Philippine History: Chapter 5 - Should the town have been called Salvacion and not Victorias?

Chapter 5. Should the town have been called Salvación and not  Victórias?

Setting aside the connection to the Our Lady of Victory of the Battle of Lepanto in 1571 as discussed in Chapter 4 and after reading the 1953 compilation about the miracle, three questions came to mind:

One, should Capitana Tutang (or was it the priest?) have named the image 'Nuestra Señora de La Salvación', instead of 'Nuestra Señora de Las Victórias'? Why? Because she was saved; there was no fighting or hand-to-hand combat with her captors. It wasn't a victory; it was a salvation of sorts.

Maybe she was traumatized by the whole experience that she wasn't able to think straight after. Otherwise, Victorias City wouldn't be holding any 'Kadalag-an Festival'. Instead, it would be celebrating 'Kaluwasan Festival', which wouldn't sound like a festive event but a religious ceremony for condemned souls.😂

But then, Victorias has a 'Salvacion Subdivision' (named after Sra. Salvacion Ditching-Triumfo) in its Barangay 6 in the present time, which pretty much redeems Capitana Tutang.😊

Two, the legend says it was San Casimiro who stood behind the Virgin at the banca. I looked him up. San Casimiro or Saint Casimir (the only Catholic saint with that name) was a Polish prince whose images show him wearing a robe and is attributed with holding a lily and wearing a grand ducal hat. He was a pious character who died of tuberculosis, which means, 'robust' wouldn't be an adjective to describe his posture.

Saint Michael, the Archangel, on the other hand, was a fierce warrior of God who is holding a lance on most images of him. So, did the priest make a mistake in identifying Saint Michael, the Archangel as San Casimiro just because he was the patron saint of Malihao? 

In Marian apparitions, it is very rare that the Virgin Mary is accompanied by a saint. If ever she was accompanied, it was always with an angel or a group of angels like when she appeared to St. James, the Great on January 2, 40 CE at Caesaraugusta in present-day Zaragoza, Spain; she was accompanied by angels. (Read my blog about that story here). 

So, was it an honest mistake or was it deliberate? 

In those times when priests were more powerful than politicians, when education was scarce and most were hardly educated, and when access to information was controlled by those who governed, the story about the patron saint himself descending upon Daan Banwa to save it was a very big deal! 

Who would benefit from such story? Would this have increased the Sunday mass donations and more prayer offerings be made to the patron saint, not just from the people of Daan Banwa, but from the neighboring areas as well? 😕

(And is it just a coincidence that a prayer pamphlet of St. Michael Archangel - given by a friend years ago - is unexpectedly lying next to the printed 1953 compilation just when I am writing this chapter?).😇  

    (A prayer pamphlet for St. Michael Archangel)

Three, I initially wondered why is San Roqué, whose feast day is August 16, the current patron saint of Daan Banwa and not San Casimiro. When did this change happen? Does anyone from Daan Banwa know?😕

But thanks to a resident of Daan Banwa, I learned that the residents of Daan Banwa, after losing the old simbahan in that area, had to go to the present-day Our Lady of Victorias parish church located at the along the national highway and Magsaysay Street for Sunday masses. The San Roque Parish church in Barangay 9, or Daan Banwa today, is only 25 years old, having been built in 1994. When it was put up, San Roque became its patron saint.

So, when and why did the old Daan Banwa church disappear? Where was its old location? Does anyone know?

Chapter 6. Eliodoro Tongoy, Esteban Jalandoni, and Former Governor Melecio Severino saved the town in 1902

Complete history blog: "Ang Kasaysayan sang Victorias"