SUNOG (MAGSAYSAY)

Sunog is a mountainous barangay east of Balamban with a total land area of 3,798 hectares. It is bounded by Bayong, Cansomoroy, Cabasiangan, Matun-og, Gaas, and Cebu City.

It is politically subdivided into twenty-six (26) sitios, namely: Hasuhasan, Mangga, Masurela, Cogon, Mapa, Enad, Hunanggabi, Mauyog, Mit-ol, Ibo, Cambagokbok, Sunog Proper, Tabunan, Putol, Liki, Manunggal, Coros-coros, Kanse, Capio-an, Lero, Pange, Sunog II, Bang-bang, Sandayong, Mayana, and Manguyas.

The barangay is part of the Central Cebu Protected Landscape which is one of the biggest sources of water in Cebu. Most of the water of Kot-kot Lusaran watersheds is from the rivers of the barangay.

NAME-ORIGIN OF THE BARANGAY

The Cebuano term “sunog” when pronounced without an accent means fire but when an accent is put in the first syllable as in the name of the barangay the meaning differed into a state of being burned or a thing that is burned.

According to oral history, the barangay before was a dense forest but a wildfire caused by constant friction of the twisted branches of some trees had eaten it. The said forest was left totally burned hence from that state the barangay was named as “Sunog”.¹ A wildfire is any uncontrolled fire in combustible vegetation that occurs in the countryside or a wilderness area.² Other names such as brush fire, bushfire, forest fire, desert fire, grass fire, hill fire, squirrel fire, vegetation fire, veldfire, and wilkjjofire may be used to describe the same phenomenon depending on the type of vegetation being burned. A wildfire differs from other fires by its extensive size, the speed at which it can spread out from its original source, its potential to change direction unexpectedly, and its ability to jump gaps such as roads, rivers and fire breaks.³ Wildfires are characterized in terms of the cause of ignition, their physical properties such as speed of propagation, the combustible material present, and the effect of weather on the fire.⁴

Other variant of oral history only differed with the cause of the wildfire. In that account there was fire demon the local called “ongong yawa” that inhabited Mt. Manunggal and often flew upward during midnight causing a wildfire. “Ongong yawa” (literally means warlock demon) is described in myth as a burning demon with the body and head of a man with horns on his forehead but waist down is pure fire like a fire coming from a rocket. He is said to be accompanied by a fiery wheel. The description is very similar to the cherub in the Book of Ezekiel.⁵ Although the myth seems very true to the inhabitants but scientifically it might only be a spontaneous combustion coming from the underground or sparks from rockfall which are natural causes of wildfire aside from lightning and volcanic eruption. Wildfires occur when all of the necessary elements of a fire triangle come together in a susceptible area: an ignition source is brought into contact with a combustible material such as vegetation that is subjected to sufficient heat and has an adequate supply of oxygen from the ambient air. High moisture content usually prevents ignition and slows propagation, because higher temperatures are required to evaporate any water within the material and heat the material to its fire point.³ Dense forests usually provide more shade, resulting in lower ambient temperatures and greater humidity, and are therefore less susceptible to wildfires.⁶ Less dense material such as grasses and leaves are easier to ignite because they contain less water than denser material such as branches and trunks.⁷ Plants continuously lose water by evapotranspiration, but water loss is usually balanced by water absorbed from the soil, humidity, or rain.⁸ When this balance is not maintained, plants dry out and are therefore more flammable, often a consequence of droughts.⁹

THE DEATH OF PRESIDENT RAMON MAGSAYSAY AT MOUNT MANUNGGAL

Less is known on the history and establishment of the barangay except that it became famous after the death of President Ramon Magsaysay at Mt. Manunggal on March 17, 1957. It was one of the most dramatic events to hit the local press.

Magsaysay had come to Cebu on a whirlwind visit. He arrived at around 3 pm on March 16 and went into a frenzied round of activities: a motorcade, courtesy calls on former President Sergio Osmeña, and speeches at a convention of USAFFE veterans, at the University of the Visayas, University of Southern Philippines, and University of San Carlos since it was graduation season. He dropped by at the residence of former Governor Manuel Cuenco and even brought with him a rare drug, albumin syrup, to be given to the writer and Cebu Press Club president, Cornelio Faigao, who was dying in a local hospital.¹⁰ In the evening, he attended a party at the home of Cebu City mayor Sergio Osmeña Jr. He left for Lahug Airport and boarded his plane (a Cebu Douglas C-47A-75-DL Skytrain which was operated by the Philippine Air Force and was named as Mt. Pinatubo after a long inactive volcano then best known as the tallest mountain in Magsaysay's home province of Zambales) shortly before midnight, sent off at the airport by a group led by the mayor's father, former President Sergio Osmeña.¹¹

The aircraft took off from Lahug Airport for Nichols Field, around 640 kilometers away near Manila, at 1:00:00 AM, Sunday, March 17. The weather was fine and the ceiling unlimited with low broken clouds and a bright moon.¹² Eyewitnesses on the ground observed that the airplane had not gained enough altitude as it approached the mountain ranges in Balamban.¹¹ At 01:17:00 AM, the plane radioed the official presidential home, Malacañang Palace, to have the President fetched at Nichols Field at around 03:15 AM.¹³ This communication was the last ever conveyed by the plane.

Their plane crashed in Mount Manunggal at around 1:40:00 a.m., March 17, 1957, Philippine Standard Time (17:40:00 PM, March 16, 1957, GMT).¹⁴ Several high-ranking Philippine government and military officials, as well as journalists, were also among the dead. Several local residents had heard the crash and discovered the flaming wreckage of the plane near an elephant or bitter wood tree, Quassia indica, known locally as manunggal. They discovered one survivor, Nestor Mata,¹⁵ a reporter with the Philippine Herald newspaper, who covered the Korean War as a war correspondent and was assigned by his newspaper to cover the newly-elected President Magsaysay in 1953, was the sole survivor of the accident. Nestor Mata was first found by the dog of one of the said local residents named Marcelino Nuya.¹⁶ The said dog that was named Serging (Avante in other accounts) after the former governor Sergio Osmeña Jr. was ironically awarded later with the medal of valor by Pres. Ferdinand E. Marcos instead of its owner.¹⁷ Nestor Mata suffered second and third degree burns all over his body¹⁸ and would be hospitalized for the next six months.¹⁹ It took eighteen hours to transport the injured Mata down the mountain.¹⁸  

At the time of his death, President Magsaysay, a Nacionalista, was widely popular and was expected to easily win re-election in the November presidential elections.²⁰

Concerns arose after Magsaysay's plane failed to arrive at Nichols Field on schedule. By breakfast time, First Lady Luz Magsaysay and the Magsaysay family were informed that the plane had gone missing. An all-out air and sea search was instituted by the Armed Forces of the Philippines, with the assistance of the United States Air Force and Navy. The search had initially focused on the sea, as much of the flight route was over the ocean. The news had also spread throughout Manila and the rest of the Philippines, people weeping openly upon hearing of the missing flight.²¹

Upon his arrival at a Cebu City hospital, Nestor Mata was able to dictate through a nurse a press dispatch to his newspaper. It began with the sentence "President Magsaysay is dead."

Together with Vicente Villafranca, Mata penned One Came Back (1957), a memoir detailing the last moments of President Magsaysay and his own ordeal after surviving the plane crash.¹⁶

In the night of March 17, Mayor Exasperanza S. Binghay, the municipal mayor of Balamban at that time, announced that the plane had crashed on the slopes of Mount Manunggal, in Sunog, Balamban, Cebu, approximately 22 miles northwest of Cebu City.²² Military rescuers arrived at the crash site the following day, March 18. The body of President Magsaysay was identified by his brother through his wristwatch and later confirmed by dental records. It was determined that at the time of the crash, Magsaysay had been inside his special cabin, located just behind the cockpit.

Within hours after the official identification of President Magsaysay's body, Vice-President Carlos P. Garcia was sworn in as the 8th President of the Philippines. At the time of the crash, Garcia had been in Australia, attending a conference of the SEATO.

In addition to President Magsaysay and Mata, the plane carried 24 others, including former Senator Tomas Cabili, a hero of the guerrilla resistance movement during World War II; Secretary of Education Gregorio Hernandez; Representative Pedro Lopez of the 2nd District of Cebu; and General Benito Ebuen, commanding general of the Philippine Air Force. The other passengers included various civilian and military aides to the President and three journalists.

There were initial speculations that sabotage had caused the plane crash. Magsaysay had first come into prominence when he, as Secretary of Defense during the Quirino administration, had led the fight against the communist-inspired insurgency of the Hukbalahap movement. However, no evidence emerged to support the theory of sabotage. On April 27, 1957, the chief of the Philippine Constabulary, General Manuel F. Cabal, testified before a Senate committee that the crash had been caused by metal fatigue, which had broken a drive shaft that caused a power failure on board the plane shortly after takeoff. He added that while the plane was gaining altitude, the spindle drive shaft of the right engine carburetor had snapped.

Its investigation was shown in the Philippine TV news show Case Unclosed as its 11th episode.²¹

The irony is that this big story was not carried by Cebu’s leading paper, The Republic Daily, until two days later. As presses ran in those days, it happened too late for the March 17 (Sunday) edition of the paper. And dailies in those days came out “daily except Monday.” Hence, it was not until Tuesday (March 19) that the story was run.¹⁰

THE PLAN TO RENAME MOUNT MANUNGGAL INTO MOUNT RAMON MAGSAYSAY

Since the tragic death of President Ramon Magsaysay, Mount Manunggal has become a very important historical site often visited by both local and foreign tourists. Mount Manunggal was named after an elephant or bitter wood tree, Samadera indica, which grew near the historical crash site. According to Jose Pepito, a former barangay captain of Sunog, whenever people asked where the plane crashed, residents would say, "Sa may manunggal (Near the manunggal)." Accordingly that was how the mountain came to be called Manunggal.²³

The said tree, which is called by the Spaniards as palo santo, is smooth and grows up to 10 meters in height. The bark is pale, and transversely cracked. The wood is light yellow and soft. The leaves are simple, elliptic-oblong, about 20 centimeters wide. The flowers are numerous, bisexual, 4-parted, pinkish yellow, and borne on dense, pedunculate, short-stalked umbels. The fruit is oval, about 6 centimeters long and 2.5 centimeters wide, consisting of one carpel, and flattened and keeled. The seeds contain fixed oil 33 percent, with triolien 87.7 per cent, tripalmitin 8.41 per cent, tristearin 3.89 percent, an alkaloid; bitter principle; a glucoside samaderin. The bark is toxic and has a bitter principle as do the seeds. The wood contains a bitter principle similar to quassin. In the Philippines, the juice from the pounded bark is considered a cure for skin diseases. Father Colin first reported the use of that plant for malignant fevers; in which cases the bark; in the form of either powder or scrapings, is administered in warm water or coconut oil. According to Guerrero the bark and wood are a febrifuge, a tonic, a stomachic, and an emmenagogue when administered after maceration, or as a decoction, in water, alcohol, or wine. Nadkarni reports that the bark is used as a febrifuge. The bruised leaves are applied externally in erysipela. An infusion of the leaves is a good insecticide especially for white ants. Oil extracted from the kernels of the fruit makes a helpful application for rheumatism. The seeds are worn round the neck as a preventive of asthma and chest affections. An infusion of woods is also taken as a general tonic and as substitute for Quassia.²⁴

Ignorant of the bitter wood tree which had been famous since the ancient times as it was even mentioned in the Book of Revelation (the last book of the New Testament of the Bible) and which is called manunggal both in Cebuano and Tagalog, Representative Pastor Alcover Jr. had authored House Bill 4215 to rename Mt. Manunggal into Mt. Ramon Magsaysay not only because of the purpose to rename it after the late president but because according to him it sounded like 'manananggal' and filed it at the Congress in February 2011 in haste in order to beat the former president's death anniversary, which was March 17. The municipal mayor, Hon. Ace Stefan V. Binghay, was shocked that the said representative did that for in the first place he was not from Balamban and secondly his staff just came to the office to inform the mayor and his officials that he made that bill. Everyone was opposed to it. Hon. Ace Stefan V. Binghay was even outraged upon hearing the reason of renaming the mountain and exclaimed, “Why would you liken it to a Tagalog word? Had they done their research, they would have known that manunggal is an indigenous tree that grows on the mountain.”

Representative Pablo John Garcia (Cebu Province, third district) had commented that Alcover (Party-list, Alliance for Nationalism and Democracy) should have observed the tradition in Congress, which is to inform colleagues before filing bills affecting their districts. He even pointed out that Balamban, where Mt. Manunggal is located, belongs to the third district but Alcover did not mention to him the House Bill 4215 and did not even discuss it with him beforehand.

"While I believe that Magsaysay should be honored, I believe that we should also honor the long history and tradition of Mt. Manunggal. I just wish that the author of that bill had consulted the congressman of the third district first," he told reporters in one of the interviews.

Cebu Provincial Board (PB) Member Cesar Ian Zambo had also opposed Alcover's proposal, especially since there was no consultation with local officials and constituents. Zambo, who represents the third district at the PB, said Alcover's move was inappropriate.

"Mt. Manunggal is known as the site where a plane of President Magsaysay's crashed. If we change its name, it will be known that the late President Magsaysay crashed on Mt. Magsaysay," he said.

Councilor Dave Karamihan said if Congressman Alcover really wanted to help the town, then he should try and help rename Barangay Sunog -- the place where the plane crashed -- as Barangay Magsaysay.

"Every time there is budget appropriation for the barangay, it takes a long time to withdraw (the funds) because until now, it is still registered as Barangay Sunog, when it has already been called Barangay Magsaysay for a long time," said Karamihan.

Alcover admitted his fault. On March 17, 2011 as he attended the Mass intended for the death anniversary of Pres. Ramon Magsaysay at Mt. Manunggal, Alcover was informed by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) that manunggal is a name of a tree. He replied that he just wanted to generate awareness on the existence of Mt. Manunggal, adding that most school children don't know its place in history.²³

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

During the term of Jose Bebelonio Pepito as barangay captain the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP) donated a 100-hectare lot to barangay Magsaysay cooperative, Barangay Unit Key to Integrated Development-Multi-Purpose Cooperative (BUKID-MPC), composed of about 200 residents of the barangay on September 5, 2005.

The donated lot is intended for growing abaca. Abaca is a species of banana native to the Philippines, grown and harvested for its fiber called Cebu hemp. Other varieties include Manila hemp and Davao hemp. Large areas of Balamban were found to be suitable for abaca production. The fiber when woven (called sinamay in Cebuano) is used in many different applications such as in furniture, gifts, toys, houseware, fashion accessories, and footwear.

Later on the said BUKID-MPC had grown largely in scope. It has now more than 500-hectare land for the abaca plantation. It covers not only Sunog anymore but now includes Gaas, Bayong, and Cansomoroy.¹

On April 20, 2009, Dangerous Drugs Board Chairman Vicente Tito Sotto III personally visited the site for abaca farming in Barangay Sunog (Magsaysay) as part of government's intensified alternative development program. With him were the then municipal mayor, Alex S. Binghay, and the Dangerous Drugs Board Vice-Charman Paul Oaminal.²⁵

According to Tito Sotto III, the suriculture or silk production in Kapangan town, Benguet province has been a successful endeavor of the DDB as part of alternative development program in Luzon which replaced the marijuana plantation to mulberry trees which is the silkworm’s food. Moreover he was anticipating another success with abaca farming as DDB's pilot project for Visayas.

The DDB had donated an initial of P2-million as fund assistance for the expansion of abaca production.²⁶

Abaca grows in all types of soil but its most production in areas where the soil is volcanic in origin, rich in organic matter, loose, friable and well-drained, clay loam type. The water table is preferably 80 cm with 60-80 saturation. The soil has PH level of 6.0 to 7.0 and elevation of less than 1,000 meters from sea level.

The optimum temperature requirement for abaca has not been fully determined, but it grows in areas with temperature of 20 degree celsius during cool months and 25 degree celsius during warm months. A relative humidity of 78% to 85 and evenly distributed rainfall throughout the year are conditions conducive to good growth. Planting abaca at the start of the rainy season is preferable.

Abaca matures from 18 to 24 months after planting under normal condition or upon the appearance of the flagleaf .Subsequent harvest is done done 3 - 4 months interval.²⁷

Recently last May 18, 2011, the Fiber Industry Development Authority (FIDA) in coordination with the Barangay Unity Key to Integrated Development Multipurpose Cooperative (BUKID-MPC), Municipal Agriculture Office of Balamban and Gaas Barangay officials had conducted the training on the use of improvised hand stripping device at the Gaas Barangay Hall to at least 25 abaca farmers from the said four abaca growing barangays. The training tackled the theory and the actual stripping operation of the device and the optimum abaca management practices with emphasis on abaca pests and diseases management.

FIDA-7 regional director, Benjamin Gomo said, fiber quality and quantity can highly be affected by pest and diseases and he also cited the convenience of mounting and the efficiency in fiber extraction as one of the few advantages of the equipment.

On the last day of the training, FIDA-7 handed in 10 units of hand stripping devices to the respective barangays with the signing of the memorandum of agreement (MOA) between FIDA, LGU Balamban and the BUKI-MPC.

BUKID-MPC Chairman Jose Bebelonio Pepito said that the hand stripping device is very effective and efficient in producing high quality abaca fiber and that would consequently boost fiber production and would eventually augment the income of the BUKID-MPC farmer-members.

The promotion of abaca plantation has helped in eradicating marijuana plantation which had been the main source of income of most people in the barangay before. Aside from the abaca production, there are numerous areas within the barangay (among them is Mt. Mauyog) that are rich in gold deposits which also become sources of income of those who are involved in extracting gold.²⁸