The Victorias Catholic Cemetery: Honoring The Donors, Don Gonzalo Ditching and Doña Simeona Jingco, And Remembering Their Generosity

     (The entrance of the Victorias Catholic Cemetery)

In Chapter 27 of The History of Victorias, I was able to trace the journey of Don Gonzalo Ditching and his family from Fujian in China to Binondo (read blog here), although another chapter is planned to narrate the Ditching clan's journey from Binondo in Manila to Molo in Iloilo in the late 1890s, and finally to the growing town of Victorias in the northern part of the Negros Island in the Philippines in the early 1900s.

But since it's All Souls' Day and our Filipino tradition reminds us to visit our departed buried in the cemeteries, we must remember the benevolent donors of the land where the Victorias Catholic Cemetery stands today.

Of all hacienderos in Victorias in the 1900s, Don Gonzalo Ditching was the largest land owner with 500 to 700 hectares to his name, and according to his descendants, their great grandfather wanted to share his land with the people of Victorias, and one of these donations is now the Victorias Catholic Cemetery.

(The center of the Cemetery is where Catholic masses are held during All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day)

Before the creation of the Victorias Catholic Cemetery in the 1960s, the old cemetery was in the Malinong area in Barangay 7. Way back in 1934, a cemetery in the Malinong area was where all our departed in Victorias were buried. This must have been the origin of the name 'malinong', a Hiligaynon word that means serene or peaceful. During those years, after the requiem mass was said for the dead at the old Our Lady of Victory Parish church, the funeral procession would pass through the road (now known as Magsaysay Street) up to Malinong.

That time, Magsaysay Street used to be full of trees that were later cleared to create a dirt road that would serve as a path for a funeral procession from the church to Malinong. Yes, that was the original purpose of Magsaysay Street. This path was later named Magsaysay Street after President Ramon Magsaysay, who died on March 17, 1957 (read blog here).

But decades later, the cemetery in Malinong became too congested as the town and its population grew. They had to find a new site for another cemetery in the 1960s, and this was when the wishes of Don Gonzalo and Doña Simeona to donate a large piece of land that would serve as the final resting place for the departed Victoriahanon were finally realized.

Measuring about 19,813 square meters, the Victorias Catholic Cemetery was donated by the Ditching clan to the Diocese of Bacolod, and the Cemetery is now in the care of the Our Lady of Victory Parish. 

After clearing the land of trees and vegetation, the cemetery plan was drawn up, and the coffins, bones and sacred soil in the Malinong cemetery were transported to the new cemetery. If a family of the departed was not able to arrange for a new grave at the new site, those bones were put together in a common grave that is now called 'katilingban', meaning, a community. 

(The 'Katilingban' at the Victorias Catholic Cemetery)

In a public cemetery, a 'katilingban' is a small block of concrete where bones of the nameless dead from graves that had to be unearthed are buried. This is where you can light a candle for a departed whose grave or bones could no longer be located, or whose remains were exhumed and transferred to the common grave.

Before families visited their departed loved ones on November 1 or 2 every year, family members would visit the grave days before to have it cleaned or repainted white to prepare it for a proper visit by the family. Masses for the dead are held during those days at the cemetery.

With this huge land that he gave up for no monetary compensation, Don Gonzalo Ditching should be honored by the City of Victorias for this generosity of providing a resting place for the departed Victoriahanon. 

According to his descendants, this cemetery was not the only piece of land that he freely gave to the town as he was also the donor of the land where the Victorias City Hall and the Victorias Public Plaza stand today, and for this alone, he should also be given proper recognition. 

That claim of him being the donor of the land of the município and plaza is one thing that I could believe as I was able to disprove another claim of some people in position that it was Alejandro Acuna Yap-Quina who donated the land for the municipio and town plaza. The land that was donated by Alejandro Acuna Yap-Quin was located next to the Malihaw River as per the description of its exact  location narrated by the former mayor Esteban Jalandoni in his memoirs (read blog here). I have always believed that the donors of the land of the município and public plaza were the hacienderos who owned land that was situated near the current city center.

So, when we all visit the Victorias Catholic Cemetery to light candles for our departed, we also remember the kind Victoriahanon who donated the land where all of our departed are resting in eternal peace.

Madamo guid nga salamat, Don Gonzalo Ditching and Doña Simeona Jingco.🙏

(The marker inside the Our Lady of Victory Parish church remembering the generosity of the individuals who donated land and resources to the Parish)

(Read the chapters of Victorias History here).

#cemeteries #catholiccemeteries #publiccemeteries #undas #allsaintsday #allsoulsday #victoriaslgu #victoriascity #history #historian #philippinehistory #ditching #gonzaloditching

History That You Can Touch: 1821 Mexican Reales Coin Used In The Philippines During The Spanish Period

In the last history blog about old coins, I featured my 1898 US dollar coin. That coin was minted in the year when the Negrenses, the people of Negros island in the Philippines, successfully revolted against the Spaniards. That successful revolt is being celebrated every November 5 in the province of Negros Occidental as Cinco de Noviembre, a non-working holiday in the whole province.

After that successful revolution in 1898, the local officials of the small settlement of Victorias asked the newly installed government of the Republic Cantonal de Negros that Victorias be named a town and not just a mere barrio, according to the Memoirs of Esteban Jalandoni, the former secretary and mayor of Victorias. Their request was granted. This means that the year "1876" used in the official logo of Victorias City is wrong; it should be "1898". If there was any resolution or decree during the Spanish times that installed Victorias as a town before 1898, it must have been overturned in the years that followed because of the very low income generated by the settlement at Daan Banwa. For settlements that had bigger income and population, they were elevated to the status of a town. If they had poor income, they remained a barrio. This case could have been repeated in 1902 when the provincial officials again wanted to classify Victorias as a barrio, instead of a town because of its low income. But because of the intercession of former Negros Occidental governor, Melecio Severino, it stayed a town (Read Chapter 6 here). 

The earliest year that we could deduce from the stories narrated in the Memoirs of Esteban Jalandoni that proved that there was a settlement in Daan Banwa was before 1849 when there was a fatal stabbing incident in the Daan Banwa settlement. The narration of the crime did not include the year it happened. The crime had to be reported to Himamaylan, the capital of Negros Occidental at that time. It was only in 1949 that Bacolod became the provincial capital. The reason why the stabbing incident had to be reported to Himamaylan was because the Daan Banwa village was neither part of Saravia or Manapla. If it were, reporting it to the municipio of either Saravia or Manapla was enough, but since the incident had to be reported to Himamaylan meant that Bacolod was not yet the capital and that this stabbing happened before 1849.

These were specific events in the history of Victorias that came to mind when I held this 1821 coin. I wondered: how many families were already living in 1821 at the mouth of the river we now call Malihaw in an area we now call Daan Banwa? If there were, did these families come from Panay or Bohol, or other parts of the Visayas?

During the Spanish period, the coins used were from Mexico, the reales, and these coins were demoninated in 8-reales. The coins were brought to Las Filipinas via the Galleon Trade that started in 1565 until 1815. The Galleon Trade stopped because Mexico waged war against their Spanish colonizers to gain independence.

When this coin was minted, it was the year when the Viceroyalty of New Spain (Mexico was then called 'New Spain') ended its administration over the Philippines became Mexico achieved its independence from Spain on August 13, 1821. The Viceroyalty's supervision over  Las Filipinas started in 1565 when Miguel Lopez de Legazpi started its Spanish colonization. After 1821, the Philippines was governed directly from Spain until 1898, and this coin was used in the Philippines during that time as the currency.

This coin's obverse (front side) features the view from the right side of King Ferdinand VII's face and head with the words "FERDIN VII" for King Ferdinand VII of Spain, and "DEI GRATIA", meaning, 'by the grace of God'. The "1821", the year it was minted, is written below it. King Ferdinand VII reigned twice: in 1808, and 1813 until he died in 1833.

The reverse shows the words "HISPAN ET IND REX", meaning 'Spain and the King of Indies'. It also shows a crown over symbols of crowned lions and castles that are sandwiched by the two columns of Hercules that are wrapped by ribbons. The dollar symbol ($) which has two vertical lines wrapped by ribbons is said to have originated from this symbol.

This coin has some silver content and weights 27 grams. As the Mexican reales coin was widely circulated in Mexico, the Philippines, and other Spanish colonies in the Americas, this coin must have had changed hands thousands of times since 1821. From Hispanic merchants to Chinese traders and to peninsulares, insulares and indios, and even pirates, this coin's history is more interesting than its design and commercial value.

This Mexican reales coin was the last of its kind as this was minted while Mexico was still under Spanish rule. Starting 1822, Mexico minted its own reales as an independent country.

(PHOTOS of the 1821 Mexican reales coin were taken at the Victorias City Hall and Victorias Public Plaza.)

#oldcoins #oldcoinscollection #mexico #mexicanreales #Spanishcoin #Spain #Philippines #numismatics #history #historians #Philippinehistory #coincollecting #VictoriasCity #victoriaslgu #Negros

The Anti-Red Tape Authority: Our Experience And How It Works For The People

Two months ago, I attended the hearing of the Committee on Anti-Red Tape (CART) in my hometown. The hearing was convened based on the instruction from the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA), a body created by Republic Act No. 11032, that is "tasked to oversee and implement the national policy on ease of doing business and anti-red tape in the Philippines". ARTA is under the Office of the President of the Philippines.

The hearing was about my mother's complaint against a sitting city councilor who ignored our two requests to meet with her to discuss the implementing rules and regulations on the longevity ordinance that gives cash benefits to the elderly who are 80 years old and above.

My mother was turning 90 years old in September, but she could not receive the cash benefits of P15,000 for the elderly aged 90 to 99 years old due to the August 31 cut-off. These cash benefits were distributed during the Filipino Elderly Week on the first week of October. She would have to wait until next year to receive it, and so, we wanted to talk to the councilor who headed the committee for senior citizens about this. The city ordinance that authorizes the cash benefits does not mention any August 31 cut-off. This was what we wanted to discuss because, according to the CSWD staff, the implementing rules and revisions thereto were the responsibility of the councilor.

After a month of waiting for any action on our requests from the office of that councilor, we decided to use the law to remind this councilor of her duties as a public servant. 

Republic Act. No. 11032, officially titled, "An Act Promoting Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Delivery of Government Services, Amending For the Purpose Republic Act No. 9485, Otherwise Known as The Anti-Red Tape Act of 2007, and For Other Purposes", allows ordinary citizens like us to lodge complaints against lazy, incompetent and unfit public officials.

At the hearing, I asked the presiding officer how many times had the CART been convened to hear any complaint, and she said it was the first time ever this happened. So, there, my mother made history! 

The hearing was attended by department heads and representatives of some department heads, but, to our disappointment, the councilor who was subject of the complaint did not even bother to show up. I found this disrespectful to the us, the complainants, and to the Committee. She must have felt that she was above the law. (Now, she has the gall to run for councilor at the next elections!😡).

Filing a complaint at the ARTA can be intimidating as the process tests your patience and determination to see the complaint through. For anyone who loathes bureaucracy, it would test you. But, fortunately, I have the patience of a Tibetan monk and the determination of Carlos Yulo to stick a landing after a three-and-a-half twists at the floor exercise.

Also, the local mayor, who is the chair of the CART, did not attend the hearing. And as my mother's representative, I was surrounded by about 20 city officials and employees who were department heads, staff, a councilor, a lawyer, a cameraman and recorder, and maybe a few ghosts of dead mayors who wanted to watch and listen to my performance.😃  

I told the Committee that it was very disappointing that I could not ask the councilor about the things she wrote in her response to my mother. I also told the Committee that, modesty aside, I was a writer and have won writing competitions locally and overseas, and I knew how to dissect a letter. I told them that the letter-response had 916 words but none of them was 'sorry', or 'apology', or 'apologize', or even a 'salamat'.

The consolation we received was that the department heads and the male city councilor present apologized to us and admitted that my complaint was "an eye-opener" for them, and that they needed to conduct a seminar again for their staff to remind them about the real public service, and probably to be extra nice to me when my shadow appeared in the corridors of the city hall.😀 

They also promised to take actions to prevent this from happening again to other local citizens.😉

I really don't care if, now, there's a big 'X' mark on my back.But at least, we tested the system and it seemed to work.

Since the councilor did not attend, and did not even apologize, the case had no closure. And since there was no closure, ARTA asked us to prepare a sworn affidavit so that they could file a case against the councilor in the proper court.

But my mother was tired of all this bureaucracy, and we believed that it would be embarrassing to the whole city, and humiliating to the sitting mayor, the Sangguniang Panlungsod and the rest of the city hall employees because, if this case became news, people from other towns would think that we voted for public officials who were lazy, incompetent and useless.😡

Remember this "3-7-20 Day Rule" under the Republic Act No. 11032: 

• SIMPLE transactions/communications must be completed by the government office concerned within three (3) days;
• COMPLEX transactions/communications within seven (7) days; and
• HIGHLY technical transactions within twenty (20) days.

So, if you think any government office - national, regional, provincial, local, or even at the barangay level - ignores your request or communication, do file a complaint against them. Why? Because we deserve a better government!😋

                               * * * * *

This is the website of the Anti-Red Tape Authority where you can file your complaint:

https://arta.gov.ph/

The email address of ARTA for your questions:

Complaints@arta.gov.ph

#ARTA #antiredtapeauthority #redtape #goodgovernance #corruption #publicservice #publicservants #Philippines