A Cultural Legend of Pinatubo
Publisher: The Zambales Association, Inc.
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When we were 9 or 10 years old, my cousins and I visited and stayed for the weekend at our grandmother's house in La Paz, San Marcelino. Her name was Juliana. Relatives say she lived to be a sweet 106 years old. (People her age, born during the Spanish colonial period, have no record of their birthdays.) She told us that our grandfather, Flaviano, drowned when he tried to cross the Santo Tomas River after a torrential downpour. The incident happened when he was riding his horse home from his farm near the Pinatubo Mountains.
We used to huddle around her kitchen table with two lighted kerosene lamps, known locally as kingki. Moths flew around the bright side of the lamp while we waited eagerly for our drinks. She would get two sarsaparilla bottles, four raw eggs from her hens' layers, and a dark San Miguel beer.
(San Miguel Beer was first produced by La Fabrica de Cerveza de San Miguel, an upstart brewery in the heart of Manila that began its operations in 1890. It received a Royal Grant from the Spanish king to brew beer in the Philippines, then a colony of Spain. Source: San Miguel Corporation)
She whipped them thoroughly to bring the frothy flavor to the top of the glass. And like a priest passing the chalice of wine in church, we would get a sip at first and lick the rest of that white stuff away from our faces. But the sip soon becomes a little gulp, and later, a big gulp like swallowing Slurpee's. Soon we begin to feel good, loud, and giggling, and her story starts in trickles.
The Pinatubo, she said, is fertile land on the mountain where the Aetas live. This land is the ancestral home of the native Aborigines, known to exist as far back as 900 AD as evidenced by the discovery of the Laguna Copperplate Inscription). They called it "Pinatubo," which means “to grow” in Sambal and Tagalog.
The name "Pinatubo" was passed on from one generation to the next by word of mouth. There were also talks about significant earlier eruptions from the mountain peaks. The tribal elders attribute the explosions to an ancient legend: a terrible sea spirit named Bacobaco. Earlier memories suggested that Bacobaco could transform into a giant turtle and throw fire from his mouth. So, the tribal elders summoned all the village spirit hunters to chase away Bacobaco from their land.
Grandmother picked up her glass and took a sip as she asked, "Do you want me to continue?" Her story was getting interesting, so we nodded approvingly. However, some of us were still giggling and waiting for the next sip.
By this time, she continued, the tribal elders were becoming desperate because the spirit hunters had been unable to locate Bacobaco. After years of searching, Bacobaco still remained missing. Many concluded that the spirit hunters had failed to drive the evil sea spirit out of Pinatubo.
During this search period, the village enjoyed peace. Crops thrived, resulting in abundant harvests. They generously shared their good fortune with neighboring tribes, which led to intermarriages among the communities and an increase in population.
Grandma smiled at us as we sat there with our eyes wide open, eagerly awaiting her to continue the story. A hush fell over the room as she finished her last drink. Then her tale ended, and we all felt a yearned for more. As always, she smiled, pleased that we had enjoyed her story.
Mt. Pinatubo had remained dormant for over 600 years after its last eruption. Many of us never believed Grandma's account of many years ago until the June 15, 1991 eruption, because the eruptive history of Mt. Pinatubo was largely unknown to most people. (The duration of the volcano's dormancy is still speculative; some sources suggest it could have ranged from 400 to 600 years, with no recorded eruptions before June 15, 1991.)
June 15, 2023, is the 25th anniversary of the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo. According to the Weather Bureau, it chilled Earth for approximately two years.
When Grandmother Juliana finished her story, she would say, “It's time to go to sleep.” She said this because, back then, only the elders were allowed to sleep in beds. In her household, (visiting grandchildren, apply to us) the last person to wake up would get sooted on their face. (The soot is the black carbon residue that forms at the bottom of the pot, known as "ugging" in Ilocano.)
It was best to wake up early, sneak into the kitchen, and rub the bottom of the pot to get the black substance on your hand. Then, you would quietly return and gently wipe the black soot onto the face of the person still asleep. This was a playful game our grandmother enjoyed with us. Yes, that was a different time in the Philippines, just after the Second World War ended.
Source: https://www.climate-policy-watcher.org/plate-tectonics/mount-pinatubo-1991.html
Note: If you find a better source, let us know. Thank you.
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