I couldn't find any historical records, written or oral, as to how many times Daan Banwa, or the Old Victorias (of Negros Occidental, Philippines), became part of the neighboring Saravia or Manapla before Daan Banwa became a town.
But during those years when Google Maps or geodetic surveying was not available, only natural borders were used, and in the case of the Old Victorias the Jalandoni Memoirs mentioned that the Magnanud River was used or was going to be used as the boundary.
(A photo of one of Negros Island's
oldest towns, Ylog or Ilog)
(Photo credit: Vistas Filipinas por W. T. Bennett)
This is also the reason why the early name of Victorias was 'Malihaw', the name of the plant that was abundant along the Malihaw River. In short, the name of the plant was adopted as the name of the river that was adopted as the name of the old settlement. (I have googled this plant and still don't know how it looks like.)😆
The northern river that cuts across Victorias is Magnanud River over which Magnanud Bridge straddles (next to the private cemetery and Banggâ Daan). In the old times when it was just a barrio, Magnanud River was used as the boundary. Land on the south of the river was Saravia; the northern bank was Manapla. And based on the Jalandoni Memoirs, it was only in 1898 that Daan Banwa, or the Old Victorias, became a town.
Before 1898 (the year when the settlement was recognized as a town) and years after that, the leaders of Daan Banwa, based on the Jalandoni Memoirs, were:
1848 : "Tomas", no last name, was known to have been elected as the barrio leader when the governor who was then holding office at Himamaylan, the capitol of Negros at that time, ordered that the settlement (the site of Daan Banwa) declared a barrio of Saravia.
1876-1882 : Gregorio Conlu was elected on three consecutive terms. Assuming each term is two years. He was the barrio leader for 1876-1878, 1878-1880, and 1880-1882.
1882-1884 : Mariano Conlu, known as 'Uban' because of his gray hair. Mariano Conlu and Gregorio Conlu were not in good terms with each other.
1884-1886 : Pedro Miraflores, a native of Manapla. This was the time, Daan Banwa was part of Manapla.
November 1898 : The new leaders of the República Cantonal de Negros ordered that Daan Banwa be a town after the settlers petitioned, and Gabriel Montinola was appointed the town leader who would preside until an election was held.
1898 - 1901 : Guillermo Azcona was elected to succeed Gabriel Montinola who was only appointed.
1901 - 1902 : Eliodoro Tongoy was the town leader. I only assume the year following the dissolution of the República Cantonal de Negros in April 1901 in the early years of the American occupation.
But in 1902, the threat of relegation to being a barrio surfaced in Daan Banwa again.
On September 20, 1902, a Saturday, the town 'presidente' at Daan Banwa received an order from the provincial governor to attend a special assembly in Bacolod of all town leaders as ordered by Brigadier General James Francis Smith in Manila. (Brigadier General Smith was the military governor of Negros Occidental and the Visayas in the early years of American Occupation). The purpose was to announce at the assembly the names of the towns that had low income and would be relegated into barrios of adjacent town.
The town officials knew that, being a 4th class town with very low income, Victorias was going to lose its status and be reduced to a barrio. That's why on September 24, 1902, the day before the assembly, the town officials authorized its councilor, Sr. Segundo De Leon, the right to plead and appeal on behalf of the town. Sr. De Leon represented the town as its 'presidente', Sr. Eliodoro Tongoy, was sick at that time.
The 'assemblea' of town leaders held on September 25, 1902, a Thursday, was presided by the former provincial governor, Sr. Jose Agaton Ruiz de Luzuriaga, Negros Occidental. He was the provincial governor from May 1, 1901 to August 15, 1901, and was tasked by the Civil Commission to preside over the Negros Occidental assembly (Luzuriaga St. in Bacolod City was named after him).
At the assembly, Sr. Luzuriaga told Sr. Segundo de Leon that Victorias was to be reduced into a barrio and would be partitioned between Saravia and Manapla using Magnanud River as the boundary. Sr. de Leon voiced the protest of the townspeople of Victorias saying that, even though it was a 4th class settlement, the people and the town of Victorias lived on its own and could stand on its own without any outside help.
But Sr. Luzuriaga replied that this was the order of the Civil Commission in Manila, and if the people of Victorias could send a representative to plea their case in Manila, they should.
However, when they reached the mouth of the Malihaw River with one of their sails already up, a strong northern wind blew and tilted it sideways throwing all of them into the neck-deep, silty waters. They got wet and a little shaken.
But still focused on the important task at hand, Srs. Tongoy and Jalandoni decided to continue with the trip by boat, this time without the Chinese businessman who got scared and decided to take a drier path to Bacolod. He probably didn't know how to swim and was traveling to Bacolod to purchase some merchandise for his store in Daan Banwa, which meant he must have had a lot of money with him and didn't want to be buried with his wealth, figuratively and literally, in the sea in case of another mishap.😂
That time, a boat ride from Daan Banwa to Bacolod would take eight hours, and the passengers needed to have two changes of clothes and food with them as going back on the same day would be difficult. Luckily, their clothes did not get wet as their bags were hanging by the mast of the boat.
Upon arriving in Bacolod at around 11:30AM, they headed straight to Eliodoro Tongoy's parent's house along Calle San Juan where they had lunch and changed clothes. After eating and resting, at around 2:30PM, they headed to the provincial governor's office to carry out their main purpose.
There, they pleaded their case with the American-appointed governor, Leandro de la Rama Locsin, who told them that it was the Governor General's order, so it must be obeyed.
The two left the governor's office, forlorn and dejected but still with hope, and headed to the office of lawyer Antonio Jayme who told them the same thing. Sr. Jayme was the Secretary of Justice of the short-lived Republica Cantonal de Negros and was the vice-governor of Sr. Melecio Severino from 1899 to 1901, and would become the provincial governor in 1904 during the Insular Government of the Americans.
After that, they also dropped by the office of Judge Estanilao Yusay but the judge was out.
But as they were heading back to the house of Sr. Tongoy's mother along Calle San Juan, they happened to see Sr. Melecio Severino, the former governor of Negros Occidental, by the window of the house of Don Basilizo Villanueva, who was a brother of Sr. Severino's wife Felicitas Villanueva.
Although at first they hesitated to come up to the house, it was Sr. Severino's insistence that they eventually did. Little did they know that seeing the former governor was meant to be. The two miserable Victoriahanons, who had no luck with their mission in Bacolod until that moment, did not have any idea that this meeting with Sr. Severino would not just make their day; it would make their town as well, literally!
After explaining to the former governor their problem, Sr. Severino then told them that he could go to Manila and personally plea their case with the Brigadier General James Francis Smith who was a good friend of his when the American was assigned in Negros Occidental as part of the American military government. But in order to do this, he would need 500 pesos to cover his expenses on this trip to Manila.
Brigadier James Francis Smith, a lawyer, was the military governor of Negros. He arrived in Bacolod on March 4, 1899, and spoke Spanish, which he must have learned growing up in San Francisco and while studying at Santa Clara College. During his time in the province, he made good friends with the local politicians and influential personalities. Later, from 1906 to 1909, he was appointed as the Governor-General of the Philippines.
Five hundred pesos was a huge amount then. Although Eliodoro Tongoy was initially worried as to where they would get the amount, it was the optimism and persistence of Esteban Jalandoni that persuaded Sr. Tongoy that this idea could somehow work. Señor Jalandoni asked the former governor to give them three days to come up with the amount.
On September 30, at 3AM, as suggested by Sr. Jalandoni the day before, the two left Bacolod on a calesa towed by two cows. They instructed their two boatsmen to leave with the boat earlier as they would not be needed anymore. Sr. Tongoy and Sr. Jalandoni would be taking the dirt roads back to Daan Banwa (Old Victorias) with the purpose of passing by several haciendas of their friends to ask for help in raising the 500 pesos.
And these were the generous souls who contributed to their fund-raising, and to whom the Victoriahanons are forever grateful to:
1. Juan Ledesma (from the Silay area and who also served them breakfast at his hacienda): 50 pesos
2. Señor Alvarez (a Spanish gentleman): 25 pesos
3. Marcos Siana: 5 pesos
4. Felix Arceo : 100 pesos
5. Dionisio Luzuriaga and the Victoriahanons of Daan Banwa gave amounts ranging from 5 pesos to 20 pesos until the required amount of 500 pesos was reached.
The cause for which the amount was needed made it easy for them to convince everyone to help. Although it was a huge amount of money at that time, it was a small number compared to the townpeople's pride and honor that needed saving.
Immediately the next day, October 1, Wednesday, and with no time to lose, the Daan Banwa officials dispatched Sr. Bibiano Quiveces, a municipal staff, the next day to deliver the money to Sr. Severino in Bacolod, who then left for Manila the following Tuesday, October 7.
And after three weeks of anxious waiting, a telegram finally arrived at Daan Banwa with this message:
"PRESIDENTE MUNICIPAL VICTORIAS,CONSEGUIDO"
(To the Municipal President, Achieved).
The Victoriahanons of 1902 were then able to breathe a sigh of relief! The Governor General had spared Victorias from being divided and turned into barrios of Saravia and Manapla.
If there's one lesson I could pick up from this remarkable piece of Victorias history of 1902, it is Señor Esteban Jalandoni's admirable character of not giving up on his adopted hometown, believing that there was always hope in beating any challenge it faced.🙏
A debt of gratitude is also owed to Señor Melecio Severino who interceded on behalf of the people of the Old Victorias, and to the haciendados, businessmen, and ordinary townspeople who contributed to the fund.🙏
Chapter 7. Señor Alejandro Acuña Yap-Quiña donated a parcel of land for the new casa-municipal along the Magnanud River in 1906
Complete history blog: "Ang Kasaysayan sang Victorias"
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