Selected Source Documents on the History of Jaro, Leyte

Prof. Rolando O. Borrinaga, Ph.D.School of Health Sciences

University of the Philippines ManilaPalo, Leyte

A. Remarks at the Hermanidad Night

(This speech was read by Prof. Rolando O. Borrinaga at the Hermanidad Night for Jaro Fiesta 2010 on September 18, 2010. A shorter version was read as the Hermanidad Remarks at the Bituon han Jaro Contest Night on September 16, 2010.)

Honored guests, friends, ladies and gentlemen. Good evening.

On behalf of the Hermanidad for this year, the Grandchildren of Fortunato and Epifania Marmita, it is my pleasure to greet you on this evening’s affair.

Allow me to provide some historical context for the event we are commemorating this month – the Annual Fiesta of the town of Jaro. I understand that the crowd gathered here tonight are among those in the forefront of keeping and sustaining the tradition and culture of this town.

Before this place was called Jaro, there was Salug. The Jesuit missionary, Fr. Francisco Alcina, described Salug as a visita, which means a village with a church with no resident priest, of the nearby pueblo of Alang-alang. He recorded this in his manuscripts on the History of the Indios and Islands of the Bisayas, compiled in 1668.

Jaro was under the coverage of the Jesuit cabecera or headquarters in Carigara. From a visita of Alang-alang, it had presumably evolved into a separate pueblo by 1700. And when the Jesuits started to assign missionaries to pueblo-level residences by 1702, Jaro got its own first resident priest in Fr. Juan Caler. Over a period of 52 years between 1702 and 1754, Jaro had at least 12 Jesuit resident priests.

In the Jesuit Catalogis, which were written in Latin, its name was first written as “Xaro” with the letter X, which evolved into “Haro” with the letter H. It was always X or H as first letter that was used during the Jesuit years.

From 1702 until the expulsion of the Jesuits from the Philippines in 1768, Jaro almost always had a resident Jesuit priest, who even covered its mother pueblo of Alang-alang for at least a decade from 1718 to 1729.

Early in the previous century, then Judge Norberto Romualdez wrote about the etymology of the name of this pueblo. He said:

“In Bisaya, the natives call it Salog. Although Jaro is a Castilian word, it seems however that here it is no more than the Hispanized [version] of the Bisaya word salog. The differences of these two words can be explained: that the S of SALOG and the J in Jaro is more of a case of the variety of this philological phenomenon. We have the Castilian word jugar Bisaya-ized and transformed into sugal; the Bisaya name Sulug, Sulu in English, was transformed by the Spaniards into Jolo; and in some pueblos of Leyte, the Castilian name jueves [Thursday] was once pronounced as suebes. The conversion of the L in SALOG in the R in JARO is frequent in phonetics. The suppression of the G of SALOG was necessary to give a Castilian form to the word. I believe that in Bisaya we should adopt the original name that until now is used by the natives, and that is to write it as SALOG.”

The Augustinian friars who replaced the Jesuits in Leyte virtually ignored the work of their predecessors. In the case of Jaro, the Augustinians “founded” this as a pueblo and parish in 1772, as if it did not exist before, and assigned their own parish priest here. It seems the first Augustinian parish priest here, who also covered Alang-alang, was Fr. Agustin Maria de Castro. As a prolific chronicler, he wrote extensively about the transition years between the Jesuits and the Augustinians in Leyte, and put in a negative light whatever the Jesuits had left behind. On their part, the Augustinians established several municipal and barrio-level schools in Jaro.

In 1843, it was the Augustinians’ turn to cede the parishes of Leyte to the Franciscans. As a result, Jaro again lost its pueblo and parish status. This time, Jaro was demoted into a mere visita of Barugo, along with Alang-alang.

Over the next few years, the former pueblos-turned-visitas of Alang-alang and Jaro petitioned for the establishment of separate parishes from the Bishop of Cebu, who was a Franciscan. But their respective petitions were repeatedly opposed by the parish priest of Barugo, who cited various reasons, which were later belied by the civil authorities of the province.

Finally, on May 21, 1851, Bishop Romualdo Ximeno over-ruled the parish priest of Barugo and recommended the erection of the separate parishes of Alang-alang and Jaro, and of the fledgling Babatngon, which was separately endorsed to cover San Miguel and Malibago as its annexes separated from Barugo.

The Bishop’s recommendation was favorably endorsed by the Adviser-General of the Government on June 6, 1851 and the Decree to that effect was issued on June 20, 1851. This decree virtually re-established the official pueblo status of five places in northeastern Leyte in a single day.

Jaro was officially erected as a parish of and by the Diocese of Cebu on December 10, 1851, under the invocation of San Mateo Apostol. I suppose this was the third parish creation ceremony presided by three different religious orders – Jesuit, Augustinian, and Franciscan - over a period of 150 years.

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This is the historical context of Jaro as can be gleaned from documentary sources.

I hope this backgrounder helps to add meaning and significance not only to this evening’s affair but also to the entire celebration of our town’s fiesta this year.

May we all have a wonderful time this evening.

Thank you.

B. Photo-copy of Government Decree in the Philippine National Archives, dated June 20, 1851, segregating from Barugo the parochial administration of the towns of Jaro, Alang-alang and Babatngon

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Transcription of the Spanish text:

[Ma]nila 20 de Junio de 1851

En vista de la solicitud del Gobernadorcillo y principales del pueblo de Alang-alang, pidiendo sepa-rarse en la espiritual de su matriz Barogo en la prov[inci]a de Leyte, de lo informado por el Alcalde m[ay]or de la prov[inci]a y R. C. Parroco de la matriz, y con presencia de las podemas razones que me ha expuesto el Exmo e Yllmo Sor Obispo de Cebu acerca de la necesidad y conveniencia de segregar de dicho Barogo en cuanto a la administracion parroquial los pueblos de Jaro, Alang-alang y Babatngon, este con sus anejos Mali-bago y S. Miguel, pos las distancias que los separa-rarse su y de su matriz, y que se erijan en tres Curatos independ[en]tes de aquel, toda vez que cada una por se reune el suficiente numero de tributos para la congrua sustentacion de un Parroco y tie-ne tambien los edificios pueblos necesarios, a fin de que asi sean administrados y atendidos aquellos pueblos cual corresponde y se consiga la prospe-ridad y fomento que es de esperar; vengo de confor-midad con el parecer que antecede del Sor Asesor g[ene]ral de Gobierno en decretar por lo que respeta a mi autoridad la separacion espiritual de los tres expresados pueblos Jaro, Alang-alang y Babatngon, este ultimo con sus anejos Maliba-go y S. Miguel, erigiendose cada uno en Curato separade, e independente de la matriz, con Par-roco que lo administre, estableciendose la Parroquia del tercero en Babatngon. Comuniquese (?) este decreto al propicio S[eño]r Obispo, S[eñ]or Sup[erintenden]te, Alc[ald]e mayor de la prov[inci]a, y al M. R. P. Prov[incia]l de S. Franc[is]co. C[uy]a los fines q[u]e incumbe a cada autoridad, [unclear] desp[ue]s interpod[en]te?

(Sgd) Vibirtones (?)

English Translation by Prof. Rolando O. Borrinaga:

[Ma]nila June 20, 1851

In view of the application of the Mayor (Gobernadorcillo) and principal residents (principales) of the town of Alang-alang, asking to separate in the spiritual [administration] from their womb Barogo in the province of Leyte, [and] informed by the Governor (Alcalde mayor) of the province and [the] R[everend] Parish Priest of the womb, and with [the] presence of powerful (podemas) reasons, I have to present to the Most Exclusive and Most Illustrious Señor Bishop of Cebu about the necessity and convenience of segregating from this Barogo the parochial administration of the towns of Jaro, Alang-alang and Babatngon, the [latter] with its annexed [towns of] Malibago and S. Miguel, [by virtue of ] the distances that separate them [from each other] and from their womb, and that they be erected into three independent Parishes. [At] all times, each one [should] meet the sufficient number of tributes for the congruent sustentation of a Parish priest and [should] also have the necessary public buildings, so that those towns are administered and attended in a way that corresponds to the attainment of the prosperity and development that they had hoped for. I come in conformity with the

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antecedent view of the Señor Adviser-General of the Government in decreeing with respect to my authority the spiritual separation of the three expressed towns [of] Jaro, Alang-alang and Babatngon, this last [Babatngon] with its annexes (anejos) Malibago and San Miguel, each one being erected as a Parish separated, and independent from the womb, with a Parish Priest that administers it, and establishing the Parish of the third in Babatngon. Communicate this decree to our own Señor Bishop, Senior Superintendent, Governor (Alcalde-mayor) of the province, and to the Most Reverent Father Provincial of Saint Francis, whose ends concerns each authority, [unclear] later [unclear].

(Sgd) Vibirtones (?)

C. Item on Jaro Parish in: Pbro. D. Felipe Redondo y Sendino, Breve Reseña de lo que fue y de lo que es la Diocesis de Cebu en las Islas Filipinas (Manila: Colegio de Sto. Tomas, 1886). pp. 195-196.

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Transcription of the Spanish text:

239. Jaro. Erigido parroquia por el Diocesano en 10 de Diciembre de 1851, con la advocacion de San Mateo Apostol, siendo visita de Barugo. - Iglesia: de madera, techada de hierro galvanizado: de 50-1/2 metros de longitud, 15 de latitud y 9 de altura, en mal estado. - Cementerio: de estacada. - Casa parroquial: de tabla y tabique pampango las paredes y divisiones. - Pueblos limitrofes: Barugo at N. a 17 kilometros; al N. E. Alang-alang a 6 kilometros y al N. N. O. Carigara a 16 kilometros. Esta situado el pueblo de Jaro en el interior al N. de la isla de Leyte, tiene al S. el pueblo de Ormoc a siete u ocho horas de mal camino por el monte que sirve de paso a los de la costa occidental para ir a la cabecera per evitar el gran rodeo por el mar.

English Translation by Prof. Rolando O. Borrinaga:

239. Jaro. Erected as a parish by the Diocese on 10 December 1851, with the invocation of San Mateo Apostol, when it was a visita of Barugo. - Church: wooden, roofed with galvanized iron: 50-1/2 meters long, 15 [meters] wide and 9 [meters] in height, in bad state. - Cemetery: [fenced with] stakes. - Parish House (Convent): of tabla [flat boards], and its walls and divisions are of pampango [wood]. - Adjoining towns: Barugo to the north at 17 kilometers; to the northeast, Alang-alang at 6 kilometers; and to the north-northeast, Carigara at 16 kilometers. The pueblo of Jaro is situated in the interior north of the island of Leyte. It has to the south the pueblo of Ormoc at seven or eight hours of [hiking on] bad road across the mountain, which serves as a pass for those from the western coast to go to the capital [Tacloban] by avoiding the grand detour through the sea.

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