When I agreed to be one of the judges in Silay City’s Christmas Village Arko Competition, little did I know that I will be the only non-artist in the group. It was an honor to be in such an esteemed group of judges. Good thing they have no air and made jokes so I was immediately put at ease.

There were two categories to be judged, the Arko ang Angel Competitions. I was with Lee Santiago and Ronnie Baldonado to judge the Arko. We were to judge the 16 entries from the different barangay as to Creativity and Originality (30%), Durability (30%), Visual Impact (30%) and Use of Materials (10%).

Judging 16 entries is not easy and especially since there were a lot of very good entries. In the end, we were glad we have a unanimous decision.

Third Place – Brgy. Hawaiian

Brgy. VI or Hawaiian got the Third Place. Brgy. VI is where the Hawaiian-Philippine Company is located that’s why it was renamed Hawaiian. The theme of their Arko focused on sugarcane milling which is very reflective of their barangay. The Arko is an iron dinosaur or steam locomotive made from acacia leaves painstakingly glued all over the arko. Hawaiian-Philippine is one of the few sugar centrals which still maintains a running steam locomotive using bagasse as fuel. Brgy. Hawaiian’s iron dinosaur Arko is complete with smoke and train horn sound.

Brgy. Hawaiian - Third Place - Silay Christmas Village Arko Competition

Second Place – Brgy. E. Lopez

Brgy. E. Lopez’s entry was made from corn husk meticulously folded and glued on the Arko. What’s amazing was that if you looked closely, the folded corn husks overlapped so closely you won’t see it’s base. The main figure of the Arko was a star with a Nativity scene at the center.

Brgy. E. Lopez - Second Place - Silay Christmas Village Arko Competition

The kids will surely love the Pinocchio figure on the left post and a clown on the right which are both made from empty water and softdrink bottles.

Brgy. E. Lopez - Second Place - Silay Christmas Village Arko Competition

First Place – Brgy. III

The inspiration for Brgy. III’s entry was the first settlement in Silay which was a coastal village named Carubcub. The artist, Silaynon wire sculptor Ian Valladarez, used twisted wires and scallop shells for his creation. You’ll surely admire his artwork especially if you look closely at the minute details.

According to Ian, the three seahorses in the Arko represent the Three Kings and the baby in their pouches represent a rebirth of the meaning of Christmas which is the birth of Jesus Christ which we so often forget because of too much commercialism.

Brgy. III - First Place - Silay Christmas Village Arko Competition

The kids and the kids at heart will enjoy the marbles which roll around the seahorses through a mechanism using gravitational force. I was pretty impressed with the artist who also has a good grasp of science.

Viewers are free to play with the Arko so you are free to inspect the mechanism if you happen to visit the Christmas Village, which I highly recommend you do.

Solo Locsin of Silay Tourism Office, Brgy. III Punong Barangay Efren D. Dequilla, and Ian Valladarez

We had no time to go around the Angel Category entries from the various schools so below is a sneak into some of the entries.

Silay City Christmas Village - Angel Category

The Silay City Christmas Village runs until January 6, 2012 at the Silay Public Plaza. I recommend you find time to bring your family to this display of Silaynon artistry. It’s a cheap way to spend quality time with your family and make your kids happy. Believe me, you’ll be elated too with the colorful display.

Do you know that vegetable farming can earn you more per square meter than sugarcane farming? At least that’s true in the case of Fresh Start Organics Farm in Silay City. What started as just a demo farm to showcase their organic fertilizer product is now a showcase of sustainable farming and one that is very productive also.

While the rest of the country was glued on their television for the Pacquiao-Marquez fight last November 13, the bloggers who attended the Philippine Blog Awards Visayas were toured at Fresh Start Organics Farm in Silay City.

We were met by the owner Ramon “Chin-Chin” Uy, Jr.  and he first introduced us to his army of workers, the African Night Crawlers. Their name sound ominous but these earthworms are the best friend of an organic farmer. They eat decomposing organic matter and convert them to vermicompost which were proven to be more superior to conventionally processed compost.

African NIght Crawlers at Fresh Start Organics Farm

These worms have a voracious appetite. A gram of worm will also eat an equivalent amount of waste. They also mate incessantly and can exchange their sex in order to maintain balance. If there are more females, then some females would turn to males and vice versa. Just keep them happy by feeding them and they will do the rest.

Chin-Chin is your modern day farmer who approached farming in a scientific way. He feeds the worms in a mix of 25% nitrogen from plant source (green) and 75% carbon from animal manure and dry plant source (brown). They have developed their own blend of vermicompost and bokashi compost which they sell at P300 per 50-Kg bag.

ChinChin Uy of Fresh Start Organics

I’m very interested in Fresh Start Organics farm because their methods are sustainable and simple enough that you can also implement it in your small urban garden in Bacolod. For pest control, they implement crop rotation and companion planting. Sunflowers are planted to attract pollinators while lemongrass is planted to repel insects.

As proof of the healthy soil and effective pest management, rows of different kinds of lettuces grow very healthy and ready for harvest.  The bloggers had an opportunity to harvest some of the lettuces which are then washed under running water, drained and packed in zip locks. The lettuces just need to be washed to remove dirt and can already be eaten since they are free from chemicals and pesticides.

Bloggers harvesting lettuce at Fresh Start Organics Farm

The herbs are so lush and healthy I envy them. I can’t seem to grow my rosemary at home very well and the staff gave me some tips how. There were also tarragon, basil, coriander, stevia, and other herbs. There were some bloggers who ate stevia for the first time and were surprised how sweet it is.

Some bloggers also milled around the vegetarian pig which is munching on madre de agua. This plant is a good source of protein and is used to feed livestock and even chickens. Everything in the farm are being utilized, nothing is wasted. Produce which are not sold are either processed or fed to the pigs. Those who can’t be fed to the pigs are fed to the worms.

I already knew that Chin-chin will be treating the group for an organic lunch at the Balay Negrense including a lechon of one of the grass-fed pigs from his farm. This I kept to myself as a special surprise to the bloggers especially those who were really delighted with the idea of a vegetarian pig.

There was a cool breeze blowing as we took refuge from the heat of the sun at the rest house in the middle of the farm. This is life for me since I dreamed of having a farm like this too. If I’m free to do what I want, I would rather spend my days travelling, blogging, and gardening.

What we saw during the Silay heritage tour we had during the Philippine Blog Awards Visayas was not the usual image of Silay with its grand mansions and affluent landowner-residents. I can say it was a Silay from the sacada perspective. Ver Pacete, Silay Tourism Officer brought us to Hacienda Adela to experience how the people continue to practice Ilonggo traditions handed down from generations.

Hacienda Adela used to belong to the Unson family and now divided among the heirs.  Mr. Eduardo Margarito, Jr., the President of the Asosasyon sang mga Mangunguma sang Adela said that most residents trace back their roots to Panay. When the hacenderos from Panay settled in Negros, they brought with them the sacada workers, seasonal sugarcane plantation workers from Panay. Eventually, these workers got married and settled in Negros where their children found a new home just like Hacienda Adela where most sacada workers settled in the 1940s.

Sugarcane Transloading Station

Life in the hacienda is a community affair. Everybody knows everybody and work, births, weddings and even deaths are shared with the community. Songs and dances play an important role in these occasions. The folks of Hacienda Adela performed to us a few composo songs acapella since their guitarist was in Silay for the Feast of San Diego.

Composo is an Ilonggo ballad which usually tells a story of love, sorrow, pent-up emotions, or whatever emotions the writer is going through. One performer hauntingly lamented through her composo her suffering under a physically abusive and lazy husband but still praying to God not to punish him with death.

Hacienda Adela composo singer

The community shares a common devotion to San Roque (St. Roche) who was also the patron saint of their landlord. The feast of San Roque every August is an occasion where the folks of Hacienda Adela come together in their community center to sing and chant their prayers of adoration to the saint of dogs and those who love them. Some of their chants are in Latin and this reminds me of home.

Back in my hometown, we have a man who usually leads the prayer in a wake and he also chants in Latin. I cannot understand it except for the “ora pro nobis” or “pray for us”. He memorized the chants by heart and I guess only his age would make him forget a few lines thus he would look at his prayer booklet. Every time he chants in Latin we would heave a sigh of relief because that means he’s near the end of the prayer and we will be served with food.

I was glad to learn that what we also used to do back home is still being practiced by the folks at Hacienda Adela. As a child, I remember going to a belasyon or vigil for the dead the night after the dead has been buried. People would exchange what to my child’s ears were funny rhymes. What they were actually exchanging were luwa or loa, a form of Hiligaynon poem recited during a wake. It is usually designed to be funny to help lighten the feeling of loss of the bereaved family. The folks at Hacienda Adela performed some luwa for us and the exchange of banter through their luwa is quite fun to witness.

A hacienda worker coming home from the field.

Work in the cane fields is undeniably backbreaking. Current rate for workers in the cane fields is P210 per day. Work would include weeding and planting of patdan (cane points). During harvest most jobs are paid pakyaw-basis, tapas (slashing) rate is P60 per ton while karga (loading) is P32 per ton. This is where the term kartaps came from when referring to these karga-tapas workers. Most trucks carry 8 to 10 tons of sugarcane so the kartaps are paid around P736 – P 920 per truck.

Children at Hacienda Adela

Residents of Hacienda Adela realized that the only way for their children not to suffer the same fate is through education. Most of their children are now college level and there are the luckier ones who graduated and end up with white collar jobs. Although most of the younger generation are no longer interested in continuing the old traditions, the elders continue to encourage them by involving them in various presentations of their oral traditions.

Hacienda Adela residents are living heritage treasures. We, bloggers hope that these folks continue to practice these oral traditions so that the younger generation can still experience them in the future and not just read about it in our blogs.

Allow me to borrow the title of a photo album in Silay City‘s Official Facebook page for the title of this blog post because that’s exactly what the bloggers discovered during a heritage tour of Silay as part of the activities for the Philippine Blog Awards Visayas.

We are very familiar with images of Silay with its grand ancestral mansions but what really make Silay special are beyond those landmarks. It is its people, their culture and traditions which make the “Paris of Negros” stand out.

A guided tour personally facilitated by no less than Silay City Tourism Officer Ver Pacete made the bloggers discover a different facet of Silay that we don’t usually see. Some of it may not be positive but it will give any visitor a more understanding of life in Silay City.

Who are the Silaynons? What makes them tick? From the time the Spaniards landed on a village known as Carobrob in 1565, it has become a melting pot of people and culture. Silay has perhaps more than any other town in Negros Occidental, is where most Panayanons (people from Panay Island) migrated to. It was Fr. Eusebio Locsin of Molo, Iloilo who was instrumental in inviting his family and friends to come to Silay where the land is fertile. And so came the Locsins, Lacsons, Jalandonis, Lopezes, Javellanas, Montinolas and other affluent families who became the hacenderos of Silay.

Hacienda Adela residents

Silay not only attracted the affluent families from Panay but also the seasonal workers we call the sacadas. We were brought to Hacienda Adela where the people still practice old Ilonggo oral traditions such as the composo and luwa. Most of the residents trace their roots to Panay and these traditions were handed down to them by their forefathers.

Silay Pottery

There are also traditional crafts that still exist today. The maninihon (artists) of Brgy. Guinahalaran still make clay tiles, pots, stoves and garden accessories. Although pottery is an ancient art, it is on the verge of disappearing. In fact, the pottery makers in Guinhalaran are the remaining three groups still existing in Negros Island.

Just like any community in the Philippines, stories and legends abound in Silay to explain mysterious incidents. Stories of enchanted trees and places refused to die especially when fed with our rich imaginations. There exist two century-old trees in along the highway going to Silay which nobody dared cut-down lest they earn the ire of its “residents”.

It’s also always interesting to talk to locals who spent their childhood in Silay.  It’s from them that you get to hear what only get to be whispered. Family secrets would almost always be far more interesting than the architecture of their houses.

One never goes to Silay without sampling its native delicacies. The oldest bakeshop in Silay, El Ideal, opened in the 1920s. In Silay, you get to taste the best piaya, lumpaiang ubud, pili squares, and other local delicacies not from pasalubong outlets but from the kitchens of its makers. Most of these are family recipes handed down from generations and are not available anywhere. Aside from the local institutions like El Ideal, there’s the manuglibod who goes around Silay selling local delicacies. Most kakanins traded in Bacolod are from the manuglibods of Silay.

Fresh Star Organics Farm

Silay is a microcosm of a society undergoing change constantly. The opening of the Silay Airport opens a lot of opportunities for industries within Silay City. With the priority of the Provincial Government of Negros Occidental to make Negros the organic food bowl of Aisa, the vast land of Silay is a resource waiting to be tapped. One of the first companies to into organic agriculture was Fresh Start Organics whose farm is located in Hacienda Maquina. The company now produces and markets its organic produce not only in the province but even to Iloilo and Metro Manila.

Clearly, there’s more to Silay than meets the eye. All of these are just waiting for you to discover and experience. As what we bloggers discovered, beyond Silay’s landmarks is a Silay pulsating with life and a culture that’s unlike no other. No wonder migrants have found their home in Silay. Life is definitely sweeter here.

Stay tuned for more features on Silay City.

The 2011 Philippine Blog Awards Visayas could not have been held in a more fitting venue than Silay City. Its vibrant local economy and a local government supportive in the preservation of its rich cultural heritage cannot be matched by any city in Negros Occidental. Silay has the most number of declared Heritage houses in the Philippines thus it is often referred to as a Museum City.

The bloggers were greeted with the music of the Kabataang Silay Performing Arts and Rondalla Ensemble as they entered the Sen. Jose C. Locsin Cultural and Civic Center. It was the first cultural center in the Philippines named after the late senator who was instrumental in its establishment and in making Silay into a city.

Silay City Mayor Oti Montelibano

It is very uncommon for a politician to arrive on schedule but Silay City Mayor Jose “Oti” Montelibano arrived on time and even exchanged pleasantries with the bloggers. What’s even more impressive was he is well versed in  the latest technology – he knows what a blog is, uses Audible, updates himself with the latest gadgets and he maintains his own Facebook account. The fact that the Silay Public Plaza is a WiFi Zone is an evident of his grasp in the power of technology and new media. He encouraged the bloggers present to blog more about Silay.

The AVP Documentary “Rediscover Silay” was shown so that the bloggers from all over Visayas who attended will acquaint themselves on the history of Silay, its culture and its people.

Philippine Blog Awards President Juned Sunido shared in his message that he read a blog which considered Silay as the Vigan of the Visayas but the blog ended by concluding that Silay is actually better than Vigan. He added that he walked around the city and he was very impressed with the heritage houses.

Negros Blogger Gil Severino and Emcee rejoined that while Vigan’s heritage houses are more Mexican in design, Silay’s are more Filipino considering the large windows of the houses.

Kabataang Silay Performing Arts and Rondalla Ensemble

The Kabataang Silay Performing Arts and Rondalla Ensemble performed a beautiful piece which is a fitting tribute to the Philippine Blog Awards Visayas winners which are as follows:

1. Culture and Arts – Tumandok
2. Food and Beverage – Flavours of Iloilo
3. Lifestyle – RandomThoughts
4. Personal – The Young Pinoy Blogger
5. Photoblog – onethirdpoundpatty
6. Technology – Leon Kilat: The Cybercafe Experiments
7. Travel – Backpack Traveler

Our very own, Sir Gil Camporazo made us truly proud for bagging not one but two awards for “Culture and Arts” and “Lifestyle”.  He is a school principal by profession but has a passion for writing. Kudos Sir Gil and we hope you inspire the younger generation to blog!

Glady, Gil & Ed

The winners received a plow or what we locally call “arado” as token and as a symbol of their “labor of love” in their blogs. They will soon be receiving an artist’s interpretation of Kansilay, Silay’s very own legendary pre-colonial warrior-princess.

The bloggers were treated with local delicacies which is what Silay is also known for. The bloggers also enjoyed different delicacies from Merci Pasalubong who also gave out T-Shirt prizes and pasalubong boxes. Negros Blogger Eli Gatanela was the lucky winner of one Verzio digital camera courtesy of Geiser Maclang Communications Inc.

The bloggers will have a guided tour of Silay on November 13 facilitated by no less than Tourism Officer Ver Pacete. It will be a different facet of Silay which the bloggers will get to experience. As what Gil Severino said, it will be a tour on Silay in the “trabajador” perspective. Highlights of the tour would be Hacienda Adela Folklore Village, Hacienda Maquina, Balay Negrense and Silay Mangrove Eco-Park at Brgy. Balaring. A sumptuous lunch will be prepared for the bloggers courtesy of Fresh Start Organics.

Despite a few glitches, the event was a resounding success. It was only possible with the support of our sponsors and partners.

National Sponsors

• Smart Communications
• AirPhil Express

Local Sponsors

• Merci Pasalubong – Gold Sponsor
• Leo Vision – Bronze Sponsor
• Fresh Start Organics – Bronze Sponsor

Media Partner

• Negros Daily Bulletin

Our heartfelt gratitude most especially to the City Government of Silay through Mayor Oti Montelibano and Silay Tourism Office headed by Ver Pacete. The Philippine Blog Awards Visayas has found a home in Silay.

All roads for Visayas bloggers lead to Silay City today for the 2011 Philippine Blog Awards (PBA) – Visayas.  The PBA is a an annual event that aims to give recognition to outstanding blogs in the Visayas.

The PBA-Visayas will be be held at 2pm today at the Sen. Jose C. Locsin Cultural and Civic Center in Silay City. The program will also feature the presentation of AVP documentary “Rediscover Silay” by Leo Vision and the performance of Kabataang Silay Rondalla. There will also be food tasting of the delicious treats from Merci Pasalubong and buy pasalubong right there at the venue.

A‘Lagaw Silay’ guided tour will be facilitated by Silay Tourism Office headed by Ver Pacete on November 13, 2011 at Balay Negrense Museum, Hacienda Adela Folklore Village, Fresh Start Organic Farm, and Silay Mangrove Eco-Park at Brgy. Balaring.

Those who pre-registered for the Heritage tour will meet at the steps of Negros Occidental Provincial Capitol at 8am on November 13 and will be picked up by the Silay City bus. A free lunch at the Balay Negrense was prepared by Fresh Start Organics and the Organic na Negros! Organic Producers and Retailers Assn. (ONOPRA).

If you want to be updated on the event, you can follow the ExperienceNegros on Facebook and ExpereinceNegros on Twitter or you may also log-on to the 2011 PBA-Visayas Live Webcast.

ExperienceNegros.com is one of the finalists for Best Travel Blog Category at the 2011 Philippine Blog Awards Visayas.

We’d like to thank all our readers and followers for this nomination. If we don’t end up with the award, we’re already a winner because of you.

The winners of the 2011 Philippine Blog Awards Visayas will be announced today at 2pm at the Senator Jose Locsin Cultural and Civic Center, Silay City, Negros Occidental.

We also would like to extend our congratulations to the finalists of the 2011 Philippine Blog Awards – Visayas! Keep on blogging!

Culture and Arts

Jaysee Blabs (http://jayseeblabs.blogspot.com/)
Tumandok (http://tumandok.wordpress.com/)
Balakista (http://balakista.blogspot.com/)
Visayan Filipino Martial Arts (http://visayanfilipinomartialarts.blogspot.com/)
Visayan Arnis/Eskrima (http://visayanarniseskrima.blogspot.com/)

Food and Beverage

Flavours of Iloilo (http://flavoursofiloilo.blogspot.com/)
The Culinary Adventures of the Bacolod Food Hunters (http://bacolodfoodhunters.wordpress.com/)

Lifestyle

Tribo’s Cup (http://tribong-upos.xanga.com/)
RandomThoughts! (http://gilcamporazorandomthoughts.blogspot.com/)
The Ilonggo Network (http://www.ilonggos.net/)
CebuRunnning (http://www.ceburunning.com/)

Personal

Locally made (http://www.iamhash.blogspot.com/)
Mashed Patatas (http://www.mashedpatatas.com/)
The Young Pinoy Blogger (http://www.aroundtheflexure.com/)
The Freudian Slip (http://bayenn.blogspot.com/)

Photoblog

onethirdpoundpatty (http://www.onethirdpoundpatty.com/)
Bacolod City Online The City of Bacolod in Pictures (http://www.bacolodcityonline.com/)

Technology

Leon Kilat: The Cybercafe Experiments (http://www.max.limpag.com)
Mancelita.com Philippines (http://www.mancelita.com)

Travel

The Travelling Feet (http://www.thetravellingfeet.com)
soloflightEd (http://www.soloflighted.com)
backpack traveler (http://livinginabackpack.blogspot.com/)
Exotic Philippines (http://www.exoticphilippines.info/)
Experience Negros (http://www.experiencenegros.com/)
Libotero (http://www.libotero.com/)
ILOILO Travel Guide (http://iloilo-travel-guide.blogspot.com/)
Iloilo I LOVE! (http://iloiloilove.com/)
Viaje Negrense (http://www.viajenegrense.info/)

One of the most notable sons of Silay was the late Sen. Jose Corteza Locsin. He was born on August 27, 1891 in Silay to parents from Molo, Iloilo who were one of the pioneers in the sugar industry in Negros Occidental. Locsin obtained his bachelor of arts degree at the Liceo de Manila in 1907 and at the age of 21, graduated at the University of Santo Tomas as a Doctor of Medicine.

Sen. Jose C. Locsin

He had a successful medical practice in Silay and he also became the President of the Philippine Medical Association in 1938 and 2939. He also held several elected and appointed positions in government.

• Municipal Councilor of Silay
• Member of the Provincial Board (1922-1924)
• Governor of Negros Occ. (1925-1928)
• Congressman (1928-1931)
• Delegate to the 1935 ConCon
• Secretary of Health (1945)
• Senator of the Republic of the Philippines (1951-1957).

Sen. Jose C. Locsin is considered the “Father of the Filipino First” policy. In a speech delivered to the Manila Jaycees in 1958, the then Chairman of the National Economic Council said,

“The owner of a house, if hospitable like the Filipinos, reserves the best room of the house, the best furnished and most comfortable, as a guest room, but he retains the rest.”

Last Cinco de Noviembre celebrations in Silay City, we were invited by Solo Locsin, a grandson of the late senator to their ancestral house for lunch.

The house was built in the 1930s in Art Deco architecture. The family still retained most of the original furniture of the house. There were Amorsolo portraits of the late senator’s parents as well as  pictures of the late senator with different Philippine presidents. It was during his term as senator that Pres. Carlos Garcia signed Republic Act 1621 in June 12, 1957 making Silay the second town in Negros Occidental to become a city.

Pictures of Sen. Jose Locsin with different Philippine presidents. Notice the Art Deco design of the window above.

Portraits by Amorsolo

The late senator had 18 children with his first wife Salvacion and 2 children with second wife Delia. Only 17 children from his first wife survived. His son Julio Cesar died of tuberculosis when he was only 4 years old.  The late senator was stricken by grief he had the body mummified and commissioned Guillermo Tolentino to create a metal bust of Julio Cesar. The bust can be found on the steps going to the second floor of the ancestral house and his tomb at the Silay Catholic Cemetery, although empty, can still grab attention with its haunting statue. It was one of the tombs that caught our attention is our Silay Cemetery tour last year.

A Guillermo Tolentino bust of Julio Cesar Montelibano Locsin, son of Sen. Jose Locsin

These ancestral houses in Silay were home to some of the country’s notable personalities and through their homes,we get a glimpse into their private lives. Thanks to Solo for welcoming us into their home and for the bits and pieces we learned about the late Sen. Jose Locsin.

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Sources: www.senate.gov.ph, Dr. Jose Locsin y Corteza Facebook Page

The 14th Adobo Festival on Saturday, November 5, 9am-2pm at the Balay Negrense boasts of the The Great Adobo Lunch which will highlight past winning recipes of the annual food competition and fair.

The menu will include last year’s winner Adobo Crevette A L’Anglaise by Robert Harland. The other champion Adobo dishes and heirloom recipes are Adobo Mañosa, Chicken Pork Adobo, Baked Chicken Adobo, Adobong Takway, Adobong Puso ng Saging and a wide array of Adobo dishes.

Susan Calo Medina’s Travel Time show and magazine will be also present to document and feature the event and the activities which include Adobo Cooking Competition, Muscovado Cooking Contest, Kitchen Art Exhibit, different booths and side activities.

Chef JP Anglo, chef of Mushu Asian Restaurant and host of Pinoy version of the Junior Masterchef TV show, will be also be doing a surprise dish for the Gourmet Adobo Cooking Demo.

The Negros Cultural Foundation, the non-profit organization that runs Negros Museum and Balay Negrense, invites everyone to witness an event that marries history, culture, arts, tourism and food in one festival. The cooking competitions becomes a venue for Negrense youth and aspiring chefs to master the cooking of Adobo, incorporate local ingredients, develop some of these heirloom recipes and giving them a twist.

For more information, please contact The Negros Museum at 4334764 | 7085080 | 09213307861 or Balay Negrense at 714-7676. You can also find us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.  (PR)

Celebrate 113 years of Independence in the very place where it started!

When the Spanish civil guards in Silay under Lt. Maximiano Correa signed the Acta de Rendicion or surrender papers on that fateful 5th of November 1898, our revolutionary leaders and the people of Silay who joined the struggle for freedom were not aware that the Spanish garrison in Silay was one of the first to officially surrender to a revolutionary government.

When Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo proclaimed Philippine Independence in Kawit, Cavite on June 12, 1898, there is no existing document recognizing the proclamation. Note that the Spanish Government never signed any terms of surrender with the Tagalog government. There was no representative from the Spanish government present in Kawit. The revolutionaries of Luzon technically haven’t won their independence from Spain.

In fact, Philippine Independence Day in the past was celebrated on the 4th of July, the day the United States of America granted our independence shortly after World War II. It is not until the time of the late Pres. Diosdado Macapagal that Independence Day celebrations were moved to June 12.

Silay was dubbed as the Cradle of Freedom in the history of the Negros revolution. Our town was the first in Negros to break away from Spanish colonial rule that triggered a string of uprisings in the different towns in the island that eventually led to the fall of the capital, Bacolod the next day (November 6).

The signing of Lt. Correa of the surrender papers in Silay on November 5, 1898, officially recognizes the revolutionary government as legitimate. The next day, the governor of Negros, Col. Isidro de Castro, formally surrendered the island to the leaders of the Negros Republic (Negros was already a republic before the Philippines became one at Malolos in January 23, 1899) in Bacolod. A month later, on December 25, 1898, the last Governor-General of Spain in the Philippines, Don Diego de los Rios surrendered to the revolutionaries of Panay in Iloilo.

Yes, Spain only surrendered to two revolutionary governments in the Philippines – Panay and Negros. Silay will figure prominently because it was the first town to officially gain independence, technically in the Philippines.

Text by: Solo Locsin