Antequera keeps basket weaving tradition alive

At the newly-built Antequera Municipal Hall, the Tourism Information Center looks like another office. It's actually a working art gallery of baskets.

In a community where the livelihood of most families is basket weaving. They wove baskets from native grasses and plants out of necessity since 1911. Before these baskets became art, they were tools.

BASKET WEAVERS in Antequera town keep an -old tradition alive through the 2^nd Basket Festival. Basket weaving is one important aspect of native culture for both practical tools and beautiful pieces of art. 

Leo Udtohan/Chronicle

"The people of Antequera have been keeping the tradition alive through a lot of hard work and a love of the process,” said Russel Villas, information officer of Antequera.

He also said that the weavers were not just ordinary weavers.

“All of the basket makers here in Antequera are artists," he said.

Weaving baskets is something Rodel Barace, 29, of barangay Obujan-Tagubaas, has been doing since he was a little boy.

He learned from her mother and grandmother, who used to sell baskets at Antequera and Tagbilaran markets.

He said it's more than a family tradition; it was a way of life, a livelihood.

Barace said that the basket he is weaving reflects his town, known as Bohol’s basket capital.

"This is what I am doing since I was young and I represent a community,” he said.

When the strong earthquake hit the province in 2013, Antequera was one of the severely damaged towns.  However, the quake had not stopped the residents from weaving basket.

The style of weaving is unique to the residents of Antequera. A family in Barangay Bicahan started weaving in 1911 with “ bukag,”  a big basket  as product.   Over the generations, different families have developed their own artistic flair.

“Through the years, we are making different styles and sizes,” said Barace.

THE MAJESTIC, grand and impressive Mag-aso Falls 

in Antequera town is a favorite summer destination. 

Leo Udtohan/Chronicle

Selling baskets and other handicrafts was a way of supporting the families. Before good roads attracted visitors to visit Antequera, residents then walked long distances to sell their family’s baskets. On foot, they travelled to Tagbilaran City, at least 18 km from their hometown.

Almost everyone in the town knows how to weave. You can visit houses and see their quick, skilled hands can pull strips of  “uway” and other native plants into the form of a basket and other native products in just a couple of hours. Bamboo, rattan, nito, buri, wicker, sig-id and other vines can be dyed and woven into native products such as hampers, lampshades, wall decors, furniture, fashion accessories and even animals such as duck, cat and tarsier, in all shapes and sizes.  

Last March 17, the town was celebrating the 2nd Basket Festival honoring the local tradition of basket making.   There was a display of their native products, street-dancing and a dance showdown at the town plaza.

“This is the second year of our celebration. In fact, it boosts the basket revenue of our town considering it has experienced a downfall in production in the market,” said Villas.

He also said that after the 1st Basket Festival, many suppliers contacted the tourism office to have their designs drafted and weaved by the local weavers.

Antequera Mayor Jose Mario Pahang said that the festival was an avenue to showcase their handicrafts to the world.  Councilor Lani Labado, tourism chair, said that the town’s native handicrafts are widely accepted in the world market.

The festival featured a street parade with participants in bright-colored basket themed costumes, dancing to the beat and rhythm of drums, trumpets, and native gongs.

This year, residents have noticed the newly-built town hall.

And weavers who have witnessed the festival were inspired to keep the old tradition alive.

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Incidentally, the dry/summer season has officially begun last Friday. Have you started writing your summer go-to checklist yet?  Why not going local? Bohol is one of the country’s top tourist destinations, after all.

While Antequera retains its glorious native products, it’s grand, impressive, crystal-clear water of Mag-aso Falls remains a favorite summer destination. It was destroyed by the quake in 2013 and typhoon Seniang in 2014 but Mother Nature has carved a new view of the falls. All summer long, Mag-aso falls is hard to beat.  Other interesting places to see are Inambacan Falls and Celing spring and fish spa.

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Thanks for your letters, all will be answered. Comments welcome at leoudtohan@yahoo.com, follow leoudtohan at Twitter /Facebook.

107-year-old Boholano credits God and malunggay for his longevity

Surrounded by children, grandchildren, great grand children and great great grand children, and the promise of more to come, Pedro Laquinta Samuya (Lolo Indong to his family and friends), a retired Boholano guerrilla warrior, teacher and municipal mayor turned 107 on Wednesday, June 17, and is nowhere near to slowing down.

Samuya might be the province’s oldest man, surviving mayor and world war veteran.

What’s the secret to his longevity?

“Mag-ampo ra. Kini karun santos ang sandiganan nako. Kana  Santisima Trinidad ug San Roque. Mao na gitug-an sa akong inahan nga debusyunan para makatabang nako ug para  walay panulay makasugal. Tinuod jud na (I always pray. My favorite saints have helped me especially my devotion to the Santisima Trinidad and San Roque. My mother told me to continue keep my devotion to help me through my hardships and to ward off devils),” said Samuya.

 

Pedro Samuya celebrates his 107th birthday
.-Photo by Joshua Fullido

Besides keeping busy, Samuya believes his diet has played a big role in getting to 107. He mainly consumes fruit, vegetables and fish. He likes poultry and seafood, but he rarely eats pork, beef and carabeef.

He credits a very special vegetable for his good health and longevity: horseradish tree or malunggay.

““Kamunggay jud ang number 1..perti ka sustansya na (Malunggay is the number one, it’s super nutritious),” said Samuya.

His youngest daughter Cecilia Samuya-Asoy,65, said that his father’s meal includes fish and law-oy (vegetable stew) with lots of malunggay leaves.

“Mao na iyang request kanang law-oy. Hilig na siya law-oy nga naay kamunggay, (He asks for vegetable stew in his meal. He likes law-oy so much with malunggay),” said Samuya-Asoy.

Samuya could still walk but lately he’s using cane for balance. He could still read without eyeglasses. And Samuya remained mentally sharp and still possessed what his children described as “amazing” long-term memory. He ably conversed with his grandkids, except he has to use a hearing aid to hear them better.

It's hard to image a world before television, radio, cars, or cell phones, but Samuya is alive to tell what Bohol was like in the early 1900s.

“Kining lugara kakahuyan pa ni unya daghan sagbut mga bugang nanubo diri. Walay usa nagpuyo pero dinilang ko mingpuyo, (This place (San Isidro town) had many trees and pampas grass trees sprouted naturally. No one lives here but I decided to settle down here,” said Samuya.

Pedro Samuya with the late Pres. Ferdinand Marcos when the former was chosen as
 the Most Outstanding Mayor of the Philippines in 1977. –Courtesy: Samuya Family

Samuya lives at his old house in San Isidro which was destroyed by the earthquake in 2013. He may be at his home, but that's not stopping him from getting some exercise.

He spends his days walking inside the house, seating in a small chair outside the house to look for passers and praying in a small chapel adjacent to his room.

He stays healthy and vibrant until he became a centenarian. Solitude may have its benefits, according to children. Samuya’s wife Tiburcia died on August 2, 2000 when Samuya was in his late nineties. But he didn’t remarry, instead choosing to keep himself busy in public service and other community activities.

“Mananggot pa na siya maskin 80 years old na siya para himuon niyang tuba (At 80 years old, Lolo Indong climbed coconut trees to collect sap from the palm’s flowers for tuba, a coconut sap wine),” said great grandchild Jaime Laquinta, 46. “Bag-o pa na siya dili na makaadto sa iyang baul (It is just lately that he could not visit his little farm).”

Samuya has without any serious illnesses or ailments. But the family was very anxious when Samuya injured in a fall and wounded his head two days after typhoon Yolanda in 2013 while walking in the terrace while raining, said Samuya-Asoy. He was brought to Catigbian District Hospital for treatment and he had to endure pain. He worried he wouldn’t be able to pray.

But as he recovered, Samuya kept praying and walking, Samuya-Asoy said.

Second world war veteran Pedro Samuya wearing 

his guerrilla uniform. Courtesy: Samuya Family

He fills his days with praying, walking and visits from family, including great-great-grandchildren.

“I just am thankful for every day that passes that I’ll be able to pray,” Samuya said. 

Samuya taught his children the life of prayer and humility.

“Iyang gibilin ni papa namo kanang ‘have faith in God, forget worries’. Mao jud nay kanunay gihatag sa iyang mga anak, (Father told us to have faith in God and forget worries),” said  Samuya-Asoy.

“Iyang pagkadiyosnon..gihatag niya mga anak niya.mao na iyang gipamatuto namo hangtud karun. Iyang pagkamatinud-anon sa pagservice sa mga tawo nga kinasingkasing nga walay kapin kun kulang, (He taught us to be prayerful. We saw him being sincere in his public service, how he served the people)” said Liliosa Samuya-Bahulay.

Pedro Samuya was born on June 17, 1908 to Dominggo, a farmer, and Matea, a housekeeper, from Antequera town.  He married Tiburcia Verdad Suaybaguio on Feb. 10, 1994 solemnized by Rev. Fr. Arnold Villas. They have four children who are still alive: Quirino, 71, a retired elementary teacher; Requillo, 69, a retired teacher and town mayor of San Isidro in Bohol; Liliosa, 66, a retired budget officer; and Cecilia, 65, a retired master teacher.

Now, Samuya has 18 grandchildren, 13 great grand children and 15 great great grand children.

Samuya taught automotive engineering at the Cebu Institute of Technology (CIT) in 1934-1940. He joined the Antequera Bolo movement during the second world war in 1942-1945. He taught elementary at San Isidro Central School in 1946-1966.

When barangay Agbun of Antequera (then became barangay of Catigbian town) was created into San Isidro town in 1969, Samuya was the first appointed mayor. He was also the first elected mayor from 1970-1980. 

The human life span has reduced drastically and we hardly 

see people surviving past 100 years. But for Pedro Samuya, 

he credits God and malunggay for longevity. 

-Photo by Joshua Fullido

In 1977, he was awarded as one of The Outstanding Mayors of the Year from the Philippine Life for “his outstanding local executive who has rendered distinguished and exemplary performance in the New Society.” In 1978, he also received the Defender of Good Government, Outstanding Mayor of the Year and Model Citizen of the New Society from the members of the Executive Development and Research of the Philippines for  his “performance in the field of education, health, peace and  order, social welfare and your effort in bringing up the ideals  of good government closer to the people.”

He also created the San Isidro High School for students would no longer study in the neighboring towns of Antequera  and Catigbian.  He also founded the senior citizens association in his hometown.

Little People & the Pedro Mountain Mummy and small people in Bohol, Philippines

I got an email from the YahooGroup about the little people of Wyoming. These people stand 20 inches to three feet tall. Small people indeed.

Here is the article written by Kathy Weiser in The Legend of America website:

Oral traditions of many Native American tribes, including the Arapaho, Sioux, Cheyenne, and Crow, tell of "little people” who stand from just 20 inches to three feet tall. In some tribes they are small people, wyoming, native americans, pedro mountains, tudtod, antequera, bohol, mummy, elves, fairies, leprechaunknown as "tiny people eaters,” in others they were known to have been spirits and healers, and some believed them to be magical, similar to leprechauns or fairies. In any event, the legends were well known among Indians across the nation, long before the Europeans set foot upon these lands.

To the Shoshone Indians of Wyoming , this small race of people were known as the Nimerigar and their legends told of the little people attacking them with tiny bows and poisoned arrows.

The Nimerigar were also known to kill their own kind with a blow to the head when they became too ill to be an active part of their society. Though part of the legend, this practice of sometimes killing the infirmed was a also a regular part of life for many of the nomadic Indian tribes

Though many believe these "little people” to be only the stuff of legends, several discoveries point to the contrary, the most significant of which, was a 14” inch fully formed mummy found in 1932. Called the Pedro Mountains Mummy, he was discovered when two men were digging for gold in the San Pedro Mountains about 60 miles southwest of Casper, Wyoming .

After continually working a rich vein and running only into more and more rock, Cecil Main and Frank Carr used dynamite to blast a section of the mountainside to get at the gold. After the dust cleared, a cave could be seen in the rock face. The small cavern was about 15 feet long and 4 feet high and had been totally sealed off from the outside world by a thick wall of rock.

As the men entered the cave they were surprised to see a small a pygmy-like man sitting cross-legged upon a ledge. The tiny mummy was only about 6 ½ inches tall in its seated position, and estimated at 14 inches tall in a standing position. Its skin was brown and wrinkled, its forehead low and flat, its features displaying a flat nose, heavy-lidded eyes and a very wide mouth with thin lips. The face looked like of an old man. It was so well preserved, its fingernails could still been on its hands and the top of its head was covered in a dark jelly-like substance that was still pliable.

The two prospectors took their find to Casper, Wyoming and in no time, scientists came from all over the nation to have a look at the mummy. Sure that it was a hoax, extensive tests were performed when the professionals assumed it was a pieced-together work of taxidermy. However, the anthropologists would soon be surprised to see that x-rays displayed a perfectly formed, manlike skeleton. The tests also showed that the mummy had been killed violently, as the spine was damaged, a collarbone broken, and the skull had been smashed in by a heavy blow. The soft substance at the top of the head exposed brain tissue and congealed blood. After the tests were complete, the scientists estimated that the mummy was a full grown adult who was approximately 65 years old at the time of his death. One odd finding was that its teeth were overly pointed, having a full set of canines.

These examinations were allegedly performed by the American Museum of Natural History and certified genuine by the Anthropology Department of Harvard University. However, alternate reports also say when the mummy was examined by the University of Wyoming , the body was found to be that of a diseased child. 






 
The mummy was displayed in sideshows for years, before it was purchased by a Casper businessman named Ivan T. Goodman. When Goodman died in 1950, the mummy passed into the hands of one Leonard Walder and eventually disappeared.

Other skeletons of the "little people” have said to have been found in other areas of the U.S. Near Cochocton, Ohio, a burial ground was reportedly discovered that contained the numerous remains of a pygmy race of people only about three feet tall. In 1876, another ancient graveyard was documented as having been discovered in Coffee County, Tennessee. The reports indicated the cemetery, covering some six acres, held the remains of thousands of dwarf like people.

Though the "little mummy” has been lost in history, it continues to be a scientific curiosity and to many, and to others, only the stuff of legends. Allegedly, the Pedro Mountains Mummy brought bad luck to those who possessed it and Native Americans continue to warn their people to be aware of the "tiny people eaters” who are still said to live in the mountains and high places of Wyoming .

As to the prospectors who originally found the mummy, they soon returned to continue their search for gold. They registered their claim in Carbon County as the "Little Man Mine" but it never produced the gold that they had hoped for. Today, a sign still stands in Shirley Basin that signifies the location of the mine.


In Bohol, Philippines, there're stories of tudtod, small people who lived somewhere in Antequera, Bohol, Philippines. However, there are no direct evidence to prove that tudtod once lived in Bohol.

The defunct Bohol Magazine (February 1999 issue) published a story of small people in Bohol.  The writer, Engr. Jes B. Tirol, talked about these small people who were not dwarfs or duwende but some mysterious beings which existed in Bohol. Stories of these small people called tudtod prompted the University of Bohol professor to conduct an in-depth research especially in Antequera, Bohol, where the story seemed originated.

People who saw these small people said that they are about 18 inches tall. They live or hide near riverbank. In order to live, they ate shellfish by cracking the shells with stones and eating the meat. They usually get out from their hiding places during the night and on moonlight nights they love to play along the dry portion near the river. Sometimes they venture to places away from the river.

Atty. Tirol had interviewed a Home Economics teacher of Antequera Central Elementary School. According to the teacher, sometime in 1960’s, she was surprised why her supply of biscuits in the HE Room were eaten or consumed since it was stored in a sealed container. They were thinking that cats or rats were the culprit. But cats or rats are not known to open the lid-cap of containers, so they tried to sprinkle white flour near the biscuits containers. The next morning, they saw the imprints of small feet, like that of children, with five toes, clearly marked on the spread flour. With the reported sighting of tudtod near the stream at the rear of the school, they concluded that it was the tudtod who entered the HE Room.

But Atty. Tirol didn’t dig much information because the people of Antequera are very secretive about the existence of the tudtod. Many were afraid to divulge what they learn because they believed the tudtod is very vindictive when displeased. Tudtods are said to be armed with small bow and arrows or small blowguns that are poisoned.

Aside of Antequera, tudtods are said to be sighted in Bilar, Bohol and Lila, Bohol. The report from Lila Bohol said that the tudtod laughed when it saw a naked man bathing in the stream.

This story of tudtod is an old story. Fr. Juan Felix de la Encarnacion had used this as an entry in the Bisayan-Spanish dictionary published in 1852. The Spanish definition can be translated as a kind of satyr, monster or demigod imagined by the superstitious and semi-Christians. It is said to have two teeth above and two below and it is very big and with an arm of stone.

Since the reported sightings of tudtod are numerous, Atty. Tirol said that it may be a kind of unknown nocturnal animal existing in Bohol. We know that the tarsiers, flying lemurs, salimaw and linaw (the last two are now extinct), are found in Bohol. Or may be a kind of animal similar to a monkey but without tail. Or there’s a probability that the tudtod are really small people existing in Bohol.
In fact if you travel to Europe, there are many people that still believe in elves or small people.

Leprechaun/Wikipedia

In Ireland, they have leprechaun (Irish: leipreachán). The Wikipedia saus, "Leprechaun is a type of fairy in Irish folklore, usually taking the form of an old man, clad in a red or green coat, who enjoys partaking in mischief. Like other fairy creatures, leprechauns have been linked to the Tuatha Dé Danann of Irish mythology.The Leprechauns spend all their time busily making shoes, and store away all their coins in a hidden pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. If ever captured by a human, the Leprechaun has the magical power to grant three wishes in exchange for their release. Popular depiction shows the Leprechaun as being no taller than a small child, with a beard and hat, although they may originally have been perceived as the tallest of the mound-dwellers (the Tuatha Dé Danann)."

Blue Trolls - These are worker trolls, used by high command elves for slave labor. Note: Small blue creatures have been seen by abductees that are used for workers for the 'Grays'.

Dwarfs - They are short, stocky and strong. They mature at the age of 3 and at the age of 7, they are old, bearded and gray haired. If they are struck by sunlight, they will turn to stone. They practice magical spells and potions that at times make them immune to daylight.

Elves - There appearance makes them look like a normal man or woman. Small in stature and have pointy ears. They are divided by the Seelie and Unseelie Courts.

Gnomes - Earth Elementals - They live underground and guard the treasures and history of the Earth. Gnomes are wonderful metal workers, especially of swords and breastplates.

Goblins - Goblins are an uglier species of fairy. They are small and malicious, and usually band together as they have lost their abilities to operate independently. Usually they are controlled by a Mage for evil doings.


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