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March 27, 2024 23 mins

Carmina and Patch finally get their chance to dive deep into Antique since they first encountered it in Season 1. Their discussion reveals Antique’s 13th century origin and its significance to Philippine history thereafter. Learn about some of Antique’s prominent figures and their undeniable contributions locally and nationally. Finally, discover Antique’s delicious treats and many natural wonders that makes it another “must see” destination. 

 

Learn more: Krruuhaay! Katahum kang Antique – Dante Beriong, Kruhay | Utah State University Chorale | Chorale Music, Kruhay in Vienna Austria, Today in Filipino history, March 13, 1877, Leandro Fullon was born in Hamtik, Antique, Sagisag Kultura – Leandro Fullon, The New York Times, Published March 23, 1901: Panay Insurrection Ended, FilTrip S1, Episode 12: Semana Santa Edition-The Betrayal [time stamp 29:53], Diving org key to start industry, says tourism office, Time Magazine:, Published Feb. 24, 1986 Gangland Politics, Javier, Evelio Bellaflor, Evelio Javier Was 'Swifter Than Eagles and Stronger Than Lions', and A BRIEF HISTORY OF ANTIQUE | Facebook, Honoring the Martyrs of the Culasi/Bacong Bridge Massacre of 1981.       


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Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Carmina (00:06):
Welcome to Filtrip, a podcast where we explore
everything fun, weird, and inbetween about the Philippines.
Today's trip is a trip toAntique. Antique is spelled
like antique.

Patch (00:22):
Mm-Hmm .

Carmina (00:22):
A-N-T-I-Q-U-E. But it's Antique. And the reason
why we're talking about ittoday is because it's come up
in several of our research andepisodes in the past. So Patch
, do you remember us talkingabout antique and our Holy Week
episode from season one,

Patch (00:40):
? Uh, yes. And it had something to do with
your , uh,

Carmina (00:44):
Betrayal .

Patch (00:45):
It was your betrayal. So if you guys don't know what
we're talking about, pleaserefer to that episode. Its
season one

Carmina (00:54):
And we're going to link it in our show notes. The
timestamp where we specificallytalk about antique is 29 53
.

Patch (01:02):
It's very,

Carmina (01:04):
I really want them to listen to it, I guess

Patch (01:07):
. Okay.

Carmina (01:07):
So not only did we talk about it and come across
it in that Holy Week episode,we've also come across it
multiple times when we wereresearching various episodes
about Philippine independence.
And related to that, there wasa prominent figure during the

(01:27):
Fight for Independence fromSpain that arose from that
period. And his name is HeneralLeandro Fullon. He was born in
Antique on March 13, either in1874 or 1877.

Patch (01:43):
They don't have, I guess, actual record of his
date.

Carmina (01:47):
There's so many records, just different ones.

Patch (01:51):
.

Carmina (01:51):
So

Patch (01:52):
,

Carmina (01:53):
The sources that I found were conflicting. Right?
So some of them say 1874.
Others say 1877. Right?

Patch (02:02):
Well, hey , at least there's a record. I mean, we
all know the struggle.

Carmina (02:05):
He was appointed by Emilio Aguinaldo as Commanding
General in the whole of theVisayas region. And he
continued to serve the causeduring the Filipino American
War until he and his troopswere captured only a few days
after his birthday on March22nd, 1901. And this is so

(02:26):
cool. There was an article inthe New York Times about this
on that same day.

Patch (02:33):
Oh, why? Why was there an article?

Carmina (02:35):
Well, because the Filipino American War remember
was very controversial here inthe United States during that
time. But it earned a New YorkTimes mention .

Patch (02:45):
It means it's very significant.

Carmina (02:48):
Yeah 'cause it's , he was one of the last, I think in
the whole of the Philippines tohold out. Mm-Hmm.
. We're going to link that NewYork Times mention in the show
notes after the war. He wasappointed as provincial
governor of antique until hedied on October 16th, 1904. So
depending on which year youthink he was born, he was only

(03:11):
27 or 30 years old.

Patch (03:13):
Either way, very young.

Carmina (03:15):
I was curious why he died so young, but I really
couldn't find the cause ofdeath. Mm-Hmm. .
Anyway, that's just a shorthomage to General Leandro Folln
who was born on this month.

Patch (03:27):
So speaking about Antique, it has a very rich
history. In the first half ofthe 13th century Carmina, there
were 10 datus from Borneo .

Carmina (03:38):
We are going all the way back to the 13th century.
Wow. .

Patch (03:43):
Yes .

Carmina (03:44):
This is a testament to how strong the Visayan oral
history is.

Patch (03:48):
That's right. So 10 datus from Borneo fled the
harsh authority of SultanMakatunaw of Borneo . And so
they sailed to Panay. One ofthe datus was Datu Puti.

Carmina (04:03):
For those who don't know, there's a popular brand
of vinegar in the Philippines.
Datu Puti. And I never reallygot curious about who Datu Puti
was. I thought it was justbranding. So he's a real
figure.

Patch (04:17):
Apparently he was the leader of the ten datus that
arrived . Mm-Hmm. . They met the natives led by
Marikudo. And they chose topermanently dwell on the island
because they're fleeing rightfrom , um, the harsh realities
of Borneo .

Carmina (04:33):
So the indigenous tribe that they found on Panay
are called the Atti .

Patch (04:38):
Yeah. The ones that greeted the datus were
specifically the AtIs. Yes. SoMarikudo prepared for the
coming of these guests . Andthey even prepared a feast for
them. They were talking aboutpurchasing land from the Ati.
Datu Puti requested that thegold batoc or tropical headgear

(05:03):
and a gold batya or a washbasin be payment for the land
that they were purchasing. KingMarikudo was very agreeable to
this, except his wife QueenManiwantiwan refused the
purchase. She wanted somethingout of this and instead Datu
Puti persuaded, his wifePinangpangan to give

(05:27):
Maniwantiwan her gold necklacerather than the gold. But yeah
. So apparently this necklacewas really beautiful, very
ostentatious. The length wasfrom the neck down to the
floor. It was even described.
And this gold intricate.

Carmina (05:44):
This was portrayed by one of our fame Filipino
artists , Fernando Amorsolo inhis painting titled Barter of
Panay.

Patch (05:53):
Yes. And I remember seeing images of that painting.
So the natives agreed to this.
And at the very end of thedeal, the natives agreed to
just leave the premises andthey went higher in the
highlands because they didn'twant to deal with the pirates
in the lowlands, et cetera, etcetera . So the tattoos , they

(06:16):
settled on the land. But theinteresting thing is they
discovered huge anthills calledtic . And that's where the name
Hantik came from. Thateventually evolved into the
word Antique.

Carmina (06:34):
Patch . Two things that I find interesting. Number
one, there's a slightlydifferent story than I found
about the 10 datus. Okay. Imean the premise is the same.
They escaped tyranny. Right.
Datu Puti was a former ministerof Sultan Makatunaw, and he had
already been to Panay andthat's why he was the one who

(06:57):
led the expedition.

Patch (06:59):
Well that makes sense.
'cause they were not justsailing blindly.

Carmina (07:03):
Right. They had a purpose. Right. They knew where
they were going. And the storyabout the ants the same
actually, have you seen thoseants ? They're terrifying.

Patch (07:12):
No ,

Carmina (07:13):
Because we used to have them too in my province.

Patch (07:17):
Oh,

Carmina (07:18):
The stuff of nightmares, especially when you
found the anthill or if youaccidentally stepped on it.
That's it. Wow. Better beprepared.

Patch (07:26):
Thankfully, I've never come across them.

Carmina (07:28):
And there's black ones and red ones, and the red ones
are more terrifying

Patch (07:33):
That I know. The red ones always.

Carmina (07:36):
Anyway , sorry for the side story about these
ants. They're really big. Uh,so that part is the same about
the barter, though. There'salso a slight difference in
what I found. So Datu Putiapparently left. He went back
to Borneo for whatever reason,and he brought some of the
datus with him. The ones whoremained one of them, Datu

(07:59):
Sumakwel was the one that henamed head datu when he left.
So when Datu Sumakwel and theother datus explored the area,
they discovered these ants. Andeventually the remaining datus
divided the territory intothree Hamtik, which is now
Antique to be ruled by DatuSumakwel, which is now divided

(08:23):
into Aklan to be ruled by DatuBangkaya and IrongIrong, which
is now Ilo Ilo to be ruled byDatu Paiburong. In the version
of the story that I found, itwas Datu Sumakwel who bartered
with the indigenous natives toacquire Panay with gold and

(08:44):
that long gold necklace.

Patch (08:46):
Oh .

Carmina (08:47):
So the second interesting part is the
evolution from Hamtik toAntique . So when the
Spaniards arrived, the earlySpanish chronicler were
apparently influenced by theFrench and recorded the name
spelled as H-A-N-T-I-Q-U-E.

(09:08):
They pronounced it with asilent H because of the French
influence

Patch (09:13):
. Mm-Hmm.
.

Carmina (09:14):
But as we know now, it's pronounced as antique. So
have you come across theexpression Patch? No, I don't
think so. The parallel issomewhat like Aloha Kruhay is
from the local language,language, not dialect called
kinaraya. And Kinaraya isnative to the Panay island. And

(09:36):
in central Philippines it meanslong lived , but it can also
mean welcome or hello orgoodbye like Aloha. So in our
show notes, you'll see a linkto a tourism video by Dante
Beriong. And many people gotintroduced to antique through
this video. It's about 17 to 80years old. So the quality of

(09:58):
the film is a bit grainy, butthe beauty of Antica still
shines in it. Dante Beriong isa singer songwriter and is now
a public servant. And he helpedshape the OKM landscape. You
know how we call originalFilipino music? OPM ? Right?
Right. So there's OKM, whichstands for original Kinaraya

(10:21):
music.

Patch (10:22):
One of the things that makes antique special is its
indigenous people. And theindigenous people that speak
that language, they're calledthe Bukidnon, and they are
credited to having created someamazing rice terraces.

Carmina (10:40):
Yes. Uh , outside of the famous ones.

Patch (10:44):
Yes. Right. So these terraces are divided into four
fields and have been recognizedby the National Commission of
Culture and Arts, and are beingstudied extensively by our
local scholars. Local meaningFilipino scholars, specifically
from the University of thePhilippines.

Carmina (11:04):
I hope they find the real birth year of
genital food . Anyway, sorry, Icouldn't resist. Sorry. Back to
Kruhay. Yes. Along those lines,there's now also a well-known
song by the same title composedby Benny Castilian, which is
based on that folktale that wejust talked about, the ten

(11:25):
datus. And I've listened toseveral interpretations of this
song. It is so moving and theway it's arranged and the way
it's performed has become sopopular, even in the biggest
global choral competitions. Sothe second video you'll see in
our show notes is a choralinterpretation by the Utah

(11:46):
State University Corral thatwas conducted by Lawrence
Loriano , who is a FilipinoHawaiian, and was introduced in
this video as a master studentin choral conducting. Finally,
the last video you'll seelinked is an orchestral
interpretation by the ManilaSymphony Junior Orchestra in

(12:08):
Vienna. And it is as moving asthe choral interpretations. So
you were mentioning the riceterraces. There's another
interesting modern factoidabout antique.

Patch (12:20):
What did you come across?

Carmina (12:21):
It is being eyed as the next premier diving site in
the Philippines. Okay. Asbiodiverse at par with the most
known spot in the Philippines,which is called the Tubatahu
Reef in Palauan . Mm-Hmm.
. It's stillundiscovered because there
aren't any diving operatorsthere.

Patch (12:39):
Makes me nervous that they're gonna start developing
the area

Carmina (12:43):
The local government wants to because it is a huge
income generator in thoseplaces where diving is
commonplace. Now in thePhilippines, yeah. It's
described as a very virginaldive location. So for divers ,
that's really appealing. Andfor those who don't know, the
Philippines has been named theAsia's leading dive destination

(13:05):
five years in a row by theWorld Travel Awards. And it
beat Malaysia, Indonesia, andThailand for that title. But I
share your nervousness becausewith that comes damage right to
the local ecosystem.

Patch (13:19):
There are already several tourist destinations in
antique. There is the Malumpaticold springs, they describe it
as crystal clean waters flowingin the Ang River. There's also
Malalison Island, which issupposed to be very tranquil.
Also, described as paradisewhere you can immerse yourself

(13:43):
in local culture by staying inthe village. There is the
Bugtong Bato Falls, so anotherbody of water that you can
visit. And it is seven tiered ,can you imagine? Seven tiers of
waterfall cascading. Wow. Andthere's kayaking there and

(14:03):
amazing views. And then finallythere's the Kawa hot bath where
you can basically, I sawpictures of it. They look like
pots or huge cooking vessels.
Yeah . That you basically cookyourself . No , but I
wonder, it , theyinfuse it with aromatic herbs,

(14:26):
et cetera . Uh ,

Carmina (14:26):
That's so popular now across the Philippines,
apparently.

Patch (14:30):
Oh, really?

Carmina (14:31):
Okay . Yeah. And a lot of spas, you find this kawa
bath that Mm-Hmm .
, you know,that's what it's called
locally. It really makes mewonder what they cooked

Patch (14:41):
Before required . Right .

Carmina (14:45):
It to be a size that would fit a person

Patch (14:48):
. Mm-Hmm.
,

Carmina (14:49):
They probably like cooked whole cows or pigs in ,
in one of these things in thepast.

Patch (14:56):
We should put it in our long list of places to visit.

Carmina (14:59):
Imagine all these natural, you know, resources
that if it becomes like apopular thirst spot in the
Philippines, I just shudder tothink what would happen to
them. But I hope the localgovernment is thinking about
that. And as you were talkingabout this, it reminded me
about the very diverse terrainof antique, which is why it's

(15:21):
also called the place where themountain meets the sea.

Patch (15:26):
Oh, that's so beautiful.

Carmina (15:28):
And it describes it perfectly. Yeah. So the rice
terraces and all of thesebodies of water, it really
lives up to that name.

Patch (15:37):
Yeah. I, I really hope we can keep it pristine. And
when we do visit it Carmina, Ialso look at what their
traditional , uh, treats are.
, if you wanna know, ofcourse they include the bukayo
you remember those?

Carmina (15:52):
Oh my gosh, yes.

Patch (15:53):
Yes . So grated coconut cooked in sugar butong butong,
which is twisted sugar treat.
And then there is the bandi ngamani, which is their version of
peanut brittle.

Carmina (16:07):
There's another wonder. Mm-Hmm. .
Did you come across the St .
John Nepomoseno Church? So it'salso one of the favorite
tourist attractions in antique.
It's a historic Baroque RomanCatholic church, and it's
certified by the NationalHistorical Commission. So the
unique feature of this churchwas, it was generally

(16:30):
constructed of coral andstones. And the coral structure
is because it's only a fewmeters away from the shoreline.
So most likely the corals werecollected around the area apart
from its baroque architecture.
Another significant history ofthis church is connected with
the Aglipayan, who were theones who popularized that , uh,

(16:54):
tradition that we spokeabout in that Holy Week
episode. And we'll talk aboutthe Aglipayan church in another
episode because that is anotherreally significant part of our
history. This church was takenover by the Aglipayan in 1902
until it was returned to theCatholic church in 1908. And I

(17:16):
kind of bring it back to thatPatch about the Antiques
Revolutionary spirit.

Patch (17:22):
So speaking of the Revolutionary Spirit in
December of 1981, I meanDecember, you know, it's
supposed to be the month of ,uh, festivities and Christmas,
but a very tragic eventoccurred , uh, which is the
Bacong Bridge massacre. Over400 farmers and fishermen and
their families that gathered inprotest against the difficult

(17:44):
conditions during that time ofPrsident Ferdinand Marcos, the
farmers and fishermen, alongwith their children marched
towards the municipal hall.
Despite the presence of armedforces. As they crossed the
Bacong River Bridge, theyentered a barricade meant by
soldiers. And when tensionsescalated, shots were fired and

(18:08):
five people were killed on thespot. While seven others were
injured. The victims includedLeopoldo Anos, Aquilino
Castillo, Fortunato Dalisay,Remigildo Dalisay, and Joel
Ballenas Plaquino, despiteclaims by the authorities that
they were members of the NewPeople's Army evidence showed

(18:32):
that they did not provoke thesoldiers.

Carmina (18:35):
Yeah. Everything was being blamed on the communist
during that time. Right. Imean, the whole premise of
Martial Law

Patch (18:41):
Correct.

Carmina (18:42):
Was to quote unquote battle communism.

Patch (18:46):
That's right. So even today, the victims are
recognized as human rightsviolations. Victims and their
names are honored in the city.
And , uh, hopefully we don'tforget about them and other
victims of the Marital Law era,especially during these times.

Carmina (19:08):
And as another testament to Anti's spirit
during that era, EvelioBellaflor Javier is named as a
hero of Antique at 29 yearsold. He became the youngest
provincial governor in 1971when he beat a long t ime i n
convent by one of the largestmargins in Philippine political

(19:30):
history. And this wasespecially significant because
he won during martial law andhe was a vocal critic of it.
And yet the Antiquenos votedhim to a very decisive victory
after his term. He didn't seekreelection. Instead he went to
the JFK School of Government atHarvard University on a
scholarship in 1981 w hen NinoyA quino was assassinated in

(19:55):
1983, a value r eturn to thePhilippines. And he ran for a
seat in the Batasang Pambansa,which was the Martial Law
parliament as a representativeof antique right before the
elections, seven of hissupporters were killed in an
ambush, probably in an attemptto intimidate him. He continued

(20:18):
his bid, nevertheless, but helost due to election fraud,
which we know was rampant atthat time because it even
occurred at the presidentialelection level. Right? Mm-Hmm.
by this time hewas already receiving death
threats. But he neverthelesscampaigned for Cory Aquino
after he lost five days afterthe presidential elections on

(20:41):
February 11th, 1986. He wasassassinated in broad daylight.
Mm . Near where the electionreturns were being tallied in
his province. He was only 44years old. And his death was
said to have added to theoutrage that fueled the people
power revolution on his funeraland burial, millions of people

(21:05):
wearing yellow shirts andyellow wristbands followed him
to the cemetery while playinghis favorite song, the
Impossible Dream.

Patch (21:14):
You know, it's really sad that even to this day,
perpetrators of crime duringthose times and even recently,
have yet to face punishment.

Carmina (21:24):
But, you know, I was really impressed with the
Antiquenos throughout history.

Patch (21:30):
Same

Carmina (21:30):
Number one from the moment. Uh , it was born as a
formal settlement of those tendatus who were said to have
been fleeing tyranny throughthe Spanish colonial period,
and even during martial law. Imean, those were all difficult
points in our history. And yetthey showed immense bravery in

(21:53):
putting their faith and votesand courage behind people and
causes. 'cause even the churchthrough the Aglipayans, right?
And even if we're laughingabout it, that Holy Week
tradition is a very strongstatement.

Patch (22:08):
You know, if you are looking for a place with a
really rich and fascinatinghistory, together with
beautiful scenery, togetherwith amazing food and culture,
Antique is definitely worth avisit.

Carmina (22:23):
So in the spirit of Antique Kruhay Patch ,

Patch (22:28):
Kruhay Carmina .

Carmina (22:30):
And with that, that's our episode. We hope you join
us on our next trip, O siya,siya.

Patch (22:35):
Ingat. Thanks for listening to FilTrip with
Carmina and Patch. SupportFilTrip through Patreon or
PayPal. And follow us onInstagram and Twitter.
Subscribe at Apple Podcasts,Spotify, or wherever all
podcasts are downloaded.

Carmina (22:55):
Thanks to FIltrip sponsor Soul Pack . A
functional shoe accessory bag.
Visit the soulpack .com formore details.

Patch (23:04):
Email us at the filtrip @gmail.com .
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