Yum yum yum!

       “Palagsing” is a local delicacy popularly made in Banza, one of the old poblacion of Butuan City.  The popularity of making delicious “Palagsing” in Banza is attributed to the abundance of Nipa or Asiatic palm tree (Nipa fruticans) where “Unaw”(nipa starch) is harvested from the Palm Tree. Another popular ingredient is young coconut meat taken from coconut trees. The mixture of “unaw”, young coconut , and brown sugar make “palagsing” moist and chewy. They are delicately wrapped by banana leaves and are boiled for 30 minutes to create the soft consistency of “palagsing”.

Palagsing during the celebration of Adlaw Hong Butuan, Accessed on Septemer 10, 2010 at http://aboutph.com/2010/08/palagsing-festival-butuan-city/.

      Palagsing is a thin dark brown suman dessert very closely similar to Suman. Celebrated in conjunction with Adlaw Hong Butuan. I am personally a fan of this palagsing. Whenever I got the chance to go home to Butuan, I always look for this and eat a lot. :)

The Golden Tara

The Golden Tara, Accessed on October 03, 2010 at http://layrayski.blogspot.com/2009/06/golden-tara.html.  

            This image is famously associated with Butuan. Butuan as you may probably know is rich in history. 

         This photo of the golden tara was taken at Balanghai Hotel, the real image which weighs approximately 4 pounds, and is a 21 carat gold figurine, is now located at Chicago museum (if my memory serves me right). 

       If you visit Butuan, you can also view the replica at Butuan regional museum. This artifact was found in 1917, southeast of Butuan at an Agusan river tributuary. It is as the experts say, an evidence of the early indian influence, as it was dated as early as 850-950 AD.

        A source also says that In 1917 after a storm and flood, a 21-carat golden figurine of a female deity of Hindu was found by a Manobo woman on a muddy bank of Wawa River, a tributary of the large Agusan River. This ancient figure seated in lotus position weighs nearly 4 pounds which is the earliest known image identified to be an Indian in origin. The image corroborates a single cultural sphere that developed in the archipelagic regions of Southeast Asia during the height of trade between Butuan and the rest of the Sri Vijaya Empire.

        The Golden Tara of Butuan is a metaphor of the City's Glorious history and its journey to a progresive future. I even had my classmates painted with a gold paint and they wore a gold suit. They portrayed the Golden Tara and they danced in Baguio City representing Butuan City.

Mount Mayapay

           Rising to nearly 700 meters ( 2,200 ft) Mount Mayapay is one of the most impressive monuments in stone that nature has carved in the entire Caraga region. Mount Maypay is very near Agusan Valley, and it one of the favorite destinations of climbers and adventurers. However, the mountain and the area around it is also rich in history, evidenced by the fact that the name Mayapay was derived from the Madjapahit Empire. (Butuan-Sightseeing, Accessed on September 18, 2010 at http://www.butuanboard.com/butuan-sightseeing.php). 

Mount Mayapay, Accessed on September 18, 2010 at http://mountmayapay.multiply.com/photos

     Looming southwest of the Agusan Valley is this majestic mountain plateau. 

       It rises to 2,214 feet (675 m) above sea level. Mount Mayapay got its name from the ancient Madjapahit Empire. The history behind the Sri-Vishaya period bears much meaning and influence of Butuan's pre-historic and archeological discoveries.

Area Type: Hypsographic

Location Type: Mountain

Latitude: 8.878333

Longitude: 125.4675

(Decimal degrees)

Latitude (DMS): 8° 52' 42 N

Longitude (DMS): 125° 28' 3 E

(Degrees, minutes and seconds)

      I have never been to this place. They say it is very far from the city. Well, I just hope someday, I will be given the chance to visit this place since this is one of our tourist spots in Butuan City.

Why the Timber City of the South?

        A description of Butuan is not complete without infusing it with the significance of the Agusan River and its tributaries that provide the valley with rich soil from periodic floods. Its serpentine route through the city and two Agusan provinces provided the people with easy means of transportation for trade and commerce encouraged settlement along its banks. The Agusan River greatly helped the booming of the “Logging Industry”. With the geographical location of the Butuan in Mindanao as in the South compared to Luzon and Visayas,  Butuan earned the name “Timber City of the South.”

Butuan City is also known as the Timber City of the South.  Logging is still present today as we can see from the Butuan photo of the day at http://layrayski.blogspot.com/. 

         Butuan City was crippled by a major fire during the Japanese occupation in World War II. The city was starting to stand on its feet again when another fire razed it. Its booming timber industry has aided the city’s development. My uncle was one of those who worked in the industry and I can personally say that it has really helped their family a lot. I have personally seen these logs along the river. Our house in Butuan is just situated in front of the river banks. So during my childhood years, me and my brothers often go near the river and play with the logs ready to be transported from our Barangay to other places.

First Mass in the Philippines: Where did it really happen?

         The exact location of the first mass has been disputed for decades, primarily between two locations: Limasawa, and Masao, Butuan. 

           In the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries, the spot of the first mass was believed to be Masao, Butuan, with even a marker commemorating the event installed there in 1872. The claim was founded on two works: the Labor evangelica of Francisco Colin, S.J., pubslihed in Madrid in 1663; and the Historia de Mindanao y Jolo by Francisco Combes, S.J., also published in Madrid in 1667. While Combes did not mention the first mass at all in his account, Colin claims that it was held in Masao; Combes only notes that the planting of the cross , which was done at the same time as the Mass, was done in Masao. 

         Later historians until the nineteenth century, such as Fray Joaquin Martinez de Zuniga to John Foreman and Wenceslao Retana, would base their works on these accounts and further strengthen the Masao claim.

         It was only with the publication of Antonio Pigafetta's account of the expedition in the Ambrosian Codex in 1894 that opinions started to favor the Limasawa claim. Citing evidence such as the maps made by Pigafetta, the geographical description of the island, and the Albo logbook, later historians such as Trindad Pardo de Tavera; Pablo Pastells, S.J.; and Emma Blair and James Robertson came to support the Limasawa claim.

         However, those of the pro-Butuan camp would continue to dispute the Limasawa claim. Independent scholar Vicente C. De Jesus said that these historians do not consider the eyewitness account of Gines de Mafra, one of the voyagers, which bolsters the Butuan claim. He would also claim that some parts of the Ambrosiana Codex, on which the Limasawa claim was founded, was largely mistranslated.

         Historian Gregorio Zaide, who originally supported the Limasawa claim, also claimed that  

“It is high time for contemporary historians and the Philippine government to correct their mistake and accept that the first Christian mass was celebrated in Masao, Butuan, Agusan del Norte and not in Limasawa, Leyte, on Easter Sunday, March 31, 1521.” 

Buod Promontory in Libertad. The place believed to be where the cross of the first mass was planted.

           In the preface of his later works. Other historians, like then National Historical Institute Chairman Esteban A. de Ocampo and Far Eastern University Professor Celedonio O. Resurrecion also acknolwedged the mistake.

            This led the NHI to convene a symposium on the issue at the National Library in June 1997. However, the NHI ruled in favor of the Limasawa claim one year later.

           Until today, Butuan still separately commemorates the anniversary of the first mass. 

First Mass in the Philippines, Accessed on September 08, 2010 at http://en.wikipilipinas.org/index.php?title=First_Mass_in_the_Philippines.

Butuan and Balanghai: A Journey Through Time

                During the first day of May starts  the  official  Butuan City’s month long Balanghai Festival.  During this time, the  city  shows it's colorful culture and tradition as well as the development  highlights it has achieved a thousand  years  of existence. Let us take a review of Balanghai, and how this great Indo-Malay  word came  to represent this  city’s journey through the past millenia.

      Since the 10th  century,  Butuan  appeared to have been in good relations with  the Srivijayan Empire. Being  located on the coast of Mindanao,  balanghais are  often docking at the Butuan bay keeping good business  between the local  people of Butuan and traders from the neighboring empire.

       During the 1970’s,  these  balanghais  were exposed through an  excavation to the modern  time and found that through carbon-dating process, the boats were almost a thousand years old.

         Building  balanghai requires  teamwork and  unity among workers which is why it was  used by the Philippine  Government as a term to  refer to the smallest political unit, now became popularly pronounced as barangay.

Butuan’s Early Balanghais

         A  balanghai, or some refer  to it as balangay,  is a wooden boat adjoined by planks, and  believed that  the term originated from an  Italian archaeologist named Antonio Pigafetta  in the 16th century  when he mentioned  the word spelled “balanghai”.

        The  balangays did not serve just a  wooden boat  but stood as a symbol for social unit. In the 16th century,   Spaniards found  out that balangay also referred to the smallest unit of politics among Filipinos.

       Late 1970’s,  balangay boats were  discovered in Butuan City by the National Museum archaelogists.  Nine were  recovered during the excavation. The first is being presently preserved and displayed  in the museum in  Libertad, Butuan City. It had  undergone carbon-dating  and  dated at year 320.  The second  boat, dated 1250, is presently located at the Maritime Hall of National Museum in Manila. The third  was  transferred to Butuan  Regional Museum while the six other boats are under the process of  excavtion and  preserved,  remaining to their original waterlogged condition to protect the artifacts.

The Historical Butuan

       The city of Butuan is the home  of treasures such as the  Tara, golden  figurine of Buddha’s consort, an array of lustrous,  most intricate jewelry, a collection of priceless ceramics  from the Sung Dynasty, and  the remains of the early balanghai.

        These precious  treasures of Butuan  are now found around the globe.  The Tara is now at the Field Museum in Chicago, the Chinese  precious findings and the restored  balanghais are being displayed  at the National Museum,  and the incomparable gold jewelry is the Metropolitan  Museum of Manila’s grandest collection. 

          The first mass in the  Philippines is believed to have  taken place near  the Agusan River,  and it is said that Ferdinand  Magellan himself dropped the anchor of the ship in 1521 at the Agusan River, and held a  mass to  commemorate the event.

BALANGHAI FESTIVAL

The Festival

       Commemorating  the coming of the early settlers from Borneo and Celebes, Butuan in Agusan  del Sur is celebrating Balanghai  Festival during  the third week of May, coinciding the feast of Butuan’s patron  saint, Saint Joseph.

        The balanghai,  also known as balangay and Butuan boat, is  the first water vessel to have  excavated in Southeast Asia, serving as  evidence to the craftsmanship of the early Filipinos in attempting to transport on water.

         Balanghai Festival is  one historical event commemorated  through a  night of exotic performances, costumes in an array of colors and creativity, and dazzling floats. One can also take part in the festivals activities such as contests, exhibits, and many other events.

Butuan City Today, Accessed on Septemeber 08, 2010 at www.butuantoday.tumblr.com.

About the City of Butuan

The City of Butuan in Agusan del Norte is the center of the Caraga Region which is the thirteenth region in the Philippines. It is located at the northeastern part of Agusan Valley Mindanao, across the Agusan River. It is bounded to the north, west and south by Agusan del Norte, to the east by Agusan del Sur and to the northwest by Butuan Bay. According to the 2009 census, it has a population of 307,942 people.

The name "Butuan" is believed to have originated from the sour fruit "Batuan". Other etymology sources say that it comes from a certain "Datu Buntuan", a chieftain who once ruled over Butuan.

Butuan City is the regional center of Caraga Region. The regional offices of the different government agencies is located here almost all of it. It was the capital of Agusan del Norte until 2000 when Republic Act 8811 mandated the transfer of the capital to Cabadbaran City; however Butuan City still serves as the province's seat of government as many of the provincial government offices are located, including the provincial capitol. (Butuan City, Accessed on September 08, 2010 at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butuan_City).

Without searching for answers in the internet, why do you think Butuan City was called as the Timber City of the South?