SARIAYA, QUEZON … THE TOWN THAT HERITAGE BUILT By Eric J. Dedace Sariaya, the only Mount Banahaw town in both Laguna and Quezon provinces with a sea coast is one of the acknowledged heritage centers of Southern Tagalog. Accordingly starting out as a pagan community along the shores of Tayabas Bay, in what is now Barangay Castañas, Spanish Franciscan friars converted the early settlers into Catholic Christianity and founded a mission in the year 1599. A turbulent succession of natural disasters and the burning pillage of Muslim pirates said to be based in Mindoro led the fledgling community to transfer residence northwards and away from the sea at Barangay Bucal in 1641, and then to the so-called “Lumangbayan” third settlement at Barangay Tumbaga in 1703. In the year 1743, a said strong earthquake destroyed the belfry of the stone church, followed by a very destructive flood of water, mud and rocks from Mount Banahaw that obliterated “Lumangbayan” and forced the surviving settlers to travel northwards up to the lower slopes of Mount Banahaw. Finally, they accordingly chose an area flanked by deep river gullies that has a commanding view of the sea shore and laid the foundations of present - day Sariaya, in lieu of the turbulent experiences they had in the first 144 years of their existence. Sariaya is the result of four location transfers so described, that were brought about by these natural and man – made disasters, the blessings of its present geographical endowments that made it a self – sufficient community between the mountain and the sea, the changes in demography that placed it at the crossroads, where its peculiar brand of spoken Tagalog is the marriage between the lilting sing-song of the more easterly Tayabas (the old name of Quezon province) towns with that harsh intonation of nearby Batangas, and the strong influence of the Catholic church that spawned more acceptable versions of its inherent folklore and traditions. Old Sariaya is likewise the result of the traditional wide class divide between the rich landed gentry or the “Taga Gitna” who lived at the church-Municipio-town park center of town, that traditionally wielded power and influence as well as the much-needed patronage of the ever divisive and self - serving Spanish clergy, and the ordinary citizens who resided at the periphery of town and thus were then known as the “Taga Tabi”. Furthermore, the traditional “Sariayahins” were even divided into the “Taga Bayan” who lived in the “Poblacion” and their farmer tenants who resided in their big landholdings or “Bienes” to till them for measly gain and profit. During the heyday of the coconut industry in the pre war years of the 20th century, these almost sybaritic landowners became even richer that enabled them to hire the services of well known Manila-based and foreign trained architects, who renovated their traditional “Bahay na Bato” Filipino – Hispanic residences as well as old wooden Municipio into beautiful, fabulous and very graceful Art Deco style edifices full of exquisite Narra and “solehiya” – decorated Don Gonzalo Puyat furniture as well as imported European and American fixtures. To weave exquisite embellishments into the awesome woodworks, the opulent “Taga Gitna” even hired the excellent craftsmanship of the skilled “Kapampangan” and “Batangueño” artisans and carpenters who came here in droves, who later stayed on and married into the local population, thus further enriching the local demography. All throughout those fabulous prewar years, the elegant Sariayahins who traditionally intermarried among themselves to concentrate the old money so to speak, wielded their affluence and influence, held the reins of power, donated costly artifacts to the church, sent their children to famous schools and universities in Manila and even abroad and further institutionalized the costly May time Feast of San Isidro Labrador harvest thanksgiving to pay homage to their farmer – land tillers, together with the Bacchanalian three - day September town fiesta in honor of their patron “San Francis de Assisi”, the 18th century icon “Lord Protector” of the town “Santo Cristo de Burgos” and the bejeweled little “Niña Maria” of ivory owned by spinster town philanthropist Doña Margarita Rodriguez . The fabulous ballroom parties at the park by the town’s social clubs were the norm among the party – loving Sariayahins, most especially the grandest event of them all, the Valentine parties of the “Cupid’s Club” that truly featured well – coiffed ladies in their exquisite evening dresses together with the dashing, genteel gentlemen in wool, sharkskin and “de Ilo” coat and pants sashaying to the live music of local and Manila – based orchestras up to the wee hours of the morning, likewise to the delight of the onlookers. All of these drastically changed with the coming of the Japanese and wartime, the great equalizer, that saw the supposedly landed wealthy rendered humbled and threatened by the invaders and their equally vicious local Makapili cohorts, such that they learned to associate with the rest of their town mates in order to fit in with the times. The great Japanese – Makapili started fire of 1944 was a panicky offshoot of the supposed forthcoming invasion of the American – Filipino guerilla forces that burned areas south of the park destroying a lot of their old ancestral houses. After the liberation period and into the 1950s and 1960s, most of these landed families left Sariaya to settle in Manila and abroad, most of the Old Sariaya architecture being destroyed by two other big fires of 1951 and 1961, at the heels of the biggest of them all, in August of 1930, four conflagrations that changed the face and the demography of Sariaya forever. Since then, a lot has changed, with other families replacing the old “Ilustrado” class in political and economic importance in town, and the advent of the Overseas Filipino Workers phenomenon saw the rise of the new middle class that further blurred the once great social divide among the “Taga Gitna” and the “Taga Tabi”, as well as the “Taga Bayan” and the “Taga Linang”, now things of the distant past. Nowadays, everyone has equal opportunity and the influx of more additions into the inherent population by virtue of marriages of the locals with people from other localities, as well as economic adventurism from newcomers who have seen lucrative opportunities for settling hereabouts has redefined some of the elements and indicators of what the Sariayahin is all about. Yet enough of the old architecture, customs and traditions, the cuisine and the old habits that die hard have likewise remained that helped preserve that distinctive identity that is unmistakably Sariayahin as well. It is through the efforts of the Sariaya Tourism Council (STC), as well as some hard working and local heritage-concerned residents who really take the time to do research and document every aspect of the life in Old Sariaya, that the pleasant town and its wonderful heritage live on for posterity.
Posted on: Tue, 25 Jun 2013 07:33:01 +0000
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