan male clothing. The most intimate weapon was the baladaw, a short, broad
dagger with a single-edged, leaf-shaped blade like a spearhead, and a cross-
shaped hilt which was grasped with the blade protruding between the index and
middle fingers. Adult males usually sported baladaw with lengths of between 20-25
centimeters. Smaller ones were carried by youngsters, as they felt naked without
it. These blades were typically decorated with tassels made of silk or hair from the
red-dyed bushy tail of the civet cat, or a lock of hair from one’s sweetheart. Like
other bladed weapons, this was strapped to the wrist either by a cord or a tassel.
The spear was the Visayan’s most important weapon, carried both for security and
ceremony, as it figured not only in warfare but in religious functions and business
transactions as well.13
Ancient Visayans, Tañonganons included, practiced skull moulding by
compressing their babies’ skulls to conform to the local concepts of beauty, which
was defined by broad faces with receding foreheads and flat noses. Visayan
skull moulding was done with a device called tangud, a comb-like set of thin rods
bound to a baby’s forehead by bandages at some point behind. This prevented
S A N TA N D E R 27
the forward growth of the frontal bone and directed it backwards so that the head
grew higher at the rear.14
Dwellings
Every married Visayan constructed a house for his family. Sometimes, two or
three couples, especially if they are relatives, join hands to build the house and live
together. The houses of early Tañonganons were uniformly constructed. These
one-room or sometimes two-room dwellings were enclosed by four walls and
raised about three or four meters above the ground on bamboo or timber posts.15
An ordinary house was made of six to eight strong round posts which served
as the columns or pillars. The walls were made of wood or bamboo; while the
roof was made of nipa shingles, palm leaves, cogon grass, straw or split bamboo.
Bamboo was also used for flooring and stairs. Rattan was used for tying everything
together. Most houses usually kept dogs which were commonly employed for
hunting. Pigs and chickens were also common livestock in many dwellings. The
early Tañonganons had only a few house furnishings. A bed’s mattress was often
made out of palm leaves or woven rattan while small slabs of wood served as a
pillows. Small clay pots, drinking cups made of coconut shells, small boxes called
kapipi which were used for storing household items, and a few other trinkets were
all that most households had.16
Food and Farming

Scott writes that the staple crops of the Visayans consisted of rice, millet,
taro, yams, bananas grown in swiddens (or kaingin), and sago. Although rice
was the preferred cereal, root crops were often relied upon for the daily diet
since a year’s supply of rice could not be so easily grown. This was particularly
so, in the 16th century for the Tañonganon since the local topography seriously
limited the cultivation of rice. The crop was often planted in unirrigated hillside
swiddens. To establish possession, a stake was simply driven into the ground or
some branches were cleared off some trees. This claim, however, did not include
ownership of the land, but only the crops grown on it. Even then, they did not
fully own their harvests since they were bound to give a hefty portion of it to the
barangay chief. Lowlanders living on the coasts usually traded their harvests from
the sea and salt with those living in the uplands for rice. Harvests were usually
28 S A N TA N D E R
accompanied by rituals. Customarily, the women did the harvesting because local
superstition prohibited the men from taking the initial steps in harvesting rice.
Some communities, though, did allow men to do the cutting. After the harvest,
the stalks were placed under the sun for hardening and drying. The stalks of rice
were then spread across a banig (mat) and trod on with bare feet to separate the
grain from the straw.17
Second to rice in importance to early Visayans was a type of grain locally called
borona or dawa. It is a kind of millet which is smaller and yellowish. Although
it was produced on not-so-fertile soil at the edges of the rice fields, it still could
provide them an abundance of grain. In fact its yield was higher than that of
rice since dawa is more hardy and grows more rapidly. On some islands where
the rice crop was poor, borona was the staple food. Like rice, it was also cooked
with water. Different kinds of beans on occasion also substituted for rice. These
included nantac, which is reddish in color, balatong (string beans), and mongo. 18
As earlier stated, a number of rootcrops were also grown. According to Alcina,
there were many varieties of rootcrops (he counted 78 various types). After rice,
taro (Colocasia esculenta) locally called gabi or gaway, was considered the best and
most nourishing. It grows well on damp and very humid soil. The flesh is plump
and elongated but with a rough outer skin. The taro would then be roasted over
live coals to make it soft and tasty. Taro’s prominent place in Visayan life was
reflected by the extensive vocabulary for its parts, uses and stages of growth. Next
to gabi, yam locally called ubi was considered an important rootcrop also grown
both domestically and in the wild. This plant can thrive even in hard dry soil, and
thus is usually planted at the end of the rainy season and on soils where rice and
gabi would not grow well. Other less important rootcrops were also cultivated
such as apare, bagang, butig, abobo and ybing.19 Another starchy staple food was
a kind of flour made from the inner trunk of the sago palm or from nipa or buri.
A number of different bananas and plantains, boiled like rice or yams while still
unripe, were also a staple food crop. They were also widely cultivated because of
their starch content.20
Aside from growing staple crops, the natives also hunted wild game using
dogs and nets. Good hunting dogs were highly valued, and were well-taken care
of. Native breeds of this animal were small but fearless. They either took a boar
in the chase or drove it into a strong net. Fishing also complemented their source
of food. These were done generally near the shore and often done at night, using
a variety of methods such as the use of nets, traps, corrals, dams, hook and line,
S A N TA N D E R 29
and harpoons. Since their settlements were located near the coast, seafood (e.g.
fish, eels, snails, squid, crabs, mollusks, turtles and turtle’s eggs) was their main
source of protein in the diet. Some households also raised pigs and chickens for
consumption, as well as for sacrificial offerings. Visayans cooked their food on a
clay kalan stove or simply over three stones on an open hearth. Visayans were also
noted as being fond of intoxicating drinks. Although five types of such alcoholic
beverages were mentioned by Alcina, apparently their favorite was tuba since this
was the easiest to obtain and prepare.21
Social Organization
According to Jocano, the basic organizing principles underlying community
life and social activities in pre-Spanish Filipino society were kinship and common
ritual interests. The kinship system was a bilateral type organized on the basis
of genealogy and along an indefinite lateral range of relatives. The principle of
generationality provided the ancient Filipinos with a logical basis for classifying
kin into different categories. The range and size of the bilaterally extended kin
group was of utmost importance because it gave community life its basic strength
and security.22
Social structure in the Visayan settlements had three classes – the dato, the
timagua and the oripe. The head of a Visayan community was a datu, pertaining
both to a political office as well as social class. Being a datu was based on descent
and the right to become one was often hereditary. Among the duties of the datu
were to protect the settlement from outside enemies; to maintain peace and order;
to lead the warriors in battle; to administer to the needs of the people and to settle
family feuds and other personal disputes. He also served as intermediary or go-
between in marriage negotiations and in many other social activities requiring
his presence. 23 The timagua or timawa were freemen. They were originally the
offspring or descendants of the datu’s commoner wives or concubines. They
served as the datu’s warriors in battle, attended his feasts, and even served as wine
tasters. On the other hand, the individual status of the oripe or oripun depended on
birthright, inherited or acquired debt, commuted penal sentence, or victimization
by the more powerful. Like the timagua and the datu, they bore children to their
same class.24
30 S A N TA N D E R
Religion
Tañonganons, as with other Visayans, worshipped nature spirits, gods of
particular localities or activities, and their own ancestors. Religious practitioners
(babaylan) were male or female mediums who contacted spirit patrons in a state
of trance to determine the cause and cure of illness. Natural forces like celestial
bodies or flowing waters were personified for reverence or worship. Visayans
likewise considered themselves vastly outnumbered by a variety of invisible
beings, spirits and deities. Gods and goddesses were called diwata, and ancestors’
spirits as umalagad. These were believed to be generally benevolent or neutral
and could be approached ritually for good crops, health and fortune. But they
also caused illness or misfortune if not given due respect. Naturally malevolent
beings, ranging from the mischievous to the ghoulish, had to be avoided or kept
off by precautionary acts, e.g. rituals.25
Trade
The discovery of iron brought about many changes. Iron tools were more
efficient than those made of stone in harnessing the environment for survival. The
use of this metal caused agriculture to become widespread and more productive.
This development, coupled with the domestication of plants and animals became
the basis for a more sedentary life. Populations expanded and communities
became bigger, particularly along coastal areas. Community growth in turn led to
contacts with foreign cultures as well as intensification of inter-island commerce.
Archaeological artifacts recovered all over the country, including in Cebu, point
to foreign trade with other peoples in Asia. During this time, community life
throughout the archipelago revolved around trading, both domestic and foreign.
These trading activities also stimulated intensive contacts between the inland and
the coastal settlements.26
A common feature of Visayan life as noted by Spanish chroniclers, was that all
communities exchanged foodstuffs. Staple food crops were items of daily trade,
due to both need and preference. Wild roots were also traded. Coconuts were
grown in plantations, shipped by boatloads or processed for oil. Salt derived from
seawater was also considered an essential trade item and even served as a medium
of exchange. Rice was also a medium of exchange. Next to foodstuffs, the most
common domestic trade goods were thread, cloth and clothing. Expensive items
like boats, slaves and good hunting dogs were priced in gold tahil (38.4 grams).27
S A N TA N D E R 31
The Chinese were among the early groups of Asian traders who had direct
contact with early Filipinos and who contributed to the enrichment of their culture.
There are several archaeological sites throughout the country, including Cebu, that
yielded T’ang, Sung, Yuan and Ming trade items, the greatest bulk of which were
porcelain, stoneware, and unglazed crockery.28 In Santander, a “perfect specimen
of a large, soft-green Celadon plate with flaring rim, fluted bowl and a large lotus
at the bottom” was recovered in 1924, and is included in the Philippine database
in the University of Michigan. 29 Most important, however, were the ironware and
the cast-iron pans which constituted the outputs of Visayan blacksmiths. The bulk
of Visayan exports were forest and marine products. In Cebu, native and foreign
vessels registered, paid harbor fees, and loaded merchandise which originated
from the southern islands and from Mindanao.30
CHAPTER TWO
FROM TAÑONG TO SANTANDER: THE SPANISH
COLONIAL ERA
S
panish colonization was marked by the arrival of Ferdinand Magellan’s fleet
in the islands. Although able to be peacefully received by Cebu’s chieftain,
Rajah Humabon, Magellan was killed in battle by Lapu-lapu, the chieftain
of Mactan. Early Christianization activities were done by Fr. Valderama, the
chaplain of Magellan’s fleet, in Cebu. But it was the Augustinians, who arrived
with Miguel Lopez de Legazpi in Cebu in 1565, who established, expanded, and
sustained evangelization efforts in the Philippines. However, the small colony
of Cebu was plagued by food shortage, attacks from the Portugese and hostility
from the natives. As a result, the process of evangelization was not undertaken
with vigor. But still, early centers of Christianity were established in Bantayan
(1580), Cebu (1598), Carcar (1599), Boljoon (1606), Barili (1614) and Mandaue
(1738). Although Legazpi transferred the capital of the new colony to Manila in
1571, Cebu remained the center of civil administration of the southern portion
of the country throughout the Spanish era. Cebu’s jurisdiction included most
of the Visayan islands (Cebu, Bohol, Samar and Leyte) and the northern coast of
Mindanao. From early Spanish times up to 1734, the eastern half of Negros was
also included in Cebu’s jurisdiction.1
General Context
Spanish rule in Cebu did not constitute a complete break with the past. The
impact of Spanish rule was uneven, affecting certain aspects and specific areas of
Cebuano society more than others. Elements of pre-Spanish Cebuano religion and
society persisted throughout the Spanish period.2 In the case of Cebu, it was the
port area of Cebu City that was most influenced by Spanish rule. The settlements
S A N TA N D E R 33
located further away from Cebu City were less influenced by Spanish rule, and
Tañong may have been one of these. In most literature on the Spanish colonial
period, little is mentioned of the Tañong settlement except that it was a barrio of the
pueblo of Oslob and that it was a visita of the Parish of Boljoon. Later, when Oslob
became a separate parish in 1848, Tañong became one of its visitas. It became a
separate pueblo from Oslob only in 1867. The parish of Santander was established
at an even later date (1898).
Pueblos were established during the 16th, 17th and first half of the 18th centuries
on Cebu’s east coast, in Mandaue, San Nicolas, Carcar, Argao, Dalaguete and
Boljoon.3 During this time, Tañong may have been one of the barrios of the
pueblo of Boljoon. One of the principal aims of the Spanish was to concentrate
the Cebuanos living in the countryside into compact towns in order to facilitate
their conversion to Christianity. This was in accordance with the Spanish policy
of debajo de la campana which literally means “under the bell”. More specifically,
it means that one should live within hearing distance of the church bells. The
Spaniards relocated the settlers and made them build their houses around a central
plaza. This is the origin of the plaza complex, common among the older pueblos
in the country today. The complex was centered on a plaza around which were
built the church, convent, municipio, the market and the residences of the town’s
principalia.
Until the end of the 16th century, most of the province remained unexplored.
Fenner writes that the reluctance of Cebuanos to resettle in compact towns may
be attributed to a combination of three factors. First, Cebuanos were subsistence
farmers who lived in houses adjacent to their fields, and so did not want to live in
compact pueblos away from their fields. Another factor was the shortage of priests,
who were the ones tasked with persuading the Cebuanos to resettle. Lastly, the
constant threat of Moro attacks on large coastal communities deterred the natives
from relocating in settlements close to the coast.4
Campaign Against Moro Raids

Raiding for slaves by the Iranun began in 1755, and for the next hundred years
the coastal towns in southern Luzon, the Visayas and north-western Mindanao
were targets of persistent, well-organized, large-scale attacks launched from the
sea. These were dubbed by Spanish authorities as “Moro” raids which affected the
lives of people especially those in coastal areas. From 1755 to 1775, the Sultanate of
34 S A N TA N D E R
Cotabato was the springboard for such attacks in the Visayas as well as in Luzon.
In the 1800s the Sultanate of Sulu became the center from which these attacks were
launched. For years, Maguindanao seacrafts plied the shores from Zamboanga
to Caraga to reach the Visayas. The captives were then transported and sold as
slaves. The Visayas and the northeast coast of Mindanao experienced some of
the worst slave raids in the last quarter of the eighteenth century. The dense
populations in Visayan settlements and their developed coastal shipping, made
these settlements prime targets of slave raids.5 Aside from raids on land, heavily
armed Iranun flotillas seized trading vessels in the Visayan seas, thereby severely
affecting coastal trade and coastal shipping which were essential to the economy
of the Visayas. Problems of distance and communication made it difficult for the
Spanish to effectively defend the coasts and straits of the Visayan sea. The Spanish
government, faced with financial constraints, chose to wage a defensive war in
Philippine waters instead of waging a large-scale campaign against the Sulu
sultanate. Village friars were expected to organize parishioners to build their own
coastal defenses and fortify them from village contributions and religious coffers.6
The settlements from Carcar to Santander in southeastern Cebu likewise
experienced these raids. The people’s efforts to protect their settlements prompted
Spanish missionaries to intensify their presence in these areas, which resulted to
regular assignment of missionaries there. As Moro slave-raiding intensified in the
southeastern part of Cebu, Boljoon was established as the second religious capital
of the area because of its strategic location for the military defense of southern
Cebu against the Moros. The missionaries then intensified their defense strategy in
coordination with the local inhabitants. As part of this strategy, in the eighteenth
century, thirty-five watchtowers were built in the southern part of Cebu purposely
to monitor the presence of Moro pirates in the sealane. Four watchtowers were
built in Santander at this time. The anti-Moro campaign in southern Cebu took
place during the incumbency of Fr. Julian Bermejo who was parish priest of Boljoon
from 1802 to 1808, 1829 to 1830, 1839 to 1842, and 1846 to 1848. He supervised the
building of the watchtowers from Sibonga to Tañong (Santander).7
The Moro threat to coastal settlers in Cebu which lasted almost two centuries,
stimulated the local settlers to unify their strengths, set aside internal conflicts,
and suspend their clannish attitude in the midst of the crisis that threatened their
survival. It was a concerted effort of the local settlers of Carcar, Sibonga, Argao,
Dalaguete, Alcoy, Boljoon, Oslob, Santander and Samboan, under the leadership
of the Spanish missionaries. Because of the success of their defense plan, they
were spared the continuous destruction of human lives and property.
S A N TA N D E R 35
This campaign may have been instrumental in the creation of smaller pueblos
on the southeastern coast, including Santander, Alcoy, Nueva Caceres and San
Sebastian. It is believed that these watchtowers functioned also as centers of
communication in the south. People in the settlement could be warned of the
approach of Moro pirates by means of flags or smoke emanating from fires stoked
in the watchtowers. They in turn would relay the message of danger to another
neighboring town until all towns under threat of Moro attack would sufficiently
be warned to take precautionary measures.8 It was during this campaign against
the Moros that the natives began to show much respect to the missionaries. This
growing confidence also hastened the creation of new settlements along the coast.
New villages were formed, and others were enlarged, during this period. The
original settlement in Tañong was said to be located in barrio Pasil, which is near
the coast. This was the site of one of the watchtowers in Santander. Because of the
Moro raids, the town center was transferred to its present location,9 which is on
top of a promontory farther away from the coast. This new location is present-day
Barangay Poblacion, which also has another watchtower with a stone stairway
leading down to the shore.
Agricultural Production
The introduction of new crops into Cebu represented a major economic change
that took place during the first 200 years of Spanish rule. The Spanish altered crop
patterns by introducing the cultivation of three crops into Cebu, namely: tobacco,
cocoa, and corn. But in general, Spanish presence seems to have produced no
noticeable economic disruption in the countryside for the first 200 years of Spanish
rule. Economically, the towns remained self-contained units geared towards
subsistence agriculture and had limited economic links with the main settlement
which was the Ciudad del Santissimo Nombre de Jesus, or present day Cebu City.10
The introduction of corn had far-reaching consequences in the agricultural
history of the island. Corn gradually replaced millet (borone) as the local staple.11
From agricultural production data based on mid-year production in 1890, total
corn production was reported at 2,618,356 cavans for the whole island of Cebu,
compared to total millet (borone) production of only 69,990 cavans for the
same period. In Santander, corn production reached 2,400 cavans while borone
production was only 211 cavans.12
36 S A N TA N D E R
In the 1840’s and 1850’s Cebu expanded its sugar cultivation and this revived
its former role as trade entrepot of the Visayas. This development came as a
consequence of the opening of Manila to world trade in 1834. Such impetus
brought about a large demand for agricultural products from the world market,
particularly sugar and tobacco. Cebu’s strategic location in the archipelago was
a major factor in the resurgence of active trade in the island. This development
was further accentuated by the opening of the port of Cebu to world trade in 1860,
which now made it possible for foreign vessels to carry out direct trade with Cebu.
By the end of the 1860’s, Cebu was increasingly recognized as an important trade
center for Visayan products. Because of this, many municipalities engaged in the
cultivation of cash crops, particularly in sugar and abaca. But not all towns in
Cebu experienced the impact of commercial agriculture owing perhaps to the poor
state of transport facilities.13
Santander was one of the towns that produced all types of crops, as accounted
in the agricultural production data of 1890. Although the total harvest for each
crop was not large, Santander produced 7 picos (note: 1 pico = 137.5 lbs.) of abaca, 21
cavanes of cacao, 14 cavanes of coffee, 27 cavanes of mongo, 10 cavanes of potatoes, 10
quintales (note: 1 quintal = 46 kilograms & 9 grams) of tobacco, 830 picos of camote,
41 picos of gabe (taro), 10 picos of sugar, and 67 picos of ube. Santander was one
of only seven towns producing potatoes at that time. Interestingly, Santander
had a high production of cotton, reaching 3,121 picos. It was the second highest
among the 19 cotton-producing towns in Cebu, which produced only a total of
8,279 picos of cotton. Thus, almost half of the total cotton production in Cebu was
from Santander. Oslob was the top producer, producing 4,000 picos.14 Accounts
by Loarca (1582) stated that Cebu produced only a small quantity of cotton,
since the cloth that they used for garments was made from a kind of “banana”15
(probably abaca, which looks like a banana plant). Apparently, the towns of Oslob
and Santander were the cotton-producing towns of Cebu. This was corroborated
by a 79-year old informant who said that they used to grow cotton in commercial
scale on their property when she was young. She also related that her great-
grandmother used to tell her stories of cotton planting and harvesting, and that
she taught them to process the cotton into cloth.16 A 101-year old woman likewise
narrated that cotton plants used to grow in untended hedges just like weeds. They
would normally harvest the cotton and collect them in a bukag (a big basket woven
from bamboo).17
S A N TA N D E R 37
Population
Cebu underwent social and economic transformation in the nineteenth
century as a result of the commercialization of agriculture. The improvement in
agriculture and trade attracted migrants from the neighboring islands of Bohol
and Leyte. People from the city and from the more populated towns were
likewise lured to the countryside to engage in agricultural production. Thus, the
population of Cebu remarkably increased in the nineteenth century, particularly
after 1860. In general, population was heavier on the southeastern coast of Cebu
as compared to the southwestern and northern sections of the island. With the
increased population in the towns, barrios with an increasing number of people
were established as separate towns. More towns and parishes were established
during this period. Santander, for instance was only a barrio of Oslob before it
became a separate pueblo in 1867. The creation of new towns also had an impact
on its mother town’s population as a number of people belonging to the new town
were no longer counted in the population of the mother town. This led to drastic
decreases in population sizes in the mother towns. Population sizes in newly-
established pueblos were generally small compared to earlier-established towns.
Throughout the second half of the 19th century particularly during the years 1863-
1865, 1882-1883 and 1888-1889 and into the first quarter of the 20th century, diseases
like malaria, cholera, beriberi, dysentery and other diseases of the gastrointestinal
tract, tuberculosis and smallpox were identified to be responsible for many deaths
in Cebu. According to the study of Peter Smith on the 21 parishes of Cebu, crisis
mortality was experienced in Cebu during this period. In 1863, cholera struck
Manila and then spread by steamship to Zamboanga, then subsequently spread
to the northern part of Mindanao and eventually across the Bohol sea to Cebu. In
Cebu, cholera spread around the island’s southern tip, including Santander and
crossed the Tañon strait to the southern coast of Negros. In 1882-1883, cholera
struck Bantayan island and other towns in the northern part of Cebu. In 1888-
1889, cholera severely struck the western coast of the province. Records of deaths
due to the cholera epidemic reveal that almost all towns of Cebu were affected. 18
Spanish presence in Tañong was minimal compared to the other southeastern
towns of Cebu, as evidenced by its late establishment as a pueblo and as a parroquia.
As a pueblo, Santander only had a total population of 3,548 inhabitants in 1885.
Its population was small relative to its neighboring pueblos in the southeast coast,
with Argao having the largest population of 29,696 inhabitants in 1885. In fact,
Santander was the fourth lowest among Cebu’s pueblos in terms of population,
38 S A N TA N D E R
higher only than Santa Fe, Nueva Caceres and Alcoy.19 In the Accounting of Souls
for 1890, Santander also belonged to the bottom 9 pueblos, having only 4,406.20 In
1896, the population increased to 4,543.21 These data show that indeed Santander
was not one of the major pueblos during the Spanish colonial period, and thus,
Spanish influence on the lives of its settlers may have been minimal.
Establishment of Pueblo de Santander

In general, the establishment of cities and towns in the Philippines were
results of colonial policy and bureaucratic legislation. In the creation of towns,
certain procedures of the colonial bureaucracy had to be strictly observed by
interested parties. Cabezas de barangay and principales of the barrio concerned
had to inform the alcalde in writing regarding their desire to merge their barrios
into one independent town. The documents must then be duly signed by the
petitioners, and should be accompanied with supporting evidence to substantiate
their reasons for separating from their mother town. Among the documents
required were a list of tributes annually collected in every barangay, affidavits
from the gobernadorcillo of the mother town and the adjacent town supporting
claims on boundaries, distances and the number of tributes. Aside from these, the
petitioners also had to get the affirmation of the parish priest, specifying clearly-
defined boundaries with a detailed map of the proposed town.22
Upon receipt of the petition, the alcalde would review the documents to
determine their validity. He would either return these to the petitioners if revisions
are needed, or, he would make the necessary recommendations to the governor-
general. The Assessor General de Gobierno of the office of the governor general then
reviews the petitions for approval. If the petition is approved, a Superior Decree
is issued by the governor general, a copy of which is furnished to the alcalde and
the Gobernador Yntendente de Visayas. They will then inform the townspeople of the
result of their petition.23
In the case of Santander, the process of approval took several years from the
time of submission of their petition. Santander only became a separate pueblo from
Oslob in 1867. It was established as such, simultaneously with the establishment
of two other pueblos in the southeastern part of Cebu, namely, Alcoy and Caceres.
A number of reasons were stated as bases for the establishment of these three
pueblos, primarily “the distance that separates these districts and visitas from their
respective “parent” pueblos which prevents efficient and prompt administration.
S A N TA N D E R 39
Aside from this, these districts must have sufficient number of people to constitute
another municipality and that there be also no topographical obstacles that would
constrain their establishment. However, the parishes in these three pueblos were
not yet established during this time, because of a Royal Order regulating the
creation of new parishes. The new pueblo de Santander consisted of the composite
visita of Tañong (which then was part of pueblo de Oslob) and the village of San
Sebastian (which was then part of pueblo de Sambuan).24
The historical data paper prepared by the school principal in 1953, took note
that the earliest “kapitan” of Tañong during the Spanish colonial period was
Andalesio Ondangan who served from 1785 to 1793.25 He might have been a cabeza
de barangay (not capitan municipal) of the Tañong settlement during these times,
since Tañong was not a pueblo then. The Spanish system of local administration,
as explained by Fenner and also by Vance, utilized the pre-Hispanic settlement to
establish visitas and barrios, which were later grouped into towns or pueblos. The
Spanish governed the towns through local Filipino officials called gobernadorcillo
(who was given the new title of capitan municipal under the Maura Law implemented
in the late 19th century). They utilized the pre-Hispanic datu, converting him into
a Spanish functionary called cabeza de barangay.26 As cited in the historical data
papers, the following were the kapitanes or cabezas after Ondangan: Gregorio Miral
(1794-1809), Juan Abiero (1810-1817), Crisanto Jugo (1818-1823), Pedro Miral (1824-
1833), Miguel Abante (1834-1838), Anselmo Buscato (1839-1845), Pio Culanag
(1846-1857), Guillermo Bureros (1858-1861), Lorenzo Luzano (1862-1870), Antonio
Frijoles (1871-1882), Engracio Burtanog (1883-1890), Nicolas Bureros (1891-1895),
and Sebastian Laurente (1896-1898).27
Establishment of a Parroquia
Another enduring consequence of Spanish rule was the introduction of
Catholicism. The Cebuanos living in the port area of Cebu City were more
influenced by Catholicism than the Cebuanos living elsewhere on the island. This
was because there were not enough priests who could be assigned to these far-off
areas. Aside from this, the dispersed settlement pattern of the natives also hindered
attempts at religious conversion, since the priest had to cover an extensive area on
foot.28 Tañong is one such settlement, since it is located at the southern-most tip of
Cebu. It became one of the visitas of Boljoon upon the establishment of Boljoon as
a parish in 1606. It was later transferred as a visita of Oslob in 1848, when Oslob
40 S A N TA N D E R
was elevated to the status of parish from being a visita of Boljoon. Visitas, as
the term connotes, were areas that were only visited by the Spanish missionaries
from time to time as they did not have permanent missionaries assigned there to
officiate the sacraments to the new converts. Thus, when the Spanish missionaries
were not around to minister to their spiritual functions, the Cebuanos would still
practice their pre-Spanish religious beliefs and rituals. This produced a blend of
beliefs, known as folk Catholicism, where pre-hispanic religious elements were
woven into the general Catholic practices.29 For example, the belief in anting-
anting (which continues to this day) survived the inroads of Catholicism inspite of
its pagan origin. This was usually given a new twist in that such amulets become
more potent if secured or prepared during a special church celebration such as
Lent or Good Friday in particular.
In seeking prospective converts, the missionaries usually first tried to convert
the principalia or chiefly classes in the barrio. If they were successful in this first
step, it would then be easier to convert the whole village. The first baptisms
in a village were usually held as very solemn ceremonies in order to emphasize
the importance and sacred nature of the sacrament. The ceremony usually took
place on a special feast day, with the presence of a choir and a brass band. Before
the sacrament of baptism was administered, four requirements had to be met
by an individual. One was expected to repent for the sins of his past life, affirm
his belief in the efficacy of baptism, recite the Our Father, Hail Mary, Apostle’s
Creed and Ten Commandments, display some understanding regarding the other
sacraments, and possess an awareness of the principal obligations of a Christian.
To ensure this, Spanish missionaries conducted catechism classes among children
and adults in the different barrios. Only after one has learned and memorized the
catechism lessons will one be eligible for baptism.
Before Santander became a parish, baptisms were registered at the Oslob
parish. New converts were trained as catechists so that they could help in the
supervision of catechism lessons to new learners. Missionaries made considerable
use of visual aids depicting the teachings of the Catholic faith. Visayan versions
of the various prayers were also created, although often using some of the Spanish
terms which do not have exact equivalents in the local language. Sermons usually
revolved around four basic topics: hell and purgatory, immortality of the soul,
existence of God, and reward for Christians in the next life. During a regular
visit, a missionary may preach short discourses on any of these topics, and teach
catechism to children.
S A N TA N D E R 41
But despite the missionaries’ efforts at evangelization, many natives were

drawn to Christianity because of other motives. Baptism was generally perceived
as having curative powers, as it was likened to the administration of curative
herbs which the missionaries were also very skillful at. It was also perceived as
providing spiritual immunity from illnesses. Aside from these perceived physical
benefits, baptism likewise gave social advantage to the new converts as Spanish
practice and law afforded preferential treatment to Christians. In places where
Spanish missionaries seldom visited, non-Christian rituals were still practiced.
For example, after the dead are buried under an appropriate ceremony by the
priest, the bereaved would follow this up with their own ritual for the dead a few
days later without the knowledge of the priest.30
The petition for the creation of a parish was usually made after the
establishment of a town. In a letter addressed to the bishop, the gobernadorcillo
and the town’s principalia had to justify why the settlement should be established
as an independent parish and consequently assigned a permanent priest. The
petitioners should cite that their town’s tribute collection exceeded the quota of
500 tributantes. They should also cite the abundance of natural resources in their
town and the loyalty of the people. These should be accompanied with supporting
documents to substantiate their claims. The bishop would then forward their
petition to the office of the governor general to be evaluated by the Assessor
General de Gobierno. As with the establishment of the town, a Superior decree
shall likewise be signed by the governor general and furnished to the alcalde, the
Governor Yntendente de Visayas and the Bishop of the Diocese. But even with the
issuance of the decree, this would not mean that a parish priest will immediately
be assigned there. Once a priest becomes available, the Bishop would then issue a
diocesan decree to assign him to the newly-established parish.31
It was not until 1897 that the visita of Tañong became a separate parish from
its mother parish Oslob, by virtue of the approval of Real Order No. 1198 dated
November 27, 1896, on February 27, 1897. After its declaration as a separate
parish, the necessary papers were prepared so that church construction could
begin. Normally, the priests had to ask permission from the bishop to construct a
church. All infrastructure projects, including church construction were supervised
by the Obras Publicas created by the government in 1867. Church construction
made use of both skilled and unskilled workers who were mostly local residents.
The duration of church construction depended on the availability of financial
resources, building materials, the size of the church, and the determination of the
people to finish the whole structure.32 Construction of the Santander parish church
42 S A N TA N D E R
took a whole year as it was finished only in 1898.33 It was Fr. Mauricio Alvarez,
during his third stint as parish priest of Oslob from 1889-1898, who took charge
of the church construction in Santander. The church was said to have been made
of mamposteria and tabique de pampango which were the standard for most of the
Spanish churches constructed. Mampostería is a Spanish building method of stone
and mortar construction. In its simplest form, masons mortared together stone
rubble walls, stone by stone, upon bedrock or compacted sand, earth, or stone
foundation. Tabique de pampango is a type of construction consisting of an armature
of wood or bamboo, and a mortar finish of sand and lime. Aside from the church,
Alvarez is also credited with the construction of a provisional cemetery, a convent,
and school buildings.34 As with most, if not all Spanish period churches in Cebu,
the façade of the original church was oriented towards the sea.35 It served also as
a sort of watchtower in the face of Moro raids at that time. It was built on top of a
promontory just 50 meters away from the baluarte in barangay Poblacion where
a stone stairway leads down to the seacoast.36 In order to sustain the needs of a
regular parish priest, the Catholic church would ask the local populace to donate
some agricultural lands to the church. This is aside from the lot on which the church
was constructed. In Pasil, the family of Leon Duranparang, Gregoria Miral and
the Dangculos family donated some parcels of their land to the Catholic Church.
The land on which the church was built was said to be donated by Bernardo Jugo.37
As a physical structure, the church served as vehicle for Christianization and
urbanization in the countryside. It was common for natives to settle within walking
distance of the church. The desire of the new converts to live “within the sound
of the bell” led them to reside in poblacion centers. But town planners limited
the number of residential structures in the poblacion to prevent congestion and
pollution. The poblacion was then the center of religious rites, trade, commerce
and cultural activities. At the height of the commercialization of agriculture, the
poblacion also functioned as the buying station, marketplace and economic base
of crop producers, Chinese retail traders and land speculators. Thus, in most
towns, the poblacion residents belonged to the influential elite class, while the
poor resided in marginal lands further away from the town center.
The Santander parish was said to have been originally devoted to Madre de
Dios y Sagrado Corazon de Jesus (Mother of God and the Sacred Heart of Jesus)38 The
earliest record on baptisms or bautismos in the parish was that of Pedro Cumayas,
born on the 12th day of February, 1898. Earlier baptisms took place in the parish of
Oslob. The first parish priest was Fr. Gregorio de Santiago, a Spanish missionary
who served from February to October of that year. In November 1898, he was
S A N TA N D E R 43
replaced by Fr. Matias Gonzales, also a Spanish missionary, who served until 1906.
The last Spanish missionary serving as parish priest there was Fr. Silverio Perez,39
well-known for his campaign against the Protestants during his term from 1906-
1907. During the early years of the American colonial period in the Philippines,
Protestant teachers were deployed to the different municipalities. In Santander,
the Spanish Catholic parish priest may have felt threatened by their presence and
thus led his parishioners to attack the Protestants. This skirmish between the
Catholics and the Protestants in Santander shall be discussed in the next chapter.
Education
During the entire period of Spanish rule, education in the Philippines was
controlled by the Catholic Church. Spanish friars and missionaries educated the
natives through religion. Prior to the establishment of the governmental school
system in 1863, a rudimentary kind of elementary education widely prevailed in
the province of Cebu. In each town’s poblacion, where the principal churches
are located, classes were usually held at the parish rectory.40 These parochial
schools were responsible for teaching the so-called four R’s (reading, writing,
arithmetic, and religion) in the different communities. This was done in response
to the colonial desire to evangelize and convert the natives to the Christian faith.41
However, it was observed that although all towns had schools, only a few children
regularly attended classes. Thus it was recommended that parishes take charge
of constructing two schoolhouses in each barrio (one for the boys and the other
for the girls) for those living far from the poblacion. These schoolhouses were
made of light but appropriate material. The children were taught basic reading,
writing, arithmetic and religion.42 Santander, as a barrio of Oslob town, may have
received such kind of education at that time. This parish-based school system
applied corporal punishment and memorized prayers to instill obedience to the
friars, thus molding a submissive populace. This made it easier to subjugate the
people and legitimize the hispanization of the islands.
On December 20, 1863, Queen Isabel II of Spain signed a Royal Decree
ordering the foundation of a national elementary school system administered
by the government. This displaced organized religion from its predominance in
education. The provincial governors were designated as superintendents of public
instruction. This royal decree was known as the Moret decree and contained some
built-in reglamentos. Article 8 of the Reglamento Para las Escuelas stipulated that
44 S A N TA N D E R
there were to be two public elementary schools in every Philippine municipality

regardless of population size, one for boys and one for girls. In line with gender
norms of the nineteenth century, the two sex groups were housed in separate
school buildings. Visita schools were also prescribed in areas far from the heart
of the poblacion. A visita school was then established where there was a village
population of 500 people. Likewise, one assistant teacher was assigned to a school
of 80 students and two assistant teachers for every 150 students. Primary school
was compulsory to all natives between ages 7 to 12.43
In 1868-1869, Cebu had 44 municipalities and 49 schools. Apparently,
construction of two schools per municipality was still on-going. At this time,
Santander was already established as a pueblo separate from Oslob. The old
barrio school established by visiting Spanish friars may have been transformed
into a municipal public elementary school. By 1892, the number of municipalities
in Cebu had increased to 52 and the number of schools had increased to 104.
Apparently, all the municipalities were already able to construct two public
schools each during this time.
School houses in Cebu closely resembled family dwellings, a large number of
which were made of limestone, sand and gravel. These were one-storey buildings
with large, wooden grilled windows and a nipa roof. The pupil capacity of each
of the buildings ranged from 100 to 500 depending on the population size of the
municipality. Santander had 420 pupils in 1868. Based on accounts of old people,
they recalled that their grandparents once related to them about the classes held
in a small room adjacent to the church where they were taught basic Christian
doctrine and prayers in Spanish by the Spanish priests. The parish of Santander
still had Spanish priests until 1907, even as the American forces had already started
taking over key cities and municipalities in the country. Customarily, school sites
fronted the town square. This was the common layout in Spanish-era Philippine
towns – a big stone church, a town plaza, a convent, a municipal hall and the
schools. Santander’s town center also had all these elements, although a national
road now cuts between the municipal hall and the church complex. The present
school building is located right next to the municipal hall.
Even with government control over the national public school system, emphasis
on the teaching of Christian doctrine was still the order of the day. Aside from this,
the school curriculum also consisted of reading, writing and arithmetic taught in
three levels. Education regulations required the use of Spanish as the medium of
S A N TA N D E R 45
instruction in public elementary schools. In Cebu, Spanish and Visayan were used
in the classrooms. Classes were held from eight to ten in the morning and from
two to four in the afternoon for five days per week. Thursdays and Sundays were
the rest days, although in some schools Thursday was substituted with Saturday.
The academic year lasted for approximately ten months and vacation months were
made to coincide, by decree, with the planting and harvesting seasons. On the
average, a pupil was likely to remain in school for only three years.
Public Works
Early in the Spanish colonial period, building of roads and bridges was initially
done under the supervision of Spanish friars with only a basic understanding of
Renaissance building techniques and a pattern book for such structures. It was only
in 1866, that the Inspección General de Obras Publicas or the General Board of Public
Works was created by Royal Decree. The King of Spain, by decree, designated the
Spanish Governor General as the chief of public works. Public works in Cebu were
under the control of local officials, as the General Board of Public Works acted only
in an advisory capacity upon request. There were not much funds allocated for
public works, however. Most of the time, instead of the government providing
financial resources for infrastructure projects, the local populace contributed
“prestacion personal” or fifteen days labor. Supervision of such labor was done
by the municipal president assisted by deputies. The output was subject to the
inspection of the local priest. Schools, municipal buildings, roads and bridges
were generally built by laborers in lieu of paying taxes under the direction of the
presidente municipal. Public works in the different municipalities of Cebu were
generally supervised by the provincial governor assisted by an engineer who
provided the necessary technical advice. However, some public works projects,
specifically for steel or masonry bridges, construction was undertaken with
government funds. These were built under the direction of the Obras Publicas.
Public works in the province and in the municipalities resulted to the
construction of coastal roads along the east coast from the municipality of Carmen
down to the municipality of Oslob; on the west coast from the municipality of
Pinamungahan to the municipality of Asturias, and from the municipality of
Barili to the municipality of Samboan. A road connecting the eastern part to
the western part of the province was also constructed from the municipality of
Carcar to the municipality of Barili.44 Aside from these, construction of churches,
46 S A N TA N D E R
municipal buildings, and schools were also done in the different municipalities
of the province. The abundance of labor despite the lack of financial resources,
contributed much to the construction of such massive structures, which even to
this day have remained as evidence of the Spanish colonization in the different
municipalities. The baluartes of Santander, the coastal road linking Santander to
Cebu City, and to the western portion of Cebu, and the remnants of the old church
are evidences of Spanish presence in this municipality.
Day-to-day Living
The rural population was composed mostly of tenants or farmers with small
landholdings. Those who lived near rivers or along the coast relied on fishing as
their livelihood. Houses were made of bamboo and nipa structures held up by four
wooden posts, with walls and roof of cogon or nipa. An ordinary house consisted
of one room with a clay stove in one corner, a stool or bench alongside the wall,
and a table where they took their meals. Light came from a small wicker in a clay
or brass lamp with coconut oil as fuel. In one corner of the house would be one or
two rolled-up mats on which to sleep during night time. Those residing in rural
areas were not in frequent contact with Spanish civilian or church authorities.
Thus, pre-Spanish practices prevailed, including rituals for burying the dead,
worship of gods and spirits especially during planting and harvest seasons.
Those living in the town centers were more influenced by Spanish lifestyles,
especially in the religious aspect. Women wore religious medals and scapulars.
Every town hosted a small group of musicians who formed themselves into a band.
They played during the Mass and at fiestas and processions. Various religious
rituals and festivities occurred during important events in the Christian calendar,
including Lent, Christmas, and the whole month of May. Spanish missionaries
likewise made the sacraments of baptism and matrimony and of Christian burial
as festive occasions to underline its importance in social life. Thus, these occasions
were usually accompanied by festive celebrations and banquets. Life revolved
around the annual fiesta, usually occurring during the harvest season. This was
also a time for friends and relatives to come together and celebrate the feast day of
the town’s patron saint. Gambling was also a common recreational habit among
Filipinos. Most common pastimes were cockfights and card games.45
S A N TA N D E R 47
A common sight during fiesta celebrations was the religious procession where
the image of the patron saint was placed on a carro (a platform either on wheels or
carried by people on their shoulders), decorated with flowers and taken around
the streets of the town center where other devotees wait. Devotees see this as a sort
of sacrifice so that their supplications can be heard and granted by God through
the intercession of the patron saint. This practice was taught by the Spanish friars
in the towns. Another fiesta tradition in Santander was called “balaslon” or the
giving of take-home food to visitors during fiestas. This often consisted of pig
thighs and any other fiesta goodies with the understanding that the same will be
done by the visitor during their own fiesta time.46
In relation to the baptism ritual, a local tradition in Santander known as “palit”
has survived wherein the newly-baptized child must be bought at any amount
either by the popping up of the supposed buyer at one’s doorstep, giving money
to the parents stating their intention to buy the child and leaving without turning
back; or by having the child carried by the parents, going out, around the house
and giving the child through the window to the supposed buyer waiting inside the
house. They believe that this ritual would spare the child from sickness and bad
luck, and grow up healthy and successful.47
In relation to marriage rituals, another local tradition in Santander known as
“tinuyo” was practiced by men who do not have the skills to court a lady. He would
bring his family and some food to the lady’s house, and just propose marriage
right then and there. This practice underlines the importance of the family to
Tañonganons. In addition to this, there was also the practice locally known as
bandeha wherein close family friends offer goods like rice, pigs, cows, and other
food items to one who will be holding a wedding banquet. It is expected that
the same will be done by the recipient if the donor’s family will also be having a
wedding banquet in the future. These practices were said to have been common
since the Spanish colonial period in Santander48
Local Delicacies
Based on narratives of elderly informants, ever since fiestas were introduced
by the Spaniards, every household in Santander would usually prepare a local
delicacy now known as tostado (locally called sopa, meaning biscuit or cookie)
during their town fiesta. An informant from one of the mountain barangays said
that “tostado” is just a recent term used to refer to their locally made cookie. They
48 S A N TA N D E R
had two types of sopas, one was called presko and the other was called bastos. Presko
included cooking oil as one of its ingredients, while bastos did not. Presko was
cooked using a hulmahan (small baking pan) shaped either like a diamond or a
flower with a sheet of paper as hanig (matting) while bastos was cooked just using
a local tree leaf formed into a circle (locally termed hambalalod). Mascubado (brown
sugar) dissolved in a small quantity of water is wiped on top of the cooked bastos
to sweeten it.
The process of cooking starts with the mixing of ingredients including flour,
refined sugar, brown sugar, eggs and oil. The mixture would then be placed on a
flat surface and kneaded using a cylindrical piece of wood. Small amounts of the
kneaded mixture are placed in small baking pans or banana leaves. These are then
arranged on a galvanized iron sheet to be placed inside the “horno” (traditional
oven). These delicacies are usually prepared during fiestas as well as during other
occasions such as weddings. They are given as part of the balaslon to their visitors.
Summary
Overall, during the Spanish colonial period, Santander was not one of the
major towns both in the realm of politics and religion. This may have been due
to the fact that it was located at the southern-most tip of the island-province of
Cebu and was not as accessible as the other towns in the southeastern part. Thus,
Spanish influence on its physical infrastructure, social structure and cultural
practices may have been minimal at first but gradually increased in the late
nineteenth century. But nevertheless, through the visits of Spanish missionaries
to administer the sacraments and to teach prayers to the new converts, and later
with the establishment of a church and public schools, the Spanish colonizers
were still able to influence the Tañonganons’ way of life.
CHAPTER THREE
SANTANDER DURING THE AMERICAN PERIOD
T
he closing years of the 1890s eroded the foundations of Spanish rule over
these islands and ultimately marked the end of Spanish domination that
had lasted three centuries. The first stirrings of unrest began with the
founding of the Katipunan (Kataastaasan, Kagalanggalang na Katipunan ng mga Anak
ng Bayan, or KKK) led by Andres Bonifacio in 1894. Open uprising against Spain
commenced in 1896. This was the most serious threat to Spanish rule yet since,
unlike earlier uprisings which were generally localized, this challenge to Spain
became widespread especially in Luzon.
The unfortunate leadership rivalry between Aguinaldo and Bonifacio in the
course of the war fragmented the forces of the revolution and seriously impaired
the Filipino cause. Upon the death of Bonifacio, Aguinaldo become the undisputed
leader of the revolution and proceeded to lay the foundations of an independent
Philippines. In the meantime, the revolution had spread to the other islands, most
notably Cebu which came under the leadership of Pantaleon Villegas (Leon Kilat)
and other notable local personalities such as Candido Padilla, Arcadio Maxilom,
and Luis Flores. The uprising in Cebu that erupted on April 3, 1898 was initially
successful but later succumbed to the counterattack of the Spanish forces and the
insufficient support it obtained from the local elite.
It was at this stage of the revolution that a new player appeared on the Philippine
scene – the United States of America. American might was first demonstrated in
May 1898 when the American fleet under the command of Commodore George
Dewey, appeared in Manila Bay and battered the Spanish fleet to submission in
Cavite. The American presence in the Philippines was an offshoot of the Spanish-
American War which first erupted in Cuba, as well as American ambitions to join
the ranks of the imperialists who had secured footholds in Southeast Asia and
China.
50 S A N TA N D E R
This development threatened the goal of the revolution which was to establish
an independent Philippines. While at the onset of the war the Americans and
the Filipinos fought as allies against Spain, it soon became clear to the Filipino
leaders that America intended to establish dominion over these islands. Despite
this, Aguinaldo proceeded with his objective of organizing the new Philippine
government and declared Philippine independence on June 12, 1898.
This was followed by a rapid deterioration of relations between the allies
which started with the surrender of Spain to the American forces in August 1898
and the signing of the Treaty of Paris in December 1898 wherein Spain formally
ceded the Philippines to the United States of America. These developments caused
great distress and consternation to the Filipinos as it became clear that hopes for
independence had become futile. Given this, conflicts between the Americans
and Filipinos became more pronounced until February, 1899 when the Philippine-
American War broke out.
The course and outcome of the war, of course, was predictably in favor of the
Americans, who enjoyed superiority in arms, manpower, and equipment. The war
officially ended with the capture of Aguinaldo in Palanan, Isabela as a result of
treachery. This paved the way for the establishment of American sovereignty over
the country and thus was Philippine independence aborted.
In the meantime, the Cebuanos established their own local government, albeit
shortlived, under Luis Flores. However, when the American warship Petrel arrived
in Cebu harbor with the threat of an impending attack on Cebu, the local leaders
capitulated to the Americans. The Americans, under Capt. Charles Cornwell
negotiated the terms of surrender of the Cebuanos represented by Pablo Mejia
and Luis Flores.
As a result of the massive pacification campaign in Cebu, several coastal towns
were brought under American control. However, it took some time before civil
government could be established in the province, owing to the obstinate resistance
of Cebuano forces led by Arcadio Maxilom.1
The sub-district of Cebu was organized on March 14, 1899 under the command
of Lt. Col. Thomas H. Hamer who was also named military governor. He then
assumed the task of integrating several southwestern towns under American
military control. By April 1899, the American forces succeeded in occupying Cebu
City, despite the lack of troops in the Visayas due to the on-going campaign in
Luzon.2 Col. Hamer was also able to extend American rule over five towns in
the southeastern portion of Cebu, namely, Sibonga, Argao, Dalaguete, Alcoy and
S A N TA N D E R 51
Santander. These towns were occupied in June and July 1899, over written protests
of the townpeople. However, there was no military resistance encountered in
these towns at this time.3
Municipal Formation and Town Politics

When the Americans took over from Spain, Santander was still a young
municipality and parish, having been established only in the late 19th century
during the final years of the Spanish colonial period. In the early phase of the
American regime, Santander was re-integrated to the town of Oslob, by virtue of
Executive Order No. 952 dated October 22, 1903. The Order effectively reduced to
41 the 57 municipalities of the province of Cebu. Also incorporated to the town of
Oslob, was the town of Nueva Caceres. The neighboring town of San Sebastian,
on the other hand was absorbed into the town of Samboan.4 The act of reducing
the number of towns in the province of Cebu was dictated by economic reasons so
as to minimize the operational cost of maintaining nearby towns that could easily
be fused together. This abolished the municipal positions of the towns that were
incorporated with existing ones.5 Santander, because of its small population size
of about 5,448 in 19066, then became part of Oslob.
Each town was headed by a Municipal President, elected by eligible voters in
the town, as defined in General Order No. 40 issued in March 1900. Those eligible
to vote were limited only to males, 23 years old and over, who had previously
served in government, paid at least thirty pesos in annual taxes, and able to
speak, read and write in English or Spanish. These qualifications preserved elite
dominance over local politics.7 Meleton Luna was the first Municipal President of
Oslob during American rule. He was succeeded by Juan Luna and then by Ireneo
Rendon.8 Around 1916, Macario Culanag, a resident of barrio Santander, became
municipal president of Oslob. He was instrumental in the passage of a legislative
act in 1917 which made Santander into a new town separate from Oslob. Officially,
Santander became a town under the American regime in 1918. Macario Culanag
ran, won and became the first municipal president of Santander. During his term
of office, Macario Culanag died and his vice president, Pedro Vasaya became the
municipal president until 1920.9 During the next election, Maximo Bureros won
as municipal president, serving for two terms from 1920-1928. Their group was
allied with the group of Mariano Jesus Cuenco, who served as Representative of
the Fifth District of Cebu in 1916, 1919, 1922, and 1925, and governor of Cebu in
52 S A N TA N D E R
1928. During this time, an anti-Cuenco group in Santander was elected into office,
with Gil Miral as municipal president, serving from 1928-1931. The Cuenco allies
regained hold of the municipal leadership of Santander in the 1931 election at the
same time that Cuenco was also reelected as governor of Cebu. It was also during
this time that the office of the Municipal President was changed to Municipal
Mayor. Maximo Bureros became municipal mayor once again until 1937. His son,
Celestino Bureros ran and won in the 1937 elections, serving for two terms up to
the outbreak of the Pacific War.10
Road Networks and Transportation Facilities

One of the foremost concerns of the United States in the Philippines, as stated
by President McKinley, was the improvement of the country’s transportation
infrastructure and communication facilities. Repair and construction of roads and
highways were given much attention. Insular funds for road construction were
prepared and distributed for the eleven provinces including Cebu province in
1904. New roads were constructed, and existing roads were repaired, as reflected
in The Philippine Commission (RPC 1904, 1905) Report of 1904, which recorded a
total of 32,314 miles of roads constructed and 94,579 miles repaired. Also in Cebu,
14 new bridges were constructed and two bridges were repaired in the same year.
Construction and repair of roads continued in 1905 as reflected in the Philippine
Commission report stating that 3,052 miles of road were constructed and 36,790
miles of road were repaired during the year.11 A road network now connected the
southern municipalities of Cebu. This included a 47-kilometer first class road from
Cebu City to Carcar; an 86-kilometer second class road from Carcar to the barrio
of Santander, on the southern-most end of the island; a 70-kilometer second class
road from Santander to Alcantara; and a first-class road from Alcantara to Carcar.12
These roads were used for official trips, constabulary operations, extension of the
mail route, and transportation of products.
Local governments likewise prioritized the improvement of roads and
bridges. However, even with the urgency and plans of repairing and construction
of provincial and municipal roads, there were not enough funds available to
local governments. Deterioration of roads and bridges that had been constructed
and/or repaired by the insular government were also reported due to the lack
of infrastructure maintenance by local governments.13 In Santander, which was
then a barrio of Oslob, the main highway was made of paved anapog (limestone),
according to some informants aged 90-101 years old. They recalled that the main
S A N TA N D E R 53
road was dusty but paved. However, during the rainy season, the roads became
muddy and dilapidated. They related that American school superintendents and
other American officials would often go to their town on horseback.
There were no motorized vehicles yet during the early American occupation.
Until 1910, there is no record of automobiles in the Province of Cebu. An American
Army officer brought the first automobile to Cebu City in May 1910. By 1937
however, five land transportation companies operated in Cebu: Cebu Auto Bus
Company, Bisaya Land Transportation Company, Cebu Transit, Lozada, and L.
Yongco Transportation Facilities. Buses were utilized for provincial travel. 14 A
94-year old woman related that her husband was a bus driver for Bisaya, plying
the Cebu City-Santander route. This was the reason why they moved from
Boljoon to Santander because her husband had to stay overnight with his bus in
Santander as he was assigned to the first trip from Santander to Cebu City.15 Prior
to the availability of buses for provincial travel, people from Santander and other
southern towns had to hitch-hike on cargo trucks transporting copra, in going to
Cebu City. Thus, as other elderly informants related, Santander residents during
this time preferred to go to Dumaguete City rather than to Cebu City for marketing
and schooling, because it was nearer and cheaper to go there via bangka (paddled
canoes) or sakayan de layag (sailboats)16 During this time, the seacraft used by the
locals just docked on the shore, and going to Dumaguete sometimes took more
than a day of sailing.
Corn remained the most important crop in the whole province of Cebu. It
is still the principal food of the people and is grown in all towns. Most of the
soil preparation and cultivation was done with carabaos, plows and bolos. The
early years of the 19th century witnessed poor agricultural production, due to a
succession of several storms and the ravages brought by locust infestation. In
fact, the first quarter of 1911 saw several towns experiencing a shortage of food,
especially Dalaguete, Boljoon and Oslob (including barrio Santander). People had
to make do with alternative food sources such as the “heart”of the buri palm, and
coconuts. Beginning the third quarter of 1911, however, the food situation began
to improve led by a bumper harvest of corn. In 1912, the Bureau of Agricuture
reported huge harvests for the year which, as the report states, was the largest in
50 years. This underlines the importance of corn to the Cebuano diet. Other crops
also showed improved harvests.17
54 S A N TA N D E R
Tobacco was one of the most important commercial crops of the province
and was grown in all municipalities. Next in commercial importance to tobacco
were coconuts. Oslob was the only town in the province where coconut oil was
manufactured extensively for export. All copra produced was sun dried. In the
manufacture of coconut oil, the meat of the coconut was first grated to a fine pulp,
mixed with water, and then boiled in shallow iron pans. As the liquid boiled, the
oil would rise to the surface and skimmed off. This process would continue until
all the oil is extracted from the pulp.18
The Cotton Industry

Cotton continued to be a product of considerable importance in the town
of Oslob, including barrio Santander. Almost every house then had looms and
produced enough cotton cloth to supply local demand. The cotton plants grew in
a practically wild state, with little cultivation or attention.19 A 101-year old woman
confirmed this, saying that cotton grew almost everywhere in Santander. She
narrated that when they harvested cotton, they had to bring big baskets (bukag)
to put the cotton in, and had to go back several times as there was so much cotton
to be harvested. She also said that they wove their own cloth and blankets.20 In
fact, she was wearing a hand-woven cloth as her skirt, when interviewed. She also
had a complete set of equipment for cotton processing and weaving. Other old
folks likewise recalled that they also had looms and other equipment for cotton
processing in their houses then.
Old folks still believe that cotton grows more abundantly when planted at
a tim that the sea is choppy because the waves cause white cotton-like foam to
form on the surface. The processing of raw cotton into cloth made use of several
implements and simple machines. The dutdutan was used to extract the seeds from
the cotton boll. After the seeds had been separated, the cotton was placed in the
busugan to make the cotton fluffy. The fluffy cotton was then placed in the lulihan
to spin them into long strips. The resulting strips were processed in a galingan
to make them into threads. The salik or kalinyasan was then used to bundle up
the cotton thread. Almirol, a stiffener, was applied to the threads to make them
stronger. The “stiffened threads” were then organized through a process called
han-ay before these are woven into cloth through a suluran, or a hablonan. Some
S A N TA N D E R 55
applied dyes from various trees and plants to make the cloth and blankets more
colorful. 21
According to another informant, making cloth from cotton follows different
processes depending on the size and the design of the cloth. One has to count
the number of threads needed to be placed in the suluran. A lansadera is used to
deploy and guide the threads into the han-ay and suluran. In one day, a person
could produce one blanket and could begin working on another one. To color,
they use the leaves of the tagum plant to produce either violet or green color. They
would pound the leaves and mash them with their hands. They then place two
handfuls of mashed leaves in one liter of water and boil to produce the dye.22
Education
Free primary education became the method by which locals were instructed
in their duties as citizens. English became the language of instruction since most
of the teachers were non-commissioned American military officers and military
chaplains. Through Act No. 74, a centralized system of public primary schools was
adopted under the Department of Public Instruction with thirty-six school divisions
supervised by a division superintendent. The Division of Cebu was divided into 15
school districts in 1906, one of which was Oslob, with R.F. Berryman as supervising
teacher.23 But in Santander, which had been downgraded to a barrio of Oslob at
this time, children were still taught to read, write and recite prayers in the small
room next to the church. This was so because Santander was, up to 1907, served
by a Spanish parish priest. Protestant teachers who were deployed to Santander
were met with hostility by the priest, Fr. Silverio Perez. He even organized some
townsfolk to attack these Protestants.
Most school buildings built during the Spanish colonial period were destroyed
during the Philippine-American War. The Philippine Commission passed Act No.
268 creating the Bureau of Architecture and Construction of Public Buildings, with
Engr. Edgar K. Bourne as its head. The construction of schoolhouses in Manila and
the provinces began and this activity was viewed as the most important work of the
Bureau. Schoolhouses all over the province were at first made of light materials,
but later on, construction of more permanent structures were done.
After the Philippine Assembly elections of 1907, Act No. 1801 authored by
Assemblyman Isauro Gabaldon of Nueva Ecija, was approved and became widely
56 S A N TA N D E R
known as the Gabaldon Act. By virtue of the said act, between 1907 to 1915, Php 1
million was appropriated for the “construction of schoolhouses of strong materials
in barrios with guaranteed daily attendance of not less than sixty pupils…”
The ceiling for funding for the construction of each school was P4,000 unless
the municipality contributed a counterpart sum of not less than fifty percent of
the total amount granted. The municipality was authorized to allocate its own
funds, receive voluntary contributions in cash, in kind, or in manual labor for the
construction of the school buildings.
The Gabaldon Act further stipulated that schools could only be constructed on
land owned by the municipality. Proposed sites had to be surveyed and registered
with the Court of Land Registration. Because of the tedious process, only a few
schools were constructed in the first three years.24 The Bureau of Public Works
and the Bureau of Education soon came up with standardized designs prepared
by BPW consulting architect William Parsons from 1905-1914. These were known
as “Gabaldon School Buildings” or simply “Gabaldon,” long after the expiration
of Act 1801. The standard design provided one-story buildings that were slightly
elevated above ground, with classrooms along one side of an open gallery.25 In
the Gabaldon-style school, there was architectural harmony between the main
building and other accessory structures. It was guided by the principle that an
elegantly-designed school would instill in both teachers and students a certain
pride and an appreciation for the finer things in life.
In Oslob (to which Santander belonged then), its school building, following
Plan No. 7 of the Bureau of Education, was constructed starting April 1913.26 This
provided four classrooms (7x9 meters in size) and an assembly room equivalent
to three classrooms, containing a storeroom and an office room.27 It was only after
Santander became a separate municipality from Oslob, that an American-type
public school was constructed there around the early 1920s. The only Gabaldon-
type building that is still in existence in Santander is located in Brgy. Liptong
which, according to informants, was constructed in the late 1950s. Gabaldon
buildings in the other barangays have been destroyed over time to give way to
new school buildings.
Based on accounts of old Santander folk, only a few pupils attended school,
and at first, the public elementary school in Brgy. Poblacion only had classes for
grades one to three. If there were less than ten students who enroll in a grade
level, the class is cancelled. These schoolchildren were taught in English although
their teachers were now Filipinos. During this period, pupils who finish grade
S A N TA N D E R 57
four were already allowed to teach in the lower grades, especially if there was an
urgent need for teachers. But there were also teachers who were trained at the
Normal School (present-day Cebu Normal University) or at the Cebu City High
School (present-day Abellana National School) both located in Cebu City.28 They
received higher pay compared to those Filipino teachers who were only trained in
the municipal schools. An 89-year old retired school teacher related that women
were seldom sent to secondary schools in the city. She recalled that she had to cry
and plead with her parents to allow her to study at the Normal School to be trained
as a teacher. She proudly related that she immediately landed a teaching job in
a private elementary school in Cebu City upon her graduation. She was assigned
in Santander in 1937 as substitute teacher and eventually became a permanent
teacher, serving there for almost 30 years.29 During that time, the Santander
Central School was just a primary school, meaning it only offered classes up to the
fourth grade.
For the intermediate grades, pupils from Santander either went to the
elementary school in the neighboring towns of Oslob, or Ginatilan.30 A public
school was established in the mountain barangay of Kandamiang in 1921, but it
only offered classes up to the second grade at first. A parcel of land was donated
by Mr. Sebastian Rocas upon which the school was built. It was only in 1928 when
it became a complete primary school. In 1940-41, new semi-permanent school
buildings were constructed on an additional site, but these were destroyed during
the war. In Barangay Bunlan in 1928, a school was opened but only offered first
grade classes. It was only after the war that Bunlan was able to have a complete
primary school in the barangay.31
Only a few were able to pursue high school education because the nearest such
school was the Cebu South Provincial High School located in Argao. The Negros
Oriental Provincial High School in Dumaguete City was an alternative but was
similarly inconveniently far. In any case, going to school was quite tedious as there
were only a few transportation facilities, and parents could not easily afford the
fare rates. Thus in going to school, some of them would just walk or hitch-hike on
cargo trucks (going to Oslob, Ginatilan or Argao) or by pumpboats or sakayan de
layag (going to Negros Oriental).32.
Religion: The Entry of Protestantism

When the Americans took over the Philippines, Catholicism no longer became
the only Christian religion in the archipelago. Most of the teachers who came to the
58 S A N TA N D E R
Philippines were Protestants and many were even Protestant ministers. Most of
these Protestant teachers and missionaries came to the Philippines to ‘purify’ what
they viewed as the incorrect or ‘syncretic’ characteristics of charismatic blends of
Filipino Roman Catholicism. Since this Protestant group instituted and controlled
the system of public education in the Philippines during the American colonial
period, it exerted a relatively strong influence.33 The introduction of Protestantism
gave rise to religious conflicts. From the 1900s onwards, various newspapers aired
debates on religious questions as the hegemony of the Catholic Church came to be
challenged by competing beliefs.34
In Santander, the Spanish Catholic parish priest, Silverio Perez, led an attack
against the Protestants who came in 1907. The protestant ministers were then
housed in Balbino Luzano’s place. From old folk’s narratives, Fr. Silverio Perez
reportedly led a group of male Catholics in surrounding Luzano’s home and
attacked the protestant ministers and their local supporters. This event led to the
death of Balbino Luzano and the imprisonment of Fr. Silverio and two others.35
At that time, Santander was still a newly-established parish. Fr. Silverio
Perez was still consolidating the parish and had asked the locals to transfer their
landholdings to the parish as required by the Roman Catholic hierarchy. Some
families who owned lands in the Poblacion donated their lands to the parish of
Santander. However, Balbino Luzano’s family who also owned a vast track of land
in the area, refused to give their land to the Catholic church hierarchy in Santander
despite the pressures. He continued cultivating his land which was planted to
corn, hemp, coconut and vegetables. While on a trip to the town of Oslob, he met
an American protestant missionary, Mr. John Dunlop, who preached a new brand
of Christianity. Given his experience with the Catholic church’s land acquisition
methods, Luzano and his entire family readily converted to Protestantism in
Oslob. Since there was still no protestant church in Santander, they recruited new
converts and gathered for worship in Luzano’s house. The whole barrio knew
of the Luzano’s conversion to Protestantism and their subsequent recruitment
of local people to their new religion. Fr. Perez considered this an affront to the
parish and to the Catholic faith. He then organized a group of locals to attack
Luzano and his group during the first anniversary celebration of the protestant
congregation in Santander. Luzano’s group invited American protestant ministers
and other converts from Oslob to their celebration. Fr. Perez’s group meanwhile
had Luzano’s house under surveillance for the whole day. They later ambushed
Luzano while he was going to fetch water from a small creek at the back of the
house. He was attacked by Fr. Perez’s group with bolos and spears and he was
S A N TA N D E R 59
knocked down by a spear that penetrated his left side. But he was still able to warn
the others in the house by shouting that he was being attacked.36
A resident of Brgy. Looc narrated that her grandfather, Alfonso Joyohoy was
one of those who attended the protestant celebration at that time as he was part of
their congregation. Based on her grandfather’s account, it appeared that the attack
was carried out by the henchmen of Fr. Perez. Fortunately, they were able to run
to the hills for safety. The attackers did not pursue the chase for fear also of being
recognized. The Joyohoys were able to hide under the rubble of a house located
in a hilly area of Brgy. Looc.
Fr. Perez’s men were not able to catch the other protestants, but they guarded
the poblacion for a number of weeks to prevent anyone from going to Balbino’s
house on the other side. Thus, Joyohoy’s family stayed put in Brgy. Looc and
proceeded to build their own chapel, which they called the Church of Christ.
They held their services in the new chapel because they could no longer go to the
Luzanos in the poblacion where they usually held their religious services. In the
meantime, they were able to recruit new members to their congregation.37
Because of fear, the other members who witnessed the attack were only able
to report the event to American missionaries in Oslob some weeks later. The
missionaries reported the incident to the Governor and a marine contingent was
sent to Santander to arrest Fr. Perez and his group. In the mid-morning of August
12, 1907, an American navy warship anchored at the shores of Santander facing
the Roman Catholic church ready to bombard it with cannons. The Luzano family
intervened and thus no military action took place. Instead, Fr. Perez and those
identified with the ambush on the protestants were arrested and brought to Cebu
City for trial. He was sentenced to life imprisonment without bail. Fr. Perez died
while serving his prison term.38 A Protestant Church was soon constructed on the
site where Balbino Luzano was killed, right beside his house in Brgy. Poblacion.
A brass marker with the inscription “Balbino Luzano…died for his faith in Jesus
Christ for freedom of religion and worship,” can be seen in front of the chapel.
After Fr. Perez’s arrest, Fr. Francisco Salinas, the first Filipino parish priest
assigned to Santander, took over as parish priest. He served for 20 years (1907
to 1927) on his first term and another nine years on his second term (1928-1937).
During his term, the Catholic church peacefully co-existed with the protestant
church in Poblacion headed by the Luzanos. Similarly, the protestant church in
Brgy. Looc, led by the Joyohoys, continued to grow.
60 S A N TA N D E R
Summary
The American colonial period ushered in changes in the political structure,
infrastructure, transportation, religion and education. Santander was at first
relegated to being a barrio of Oslob in 1903, instead of being a separate pueblo.
It was later reestablished as a municipality in 1918. Roads were improved and
motorized transportation was introduced. Education was emphasized more than
religion; and thus school buildings were constructed and teachers were deployed
in the various barangays of the town. Not much change happened in Santander’s
agricultural production, as corn remained an important food crop and cotton, an
important cash crop. Protestantism developed as a response to atrocities by the
Catholic priest and as an offshoot of American liberalism in terms of religion.
CHAPTER FOUR
SANTANDER UNDER JAPANESE OCCUPATION
Japanese Presence before the War
J
apanese economic penetration of the Philippines began even before World
War II. Japanese nationals had been investing in hemp production in Davao,
accounting for 80% of its total production in 1935. They were also engaged
in deep-sea fishing, obtaining about 90% control by 1930, due largely through
dummy corporations.1 In southern Cebu, Japanese migrant fisherfolk known as
agiya originating from a village called Itomon in Okinawa were fishing on the reefs
off the coast of Cebu. The fishing gear they used was called oikomi-ami, which
means “drive-in net”, but local fisherfolk called it hinapon (which means “the
Japanese way”). Santander was one of the sites of these deep-sea fishing operations
in the country using what would later be referred to in contemporary literature
as muro-ami, apparently a derivative of the term oikomi-ami. This fishing method
was said to have been used by Japanese deep-sea fishers in southern Cebu since
the 1920s,2 specifically in the barrios of Mainit (in Oslob) and Pasil in Santander.
This method was said to be the forerunner of the muro-ami although it differed in
some aspects. The nets used by the Japanese fishers were shorter and shallower
and, instead of using scare-lines weighted with stones to drive the fish into the
nets, coconut fronds were tied together and agitated under the water. Usually,
twenty people operated one hinapon fishing boat.3 The Japanese later recruited
local fishermen to engage in deep-sea fishing. Three of these fishermen, Silvestre
“Bestre” Jugador, Apolonio Abines Sr. and Ireneo Cortes, would later make a
name for themselves when they employed this same method after the war, using
the equipment confiscated from Japanese fishers, and start what would later be
called the muro-ami method of deep-sea fishing. According to some accounts, in
the 1930s the local police confiscated the Japanese’s fishing equipment and stored
62 S A N TA N D E R
these in the municipal hall. When war broke out in 1941, some of the Japanese
fishers turned out to have been spies for the Japanese army.4
General Context
With the establishment of the Commonwealth government in 1935 and the
continued protection of the Philippines by the United States, most Filipinos did
not expect that Japan would be bold enough to invade the country despite rumors
that Japan was arming itself in preparation for war by the late 1930s. Barely a few
hours after they bombed Pearl Harbor, the Japanese launched successive attacks on
strategic areas in the Philippines, including Baguio, Clark and Davao on December
8, 1941. For the first four months, the Japanese 14th army under Lieutenant General
Masaharu Homma concentrated its attacks in Luzon.5 Pitted against it was the
United States Armed Forces in the Far East (USAFFE), including the Philippine
Army, which was under the command of the formidable Major General Douglas
MacArthur who was at the forefront of defending the archipelago.
The defense of Mindanao and the Visayas was entrusted to the Visayan-
Mindanao Force, commanded by Brig. Gen. William F. Sharp, who had set up
his headquarters initially in Cebu. This force was composed almost entirely of
Philippine Army troops.6 The Visayan-Mindanao Force was hastily established
early in January 1942 and was organized for only about a month. A month later,
General Sharp’s command was transferred to Malaybalay, Bukidnon and was
then re-designated as the Mindanao Force. The Visayan Force was then organized
on March 4, 1942 and placed under the command of Brig. Gen. Bradford G.
Cheynoweth. An estimated 20,000 men divided into five separate garrisons, each
with its own commander composed this command. Col. Irvine C. Scudder was
the commander of about 6,500 troops in Cebu, which included the 82nd and 83rd
Infantry of the Philippine Army.7 The 82nd Infantry was assigned to southern
Cebu, encompassing the towns south of Cebu City and Balamban, while northern
Cebu was placed under the operational control of the 83rd Infantry.8
The Visayan Force implemented Operation Baus Au to prepare for the defense
of the Visayas, initiated in the Panay garrison and then adopted in Cebu. Operation
Baus Au involved the large-scale movement of goods, supplies, and weapons into
the interior for use later in guerrilla warfare. Thus, secret caches were established
in remote and inaccessible places, and at mountain hideouts which could be
reached only through steep, narrow trails barely passable by foot.9
S A N TA N D E R 63
The Japanese Occupation of Cebu

Prior to the Japanese landing in Cebu, Japanese air bombers aggressively
bombed Cebu City and Toledo in March 1942. In view of that attack, Lieutenant
Pantaleon Ciano of the Southern Cebu regiment, redeployed his company. He
deployed his first platoon in the Aloguinsan-Pinamungahan area, the second
platoon at Barili, and the third platoon at Dumanjug. On March 25, the first platoon
was redeployed to join the second platoon in Barili. The following morning,
Japanese planes carried out four bombing raids on the area. On the fourth
bombing run, machine gun sections of the defenders opened fire and disabled one
of the attacking planes which continued to fly south and finally crashed off the
coast of Santander, at the southern-most tip of the island.10
When the Bataan campaign was ending, forces of the Imperial Japanese
Army composed of the 35th Infantry Brigade and the 12th Infantry Regiment of
the 18th division with a reported strength of 4,852 men under the command of
Major General Kiyotake Kawaguchi, were sent to Cebu. This Japanese force which
invaded Cebu from Luzon was composed of two prongs – one, towards the eastern
portion of the island, and the other towards the western side. On April 10, 1942,
the Japanese army invasion force, loaded on eleven transports escorted by three
destroyers of the Imperial Navy, prepared to land on the beaches of Talisay, Cebu,
about twelve kilometers south of Cebu City. Filipino defenders gave a spirited
resistance on the beach but were neutralized when bomber planes joined in the
invasion campaign. The Japanese, thus, succeeded and landed on the beaches
of Cansojong, Talisay.11 Meanwhile only a few defense forces stood in position
in Toledo, and so the Japanese were able to get hold of the area in a short time.12
Defense forces had to face Japanese forces coming from two opposite directions
– one from the beaches of Talisay on the east and the other from the mountains of
Toledo on the west.13 The “last stand” in Cebu chosen by General Cheynoweth
was the forested mountain area north of the Talisay-Toledo road or the Manipis
road, where Camp X, the General Headquarters, was located. On May 13, 1942,
General Cheynoweth surrendered, signaling the defeat of the USAFFE. In the
days that followed its ranking officers either surrendered or were captured by the
Japanese forces who were now taking full control of Cebu City and the important
towns of Cebu.
64 S A N TA N D E R
The Japanese in Santander

Based on oral accounts of old people in Santander, many Japanese planes
passed over Santander either from the direction of Negros Oriental or from Cebu
City. As mentioned in the previous section, a Japanese naval plane was reported to
have crashed and plunged into the sea at Liloan point on March 10, 1942.14 Captain
Nicolas Rafols of the MP Company together with volunteer guards stationed
at Santander captured the pilot and took him first to the Southern Command
headquarters in a mountain barangay called Malalay, where Captain Ciano was
stationed,15 and thence to the Brigade Headquarters at Camp X.16 In the afternoon
of that day, a Japanese cruiser and a detachment of Japanese marines arrived at the
scene of the disaster looking for the aviator.17 According to a local informant, the
Japanese were furious when nobody could tell them where the pilot was taken by
the Army forces. By way of retaliation, the Japanese fired their ship’s cannons at
the stairs going to the Spanish baluarte near the coast, leaving it in rubbles.18
The Santander Central School located at the poblacion served as the
headquarters of Philippine Army and volunteer defense forces before the Japanese
landed in Talisay, Cebu. These forces were not at all involved during the Japanese
invasion in Cebu as the attacks were centered in the Cebu City-Talisay-Toledo
areas. But after news of the fall of Bataan spread across the country, this drew a
chill down the military lines, resulting in a low level of morale among the USAFFE
soldiers in Cebu. Added to this was the news of Gen. Cheynoweth’s surrender
to the Japanese forces, and the surrender or capture of his soldiers in the Cebu
General Headquarters. After the surrender, it was generally a “save yourself”
situation. Most of the local officers and volunteers who did not surrender went
home to join their families in evacuation places or began making preparations to
carry out guerrilla warfare against the invaders.19
Civilian Evacuation and the Emergence of the Guerrillas

Upon arrival in Santander, Japanese forces set up their temporary headquarters
at the old Home Economics Building located next to the Municipal Hall. According
to a local informant, there were no regular Japanese troops stationed in Santander
as they merely passed by when patrolling the South Cebu area on military trucks.
They would however sometimes stop by their headquarters to eat or to take a rest,
before proceeding to their assigned destinations.. While the Japanese land forces
did not establish a real presence in Santander, the Japanese navy patrols were
S A N TA N D E R 65
very visible especially from the coast of barangays Canlumacad and Talisay. On
the other hand, the remnants of the USAFFE and the guerillas had established
their headquarters in the interior and mountainous area of the island. Likewise,
the Japanese also had headquarters in a mountainous area of Negros Oriental.20
Other informants form Brgy. Looc added that the Japanese often patroled the sea
from Liloan to the poblacion. They reported that the Japanese aimed and fired
their machine guns at the houses located near the shore causing much destruction.
In fact, one female resident (Victorina Joyohoy) who was about to give birth,
died out of fear. Her baby also died.21 Families living in the poblacion and other
coastal barangays then evacuated to the mountain barangays for fear of being
captured or killed by Japanese soldiers. One 79-year old informant narrated that
her father was hunted down by the Japanese because he was once a jail guard at
the provincial jail. This was the reason why they transferred to a mountain sitio
in Bato, Samboan. She also narrated that the Japanese hunted down the wives of
soldiers to force their husbands to surrender.22 Another informant narrated that
their family evacuated to Barrio Canlabag in the mountain areas of Santander.
Based on her account, many Santander folk from the poblacion went to this place
since they felt safer there due to the presence of an army headquarters (kwartel sa
bukid) with civilian volunteers regularly guarding the area.23 Another informant
said that the residents hid in a cave in Kanyang, a mountain barangay of Oslob
town. Food supplies like cooked bananas were provided by some volunteers to
the evacuees.24 During this time, Alberto Bacus, reportedly from Dumaguete, was
named mayor of the town by the Japanese authorities. He was later captured and
killed by the guerillas supposedly for being a collaborator.25
The formative period of the guerilla movement in Cebu arose between June,
July and August 1942 with some units coming together as late as November
1942. From as far south as Santander to the far northern islands of Bantayan and
Camotes, the units came under the control of the guerrilla headquarters located
in a barrio called Tabunan in the mountains of Cebu City. The Southern Cebu
Sector, then under the command of 2nd Lt. Antonio M. Templado, was divided
into several companies with guerilla forces trained and deployed in several towns.
The Santander guerilla forces came under the command of Lt. Amoylen, Lt.
Miparanum and Lt. Balbuena.26
Initially, the guerilla forces were composed of Philippine Army officers and
soldiers who were able to escape the Japanese. When the Japanese occupied Cebu,
some military units were disbanded and soldiers went home to their respective
towns to join the local guerilla movements there. Guerillas were also recruited
66 S A N TA N D E R
from the towns, made to undergo military training and then assigned to various
sectors and companies either in Cebu or in other provinces. These included some
guerillas from Santander. One such guerilla was Lamberto B. Tumulak who was
trained in Candabong, Argao from April to May 1941 and assigned in January
1942 to the headquarters in St. Theresa’s College in Cebu City. When his unit was
disbanded due to constant bombing by the Japanese, he joined the Southern Cebu
Guerilla Forces in October 1942 and was later assigned to the MP Detachment in
Santander in January 1943. His wife, Consolidad S. Tumulak who hailed from
Negros Oriental, also joined the guerilla forces in February 1943. She became a
member of the Women’s Auxilliary Services which took charge of the procurement
and distribution of food, preparation of lomboy leaf “cigarettes”, and medicines for
the treatment of ailments. Another guerilla, Jose D. Labuan of Pasil, Santander
was initially stationed at Uling, Naga to guard military supplies. Due to heavy
strafing by the Japanese soldiers, his unit moved to the Canapnapan mountains
and later ordered to disband in May 1942. He went home to Santander and joined
the guerilla forces there. Other Tañonganon guerillas assigned in Southern Cebu
include Paulino G. Miral Sr. of Barangay Liptong; Eutropio Lomotos of Poblacion;
Manuel Vasaya of Cabutongan; Ireneo Cortez of Pasil; Aurelio P. Luzano; Ireneo
Juguilon and Primo Trapero. There were also others assigned to other parts of
Cebu such as Manuel Joyohoy of Poblacion, Bernardo Catipay and Rufo Bermudo.
Those assigned in other provinces were Gregorio Buscato, Felix Miral (Ormoc),
Florencio Gumana (Negros Oriental), Rufo M. Frejoles and Valentin P. Culanag
(Davao), and Florencio Enimido (Negros Occidental).27 Other names mentioned
by local informants whom they knew to be part of the guerilla movement in
Santander during that time include, Aurelio Luzano, Francisco Buscato (both of
Brgy. Looc) and Jesus Abiso (of Canlumacad)
Japanese authorities learned about this formative guerilla movement through
their agents operating outside Cebu City. This spurred an increase in their
intelligence operations in the different towns.28 In the latter months of 1943, the
Japanese conducted numerous anti-guerilla campaigns, punitive expeditions or
offensives against the soldiers operating from the mountains. These campaigns
broke up many guerilla units and forced members to lie low.29
At the height of guerilla activities in Cebu province and neighboring islands,
the Japanese were hurting from sporadic attacks and loss of vital equipment and
supplies. In retribution they launched campaigns against the civilian population
as they sought out guerillas or their supporters and families. Very often, the
S A N TA N D E R 67
Japanese captured the wives, brothers, sisters or other close relatives of guerilla
leaders and used them as leverage to force the leaders to surrender.30
Based on accounts of old folks, there was not much chaos in Santander
compared to other areas in Cebu, however. No major encounters were reported
in the area although there were occasional raids mounted by the Japanese army
and by the guerillas as well. Japanese soldiers also used Santander as an entry
point to Cebu from Dumaguete City, and vice versa.31 An informant narrated that
when the Japanese arrived, they would get the pigs and other farm animals left
behind by the evacuees for their consumption. He also narrated that the Japanese
forces once asked him to get them some young coconuts from the trees near the
headquarters.32
Another event leaving a mark in the collective memory of people in Santander
during this period happened on November 18, 1944, when a B-24 bomber reportedly
collided with a pursuit plane in mid-air above barrio Talisay. The two planes burst
into flames killing all of the crew. 33 Some local residents, however said that it was a
“V-29” bomber American plane from Dumaguete whose wing was hit by fire from
Japanese ground forces, causing the plane to crash. The crash site was established
at Km. 139 inside the property of the Siñagans of Barangay Canlumacad, located
100 meters from the highway. At this time, Canlumacad was still just a part of
Barangay Talisay. It was said that there was still one American soldier who was
found to be still alive because he was catapulted atop a banana plant. However,
the local residents were afraid to help him for fear that they might be captured
by the Japanese and charged with treason.34 According to the account of an 80-
year old man, he and his friends saw what had happened.They immediately
went to the crash site where they saw around ten dead American soldiers, and
some dismembered body parts scattered on the ground. They took home the
soldiers’ hand guns and some chocolates retrieved from the soldiers’ pockets.
Upon hearing that the children had taken the guns from the dead Americans, the
guerillas convinced them to turn these over to them. The children readily gave the
firearms they recovered from the wreck, but held on to the chocolates.35 Another
informant said that smaller platinum and aluminum parts of the plane were taken
by some civilians and were made into “timon sa pumpboat” (rudder of a boat),
plates, combs and other household objects; or sold in junk shops. Others were
sold to junkshop dealers from Argao town at 10 centavos per kilo. The engine
block was found on Agustin Obille’s land a few meters away, but this was taken
away by some people from the city. The wings of the plane which were detached
from the body were also taken by American troops and transported to the City on
68 S A N TA N D E R
military trucks. Various accounts of old folks about this incident likewise revealed
that one of the dead American soldiers had a small note tucked in his pocket with
a message that he should be buried under Catholic rites.
The soldiers were then buried in a mass grave in Canlumacad, near a lomboy
tree. Their bodies were later claimed by relatives after the war. Aside from the
American soldier-casualties of the crash, the incident also claimed the life of a
seven-year old boy who happened to be playing near where the plane crash-
landed. He was a brother of Gaudiosa Eumague who also sustained some wounds
due to the flying debris from the plane.36
Life in Evacuation Areas

Most residents of the coastal barangays of Santander left their houses and
evacuated to the mountains upon hearing that the Japanese had already taken
over strategic areas of Cebu. Some of these evacuees who helped me reconstruct
these events said that their families went to the mountains to escape the cruelty
of Japanese soldiers, as narrated by others. However, some residents had the
courage to stay in their homes, and only scampered to the mountains upon
hearing the sound of approaching Japanese military trucks. The poblacion and
nearby barangays of the town were also the open targets for air raids by Japanese
bombers. Air raid shelters (locally called “irid”) were constructed underground by
each household or clusters of households for protection. An air raid shelter was
a hole in the ground about five meters deep and about one and a half meters in
diameter, equipped with a ladder at the side and a cover on top. A local informant
narrated how their mother would call to them to go inside the air raid shelter
whenever planes began hovering over their place or in nearby areas. They stayed
there until the planes were gone.37
Civilians aged 16 and older who volunteered to join the resistance but had no
firearms were formed into units called Civilian Volunteers or Volunteer Guards.
Before the Japanese landed in Cebu, volunteer guards in Santander, headed by
Jesus Pilipinas, a local attorney, held drills every Sunday under the coconut grove
near the Catholic cemetery. The volunteers were utilized to guard trails and routes
expected to be taken by the Japanese forces in their excursions to the interior.
They also established the “cuartel sa bukid”, where most lowlanders sought refuge.
These volunteers eventually became absorbed into the guerilla forces when the
Japanese arrived.
S A N TA N D E R 69
Based on narratives of Santander’s old folks, people were always on the run
and always on the look-out for possible attacks by the Japanese either on land or
from the air. Even some people from the neighboring towns of Boljoon and Oslob,
sought refuge in the mountains of Santander. Those who were already mature
at the time, said that they had to exercise vigilance all the time. When war planes
pass over, they scrambled for shelter.
Given this situation, food was scarce, and people had to go to neighboring
towns through the mountain trails, bringing with them locally-made blankets or
soap and trade these for corn. Sometimes, some would even go to Dumaguete City
in small bancas to trade for corn, because Santander did not have sufficient food
due to the abandonment of farms during the war. One informant narrated that
when he was still 14 years old, they went to Tayasan, Negros Oriental to get some
corn. They were able to get three sacks and 18 gantas of the cereal. Unfortunately
their boat capsized because of strong winds and they lost all of the corn to the
sea. Aside from the dangers posed by the sea, they had to stay clear of Japanese
marines to avoid arrest and interrogation.38
Post War Situation

The defeat of the Japanese forces was generally perceived as a result of the
coming back of the Americans to rescue the Philippines. In Santander, local
informants narrated that upon hearing the news of the landing of American forces
in Leyte and the surrender of the Japanese forces in 1945; people started going
back to the town centers. However, some of the families who had evacuated to
the mountains during the war preferred to stay where they were instead of going
back to the town center.39
Summary
There were municipalities in Cebu that were more devastated than others
after the war, but Santander was not one of them. Damage to property and built
structures was minimal, largely because Japanese troops merely patrolled the area
and did not stay there for extended periods of time. Except for the damage brought
about by the crash-landing of an American military plane in Brgy. Canlumacad,
and the destruction of the stone stairway leading to the Spanish baluarte due to
its bombing by the Japanese, there was no other major destruction on lives and
property.
70 S A N TA N D E R
Historical
Landmarks
Santander Municipal Hall
Santander man-made forest

S A N TA N D E R 71
Santander Church
Baluarte, Poblacion
72 S A N TA N D E R
Ambakon Falls
Sanayon Sigbin
S A N TA N D E R 73
Heritage house of late Mayor Onesimo Buscato
Heritage house of Durangparang
Heritage house of Fabian Pulpul

74 S A N TA N D E R
Santander Port
S A N TA N D E R 75
Southernmost
Sanayon Stairway
Tops Mountain View

CHAPTER FIVE
SANTANDER AS “MURO-AMI COUNTRY”
National Context
T
he Philippines resumed its Commonwealth status under the United States
at the end of the war. On July 4, 1946, representatives of the United
States of America and of the Republic of the Philippines signed a Treaty
of General Relations between the two governments, providing for the recognition
of the independence of the Republic of the Philippines and the relinquishment of
American sovereignty over the Philippine Islands. Together with the Declaration
of Independence, the Bell Trade Act and the Military Bases Agreement were
also signed to ensure continued American economic and military presence in
the country. The United States ensured that the Philippines would accept the
Bell Trade Act together with the Declaration of Independence by making them a
leverage for the provision of war damage payments in the amount of $120 million
for the reconstruction of highways, ports and other infrastructure; $100 million
worth of surplus military property; $400 million for the compensation of property
losses and damage.1
The creation of the third Philippine Republic was marked by the election of
Manuel Roxas who was succeeded by his Vice-President, Elpidio Quirino upon
his death in 1947. The new republic had to face many challenges in its infancy
among which were the restoration of economic & political stability of a war-
ravaged country. Such stability was seriously threatened by the emergence of the
communist movement spearheaded by the Hukbalahap (Hukbo ng Bayan Laban
sa Hapon) which started out as a guerilla force and which had metamorphosed
into an armed communist movement. This development caused the U.S. to take
steps toward the disbandment of the guerillas, which had transformed itself into
the People’s Liberation Army. The security interests of the U.S. required that
the Philippines remain stable, pro-American and anti-communist as a showcase
S A N TA N D E R 77
of the U.S. intention of establishing a progressive and responsible government.2

A military campaign to defeat the insurgents and to win popular support for
the government was initiated by then Secretary of Defense Ramon Magsaysay.
The guerilla movement waned in the early 1950s, and finally ended with the
unconditional surrender of its leader, Luis Taruc, in May 1954. Supported by the
United States, Magsaysay was elected president in 1953 on a populist platform. He
was extremely popular with the common people, and his untimely death in a plane
crash at Mt. Manunggal, Balamban, Cebu on March 17, 1957 saddened the nation.
His vice president, Carlos P. Garcia took over the presidency after Magsaysay’s
death, and was elected to a four-year term in the November election of that same
year. Garcia’s administration emphasized the nationalist theme of “Filipino First”,
arguing that the Filipino people be given first priority in enjoying the fruits of
the new economy. Diosdado Macapagal succeeded Garcia to the presidency after
the latter was defeated in his re-election bid in 1961. Macapagal’s foreign policy
sought closer relations with neighboring Asian nations, particularly Malaysia and
Indonesia. However, he lost his bid for reelection to Senate President Ferdinand
Marcos in the presidential elections of 1965.
In 1969, Marcos was reelected, defeating Sergio Osmeña Jr. of Cebu. In the
months that followed, a number of public demonstrations were launched and
intensified over the years largely due to a declining economy and growing student
unrest. On September 21, 1972, Marcos issued Proclamation 1081, declaring Martial
Law over the entire country. Under orders of the president, the military arrested
leading political opposition figures, journalists, students and labor activists, as
well as criminal elements. Newspapers were shut down, and the mass media was
brought under tight control. Marcos closed the Philippine Congress and assumed
its legislative responsibilities. Marcos established a strong political machinery, the
Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL) which dominated national and local governments
at that time. The nation’s first elections for provincial and municipal officials since
the declaration of Martial Law were held on January 30, 1980. As expected, KBL
dominated the elections winning in 69 of the 73 provinces and in 1,550 of the 1,554
mayoralty seats nationwide. Between 1972 and 1986 local politics became a matter
of access to Malacanang, since President Marcos had established a monopoly over
government resources. However, Marcos’ political machinery began to crumble
in the post-1983 era, largely because of the growing national unrest triggered by
the assassination of Senator Benigno S. Aquino Jr. on August 21, 1983. Pressured
by the growing social movements, Marcos called for a snap presidential election
in 1986, which triggered the People Power Revolution due to alleged massive
78 S A N TA N D E R
election fraud and terrorism against his opponent, Corazon C. Aquino, widow of
Senator Benigno S. Aquino Jr.
In Santander, the period from the 1950s to the end of the Marcos administration
in 1986, largely revolved around the muro-ami fishing operations, which affected
not only the town’s economy, but every aspect of society as well, including politics,
education, religion, health care and family life.
Local Politics
After the defeat of the Japanese forces in 1945, civil governments were
appointed in every municipality. In Santander, Apolinar Luzano was appointed
mayor, with Vicente Miral as his vice mayor. They were formally elected into
office during the elections of 1949. A new set of municipal officials, allied with
the new Cebu Governor Sergio “Serging” Osmeña Jr., were elected into office in
1951, with Onesimo Buscato as mayor, and Santiago Rusiana as vice mayor.3 In
1959, Patricio Ypil was elected mayor and served until 1963. He was replaced by
Francisco Vasaya who served for four years until 1967. Jesus Filipinas replaced
him as mayor until 1971.4
The Abineses, a family that would largely occupy the next three decades of
Santander’s political life, got involved in local politics with the election of Crisologo
Abines as mayor in 1971, a term that lasted until the tumultuous People Power
Revolution of 1986. It was a term that almost paralleled the extended reign of the
Marcoses in Malacañang after Martial Law was declared in 1972.
The Abineses were from Barangay Mainit of Oslob town, just near the Oslob-
Santander border. Crisologo’s father, Apolonio Abines Sr., was then vice mayor
of Oslob, but his son, Sol, lived in Santander because of his active involvement
in their family-owned business which centered on muro-ami fishing. Before Sol
ran for mayor of Santander, he was a 2nd Lieutenant in the Philippine Army. His
election as mayor of Santander town was largely because of the dependence of
more than half of the population on the Abines’ muro-ami fishing business at that
time. At age 22, Sol Abines was the youngest mayor in the whole of Cebu Province
in 1971.5
During his term as mayor, the family’s fishing business flourished (discussed
in the next section), making the Abineses the most prominent family in Santander
not only in politics but also in its economy for over three decades. He was only
briefly replaced as mayor upon the assumption of Corazon C. Aquino as President
S A N TA N D E R 79
of the Republic in 1986, following the People Power Revolution which led to
Marcos’s departure from the country into exile in Hawaii. This political position
was shortly regained when the first local elections was held under the Aquino
administration. Martial Law provided the legal framework for the Abineses’
maintaining their hold over politics in the town. Abines was allied with President
Marcos and was one of the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan stalwarts in Cebu. While he
was mayor, there was no strong political opposition in Santander. There may have
been pockets of dissent among a few locals, but these were immediately doused
with the use of their influence in the local economy and religion. Aside from
their strong influence arising from the locals reliance on the muro-ami fishing
operations, the Abineses allegedly used force to quell any kind of resistance or
non-conformity to their rule. In many instances during the Marcos administration,
the use of violence dominated politics at both the local and national levels, or what
is commonly referred to as the politics of “guns, goons, and gold” to describe the
three key ingredients for electoral success.6 This brand of politics was evident in
Santander.
The Wenceslaos, who had their own independent businesses in Santander at
that time, did not support the brand of politics of the Abineses. Although they
were not a politically-inclined family, they were considered by Sol Abines as a
threat to his political rule in the town, because they were one of the few families
who were not dependent on the Abineses’ muro-ami fishing operations. The
Wenceslaos had their own general merchandise store in the town center, and were
also involved in rice and copra trading as well as cargo handling at that time.
They had ten cargo trucks regularly plying the Santander-Cebu City route and
would sometimes extend operations to Negros Oriental. They were also very
active in church activities in the parish and were likewise considered by locals as
a source of assistance during difficult times (e.g., providing credit with a minimal
interest; providing goods on credit; providing free transportation for emergencies,
etc.). The Wenceslaos also refused to align themselves with the Abineses inspite
of the overtures of the latter to bring them over to their side. According to current
vice mayor Marilyn Wenceslao, they did not agree with how the Abineses were
ruling their town, and so they did not want to be identified with them. They
preferred to stay out of politics at that time and chose to focus on their businesses.
The political climate, howerver, changed in 1986 when Corazon Aquino assumed
the presidency and appointed Willy Wenceslao as OIC mayor. With Wenceslao’s
assumption as mayor, the Abineses then considered them as their number one
political enemy.7 The Abineses shortly regained hold over the town’s politics with
80 S A N TA N D E R
the election of Sol as second district representative during the 1987 local elections
and his sister, Encarnacion as mayor in 1988.
In general, local politics in the Philippines has been described as rooted in
patron-client relations, bossism, or warlordism. Personal relations dominate all
these descriptions, and indeed, many mayors and governors have been elected on
the basis of family name and networks rather than on the strength of their parties
or platforms. Political leaders at the local as well as national level traditionally
have been drawn from families possessing the considerable wealth necessary to
engage in politics. Often, political office has been seen as a vehicle for protecting
or enhancing familial economic interests.8 The Abineses’ rule in Santander is a
concrete example of such.
At the height of the Abineses’ rule in Santander, the New People’s Army (NPA)
also established headquarters in the mountain barangay of Cabutongan from 1983
to 1984. This was also at the height of the anti-Marcos activism following the
assassination of Ninoy Aquino. The NPA in Santander was said to have come
from Mindanao and had subsequently expanded their operations to Cebu. A
certain Kumander David (a.k.a. Guillermo Tano) was the one who brought the
NPA to Santander from Mindanao, since he had relatives in Cabutongan. They
were said to have established their headquarters in a big cave, the entrance of
which is in Samboan but stretches all the way to Santander NPA guerillas also
went from house to house in Cabutongan to discuss problems confronting the
farmers and to collect donations from the residents. They also talked to specific
people who were “badlongon” or had vices (such as excessive gambling, keeping
mistresses, excessive alcohol drinking, corrupt barangay officials, etc.) for them to
change their ways or else to face the consequences of their actions. The NPA did
not last long in Santander, however, since the military also established a camp in
the same barangay to offset the influence of the armed group.
Revival of Muro-Ami Fishing Operations

When the Japanese forces left Santander in late 1944,, the municipal treasurer,
Alejandro Tumulak, recovered the fishing gears confiscated earlier from the
Japanese fisherfolk , which had been stored at the Santander Municipal Hall. It
was he who began the revival of hinapon (literally, “Japanese way”) fishing method
as it was then called and made it into a business aimed at supplementing the low
food supplies in the town. Tumulak, however, was not a fisherman. He therefore
sought out Silvestre Jugador, one of those hired by the Japanese fishers for their
S A N TA N D E R 81
fishing operations before the war. Tumulak provided financing, while Jugador
managed the fishing crew. Jugador has since been known in southern Cebu as
the “father of muro-ami fishing”. From 1944 to 1955, “hinapon” fishing was
undertaken using small vessels known as bote with around 20 crew and fishing
laborers.9
Interviews with some people involved in muro-ami reveal that there appears
to be many groups who were operating small muro-ami boats in Santander,
including that of Jugador who was from Barangay Mainit of Oslob. The following
names were mentioned: Francisco Vasaya; Dodong Wenceslao; four fishermen
from Barangay Pasil (Abraham Cuerda, Ramon Doroon, Magdaleno Vasay, and
Ireneo Cortes); a certain Isyong Binondo, and Apolonio Abines Sr. According
to local accounts, fishing expeditions were at first limited to nearby areas. But
later, these began to go further afield to Siquijor and Negros Oriental. By the
mid-1950s, “hinapon” had transformed into “Muro-ami” fishing with the coming
of larger vessels and bigger fishing operations. Those operating smaller vessels
eventually stopped operations although two had remained and expanded upon
entering into partnerships with Manila-based shipping companies. The Pasil-
based fishing operations of Cuerda, Doroon, Vasaya and Cortes entered into a
partnership with FRABAL Fishing Company, a Manila-based shipping company
that provided them with large ships, while the Abines-led operations entered
into a partnership with the San Diego Shipping Company of Manila.10 It was,
however, the Abines-led operations that grew larger beating all other operations
in the area. Apolonio Abines Sr. began sending the fleet to the South China Sea
and to Palawan. Unfortunately, the success was shortlived. In the 1960s, the
partnership with San Diego Shipping was severed because of disagreements over
business matters. Apolonio Sr. turned over the business to his sons, one of whom
arranged the marriage of his daughter to the son of Francisco Balmucena, owner
of FRABAL Shipping in Manila. A new partnership with FRABAL was then
established.11 The Abines-Frabal muro-ami fleet or the ASO Fishing Corp., had
more than thirty ships operating in the South China Sea and Palawan in every ten-
month period from June to April.12 The Frabal group provided for the operation
of fishing vessels and ships for transporting supplies and fish products, including
fuel and the crew, while the Abineses provided the accessories including fishing
nets, tools for net repair, bancas, barotos, ciroscas, operational station and facilities,
as well as the recruitment and management of fishers.
The widespread operations of the Abines-owned muro-ami fishing, enabled
the Abines family to build a “supramunicipal empire”, 13 extending their control
82 S A N TA N D E R
over other key features in the local economy, including rural banks, land and water
transportation facilities, and general merchandise retail outlets.
Muro-Ami Operations
Muro-ami fishing expeditions usually operated over a ten-month period
during which fishers were stationed in the small islands of Busuanga, Palawan,
specifically Talampulan and Horse islands where they also got their provisions.14
The fleet would undertake daily fishing trips to nearby coral reefs where a group,
consisting of around 300 fishers, carries out the operation. Each vessel was headed
by a master-fisherman or manager who took charge of the entire fishing operation.
He was the one who decided where and when to fish and assigned tasks to the
fishers on board. Assistant managers supervised a group of around 100 fishers,
assisted by three or four checkers who recorded the catch and the attendance of
fishers during the operation, and a treasurer who took charge of the finances.
The method’s Japanese roots are evident in some terms used. The manager, for
example, was assisted by a Yamador who relayed instructions on when and where
to drop the net, and how to drive the fish into the net.15 Each vessel had six bancas
with around 30-40 fishers each, led by an Arisé or captain. Each banca had around
five divers and 25 or more ultimo (the lowest rank) swimmers (pescadores).16
Recruitment of fishers usually took place in January. The master-fisherman
directly recruited the workers and paid out cash advances of P300 per fisher (1988
prices) upon signing of the contract that they will join the next muro-ami operation.
This system enticed more swimmers and divers to join, including children aged 15
years old and below. Oosterhout estimates that approximately 15% of the recruits
were under 15 years of age; 45-55% were between 15 and 18; and 30-40% were
over 18. Children were socialized into the so-called muro-ami culture so that they
voluntarily join the operations together with their fathers, brothers or any other
male family member. As a condition for hiring, all recruits must be able to swim
and must be willing to complete the ten-month trip. Aside from swimming and
diving, the fishers were expected to assist in hauling the catch and sewing nets.
Diving equipment consisted only of locally-made wooden goggles, long sleeved
shirts and long pants. This put the divers at the risk of rupturing their eardrums
and damaging auditory nerves. The vessels were very congested, given that
there were around 300 people on board sharing a congested space. This led to
the outbreak of diseases like typhoid, gastro-enteritis, and respiratory ailments.
There was no doctor on board such that those afflicted with minor ailments were
S A N TA N D E R 83
just given medicines from the first aid kit and the more serious cases referred to
the nearest hospital.17
Muro-ami operations commenced as soon as the boat dropped anchor at a
particular site. The huge fishing net would then be dropped in the shallower
portion of a reef. Six bancas then go to their designated positions. The divers
dive to a depth of 100 feet, attach the nets to the corals, carry out underwater
reconnaissance, and set up the bag-net and two detachable wing-nets.18 As soon
as the nets have been secured, the swimmers plunge into the sea with a cirosca
(a long nylon rope with a stone tied at the tip) which was used to hit the corals
to scare the fish out and drive them into the waiting nets.19 The fish catch would
then be hauled on deck, classified according to type and size, and prepared for
transporting to Manila. Even as the fishing boats commute everyday to and from
the coral reefs for ten months, larger ships regularly transport the iced fish to the
wharves of Dagatdagatan, Navotas in Metro Manila for marketing.20
Muro-ami and the Local Economy

Since the 1960s, participation in muro-ami fishing appeared to be the most
immediate source of livelihood for most of Santander’s population (and even those
of the nearby towns of Oslob and Samboan) because other potential sources like
agricultural crop and livestock production were only at the subsistence level due
largely to low soil fertility and limitations on credit, post-harvest, and marketing
facilities. On the other hand, hook-and-line and spear fishing in municipal
waters was not considered lucrative because of the depletion of local fish stocks.
As operations expanded, more and more fishers were recruited, including even
their children. A 1988 International Labor Organization study indicates that the
corporations engaged in muro-ami fishing recruited around 5,000 to 6,000 workers,
roughly80% of the two towns’ labor force. In 1987, 60-65% of the local residents of
the towns of Santander and Oslob were directly or indirectly dependent on muro-
ami fishing for their livelihood. In just decades after the war, muro-ami fishing
had become the major source of employment and income for the majority of the
population. It also registered the highest average annual production per vessel
among the country’s commercial fishers in the years between 1965 and 1975. The
average annual catch per vessel at the time was valued at P15 million based on
those years’ prevailing prices. A conservative estimate of the operation’s annual
profit at the time was placed at over P20 million.21
84 S A N TA N D E R
Personal expenditures of muro-ami fishers were also monopolized by the

Abineses who had a general merchandise store in the town center known as the
“Super-Tindahan”. The families of their workers could avail on credit, of goods for
home consumption such as rice, soap, salt, sugar. Such expenditures were directly
deducted from the wages of the member of the family working in the muro-ami
operations. The store was strategically located in the front part of the parish
compound by the roadside. A lease contract for twenty years was said to have
been provided by the parish to the Abineses for the period 1979-1999. To ensure
patronage of their muro-ami fishers to their Super-Tindahan, they prohibited them
from buying from other retail outlets in the town. If ever they buy goods from
other stores, they would reportedly be scolded by the Abineses or their managers,
and would be forced to return the goods to the store. All purchases must be done
at the Super-tindahan. The families of the muro-ami fishers had no choice but to
abide by this demand for fear of retaliation from the Abineses.
There were also restrictions imposed by the municipal government to those
applying for business permits in Santander, thus limiting the number of retail
outlets in the town. By way of example, the renewal of the Wenceslaos’ business
permit for their general merchandise store was denied by the municipal government
for no apparent reason. This prompted the Wenceslaos to file a case against the
municipality of Santander because all the necessary documents were in order. .
These restrictions imposed by the municipal government under the mayorship of
Abines, ensured that the Super-Tindahan would be able to monopolize the retail
trade in Santander at this time. 22 But on the other hand, muro-ami operations also
provided some economic gain to other residents not directly hired in muro-ami
fishing. Local tailors, for example, were commissioned by the Abineses to produce
the diving suits of the muro-ami divers.23
Profit-Sharing in Muro-Ami
The contract between the fisher and the operator was considered a partnership
based on profit-sharing. Thus the share of the fisher would depend on the gross
profit from fishing operations. Before dividing the profit among the fishers, 80%
was automatically deducted to cover maintenance costs of the vessel owners. From
the 20% left over, overhead expenses for food, fishing equipment, and the like, are
further deducted. One-third (1/3) of what was left of the 20% was allocated for
the Abineses, as operator of the muro-ami; while the balance (2/3) was divided
among the fishers based on their performance and rank. Going by 1988 prices, a
S A N TA N D E R 85
master-fisherman earned around P50,000 or more on the average for the ten-month
duration. His assistant managers, earned around P30,000. Checkers, reportedly
received around P10,000 and the treasurers, P6,000. While ordinary pescador
(fisherman) might not earn this much, at least the family left behind in Santander
was able to avail of rice and other household necessities on credit every month
from the Abines-owned general stores in Oslob and Santander. A family could also
avail of this credit opportunity if one of the members guaranteed that he would be
joining the next muro-ami operation. The total credit availed of by the fisherman’s
family would then be deducted from his 10-month income, ranging from 30-40%
on the average. There were numerous cases, however, where a family overshot
its credit line which could not be covered by the fishermen’s income for the year.
This situation would force a fisherman to join the next muro-ami expedition in
order to repay the debt. Since most of the income was used for food expenses, the
family often found it extremely difficult to respond to other expenses like health
emergencies. This was where credit facilities, also provided by the Abineses, were
important. Thus, muro-ami not only provided income, but also a kind of social
security. The income earned from muro-ami by otherwise subsistence fishers,
enabled them to send their children to college. Perceived in this light, muro-ami
might be considered as partly responsible for the proliferation of professionals,
including doctors, nurses, accountants and teachers, in Santander.24 In the end,
however, Muro-ami caused the Abines family to possess considerable control over
the local economy and people now dependent on them for employment, credit
and social security. In return, the fishing families gave their political support and
loyalty to the Abineses, a patent form of utang kabubut-on (debt of gratitude).25
Religion and Fiesta Celebrations

For the period 1948 to 1970, Argaoanon priests, Teofilo Galeos (1948-1953),
Miguel Ortega (1953-1956), and Roque Plaza (1956-1970), were assigned to the
Santander parish.26 Fr. Ortega is remembered for initiating the demolition of
the old church structure and the construction of a new one with the façade and
entrance now facing the provincial road. Although the usual orientation of
Spanish churches on the southeast coast of Cebu is towards the sea, Fr. Ortega
found it awkward for a church to have its back towards where the parishioners
are. The church construction was completed by his successor, Fr. Roque Plaza.
A new parish rectory was also constructed, but the old convent and belfry were
left untouched.27 This explains why the Santander parish church is no longer of
86 S A N TA N D E R
Spanish-period architecture, as compared to other churches in the southeastern

part of Cebu. Only some stone remains of the old church can be seen at the back
portion of the present-day church. It is not clear, however, when the Santander
parish decided to change its patron saint to St. Gabriel the Archangel. Early
Spanish documents point out that the church was devoted to Mary Mother of God
and the Sacred Heart of Jesus upon its establishment in 1897. But old folks said
that as far as they can remember the church’s patron saint had always been St.
Gabriel the Archangel.
In the 1970s, when the majority of the local male population was involved
in muro-ami, religious activities were mostly participated in by women. During
this period, the Catholic church received many donations from the Abineses and
muro-ami managers. But conflicts between church and town officials eventually
emerged, foremost of which was the rescheduling of the fiesta celebration to
coincide with the return of muro-ami fishers from their 10-month expedition.28
The feast day of Santander’s parish patron, St. Gabriel the Archangel, is always
observed every March 24 of each year. But the Abineses, through their political
and economic influence, convinced the parish pastoral councils and the parish
priests to move the fiesta date. Thus, every year, there was a different date for the
fiesta depending on when the muro-ami expedition would return. Most of the
time, the fiesta would be rescheduled to April, because this was usually the time
when the muro-ami fishers arrive in Santander. Some parish priests assigned to
Santander would just conform to the rescheduling, although some resisted. Parish
priests during this period were Dominador Dosdos (1970-1976), Ramon Tamayo
(1976-1981), Ivan Ybañez (1981) and Inocentes Locaylocay (1981-1986).
This situation probably explains why Santander celebrates two fiestas – one
by the parish in March, and the other by the municipality in April. The merrier
celebration was always the one celebrated when the muro-ami fishers were in
town. This was because they were the ones who had the money for a feast, to
sponsor nightly programs, and to buy vendors’ wares.29 The fiesta is considered
an important event not only in the religious but also in the socio-cultural sense,
since it provided a venue for socializing and interacting with other residents as
well as with visitors from other municipalities. Preparations for the fiesta is done
by pooling needed ingredients for making tostado and torta which are the usual
delicacies given as “bring house” (package given by the host to the visitor to take
home). They buy flour, eggs, oil, and sugar in small quantities a few months before
the fiesta date, depending on the availability of funds.30 For muro-ami fishers,
S A N TA N D E R 87
they usually buy these ingredients from the Super-Tindahan so that their family
would be able to make the necessary fiesta food preparations. It has also been a
practice of people in Santander to raise a pig or two for the fiesta. They fatten the
pig(s) for a number of months, and butcher it in time for the fiesta, for the various
dishes they would prepare, including humba and inasal.
Aside from food preparations in the local residences, cockfights (locally
termed sabong or bulang) usually accompany fiestas. Cockfighting is considered a
national pastime in the Philippines, usually held every Sunday or even on other
days of the week including holidays, especially in the provinces. A cockfight
involves two specially-bred gamecocks with 3-inch curved blades made of high
quality steel attached to one or both of their legs. They are then pitted against each
other inside an enclosure for the fight. The primary purposes of these cockfights
are for gambling and entertainment. A typical cockfight only lasts a few minutes
and usually results in the death of one or both of the gamecocks. Knowing that
there are many cockfighting aficionados in Santander, the Abineses constructed
a large cockfighting coliseum in the town. Crisologo Abines was said to be an
avid cockfighting aficionado. Aside from the legal cockfights held in the coliseum,
illegal cockfights locally known as tigbakay are also organized in the different
barangays, apparently tolerated by the barangay and municipal officials. In these
cockfights, muro-ami fishers lose large chunks of their pay in gambling, making it
necessary for them to borrow from their recruiter in exchange for returning to the
sea for the next voyage.31
Most of the chapels in the different barangays were constructed in the 1950s
to the 1960s apparently because of the increasing population in the barangays,
with only one parish priest to cater to their spiritual needs. Chapel presidents
served as the “bridge” between the chapels and the parish. The construction of
a chapel depended on various factors, such as: the donation of a lot on which to
construct the chapel, the number of people constributing to its construction either
in cash or in kind, and the clamor of parishioners to have a local place of worship.
Interestingly, there was one religious venue, the San Isidro Chapel, which was
constructed on the lot of Librado “Ebing” Serencio, former Bunlan barangay
captain. This chapel was organized and headed by Maestro Basilio Juguilan. The
chapel itself constructed by muro-ami workers in the early 1970s apparently from
the larger incomes they gained from muro-ami fishing at that time. However, in
1985, when the muro-ami system began to decline, the said chapel was also closed
and was no longer used.32
88 S A N TA N D E R
Transportation and Road Networks

Prior to the Abineses’ prominence in Santander’s economy and politics, the
bus companies Autobus and Bisaya regularly plied the Cebu-Santander route.
But with the Abineses’ rise to power, the ABC Bus Line was created in the 1970s
to ply two routes from Cebu City to Bato (Samboan), one on the southwest side
through Barili, and the other on the southeast side via Oslob. As the years the
passed, ABC became the only bus line of consequence plying this route. Bisaya
eventually stopped operations, while Autobus transferred its operations to the
northern routes of Cebu province. An Argao-based transport company, Sesaldo
Bus Company, tried to penetrate the Cebu City-Bato route, but was not successful,
since family members of those involved in muro-ami would patronize ABC
rather than Sesaldo. Transportation passes were regularly issued to children of
muro-ami fishers studying in the city so that they would not have to pay their
fare. ABC Liner drivers and conductors were also provided credit support by
the Abineses. They could also avail of goods from the Abines general stores on
credit, to be deducted from their wages at the end of the month.33 The Bacolod-
based Ceres bus company, which operate transportation lines in Negros and in
many parts of Mindanao and Leyte, considered the expansion of operations in the
ABC-dominated routes. However, they found it difficult to obtain a franchise for
southern Cebu. Buses which they initially fielded were vandalized and thus the
company opted to cede the route to the Abines family. The Librando clan, whose
bus company covered the route from Badian on the southwestern coast of Cebu to
Cebu City, likewise yielded to Abines’ pressures for an abbreviated schedule and
route of their vehicles.34
The Abineses likewise owned and controlled ferryboats plying the Cebu
(Bato)-Negros Oriental (Tampi) route, providing the only link between the two
provinces. Only the ABC buses and passengers could ride on these ferryboats.
The route was most convenient for muro-ami fishers who had been recruited from
Negros Oriental. ABC ferries were the only seacrafts allowed to dock at the Talisay
port, which was said to be a privately-operated port owned by the Abineses. This
port was developed in the 1970s during Abines’ term as mayor of Santander. The
lot was said to have been originally owned by a certain Catalino Geromo and was
donated to the Municipality of Santander.35 The port development was undertaken
by the Abines’ allies in Talisay, led by former Brgy. Captain Siting Mirallo. In the
earlier years of its operations, the port was still made of wooden planks. Over the
years that the Abineses wielded political power in Santander, they also took over
S A N TA N D E R 89
the control, management and supervision of the port’s operations. The port was
called Pier 3. Piers 1 and 2 are both located in Bato, Samboan.36 Privately-owned
pumpboats started plying the Sibulan-Liloan route and would dock at the shores
of Liloan in the early 1970s. At first there were only five pumpboats, namely
Princess (owned by Jesus Ciano of Canlumacad), Flying Fish (owned by Concordio
Miparanum of Liloan), Fatima (owned by Federico Filipinas Sr. of Liloan), Frejoles
(owned by Aurelio Frejoles of Looc) and Telstar (owned by a person from Sibulan).
More pumpboats began to ply the route starting in the 1980s and bigger motors
(such as 4DR5 Fuso) were used, cutting the duration of the trip as the pumpboats
became faster. At that time, the trips depended on when the pumpboats would
be filled with passengers (locally termed as “alas-puno”). At this time, there was
no port yet in Liloan and the pumpboats could not dock on the shore during low
tide. At such times, passengers had to be bodily carried by the crew from the boat
to the shore.
Utilities
In the 1950s, water distribution in the Poblacion and nearby barangays was
facilitated through the National Water Systems Administration (NAWASA).
However, most residents got their water from springs as only a few had water
pipes connected to their houses. During Abines’ term as mayor of Santander in
the early 1970s, he established a municipal water system with the help of the Cebu
provincial government under the leadership of then governor Eduardo Gullas.
The water pipes of NAWASA were then replaced. The main water source that was
tapped for the new system was located in the upper portion of Brgy. Kandamiang
where a large water tank was installed at the source. Barangay Kandamiang
residents had the benefit of having free water running through pipes to their homes
without a water meter. According to an informant, this was an incentive from the
government because the water source was located in their barangay. An expansion
project worth P1.3 million was funded by the provincial government and by the
Ministry of Local Government and Community Development (MLGCD) in 1972.
Electricity was likewise installed in some coastal households through the Cebu
Electric Cooperatives (CEBECO) in the early 1970s.
90 S A N TA N D E R
Corn remained the primary crop produced in Santander. Corn was still the
staple food of people. Thus, most of the corn produced was for local consumption
and subsistence. In the meantime, the cotton industry had declined with the entry
of commercial textiles in the market. Ready-to-wear clothes became popular with
the rise of the textile industry in the country. Santander folk abandoned their
looms and stopped making their own clothes and instead patronized clothes sold
by peddlers from the city. Although cotton still grew in a wild state in some areas,
local textile production declined. Eventually, cotton as a primary commercial crop
in the town became virtually non-existent.37
During the Abineses’ rule in Santander, improving agricultural production
took a back seat as the focus had shifted to the muro-ami operations as a source
of employment for the townspeople. Thus during this time, agricultural support
services from government were minimal. The municipality did not even have a
central public market where farmers could sell their crops. This ensured patronage
to the Abineses’ Super-Tindahan even among non-muro-ami workers.38
The Mais Sagana Program was implemented during the Marcos era in the late
1970s to early 1980s. The purpose of such program was to increase corn production
through the provision of loans to farmers for farm inputs. In Santander, funds
from the program were placed in the Rural Bank of Santander as conduit bank.
Farmers were then organized into groups of five called selda and a farm plan and
budget was developed with the assistance of the Municipal Agriculture Office to
qualify for loans from the bank. 39
Education
The Santander Central Elementary School continued providing primary
education to the children of the municipality. Public schools in Kandamiang,
Talisay and Bunlan likewise provided complete primary education after the war.
By the end of 1986, Santander had complete elementary schools in barangays
Poblacion, Bunlan, Liloan, Kandamiang, Talisay and Pasil. A primary school
was also established in Liptong. In 1968, a rural high school was established in
Barangay Poblacion, right behind the municipal hall. Inspite of the establishment
of a secondary school, however, most children did not continue after the elementary
grades as they were lured into the muro-ami operations by friends, relatives and
even parents.
S A N TA N D E R 91
Summary
During this period in Santander’s history, the Abineses were clearly riding
a wave of dominance. With their participation and at times total control by the
1970s of almost all aspects of Santander’s economic and political life, the town’s
landscape was ostensibly an Abines landscape. Unfortunately for the Abineses,
all these would not last as the next chapter will show.
CHAPTER SIX
THE PEAK AND EBB OF MURO-AMI: 1986 TO 2001
General Context
T
he People Power revolution of 1986 ushered in various changes, especially
in the political scene. When President Corazon C. Aquino replaced Marcos,
the country was run as a kind of transition government. All government
officials from the national to the local levels were relieved of their positions and
replaced by officers-in-charge (OICs). The Department of Interior and Local
Government (DILG) under Aquilino Pimentel Jr. appointed OICs in every
province, town and barangay pending the passage of a new constitution later
ratified in 1987. Under this constitution, the first national elections for members of
the revived Senate and the House of Representatives were held on May 11, 1987.
Local elections for a new set of provincial and municipal officials then followed
on January 18, 1988. However, changes were confined to the political scene, as
Marcos’ economic policies were continued by the new administration until after
the ratification of the new constitution.
One of the political changes introduced by the Aquino administration was the
enactment of the Local Government Code in 1991 transferring significant financial
resources, responsibilities, and personnel from the national government to local
governments. These included the provision of basic health care from barangay
health centers to provincial hospitals; delivery of social services; agricultural
extension work and some environmental-management responsibilities. In
addition, the Code granted more power to local governments to generate their
own financial resources. The full implementation of this Code happened during
the presidency of President Aquino’s successor, retired AFP Chief of Staff General
Fidel V. Ramos. He was the former head of the Philippine Constabulary during
Martial Law but his defection from the government in 1986 was instrumental in
the People Power revolution. Ramos served as president from 1992 to 1998. His
S A N TA N D E R 93
presidency was known for the implementation of economic reforms intended

to open up the national economy, encourage private enterprise, invite more
foreign and domestic investment, and deregulation. He was succeeded by his
vice president Joseph Estrada, a popular movie-actor-turned-politician. Estrada
was mayor of the municipality (now city) of San Juan in Metro Manila during the
Marcos administration. In the 1987 national elections, he ran and won as Senator
and won as vice president in 1992. He was then elected president in 1998 but was
unable to finish his term because of corruption charges against him which led to
an uprising dubbed as People Power 2 in January 2001.
Although much has changed in the national political and economic scene, not
much changed in Santander from 1986 to 2000. Changes began to occur only in
the decade after year 2000.
Local Politics: Welcome to Abines Country

In Santander, Willy Wenceslao, a prominent local businessman not aligned
with the Abineses, was appointed as OIC mayor in 1986. However, since the
Abineses still retained their hold over muro-ami fishing operations - the primary
livelihood of the majority of the populace - political loyalty favored the Abineses,
as shown in their performance in both the national and local elections. Wenceslao
was defeated by Abines’ sister, Encarnacion Go, in the local elections of 1988.
Despite this, however, allegations of election fraud and terror hounded the
Abineses throughout their reign in the southern Cebu towns. In the 1987 national
elections, Apolonio Sr.’s son and heir apparent Crisologo Abines ran and won as
congressional representative of Cebu’s second district, serving the maximum of
three terms until 1998. While he was congressman, his sister, Encarnacion Abines
Go, was elected mayor of Santander for one term (1988-1992). His wife, Priscilla
Opsima Abines, was elected mayor for the next two terms (1992-1998) while his
son, James Arnold was elected mayor for the next term (1998-2001). Oslob and
Samboan politics were likewise dominated by the Abineses with Crisologo as
mayor of Samboan from 1998-2001, his brother Emiliano as mayor of Oslob, and
another brother Regino as Oslob’s vice mayor. The Abineses thus retained political
dominance in Santander and even expanded their clout in the entire second district
of Cebu, which also includes the towns of Argao, Dalaguete, Alcoy, Boljoon, Oslob
on the south-eastern part, and the towns of Alcantara, Alegria, Badian, Dumanjug,
Ginatilan, Malabuyoc, Moalboal, Ronda, and Samboan on the south-western side
of the island.
94 S A N TA N D E R
Their dominance is evident in the 1988 fiesta souvenir program where most
of the paid advertisements carried their names and the different businesses their
family was engaged in, including the ABC Super-Tinadahan, ABC Liner, ABC
Ferry Boat services, ABC Fish Traders Corporation, and ABC Drugstore. Also,
five of the nine-day novena nights preceding the fiesta celebration were sponsored
by the Abineses -- the families of then mayor Encarnacion A. Go, Congressman
Crisologo A. Abines, Apolonio A. Abines, Jr., Estudita Abines Dee, then Oslob
mayor Emeliano A. Abines and his vice mayor, Regino A. Abines. One night was
sponsored by the maestros and fishermen of the Santander group of the muro-
ami.1
Allegations of massive election fraud and terror during elections have
repeatedly been hurled against the Abineses. Pre-election preparations include
their attendance in meetings of local public school teachers, registering muro-ami
fishermen from Negros Oriental in Santander, offering free rides on ABC buses for
local residents,2 and giving large donations to schools and churches.3 On election
day, the Abineses allegedly saturated the municipalities of the district with armed
goons to supervise vote-buying, threaten and drive away party leaders, poll
watchers and voters identified with their political opponents, and interfere in the
casting, counting and canvassing of votes at the precinct level.4 There was a case in
which C-CIMPEL volunteers including a priest and a nun were harassed by armed
goons inside the precinct of a mountain barangay because they tried to safeguard
the ballots. However, the Abineses told the mass media that it was the priest and
the nun who were harassing the Abines supporters.5 Cases of politically-motivated
killings as well as harassments of non-supporters have also been attributed to the
Abineses over their years in power.
With the continued economic crisis inherited by the Aquino administration from
the long dark years of the Marcos dictatorship and the lack of job opportunities at
the local level, people in Santander continued to rely on muro-ami fishing as their
primary source of livelihood. It was also a lucrative business for the operators
and was a good way of ensuring the political loyalty of local residents. The Local
Government Code implemented in 1991 further provided the Abineses with
more local power and discretion over agriculture and fisheries, environmental
management, health, and social services. This made it more convenient for their
muro-ami fishing to continue its operations, even amid issues and concerns raised
against it. Furthermore, Crisologo as congressman was vice chairman of the House
Committee on Natural Resources, and chairman of its sub-committee on Public
Lands. At the same time, he was chairman of the sub-committee on Fisheries and
S A N TA N D E R 95
Aquaculture under the House Committee on Agriculture and Food. He was also a
member of the House Committee on Transportation and Communications, Rural
Development and People’s Power and Participation.6 These positions he held in
the House of Representatives further safe-guarded his business interests.
The Abineses’ rule in Santander, Oslob and Samboan was described by political
scientist John Sidel as a “district-level dynasty” wherein wealthy and powerful
families maintained their economic and political hold over congressional districts
for a long period of time and passed these on, just like in a classical dynasty, to their
descendants. These families held political power as well as command over privately-
owned businesses. They allegedly used their political offices to accumulate more
wealth from government loans, contracts, concessions and franchises. There was
also strong suspicion that they used the local law enforcement agencies to employ
violence to protect and monopolize illegal businesses, defeat political rivals,
intimidate potential commercial competitors, and maintain discipline in their
various enterprises. Given these allegations, it would appear that they combined
the politics of patronage with the use of violence and intimidation to acquire
wealth and property, exploit workers, and mobilize followers during elections.7
Continued Operations, Competition and Complaints against

Muro-ami
The situation of muro-ami fishers in terms of living conditions on the ship,
payments of shares, and working conditions had always been an accepted reality
for those involved in the operations (see previous chapter). However, the strict
enforcement of the terms of employment would often cause the workforce to
resent the master-fishermen and not join the next operation. Despite this, those
who quit would still rejoin in succeeding operations for lack of better livelihood
options. The main area of discontent was always in the manner employed in
fiscal management and the amount that each fisher received. The sharing scheme
was apparently not well-explained, nor well-understood. The fishermen’s share
was reportedly too low, and they were not entitled to the bonuses which those
in higher positions enjoyed when the gross profit exceeded the target. Issues of
physical maltreatment by managers and harsh working conditions caused some
difficulty in getting new recruits.8 (This perhaps explains why the managers
expanded their areas of recruitment to nearby Negros Oriental.) These issues
later caught the attention of both the local and foreign mass media in the mid-
80’s, which paved the way for the investigation by government agencies on the
96 S A N TA N D E R
utilization of children in muro-ami operations and its damaging effects on coral

reefs. The inquiry eventually led to the banning of muro-ami fishing in 1989 by the
Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.
In the meantime, the Abines-Frabal partnership was dissolved as a result of
unresolved conflicts regarding fishing operations. The dissolution later caused a
temporary split between the Oslob-based Abines family and Crisologo Abines and
his side of the family. Apparently, Crisologo decided to continue operations on
his own through ASO Fishing Corp., while his brother, Emiliano, joined the new
Frabal firm, Unity Fishing Corporation (UFC), as its manager. The tension between
the two siblings was shortlived, however, because UFC later severed its ties with
Emiliano, replacing him first with Eduardo Miro (a former manager of Crisologo’s
muro-ami operations) and later by Eliseo Audiencia, also a former manager of
the Abines’ muro-ami. Since Abines had already covered the whole of Oslob,
Santander and Samboan in recruitment efforts, UFC focused on Negros Oriental as
its recruitment base where it organized ten groups that gave Abines’ ASO Fishing a
strong competition. UFC also provided an alternative sharing scheme which gave
fishermen 18% of the gross profit, which they divided among themselves based on
their rank and participation in the operation. This was done without deducting
one-third of the share for the operator, as was the earlier practice. Thus, some
swimmers and divers of the Abineses transferred to the UFC because of the better
deal. Since the Abineses held considerable power in local politics, the Frabal-led
corporation experienced harassment from local government officials during this
time. Audiencia had to hire a bodyguard, Pompeo Bureros, to ensure his safety.
Bureros was a former military officer who also served as UFC chief of security and
a recruiter for UFC’s muro-ami operations.9
Bureros was killed in 1999 while in Santander to recruit divers. Reports indicate
that he had gone to a cockfighting arena in Barangay Liloan, where Crisologo, his
bodyguard, Liloan Barangay Captain Jesus Cortes, and a policeman, Roque Paras,
happened to be. According to five witnesses, Abines and his bodyguards shot and
killed Bureros. The witnesses related that Bureros was pinned down by two of
Abines’ men, while another shot him allegedly on Abines’ orders.10 The National
Bureau of Investigation and the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas immediately
launched an investigation on the incident. Five days later, four of the five witnesses
backed out, while two of the suspects disappeared. The Office of the Ombudsman
nonetheless filed a criminal case for murder against Abines, alleging that all four
accused connived in the killing. The case, however, dragged on for almost three
years, and only Paras and Cortes were convicted.
S A N TA N D E R 97
The “New Muro-Ami” and Other Alternatives

The ban on muro-ami by BFAR, eventually led to the decline of fishing
operations of both corporations. Many muro-ami swimmers also gave up their
involvement in muro-ami in favor of other types of livelihood. Based on a study
by Olofson, Cañizares and de Jose (1991), twenty-five percent of them became self-
employed in their hometowns, either in fishing, farming or carpentry while seventy-
two percent were employed away from their hometowns. Common destinations
included Baguio, Manila, Leyte, Cebu City, Mandaue City and Mindanao. Most
of their new employment however, was still related to fishing. According to this
study, more than a thousand or roughly 70% of former muro-ami fishermen from
Santander went on to work in Navotas, a fish port near Manila where they used to
take their fish catch from muro-ami operations.11
A new fishing method locally called pa-aling was later introduced by fisheries
technicians of the Department of Agriculture to replace the use of stones tied at the
end of scarelines that damaged the coral reefs. This new method made use of air
bubbles generated through hoses from compressors on small “airboats”, to scare
the fish out of the corals.12 But according to those involved in the pa-aling, it was
just the same as the muro-ami method, the only difference being the absence of
stones to hit corals in scaring the fish from the reefs. The air bubbles had been very
effective in driving all sizes of fish from the corals into the fishing nets, and so,
the issue of depletion of fish stocks still remained.13 On the other hand, this new
method made use of fewer swimmers as compared to the old method resulting in
a reduction of workers on each fishing operation from around 350 down to 250
people.14
The Department of Agriculture regional office likewise implemented a program
dubbed as Livelihood Enhancement for Agricultural Development (DA-LEAD)
directed largely at muro-ami-dependent families affected by the ban. In line with
this program, the Municipal Agriculture Office was tasked to form a number of
associations ensuring that 70% of its members belonged to muro-ami-dependent
families.15 According to the municipal agriculturist, the primary beneficiaries
were displaced muro-ami fishers. . The MAO organized various fishermen’s
associations, farmers’associations, 4H clubs for the youth, and Rural improvement
Clubs (RIC) for the women. They needed to form themselves into associations in
order to avail of project loans.16 Each association’s membership would then choose
from available livelihood projects which the DA would support through provision
of a start-up loan and technical assistance. In Santander, a local businesswoman
98 S A N TA N D E R
initiated the organization of muro-ami-dependent families to avail of the DA-

LEAD project loan. She was elected chairperson of their association which had
meetings that led to the selection of hog-raising as their pet project. However,
this was disapproved by the DA office since the price of hog feed at that time was
too high. They were instead encouraged to shift to goat-raising and to attend a
seminar for that purpose. The association which had now decided on the goat
project however experienced problems which caused the project to fail. Among
these were problems on sourcing and purchasing the recommended goat breed,
transporting the goats, the onset of an unknown disease, and shortage of fodder
due to drought. Another DA-LEAD association in Santander undertook a hog-
raising project but only generated an average profit of two hundred pesos per
woman for six months of raising and selling two pigs each. Fifteen of their
twenty-five members were from former muro-ami-dependent households who
also worked part-time often as fish vendors. Pig-raising for them was more of
a backyard income-augmentation activity rather than as a primary source of
household income. Two other groups in Santander opted for seaweed-culture
projects. One group did so because a businessman from a neighboring town
promised to purchase the harvest at a reasonable price. The other group was
advised by the MAO to undertake a seaweed project because it was recommended
by the DA head office. Both groups however experienced problems with their
respective projects. Strong southwest monsoons affected their seaweed farms
thereby decreasing their harvest. Another problem was marketing, specifically
the low buying price of seaweed at the time of harvest. On the other hand, DA was
not able to provide sufficient and effective technical assistance to both groups to
make their projects successful. Because of the failure of these projects, association
members either joined the new muro-ami (pa-aling) or shifted to near-shore small-
scale fishing.17 According to the MAO, all seaweed culture projects implemented
were failures due to the typhoons that hit their crop. The failures likewise led to
the dissolution of the associations implementing such projects.
Despite the failures mentioned above, there were also successful projects
implemented in Santander. The Panaghiusa Fishermen’s Association in Liloan,
for example, undertook a sagiwsiw project which was successful. In fact, the
association became a provincial, regional and national awardee as “Outstanding
LEAD project”. Sagiwsiw is a type of fishing method which makes use of a net to
catch flying fish (locally called “balo”). The project provided the association with
fishing paraphernalia including a net and a pumpboat for fishing worth P160,000.
However, in 1996, they also experienced losses due to the fishing ban in municipal
S A N TA N D E R 99
waters of Santander and other neighboring municipalities. Another successful

project was the goat raising project of the Lower Looc Rural Improvement Club
(RIC). It also received provincial and regional awards as outstanding LEAD
project for the RIC category. This project did not require large capitalization as it
needed only a start-up capital of P40,000 to purchase the goats. The MAO likewise
organized a municipal 4H Club which implemented a sow-breeding project with
a capitalization of P75,000. It was also considered successful as it also earned a
national award as outstanding LEAD project under the 4H club category. As part
of the prize, its president, Glenn Joyohoy of Brgy. Looc was able to go on a trip to
Hawaii where he studied agriculture as part of an exchange scholarship program
of the Department of Agriculture.
Another project undertaken to improve agricultural production was the Multi-
Livestock Development Loan Program. This was implemented after the LEAD
program. The MAO also organized a municipal farmers’ association known as
the Santander Livestock Raisers Association which had more than forty members.
Each member was entitled to a bank loan of between P20,000 to P50,000 to buy a
cow. Levels of success varied widely across its members. Some were able to repay
the loaned amount while others defaulted.18 What is evident however here is that
there was a strong initiative coming both from the government and the people of
Santander to be weaned away from the destructive methods of fishing to which
they been accustomed for so long.
Church vs. State

The Abineses’ hold over economic and political power caused their dominance
to extend even to religious affairs. Such influence not only extended to determining
the date on which the fiesta should be celebrated but also to the extent of reportedly
pressuring the parish priest to refrain from providing religious services to their
political rivals. The Abineses allegedly pressured the parish priests to move
the fiesta date to coincide with the arrival of the muro-ami fishing expedition.19
While some of the parish priests succumbed to the pressure to avoid trouble with
the Abineses, Fr. Henrietto Visitacion, who was assigned to Santander in 1986,
refused to bend over to such pressure. In an interview, Fr. Visitation revealed
that the Abineses wanted him to provide religious services only to their political
allies, reschedule the fiesta date and reschedule the time of Sunday masses for
their convenience. He, however, refused and disallowed them to pressure him
into doing what they wanted. For a start, he did not accept the “bribes”, including
100 S A N T A N D E R
big donations, renovations, and other projects offered to him. This earned him the
ire of the Abineses.
Regarding the change of the fiesta date, a special assembly of the Parish
Pastoral Council (composed of the five officers and chapel presidents) was called
by the priest to decide on the matter, instead of deciding on his own. During the
assembly, the Abineses brought all their supporters with them to the church plaza
to pressure the parish priest. But Fr. Visitacion announced that only the officers
and chapel presidents would be allowed to vote and that all the other parishioners,
including the Abineses, could not vote in the assembly since they were already
represented by their chapel presidents. This angered the Abineses further having
been so used to priests who would conform to what they wanted. The assembly,
however, eventually went in favor of the Abineses and voted to change the fiesta
date to coincide with the muro-ami arrival.
Fr. Visitacion also started organizing Basic Ecclessial Communities (BECs),
which are groups of lay people organized by local Catholic churches to empower
local communities. According to him, the domination of the Abineses in almost
all aspects of Santander’s life was a very big problem that impinged on every
aspect of the lives of the local folks – economically, politically and socio-culturally.
The problem could not be abruptly solved as it needed total change in the way of
thinking and the way of life of the people of Santander. Fr. Visitacion avers that
he was merely just the one who planted the seed that led to the awakening of the
people regarding their situation which resulted in the eventual downfall of the
Abineses. 20 He conducted retreats and recollections along the BEC principles.
The whole parish was mapped out and cells (seldas) were organized in every
barangay. Each selda chose a leader who underwent training in leadership and
community service.21
His assertion of the church’s independence angered the Abineses so much
that they organized their supporters to stage a rally against Fr. Visitacion in 1989
for alleged irregularities and misconduct. They hurled accusations against the
priest to pressure the church hierarchy to replace him. Based on local accounts,
the protesting parishioners put up a picket line outside the church grounds with
placards and banners denouncing the alleged irregularities. The priest’s driver
was mauled outside the convent. During this time, there were no masses held in
church since nobody could go past the picket line. The priest also could not go
out of the convent because of the actuations of the protesters, some of whom were
armed.22 Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal then conferred with the Parish
S A N T A N D E R 101
Pastoral Council if they could ensure the safety and security of their parish priest.
They said they could not. And so upon the advice of the Cardinal, Fr. Visitacion
decided to leave the parish and accept an assignment elsewhere. For a couple of
months thereafter, Santander did not have a regular parish priest as there were
only visiting priests assigned every week to officiate the masses and administer
the sacraments. Those who visited the Santander parish for this purpose during
this time include, Msgr. Cayetano Gelbolingo, Msgr. Rommel Kintanar, Fr. Cocoy
Olmilla, Fr. Ben Nombrado, Fr. Willy dela Fuente, Fr. Botoy Rabusa and Fr. Luke
Inoc.
Fr. Frederick Malinao was eventually assigned to replace Fr. Visitacion from
1989 to 1995. Although he also had occasional conflicts with the Abineses, he
stayed out of any controversy. In fact, in 1991 he initiated the “reconciliation”
between the Abineses and the Wenceslaos by inviting them both to a gathering.
However, Fr. Malinao’s initiative was later used as political propaganda by the
Abineses in their 1992 campaign.23 Fr. Malinao also continued strengthening the
BECs established by Fr. Visitacion. He organized clusters of BEC cells to form
larger zones. Each zone chose a zone leader and in November 1990, they were able
to organize the BEC Executive Committee to help the priest in coordinating the
activities of the different zones throughout the parish. There were nineteen zones
for the whole parish at that time.
His successor, Fr. Maximino Villamor, who was assigned to the Santander
parish from 1995 to 2001, continued the strengthening of BECs in the parish and
four more zones were added to the existing nineteen. He likewise stayed out
of any controversy at first. However, when the parish priests of Samboan (Fr.
Henrico Gabutan) and Bato (Fr. Ildebrando Bohol), began openly expressing their
concern about political harassments and “water terrorism” by those in power, he
eventually joined his fellow priests in doing so. “Water terrorism” was a term
coined to describe how the Abineses applied their political power to harass those
who were not loyal to them, by disconnecting their potable water supply from the
Municipal Water Systems of both Santander and Samboan.24
The church, through the parish priests, finally took a stand against the
Abineses. According to Fr. Bohol, the Abineses were used to having newly-
assigned parish priests in areas under his control to make a courtesy call on them.
He, however, refused to do so when he was assigned to the San Sebastian Parish
in Bato, Samboan in 1995, and thus caught the ire of the Abineses early on. Like
Fr. Visitacion, Fr. Bohol was not on good terms with the Abineses as he refused
to follow their recommendations on religious matters. In the nearby Samboan

parish, Fr. Gabutan likewise caught the ire of the pro-Abines municipal council
because the electric fans which the council donated to the church were taken out
during the renovation of the church. This was apparently interpreted as a form of
political protest against the Abines-dominated council. Some parishioners were
then mobilized to stage a rally against Fr. Gabutan, on allegations of irregularities
in the parish. In 1996, it was Fr. Bohol’s turn to be accused by Crisologo Abines and
his allies of alleged misconduct and irregularities as expressed during a cultural
program before the fiesta there. Abines’s speech was tape-recorded by Fr. Bohol
and after a month he released it to the mass media. Furthermore, investigative
reports by media organizations regarding the reported water terrorism (see next
section) ensued. This further irked the Abineses. But these pockets of seeming
resistance also emboldened the local people to step up and speak out about the
rumored atrocities of the Abineses in their towns.25
Water Terrorism
With the majority of the municipal councilors as allies, the Abineses were able
to assert their power over the local people of Santander and Samboan by controlling
the municipal water systems of both towns. This was made possible in Santander
because of the formal establishment of the municipality-wide water system, the
Santander Waterworks System, in 1993 during the term of Mayor Priscilla O.
Abines. In Samboan, water meters were installed only in the houses of allies and
supporters of the Abineses.26 In Santander, the water supply of those who were
not Abines supporters were cut off. This practice was dubbed “water terrorism”
by the priests and the media, an apt term for the use of water as leverage for
gaining political support from the local people and to harass non-supporters.27 The
priests openly expressed their views against water terrorism and encouraged their
parishioners to let their voices be heard regarding the harassments that they were
experiencing from Crisologo Abines and his allies. The Samboan parishioners
even filed an injunction case against the municipality for water terrorism. As a
result, a congressional inquiry was conducted in 1998 regarding the case covering
not only Samboan, but also Santander. At first the Santander parish priest did
not voice out his opinions against the water terrorism of the Abineses, but since
Fr. Bohol and Fr. Gabutan were already openly expressing their stand, he also
had to make his stand on the matter. During the funeral for the former military
man, Pompeo Bureros who was killed by Abines’s men (see previous sections),
Fr. Villamor began openly expressing his stand against the Abineses. Because of
the heated situation, two police officers were assigned to provide security for each
priest. Despite threat and harassments, these priests remained steadfast in their
commitment to expose and oppose the alleged atrocities of the Abineses in the
southern towns of Cebu.
The Decline of the Abineses

With a number of former muro-ami workers shifting to other forms of
livelihood, the Abineses’ economic influence gradually declined. At the same
time, allegations of water terrorism, harassment and violence against the Abineses,
brought bad light into their political fortunes. With Crisologo already on his last
term as second district congressional representative, his wife Priscilla ran for
congress in the 1998 elections. There was never a worse time than this to be judged
by the ballot. Priscilla was soundly defeated by then National Telecommunications
Commissioner Simeon L. Kintanar of Argao town. However, the Abineses retained
their hold on local politics, with Crisologo winning as mayor of Samboan in the
same elections together with his son James Arnold as mayor of Santander. The
tide finally turned during the 2001 elections. Crisologo ran but lost to Kintanar
as second district congressman. James Arnold also lost to Wilson S. Wenceslao,
son of former OIC mayor Willie Wenceslao, in his bid for reelection as mayor of
Santander. Another son, John Carl, also lost to Peter John Calderon as mayor of
Samboan. In the 2004 elections, Crisologo ran for mayor of Santander against
Wenceslao and also lost while John Carl failed anew to unseat Calderon. These
losses signaled the end of the Abines influence in the southernmost towns of Cebu.
In the 2007 elections, the Abineses, through Crisologo’s children, once again tried
but failed to regain control of the towns of Santander and Samboan. Marybeth
Abines-Santos lost to incumbent Santander mayor Wilson Wenceslao while John
Carl lost to Raymond Calderon as Samboan mayor. Even James Arnold failed to
win a seat in the town council of Santander. Crisologo likewise lost to former Cebu
governor Pablo Garcia as second district representative.28
The decline of the Abineses was due in part to the changed economic, political
and socio-cultural landscape of Santander. For starters, the majority of the labor
force who were formerly in the thick of muro-ami fishing had been gradually
shifting to other forms of livelihood, including fishing, farming, construction work,
and employment outside the municipality. As such, they no longer relied solely
on the Abineses for their economic needs, thus breaking the bonds of patronage.
Since people were no longer dependent on the Abineses economically, they were
no longer obligated to give their political support to the Abineses during elections.
As a result, the Abines businesses gradually folded up, including their rural banks,
their lending institutions, general merchandise stores, bus lines and port facilities.
The final stroke was the purchase of the ABC Liner franchises and buses by the
Bacolod-based Vallacar Transit, operator of Ceres bus lines in November 2001.29
Population
As in previous periods, the population of Santander remained small, making it
one of the least populous of the 47 municipalities in the province. In 1990, Santander
had a population of 11,699. The year 2000 registered a population of 13,842. This
increase shows that the municipal population grew at annual rate of 1.59 percent
during the 1990-2000 period. Compared to growth rates of other municipalities,
Santander’s growth rate is actually one of the lowest in the province, much lower
than the national averages of 2.32 percent from 1990-95 period and 2.36 percent
during the 1995-2000 period. The lower growth rates of the municipality can be
attributed to the high out-migration rate prevailing in the municipality at that
time, which was mainly due to scarcity of economic opportunities.30 Even in the
earlier period from 1980 to 1990, intercensal population growth rate was only
6.58%, also one of the lowest in the province of Cebu at that time.31 Aside from the
muro-ami, there were no other big establishments in the municipality that could
accommodate its labor force.
Santander is considered an out-migrant municipality. Even as there are no
published data to verify the claim, a number of indicators point to this fact. One
indicator is the relatively low intercensal population growth despite high fertility.
Another indicator is the diminished number of younger people in the productive
working ages. Santander was also considered as one of the top ten municipalities
in the province experiencing high out-migration rates. It was estimated that as of
1990, Santander lost 22 percent of its male working age population and 14 percent
of its female working-age population because of out-migration. On the other
hand, the municipality of Santander is not an area that attracts large numbers of
people from the outside. .This is supported by the fact that less than 1 percent of
the total population are in-migrants.
The household population of Santander is distributed unevenly among the
municipality’s barangays. Much of the population is concentrated in Brgy.
Poblacion, an urban barangay, accounting for 17 percent of the municipality’s total
in 2000. Brgys. Talisay and Liloan account for 13 percent each. Talisay and Liloan
are the rapidly urbanizing barangays of Santander in terms of population size,
infrastructure facilities and economic growth.32 This may be due to the presence of
port facilities with ferry boats regularly plying the Cebu-Negros route. Although
these facilities were largely monopolized by the Abineses during their period of
dominance in the town, these still spurred economic activity in these barangays.
More economic activities were enhanced with the opening of these facilities to other
users after the decline of the Abineses. Thus, in terms of population growth rate,
the urbanizing barangays of Talisay and Liloan have surpassed Brgy. Poblacion.
Santander’s population density only showed a slight increase from 3.3 persons
per hectare of land in 1990 to 3.9 persons per hectare in 2000, at the municipal
level. However, the population densities of barangay Poblacion and the coastal
barangays of Talisay, Canlumacad, Liloan, Looc, and Pasil were relatively high
compared to the municipal average. This points to the fact that most of the populace
rely on fishing rather than on farming as primary livelihood.
Agriculture and Fisheries Production

The results of the 1991 Census on Agriculture and actual land use observation
show that 94 percent of Santander’s total land area is devoted to crop production.
The rest are classified homelot, meadow, fallow, forest, and other uses. Agricultural
land areas are planted to either temporary or permanent crops. Temporary crops
are those which are grown seasonally and whose growing cycle is less than one
year. Permanent crops, on the other hand, are those which occupy the land for a
long period of time and do not need to be replaced after each harvest, such as fruit
trees. For the crop year 2001, the municipality of Santander had an estimated total
production of 6,860 MT of agricultural crops. Among these crops, corn contributed
the biggest in volume of production with 49 percent or a total of 3,350.5 metric
tons. Mongo came second in production with 21 percent share or a total of 1410.5
metric tons. Other crops with significant contributions to the total agricultural
production include coconut with a total of 222.78 metric tons; cassava with 219.5
metric tons; and banana with 66.6 metric tons. The remaining 1,589.9 metric tons
of agricultural produce include fruit, root crops and vegetables. Brgy. Bunlan, a
mountain barangay which has the biggest land area of 581.86 hectares, had the
highest production which totaled to 1,493 MT or an equivalent of 22 percent of
the municipal total production. Two other mountain barangays, Cabutongan
and Kandamiang ranked second and third respectively in terms of volume of

production at 942 MT and 919 MT or 14 percent and 13 percent share.
Livestock raising in Santander is done on a backyard scale rather than on a
commercial scale. The Municipal Agriculture Office (MAO) estimated that in 2001,
Santander produced 44,291 heads of livestock and poultry. Poultry production
accounted for 64 percent, while swine raising accounted for 24 percent. Poblacion
and Bunlan had the biggest share in total livestock production with 17 percent
and 15 percent, respectively.
Fishing is generally pursued only within the municipal fishing grounds which
cover a narrow coastal shelf situated more or less one kilometer from the shoreline.
Nearshore fishing is being practiced throughout the coastal waters by most of
the households living in the municipality’s six coastal barangays. Fishermen
generally use small-scale fishing technologies. The rapid decline in aquatic
resources since the 1980’s has caused very low yields for subsistence fishermen.
In fact, some 386 fishermen who had been identified in the municipality recorded
only a total of 19 kilos of fish caught on a day-to-day basis which translates to an
average of only 0.05 kilo per fisherman. This also translates into an annual income
derived from fishing at only P2,644.00 per fisherman. This situation may have
been the reason why most fishermen had opted to join the muro-ami commercial
fishing operations. Despite Santander’s being the center for big commercial
muro-ami fishing operations, its local fishery production is not significant. This is
because muro-ami fishing was done outside the municipal fishing grounds, and its
production directly marketed in Manila. Santander was merely the headquarters
as well as the source for recruitment of fishers and divers.
Education
During this period, Liptong Primary School was upgraded into a complete
elementary school, bringing to seven the number of elementary schools in
Santander. Presently, there are still 3 barangays (Canlumacad, Cabutongan and
Looc) without elementary schools. These barangays are however located within
a reasonable radius from the nearest school facility. There is still only one
secondary school in the municipality located at Brgy. Poblacion. From a rural
high school, it was upgraded into a barangay high school, and later elevated to the
status of municipal high school. In 1993, the school was nationalized and became
the present Santander National High School. With its nationalization, the local
government unit acquired through donation a 15,188 square meter land area on
which three new school buildings were constructed, including the Technology and
Livelihood Education (TLE) building. From the old high school building at the
back of the municipal hall, they gradually transferred to this new location which
was more spacious and conducive for learning. In 1995, through the Countryside
Development Fund (CDF) of Congressman Abines, another two-story building
was constructed. Funding from the Department of Education which was accessed
in 1997 made possible the construction of three additional school buildings which
housed six more classrooms. The construction of new buildings expanded the
school’s services in terms of number of enrolees that could now be accomodated.
Elementary school pupils accounted for about 92 percent of children aged
between seven to twelve years old in SY 1999-2000. Students in secondary schools
however, registered only 47 percent of those in the 13-16 age brackets for SY
2001-2002. These school years showed a high participation rate in the elementary
level, although the completion rate is only 78%. Completion rate refers to the
number of pupils who have successfully completed elementary education up to
the sixth grade vis-à-vis the total number of pupils who started out in grade one.
This has also affected the participation rate at the secondary level which is seen
to be low. This means that most of those who had completed their elementary
education, no longer proceeded to high school. Generally, the low completion
rate in the elementary level and the low participation rate in the secondary level
are attributable to the large number of students dropping out during the cycle
and the lack of access to secondary education. A study conducted by the National
Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) points out that participation rates
are expected to decline as age increases and as the opportunity cost of time begins
to rise to enter instead into the labor market. Based on local accounts, it was quite
common for young people in Santander not to continue going to school as they
were enticed to join muro-ami operations that offered pay for their labor. Although
the pay was quite low by labor standards, to a young child this was already a large
amount and hence would rather work than to stay in school. Parents in muro-
ami fishing also preferred that their sons work with them in order to augment the
family income.
Summary
The period from 1986 to 2000 was the height of the Abineses’political and
economic rule not only in Santander but in the entire second congressional
district of Cebu. However, it also marked the decline of their power because of
a combination of factors in the political, economic, religious and socio-cultural

arenas discussed in this chapter. Changes in all aspects of the lives of people
in Santander began to take place with the decline of the Abineses – their source
of livelihood and their patron for a number of decades. These changes shall be
discussed in the next chapter, which will also tackle future challenges for the
municipality.
CHAPTER SEVEN
FUTURE CHALLENGES UNDER A NEW LEADERSHIP
Breaking Away from the Past

Mayor Wilson Wenceslao is now on his third term as mayor of Santander. He
became mayor when he defeated reelectionist mayor James Arnold Abines in the
2001 elections. In his reelection bid in 2004, he defeated the patriarch Crisologo
Abines who tried in vain to regain the political power he used to wield in the
town. Wenceslao also defeated Crisologo’s daughter, Marybeth Abines-Santos
in 2007. Though the Wenceslaos and the Abineses are long-time political rivals,
their families were once united with the marriage of James Arnold Abines to Janet,
sister of Mayor Wilson and daughter of former OIC Mayor Willy Wenceslao and
current Vice Mayor Marilyn. Janet’s show of support in a rally for her brother’s
candidacy instead of her husband’s at that time was very dramatic, and won more
votes for the Wenceslaos.
Because the Wenceslao administration came only after thirty years of Abines’
rule in Santander, it was met with the challenge of initiating political and economic
changes in the town and providing alternatives. Early in his term, for example,
the mayor said he would limit cockfighting to only one day in a week, instead of
almost everyday. In the first few months of his term as mayor, Wenceslao also
looked into various transactions and resolutions under the Abines administration,
including the operations and management of the Municipal Wharf in Talisay,
and the Municipal Water System, among others. It was a tedious process as
some municipal officials identified with the Abineses at first did not cooperate
with the new administration. From these investigations, it was learned that the
Abineses ensured that the Municipal Wharf be considered a private wharf owned,
supervised and managed by their family through Sangguniang Bayan Resolution
Nos. 105 and 108 enacted on May 23, 2001 and June 6, 2001 respectively. These
were passed and adopted by the Sangguniang Bayan during the last few days
of James Arnold Abines’ term as mayor of Santander. Upon assumption into

office of the Wenceslao administration, a civil case was filed by the Municipality
of Santander against the Abines spouses in order to regain control and ownership
of the Municipal Wharf which the Abineses had claimed to be their own private
wharf. After the court hearings lasting for more than a year, the court ruled in
November 2003 that the said wharf was owned by the municipality and ordered
the Abineses to turn it over peacefully to the new administration. They were also
ordered by the court to pay P20,000 per month computed from the time they took
possession and control of the wharf to when they turn it over to the municipality
of Santander under Wenceslao’s leadership.1
Another contentious case involved the operation and management of the
Sanayon Complex which was built using congressional funds while Abines was
still congressman of the Second District of Cebu. The land on which the Complex
was sited was found to be titled under the name of the Abines couple and that the
structure was built under a usufruct agreement. In this case, however, the new
administration decided to leave the resolution of the case to the new congressman
of the district, Simeon L. Kintanar, because the municipality had not allocated
funds from its coffers for the construction of the complex.
Starting Anew
During Wenceslao’s term, a Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP) for the
period 2002-2012 was formulated, adopted and approved for implementation.
The Sangguniang Bayan approved the Santander CLUP in its regular session
on February 27, 2002. This was based on the mandate provided under the Local
Government Code of 1991 as implemented by Executive Order No. 204 that local
government units formulate local development plans to ensure the development
of self-reliant communities and active participation in the attainment of national
goals. The Santander CLUP was formulated with the assistance of the ER&B
Consultancy. A public hearing was conducted on February 19, 2002, wherein the
majority of those who attended gave its approval to the plan 2
Santander today is classified as a fourth class municipality. Its major agricultural
products are corn, copra and cassava. Aside from agriculture, fisheries continue to
be a major source of livelihood for most residents. Several wholesale enterprises
and general merchandise stores can be found in the different barangays while the
activities in the port areas of Talisay and Liloan have spurred the opening of small
eateries and stores to cater to the needs of travelers to and from Negros Oriental.
Employment outside of Santander is also evident with former muro-ami fishers

working in commercial fishing vessels elsewhere. On the other hand, children of
ex-muro-ami fishers who were able to obtain a college degree are already working
either in Cebu City, Manila or abroad. According to a municipal official, after
the abrupt ban on muro-ami, people immediately looked for other livelihood
alternatives locally or elsewhere. This was a difficult period for the people of
Santander. Yet they see this period as a positive development since they are no
longer tied to a single political patron, and people have learned to strive hard
on their own.3 However, soil fertility has remained a problem in Santander and
continues to be the primary cause of low agricultural productivity. This is another
challenge to the new administration – to increase agricultural productivity.
Education
In Wenceslao’s three terms as mayor, his administration made possible the
opening of two new primary schools in Cabutongan and Looc. The school in
Cabutongan now offers primary education up to grade four; it was upgraded
recently and renamed the Cabutongan Elementary School. A new private school
which is owned and operated by the Cebu CFI Cooperative, Inc. was also established
in Looc in 2007. It is a satellite school of the Lyceum of Cebu, a cooperative-
owned, controlled and operated institution. It has a pre-school department
providing nursery and kindergarten education, a basic education department
providing complete elementary education and secondary level education up to
second year high school. These are certainly positive developments in the area
of education. However, the big challenge related to this issue is how to improve
school enrolment at least all the way thru high school. It has been shown earlier
that school attendance is directly related to livelihood opportunities in the town.
Therefore, unless concrete steps are taken to enhance local economic opportunities,
academic goals will continue to be negatively affected.
Improving Utilities
The old high school building located at the back of the municipal hall was
converted into a temporary public market for a time. By 1999, the permanent
Santander Public Market was finally constructed during the term of Mayor James
O. Abines. In the many years that the Abineses held political office in Santander, no
public market had been constructed, although an SB Resolution (Resolution No.
20 Series of 1993) had been passed to construct one. This resolution was approved
by the Sangguniang Bayan on April 22, 1993 to construct the Santander Public
Market in a lot owned by the Roman Catholic Church at the east side of the St.
Gabriel Parish. However, this was not realized due to resistance from the Catholic
church hierarchy. The main argument advanced against the choice of the site was
that a market place does not belong in church premises. The SB countered in the
resolution that the municipality does not have an available site for the construction
of a public market other than within the church premises. Some local observers
said that the real reason why the Abineses did not construct a public market in
Santander during their terms of office was because their family monopolized retail
trade in the town through their Supertindahan and therefore such a maket place
would constitute competition.
The Wenceslao administration on the other hand has deemed it necessary to
have a public market for the convenience of Tanonganons in procuring their basic
needs. Aside from a new public market, new roads were opened, specifically the
one linking Poblacion to the mountain barangay of Bunlan via sitios Tagaytay and
Canlabag. Existing roads were repaved or concreted.
Another major achievement of the Wenceslao administration was the upgrading
of the Santander Waterworks System, which was established by the Abineses
in 1993, in order to provide water services to all barangays in the municipality.
The Cabutongan Water Reservoir constructed in 2004 and the Poblacion Water
Reservoir, constructed in 2007, continue to operate and enhance the capabilities of
the municipality to provide potable water to all households. These infrastructure
projects were supported by second district representative Simeon L. Kintanar,
Cebu governor Gwendolyn F. Garcia, and by some senators. Non-government
organizations (NGOs) such as the World Vision Development Foundation, Inc.
likewise provided assistance in the expansion of the Santander Water System.
A reservoir was built in Sitio Kalunasan of Barangay Liptong in 2004 to provide
additional water for consumption in the different barangays of Santander. Another
reservoir was constructed in Sitio Alingatong in 2007 supported by the Philippine
Red Cross. This was unfortunately destroyed when flash floods hit Santander in
February 2009. It has been repaired though.
Tostado Festival and Tourism

Santander’s tourism industry has made significant contributions to the town’s
economy over the past few years. The municipality has become a fast-growing
diving destination in Cebu, and thus diving resorts have sprouted especially in the
coastal barangays. The most number of resorts are located in Liloan. It has a total
of twelve resorts, of which only one (Pebbles) is owned solely by Tañonganons.
Two other resorts (Alveon and Ocean Terrace) are owned by locals married to
foreigners; one (Eden) is owned by a Negros resident who is also married to a
foreigner; three are owned by Koreans (Kingdom Dive Resort, World Resort and
Gun Woo); three by Japanese nationals (Bonga Villa, Marine Village, Lubi/Talisay
Resort). There are two resorts in Barangay Looc. One of these, Tropical Paradise,
is owned by a Filipina from Luzon who is married to a Japanese national while
the other, ARC Camp, is a training center-cum resort owned by Gilbert Bureros,
a member of a Protestant denomination. These resorts cater mostly to foreign
tourists and scuba diving enthusiasts. A study on the coral reefs in Southeast Asia
reveals that the southern portion of Cebu, together with the southern portion of
Negros island and the island province of Siquijor, have an expansive coral reef
compared to other parts of the country. This makes Santander the logical choice
for scuba diving enthusiasts because of its accessibility to both Negros and Siquijor.
Another tourist attraction is the Tostado Festival named after the town’s
famous delicacy, tostado – a sweet, toasted biscuit made of flour, eggs and
sugar. The festival was organized to promote the tostado industry in the town
to other places. The Tostado Festival was launched in April 2006 in time for the
town’s fiesta celebration, but later became a centerpiece in a contest of dancing
contingents from the different barangays in 2007. The festival features dancers
demonstrating how to cook tostado through various dance moves such as batil
(beat), ligis (knead), hulma (form) and horno (bake). The grand champion for the
festival in 2007 was Barangay Talisay. Barangay Liptong won first place in the
street dancing competition in 2008. Like other festivals, the Tostado Festival was
designed by the organizers to attract tourists to Santander.
Santander was among the first to heed the call of Cebu governor Gwendolyn
Garcia for the different towns to launch their own local festivals. To show her
support for Santander’s festival, Garcia danced with their contingent during the
Sinulog 2009 grand parade in Cebu City. The governor said she chose to join the
Tostado Festival dancers to give Santander’s festival a chance to shine through the
Sinulog. Showcasing Tañonganon talents in an internationally-renowned festival
such as the Sinulog could be one way of attracting local and foreign tourists to visit
Santander. Indeed, tourism could be a viable option for Tañonganons to improve
their economic base. If this particular local resource is given focus by the local
government, this could translate not only into additional revenues for the LGU
but also provide a hefty source of income for the locals. Santander could become
a major tourist spot on the island of Cebu.
Religion
With the Abineses’ decline from both political and economic power in
Santander, a case was filed by the Catholic Church against the spouses Crisologo
and Priscilla to return a church lot on which their Supertindahan was built during
their heyday. The Catholic church, through its three parish priests from Santander,
San Sebastian and Samboan, had been instrumental in instigating the people to
work for change in these parts of the province.
However, parish priests in this town seem to have always been involved in
controversies. Fr. Jovencio Rabusa, parish priest of Santander from 2001 to 2006,
was accused by some altar boys of physical abuse and molestation. He was also
accused by former members of the parish pastoral council of physical and verbal
abuses against some parishioners.4 Informal interviews with the locals likewise
revealed many complaints against the way Fr. Rabusa dealt with the parishioners.
Allegedly, he was strict and would demand offerings either in cash or in kind from
the different chapel congregations. There were also allegations that, because of the
way he handled his parishioners, a number of Catholics had opted to convert to
other religions during his term as parish priest of Santander.5 However, in radio
interviews, Fr. Rabusa said he suspected that Mayor Wenceslao was behind these
accusations because they had a slight conflict over the building of a municipal
cemetery near the Catholic cemetery in December 2004. Mayor Wenceslao,
however, has denied involvement in the accusations hurled against the parish
priest.6 Cardinal Vidal replaced Fr. Rabusa with Fr. Ireneo Aronales who began
serving as parish priest of Santander in 2006 amidst the challenge for Santander to
find the balance in which the church and the state could work hand in hand for the
development of the town and its people.
The Gateway of Southern Cebu

Cuadro Alas Corporation, a corporation established in 2005, constructed a new
private wharf in Brgy. Liloan called Puerto del Sur which now operates five fastcrafts
plying the Santander-Sibulan route. Passengers bound for Negros Oriental are now
dropped off here by the Ceres Bus Lines. Currently, the Cuadro Alas Corp. has
four crafts each with a 70-80 passenger capacity and one new craft with a capacity
of 120 passengers.7 Although this is a private undertaking, it has contributed to
the growth of Santander as Cebu’s southern gateway. This brings the number of
ports serving the Cebu-Negros routes to three, in addition to the Municipal Wharf
in Barangay Talisay and the privately-operated port of the Pumpboat Operators
Association led by Municipal Councilor Candida Miparanum. Passengers of
vans-for-hire like GT Express are usually taken straight to the pumpboat wharf.
Currently there are twelve pumpboats plying the Sibulan-Santander route, seven
of which are owned by Councilor Miparanum, three by Sofronio and Matilde Baat,
one owned by Basilio Juguillon, while another is jointly owned by Miparanum and
Baat. Pumpboat passenger capacity ranges from 34 to 94 passengers depending on
the size of the boat. Travel time from Santander to Sibulan takes only around 15 to
20 minutes by fastcraft, and 20-25 minutes by pumpboat. This is very convenient
for frequent travelers from Negros Oriental to Cebu. Indeed, some Tañonganons
find it more convenient to go to Dumaguete City rather than to Cebu City for their
shopping needs, as it takes then a shorter time to travel. In contrast, it takes them
about three hours to go to Cebu City from Santander by bus.
In January 2008, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered the Cebu Ports
Authority (CPA) to build a new port in southern Cebu, specifically in Santander
town, as part of the Roll-on-Roll-off Terminal System (RRTS) project. The RRTS
is one of the four components of the Strong Republic Nautical Highway (SRNH)
launched in 2002 to bring down the cost of transporting goods from one province
to another. The order was endorsed by the Department of Transportation and
Communication (DOTC) through Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) General
Manager Oscar Sevilla who is also the CPA alternate chairman. Once it opens,
the port will provide standard facilities to connect Cebu to Negros Oriental.8
According to the barangay captain of Liloan, however, work on the unfinished
port has not yet started. This development, when completed, should offer new
opportunities for Tañonganons.
Flash Floods: A Challenge to Tañonganons

Heavy rains triggered by a low pressure area caused flash floods in Barangays
Pasil, Poblacion, Looc, Liloan, Canlumacad and Talisay in Santander affecting
around 250 families and damaging several roads and bridges on Saturday,
February 7, 2009. According to Mayor Wenceslao, residents of Barangay Talisay
heard an explosion (believed to be caused by a buhawi or watersprout) coming
from the mountains before the flash flood happened at about 2 p.m. that day. The
strong floodwaters dislodged boulders as big as multi-cabs, which blocked the
national highway.9
According to initial reports, the flood destroyed seven houses and damaged
17 others in three barangays – Liloan, Talisay and Pasil. It also destroyed a 100-
m stretch of road in Liloan, as well as the town’s water system which affected
the distribution of water supply to seven barangays. Damage to agriculture and
livestock was estimated at P1.5 million while damage to government infrastructure
and private properties was pegged at P10 million and P15 million, respectively.10
Cebu governor Garcia immediately visited the affected sites and distributed
relief goods to affected residents. Municipal officials likewise focused their efforts
on attending to the needs of the affected families and clearing operations. This
calamity, although limited in extent to the area affected, mobilized the town and
provincial planners to put rehabilitation plans on stream. This was, in a way, a
wake up call to aniticipate similar catastrophes that are likely to occur again in
the immediate future.11 Climate change affects all coastal communities globally.
Its effects have been manifested in the flash floods that hit Santander. This is the
greatest challenge currently faced by all coastal towns. Preparations must be made
to anticipate calamities brought about by climate change. This is particularly true
for Santander, which stands between two bodies of water – the Bohol Strait and
the Tañon Strait.
Summary
Tañonganons are faced with various challenges to bring the town of Santander
to a greater degree of agricultural productivity and socio-cultural development.
After more than thirty years of being dubbed as “Muro-ami country” and
“Abines country”, Santander’s challenge is to create an identity of its own that
highlights the beauty of its natural environment, its cultural heritage and its
people. Alternative livelihoods are also necessary to bring new hope for a people
so used to the muro-ami culture and lifestyle. Perhaps, one great advantage that
Santander could fully exploit is its strategic location which links the provinces of
Cebu and Negros Oriental. If this strategic advantage could be fully developed,
this could be Santander’s cutting edge for growth and internal development. Town
administrators and officials and future leaders should take on this challenge for
the betterment of the lives of the Tañonganons in the southern gateway of Cebu –
Santander.
ENDNOTES
1
Office of Population Studies. “Cebu: A Demographic and Socioeconomic Profile
Based on the 2000 Census.” San Carlos Publications, University of San Carlos.
2004.
2
Labrado, Paulino B. Historical Study on the Emergence of Urban Settlements
in the Province of Cebu, 1565-1898. May 1992.
3
P. I. Coast and Geodetic Survey of Panay, Negros, Cebu, and Adjacent Islands,
1906, Manila, Bureau of Printing.
4
Ibid.
5
Personal interview with Barangay Captain Rosalino Cepria, Leo Gealogo, and
Relando Puntual, Barangay Liloan, Santander, Cebu. August 4, 2009.
6
P. I. Coast and Geodetic Survey of PANAY, NEGROS, CEBU, AND
ADJACENT ISLANDS, 1906 MANILA, BUREAU OF PRINTING
7
Ibid
8
Personal Interview with Barangay Councilor Melvin Ciano, August 2009.
9
Rafols, Iñigo. History and Cultural Life of the Town of Santander, Cebu.
April 30, 1953
10
Barangay history document, Barangay Talisay, Santander, Cebu. 2009.
11
April 30, 1953
12
Personal Interview with Pacita Lobo Labuan and Rosalita Dinopol. August
2009.
13
April 30, 1953
14
Personal interview with Anita Joyohoy and Rolando Abiso, Barangay
Canlumacad, Santander, Cebu. August 4, 2009.
15
Ibid
16
Personal Interview with Saturnina Tano. August 2009.
17
There are stories that the word may come from the English “boneland” or a
place where bones were found, alluding to the location of the first primary
school that was established on an ancient cemetery. This hypothesis, however,
needs further study.
18
USC Office of Population Studies. “Cebu: A Demographic and Socioeconomic
Profile Based on the 2000 Census.” San Carlos Publications, University of San
Carlos. 2004.
19
Santander Comprehensive Land Use Plan 2002-2012.
20
GIS-generated data from Bureau of Soil and Water Management Soil Map,
Santander Comprehensive Land Use Plan, Chapter 3, pp. 10 and 14.
21
GIS-generated data from Bureau of Soil and Water Mangement’s Erosion Map,
Santander Comprehensive Land use Plan 2002-2012.
22
Herbert, P. and Milner, A. Southeast Asia, Languages and Literatures.
University of Hawaii Press: Honolulu, 1989.
23
Sidel, John. Capital, Coercion and Crime: Bossism in the Philippines.
California: Stanford University Press. 1999.
24
Malinao, Jeanette P. “Four Towns to Take Over Capitol’s Oslob
District Hospital”. Cebu Provincial Information Office. Sugbo, Online
Provincial News Center. June 27, 2008. (http://sugbo.cebu.gov.
ph/?Newsid=370&getwhatindex=2)
25
Santander Comprehensive Land use Plan 2002-2012.
26
Fenner, Bruce Leonard. Colonial Cebu: An Economic-Social History, 1521-
1896.
27
Ignacio Francisco Alcina, S.J., Chapter I, History of the Bisayan People in the
Philippine Island, 1672.
28
Scott, William Henry. Barangay: Sixteenth Century Philippine Culture and
Society. Manila: Ateneo de Manila University Press.
29
Jocano, F. Landa (ed). The Philippines at the Spanish Contact. Manila: MCS
Enterprises Inc.
30
April 30, 1953.
31
Ignacio Francisco Alcina, S.J., Chapter II: Concerning the Physical Characteristics
and the Ancient Mode of Dress Among the Bisayans, History of the Bisayan People
in the Philippine Island, 1672.
32
33
Ignacio Francisco Alcina, S.J., Chapter II: Concerning the Physical Characteristics
and the Ancient Mode of Dress Among the Bisayans, History of the Bisayan People
in the Philippine Island, 1672.
34
Ibid.
35
36
Ignacio Francisco Alcina, S.J., Chapter III: A Continuation of Material from
the Previous Chapter, also concerning their Finery, their Houses, Jewelry, and
Nakedness, History of the Bisayan People in the Philippine Island, 1672.
37
Ibid.
38
39
Ibid.
40
Enterprises Inc.
41
Ignacio Francisco Alcina, S.J., Chapter III: A Continuation of Material from
the Previous Chapter, also concerning their Finery, their Houses, Jewelry, and
Nakedness, History of the Bisayan People in the Philippine Island, 1672.
42
43
Alcina pp. 205-207.
44
Alcina, pp. 213-217.
45
46
Ibid.
47
Enterprises Inc.
48
Jocano, F. Landa. Filipino Prehistory: Rediscovering Pre-colonial Heritage.
Metro Manila: Punlad Research House Inc. 1998.
49
50
Ibid.
51
52
53
54
Sinopoli, Carla. Philippine Database. Michigan, USA: South East Asian
Studies Program, University of Michigan. 2002.
55
56
Vance, Lee W. Chapter on Cebu. Tracing Your Philippine Ancestors. 1980.
57
1896.
58
Ibid.
59
1896.
60
Warren,James F. 1981. The Sulu Zone, 1768-1898. Manila: New Day Publishers.
pp. 165-170.
61
Warren, James. p. 172.
62
63
Ibid.
64
April 30, 1953.
65
1896.
66
Ibid.
67
Velasco, Alfredo. La Isla de Cebu Ligeros Apuntes de Caracter General cebu.
El Boleten de Cebu 1892. pp. 28-29, 41.
68
69
Ibid.
70
Veneracion, Jaime B. Philippine Agriculture during the Spanish Regime.
71
Personal interview with Leonidas Buscato, July 18, 2008.
72
Personal interview with Adelaida Rindora, July 18, 2008.
73
De Bevoise, 1995 pp. 7-8, 11.
74
Estado General de los Pueblos del Arzobispo de Manila y los Obispos
Sufraganten 1886, pp. 65-66 in Fox & Mercader, Some Notes on Education in
Cebu Province, 1820-1898.
75
Velasco, Alfredo. La Isla de Cebu Ligeros Apuntes de Caracter General Cebu.
El Boleten de Cebu 1892. pp. 25-26.
76
Patronatos. Proyekto de presupuestos.
77
Labrado, Paulino masters thesis p. 127-128
78
Redondo, 1886, p. 47.
79
Errecciones de Pueblos
80
Ibid.
81
Vance, Lee W. Chapter on Origins of Munipalities and Provinces. Tracing
Your Philippine Ancestors. 1980.
82
April 30, 1953.
83
1896.
84
Ibid.
85
Cushner, Nicholas P. Spain in the Philippines: From Conquest to Revolution.
Quezon City Ateneo de Manila University. 1971. pp. 87-97.
86
Labrado, Paul masters thesis. P. 129-130.
87
Labrado, Paul. Pp. 136-148.
88
Errecciones de Pueblos.
89
Vertical file on Santander. Cebuano Studies Center, University of San Carlos.
90
Souvenir Book, Silver Jubilee of the Archdiocese of Cebu, 1934-1959.
91
Vertical file on Santander. Cebuano Studies Center, University of San Carlos.
92
Zacarias, C. B. Ang Santander Kaniadto ug Karon. Santander Fiesta Souvenir
Program 2000.
93
Souvenir Book, Silver Jubilee of te Archdiocese of Cebu, 1934-1959.
94
Parish records, Santander parish.
95
Fox & Mercader, Some Notes on Education in Cebu Province, 1820-1898.
Philippine Studies 9: 1. January 1961. p. 24.
96
Umbay, Phoebe Zoe Maria. The History of Women’s Education in Cebu, 1860-
1940: Its Impact on the Status of Women in Sugbuanon Society. A Master’s
Thesis. University of San Carlos. March 2000.
97
Fox & Mercader, Some Notes on Education in Cebu Province, 1820-1898.
Philippine Studies 9: 1. January 1961. p. 25.
99
99
Russel, C. Public Works, Past and Present in Cebu Province. Quarterly
Bulletin, Bureau of Public Works.
100
Arcilla, Jose S. An Introduction to Philippine History.
101
Cultural Heritage files of Councilor Jesusa Estano. August 2009.
102
103
104
Quisumbing, Jose R. The American Occupation of Cebu: Warwick Barracks,
1899-1917. p. 13.
105
Ibid.
106
Ibid.
107
CD1 – p 805 (1136 of 1339), Gaceta Oficial.
108
Quisumbing, Jose R. The American Occupation of Cebu: Warwick Barracks,
1899-1917. p. 32.
109
Rosenstock’s City Directory of Manila. Iloilo and Cebu. July 1 to December 31
1906.
110
Mojares, Resil B. The War against the Americans: Resistance and Collaboration in
Cebu; 1899–1906. Quezon City, Philippines: Ateneo de Manila University Press.
1999.
111
April 30, 1953.
112
Ibid.
113
Ibid.
114
Report of the Philippine Commission, U.S. War Department, Washington 1904
(Part 3:103, 207), 1905 (Part 1: 5, Part 3:161).
115
Public Works past and present in Cebu. Bureau of Public Works vol. 3 No. 3.
116
Kishiue, Akiko, et. al. The Transformation of Cebu City through the
Development of its Transportation Infrastructure (1521-1990). Journal of the
Eastern Asia Society for Transportation Studies, Vol.5, October, 2003.
117
Ibid.
118
Personal Interview with Siling Olmillo, 94 years old. July 18, 2008.
119
Personal Interviews with Isid Catubig, 96 years old; Piling Lozano, 89 years
old; Leonidas Buscato, 79 years old; and Alejandra Bureros, 90 years old,
August 18, 2008.
120
Weathersbee, Geo G. “Agricultural Conditions in the Province of Cebu,
Philippine Resources, III: 4 (Feb. 1912), 40-47.
121
Ibid.
122
Ibid.
123
Personal Interview with Adelaida Rindora, 101 years old, July 18, 2008.
124
Personal Interviews with Leonidas Buscato, 79 years old; Isid Catubig, 96
years old. August 18, 2008.
125
Personal Interview with Saturnina Tano, August 2009.
126
Official Roster of the Bureau of Education. Bulletin No. 25. 1906.
127
Araneta, Gemma Cruz. “Those Gabaldons” August 30, 2006 ( http://gabaldon.
blogspot.com)
128
Villalon, Augusto F. “Heritage Movement Restores Schoolhouses
Nationwide”, Philippine Daily Inquirer, June 2004.
129
Bureau of Public Works Quarterly Bulletin Vol. 2 No. 1. 1912.
130
Bureau of Education. School Buildings and Grounds. Bulletin No. 37. 1912.
131
132
Personal Interview with Piling Lozano, 89 years old. August 18, 2008.
133
Personal interview with Leonidas Buscato, July 2008.
134
April 30, 1953.
135
Personal Interview with Piling Lozano (August 2008), Leonidas Buscato (July
2008), and Alejandra Bureros (August 2008).
136
Miller, Jack. Asia Society’s Focus on Asian Studies, Vol. II, No. 1, Asian Religions,
pp. 26-27,
Fall 1982. Copyright AskAsia, 1996.
137
Mojares, Resil B. The War against the Americans: Resistance and Collaboration in
Cebu; 1899–1906. Quezon City, Philippines: Ateneo de Manila University Press.
1999.
138
April 30, 1953.
139
Cannen, Lee. Balbino Luzano (1855-1907): The First Filipino Martyr of the
Christian Faith. Unpublished article. 1998.
140
Personal Interview with Lilia J. Bustillo, resident of Brgy. Looc. August 2009.
141
Philippine Reprtos Volume 13, p. 290, “U.S. vs. Fr. Perez, et. al.
142
Salgado, Pedro V. (1985) The Philippine Economy: History and Analysis.
Quezon City: R.P. Garcia Publishing Co., Inc. pp. 31-32.
143
Sidel, John T. (2000) Capital, Coercion, and Crime: Bossism in the Philippines.
California: Stanford University Press. p. 117.
144
Olofson, H., Cañizares, B. and de Jose, F. (2000). A People in Travail I: Labor
Relations History of Veteran Muro-Ami Fisherfolk in the Central Philippines.
Philippine Quarterly of Culture & Society Vol. 28.

145
Personal Interview with Cesar Pintac, Santander, Cebu, July 2008.
146
Kintanar, Thelma B., et. al. (2006) Kwentong Bayan: Noong Panahon ng
Hapon Everyday Life in a time of War. Quezon City: University of the
Philippines Press. p. 570.
147
Morton, Louis. United States Army in Word War II, The War in the Pacific,
The Fall of the Philippines. 1952. (online book at http://www.ibiblio.org/
hyperwar/USA/USA-P-PI/). Date accessed: November 17, 2008. p. 498.
148
Ibid. p. 501.
149
Segura, Manuel F. (1975) Tabunan: The Untold Exploits of the Famed Cebu
Guerillas in World War II. Cebu City: MF Segura Publications. pp. 33-34.
150
hyperwar/USA/USA-P-PI/). Date accessed: November 17, 2008. p. 501-502.
151
Guerillas in World War II. Cebu City: MF Segura Publications. p. 35.
152
Segura, Manuel F. (1992) The Koga Papers: Stories of World War II. Cebu
City: MF Segura Publications. pp._____.
153
hyperwar/USA/USA-P-PI/). Date accessed: November 17, 2008. p. 502.
154
Segura (1992), op. cit. pp._____.
155
April 30, 1953. p. 4.
156
Personal interview with Vicente Vasaya, a child-messenger of the guerillas
during World War II. December 8, 2008.
157
Guerillas in World War II. Cebu City: MF Segura Publications. p. 35.
158
Rafols, op. cit. p. 4.
159
160
City: MF Segura Publications. p. 97.
161
Personal Interview with Rolando Abiso and Anita Joyohoy, August 2009.
162
Personal Interview with Franklin Bustillo Sr., Brgy. Looc, Santander, August
2009.
163
Personal Interview with Leonidas Buscato, Santander, August 2008.
164
Personal Interview with Alejandra Bureros, Santander, August 2008.
165
Personal Interview with Saturnina Tano, August 2009.
166
April 30, 1953. p. 4.
167
Santander Veterans and Surviving Spouses. p. 205.
168
Flores, Anacleto Lumapas. World War II Memoirs of Southern Cebu:
Reflections on War Experiences. pp. 204-210.
169
City: MF Segura Publications. pp. 111-112.
170
Ibid. p. 154.
171
Ibid. p. _____.
172
Personal Interviews with Alejandra Bureros, Siling Olmillo, and Leonidas
Buscato, August 2008.
173
174
April 30, 1953. p. 5.
175
Personal Interview with Rolando Abiso and Anita Ciano Joyohoy, Brgy.
Canlumacad, August 2009.
176
Personal Interview with Luciano Buscato, February 2008.
177
Personal Interviews with Leonidas Buscato and Alejandra Bureros, August
2008; and Personal Interviews with Rolando Abiso and Anita Ciano Joyohoy,
August 2009.
178
Personal Interview with Costa Trasmil, December 14, 2008.
179
Personal Interview with Jesus Trasmil, December 14, 2008.
180
Personal Interviews with Isid Catubig, Siling Olmillo, Alejandra Bureros and
Leonidas Buscato, August 2008.
181
Salgado, Pedro (1985) The Philippine Economy: History and Analysis.
Quezon City. p. 34.
182
Schirmer, D. B. & Shalom, S. R. (eds) (1987) The Philippines Reader: A
History of Colonialism, Neocolonialism, Dictatorship and Resistance. p. 110.
183
April 30, 1953. p. 5-6.
184
Office File, Secretary to the Mayor, Juanita S. Miparanum, 1990.
185
Personal Interview with Cesar Pintac, March 2009.
186
Rood, Steven. http://www.asiasociety.org/publications/philippines/
decentralization.html. Date accessed: April 26, 2009.
187
Personal Interview with Marilyn Wenceslao, March 18, 2009.
188
decentralization.html. Date accessed: April 26, 2009.
189
Olofson, H., Cañizares, B. and de Jose, F. (2000). A People in Travail I: Labor
Relations History of Veteran Muro-Ami Fisherfolk in the Central Philippines.
Philippine Quarterly of Culture & Society Vol. 28. pp. 227-228.
190
Personal Interview with Eliseo Audiencia, December 14, 2008.
191
Olofson, et. al., op. cit., p. 229.
192
Sidel. John. Capital, Coercion and Crime: Bossism in the Philippines.
California: Stanford University Press. 1999. p. 119.
193
Sidel. op. cit. p. 117.
194
195
Van Oosterhout, Henk (1988) Child Labour in the Philippines: The Muro-Ami
Deep-sea Fishing Operation. Combatting Child Labour, edited by Assefa
Bequele and Jo Boyden. Geneva: International Labour Office. p. 113-114.
196
197
Van Oosterhout, op. cit., pp.- 114-116.
198
Van Oosterhout, op. cit., p. 111-113.
199
200
Sidel, loc. cit.
201
Ibid.
202
Personal Interview with Eliseo Audiencia (December 2008) and Marilyn
Wenceslao (March 2009).
203
Personal Interview with Paulino Villamor, December 2008.
204
Bureros, Erwin L. “Santander in a nutshell”, Souvenir Program 1988.
205
Van Oosterhout., op. cit., pp. 111-112.
206
Parish records, Santander Parish.
207
Souvenir Program. Silver Jubilee of the Archdiocese of Cebu 1934-1959.
208
Personal Interviews with Jesus Trasmil (December 2008), Leonidas Buscato
(August 2008), Condrado Villamor (December 2008)
209
Personal interviews with Eliseo Audiencia, Jesus Trasmil and Condrado
Villamor, December 2008.
210
Personal Interview with Isid Catubig, August 2008.
211
Sidel, op. cit., p. 120.
212
Group interview with Brgy. Bunlan officials. August 2009.
213
Personal Interviews with Leonidas Buscato, Luciano Buscato (July 2008), and
Eliseo Audiencia (December 2008).
214
Sidel, op. cit, p. 121.
215
Court Proceedings. Civil case OS-02-97.
216
Personal Interview with Sixto Abiso, Brgy. Talisay, Santander, August 2009.
217
Personal Interviews with Adelaida Rindora, Leonidas Buscado, Isid Catubig.
218
Personal interviews with Marilyn Wenceslao, Eliseo Audiencia, Leonidas
Buscato.
219
Personal interview with Annie Luyao, Municipal Agriculturist, Santander,
Cebu. August 2009.
220
Fiesta Souvenir Program of Santander, 1988.
221
Sidel, John p. 122.
222
Personal interview with Fr. Henrietto Visitacion, Santander parish priest 1986-
1989. March 2008.
223
Sidel, p. 122.
224
Personal interview with Fr. Ildebrando Bohol, San Sebastian parish priest
1995-2003. March 2008.
225
Souvenir Program, Santander Fiesta 1988.
226
Sidel, pp. 122-123.
227
Van Oosterhout, op. cit., pp. 117-119.
228
229
Sunstar Daily, August 01, 2007.
230
Olofson, Cañizares and de Jose. op. cit. pp. 241-242.
231
Ibid. p. 244.
232
Personal Interview with Eliseo Audiencia, December 2008.
233
Olofson, Cañizares and de Jose. op. cit. p. 245.
234
Olofson, Cañizares and de Jose. op. cit. p. 319.
235
Personal interview with Annie Luyao, Municipal Agriculturist. August 2009.
236
Olofson, Cañizares and de Jose. op. cit. pp. 322-347.
237
Personal interview with Annie Luyao, Municipal Agricuturist, August 2009.
238
Personal Interview with Fr. Henry Visitacion, February 13, 2009.
239
Personal Interview with Fr. Henry Visitacion, February 13, 2009.
240
Zacarias, C.B. Ang Santander Kaniadto ug Karon. Santander Fiesta Souvenir
Program. 2000.
241
Personal Interview with Leonidas Buscato, July 2008.
242
Personal interview with Marilyn Wenceslao, March 2009.
243
Personal interview with Fr. Brandit Bohol, February 2009.
244
Personal Interview with Fr. Brandit Bohol, February 12, 2009.
245
Personal Interview with Fr. Brandit Bohol, February 12, 2009.
246
Personal Interviews with Leonidas Buscato, Giovanni Villamor, Eliseo
Audiencia, 2008.
247
Sunstar Daily, May 16, 2007.
248
Cebu Daily News, September 5, 2007.
249
Municipal Land Use Plan.
250
Flieger, Wilhelm. Cebu: A Demographic and Socio Economic Profile Based
on the 1990 Census. July 1994.
251
Municipal Land Use Plan
252
Civil case No. OS-02-97, “Municipality of Santander, Cebu vs. Spouses
Crisologo and Priscilla Abines”, Regional Trial Court 7th Judicial Region
Branch 62, Oslob, Cebu. January 26, 2004.
253
Municipal Resolution No. 233 Series of 2002. Office of the Sangguniang
Bayan, Santander, Cebu.
254
Personal Interview with Eliseo Audiencia, December 2008.
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Errecciones de Pueblos, Philippine National Archives.
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THE HISTORY OF SANTANDER, CEBU

Book · January 2014

Zona Hildegarde S. Amper

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

ZONA HILDEGARDE S. AMPER

JOSE ELEAZAR R. BERSALES, PH.D.

The Provincial Government of Cebu

Research and editorial management of this project was carried out

The National Library of the Philippines CIP Data

Amper, Zona Hildegarde S.

DS689.S264 959.9523472 2014 P220120952

First Printing October 2014

Photos in the gallery were provided by the respective LGU.

HILARIO P. DAVIDE III

Cebu Provincial Capitol, Cebu City, August 19, 2013.

FR. DIONISIO M. MIRANDA, SVD

Chair - Hon. Gwendolyn F. Garcia

Hon. Victor A. Maambong

Cluster 1 - Erlinda K. Alburo, PhD

Sangguniang Panlalawigan Members (2013-present):

Hon. Agnes A. Magpale – Vice Governor

Sangguniang Panlalawigan Members (2010-2013):

Hon. Gregorio G. Sanchez, Jr. – Vice Governor (2010-2011)

Sangguniang Panlalawigan Members (2007-2010):

Hon. Gregorio G. Sanchez, Jr. – Vice Governor

INTRODUCTION: AN OVERVIEW OF SANTANDER 1

CHAPTER ONE. THE TAÑONG SETTLEMENT 23

CHAPTER TWO. FROM TAÑONG TO SANTANDER: THE

CHAPTER THREE. SANTANDER DURING THE AMERICAN

CHAPTER FOUR. SANTANDER UNDER JAPANESE OCCUPATION 61

PHOTO GALLERY 70-75

CHAPTER SIX. THE PEAK AND EBB OF MURO-AMI: 1986 TO

CHAPTER SEVEN. FUTURE CHALLENGES UNDER A NEW

1606 Tañong is established as visita of Boljoon

1848 Tañong becomes a visita of Oslob

1867 The town of Santander is created.

1897 The parish of Santander is established.

1903 Santander reverts to being a barrio of Oslob town.

1918 Santander is reestablished as a municipality.

1920 Muro-ami fishing method is introduced by Japanese fishers.

MARCH 1942 A Japanese plane crashes in the waters off Santander.

APRIL 1942 Japanese forces land in Cebu.

1944 A plane crashes in Barangay Canlumacad.

1945 Muro-ami fishing is revived by local fishers.

1945 World War II ends.

1968 Santander Rural High School is established.

1971 Crisologo A. Abines is elected Mayor.

1972 The Liloan-Looc Waterworks Association is established. (In

1973 The Santander Municipal Wharf is established

1986 Willy Wenceslao is appointed Officer-in-Charge (OIC)

1986 The Basic Ecclesial Communities (BEC’s) are established.

1987 Crisologo A. Abines is elected 2nd District Congressman

1988 Encarnacion Abines-Go is elected Mayor

1989 An Abines-led protest action occurs against parish priest Fr.

1990 A national ban on Muro-Ami Fishing takes effect.

1992 Priscilla O. Abines, wife of Rep. Crisologo Abines, is elected

1993 The Santander High School becomes a National High School

1993 The Sanayon Water System is established, with engagement

1993 The Sanayaon Complex is established.

1993 The DA-LEAD Project is established in Santander.

1998 James Arnold Abines, son of Crisologo Abines, is elected

1998 The parish priests of Santander, Samboan and San Sebastian

1999 Pompeo Bureros, an employee of a rival fishing firm of the