Behind the sugarcane field

I thought it will be the same story as what Mr. Ver Pacete told us one day ago. At first it was quite boring, I even felt sleepy during the lecture. But when he showed us the video, all of us were astounded because the documentary film tackled the history of Negros Occidental. Truly a great help for us when there is another supplementary materials to deliver the message of the story and I admired Mr. Ver Pacete for sharing us the video. As what I also did sometimes in my lesson, I let my students watch a video or an impress presentation to arouse their interest for the lesson that I discussed. I was interested because I can also share this to my students.

Ver Pacete is once a sugarcane worker during his younger years and a teacher. At present he works in Tourism Office of the said place. He knows a lot about Negros because he already made a lot of research. He shared us all his knowledge about the place. So, these are the following informations taken from the lectures given by Mr. Pacete.

As you can see in the map you will notice that Negros is a boot-shape island. You will also find Mt. Kanlaon in the center of the island and they consider it as a famous landmark of Negros. It is the only province in the Philippines with thirteen cities and nineteen municipalities. “Buglas” is an early name for Negros it is a dialect term which means “cut off”and Hiligaynon is their language used.

Negritos are the aborigines of Negros who lived in the mountain areas also known as “taga-hitaas” (upland people). Negritos usually live in a place where there are lots of animals, fruits and other foods. They don’t have a permanent place, sometimes they live in the riverbank to supply their needs. They are good herbalist and hunters.

Negritos also believes in forces of nature or phenomena that they could not understand but feared. Some of them are kamana (dwarfs), kapre(black giants), tayho(tikbalang), diwata(fairies), bulalakaw(fired birds) ukoy(syokoy) and lunok( rubber tree).

When the spaniards arrived, it was Esteban Rodriguez who first travel to Negros. One of his men tasted “tuba” ( wine from coconut) and reported that he saw “los negros” (Ati). Capt. Martin de Goite visited Negros in April 1566 and it was colonized in 1567, then Augustinian priests were sent to the island. It was Miguel Lopez de Legazpi who divided Negros into encomiendas. Then pueblos were established and it was 1772 when Muslim warriors attack the pueblos wherein they burned the houses and female Negritos brought to Mindanao to be their wives.

Negros is also famous in the cultivation of sugarcane. It was their main source of living and according to Mr. Pacete,  Negrenses can survive six months of hunger. Ninety eight percent of the population are catholic. Love blooms in sugarcane field where man and woman worked. They got to know each other because both of them are working in the sugarcane field. They have a unique story when it comes to love. We’ll I guess, most people here are sweet lovers. Mr. Ver Pacete added that, a Negrense who cannot identify his culture does not deserve to live in their place.