BRIEF LEGENDARY HISTORY OF CABAGDALAN

 Cabagdalan before was only a sitio of Biasong. But now, it is already one of the 28 barangays that comprise the Municipality of Balamban. According to oral tradition, the place was named “kabagdalan” since rough specie of Potamididae known locally as “bagdal” (Tympanotonus fuscatus) was abundant in its rivers. The said specie of horn snails was associated with the throne of the famous fairy queen of Cebu which was made of “bagdal”.

Topographically, Cabagdalan is surrounded by bodies of freshwater. In fact one of its sitios is named Tubod, which literally means “spring”. Moreover, there is another sitio named Camansilis which has also a place named Tu’tu’ or Tulu’tulu’. It literally means a continuous dropping of water droplets. Tu’tu’ is generally believed by the folk people as the most sacred dwelling of the merchant fairy queen. This is the very reason why the place is not inhabited by the folk people. The place is actually a cliff overlooking a river.

Northward, this river leads to a waterfall at different levels in terms of elevation, rapidity, & depth. This waterfall is known locally as Mahanginhangin which means literally as “it can be hanged in the air”. It is part of the sitio known as Unidos which is obviously a Spanish word for “united” in plural form. It is believed by the folk people that the place is the harbor of the golden ship of the merchant fairy queen. Accordingly, it is inhabited by sylphs who hang the golden ship in the air after its arrival through an invisible Panama Canal “lake & lock” principle.

Moreover, the legend tells that the golden ship can fly in thin air, can transform into a floating log, and can sink in the ocean like a submarine.

 

Legend recounts farther that the golden ship is accompanied by a mantaga (a kraken), school of dolphins & tritons whose herald leader sounds a conch whenever the ship is arriving to or is about to leave from the harbor. The leader in local legend is said to be the foster father of the fairy queen. He is known in associated Cebuano legends as “Filemon, Solomon, & Sireno or Celeno”.

The said fairy queen who ruled in the mountains and rivers of Cabagdalan was known locally as Maria Tang-an since accordingly she was famed as the Amazon guardian of the center of the world which was the paradise island and as Maria Cacao since accordingly she owned a vast plantation of cacaos and exported its fruits to the Americas with her golden ship that was guarded by a white monkey, a Pegasus, a unicorn, a winged centaur (known in the local dialect as kwe), a pair of silver ravens, a dozen of golden swans, a golden dragon, an ogre or a giant, a kraken, a school of merfolks, a flock of sylphs & fairies, and a band of elves.

Although the word “tang-an” means in Cebuano as a very famous, wise, and an untouchable person, it must originally derived from Ch’ang-an (which means “perpetual peace”), the ancient capital of China believed to be the center of the world since the island of Cebu was believed by many since the ancient times as the center of the world and the original paradise island. But the heart of Cebu lies in Balamban which might be the real Garden of Eden. Northeast of Balamban is Cabagdalan where the fruit of life and the fruit of knowledge stood in the rivers and mountains of gold according to the Japanese invaders who had hidden most of General Yamashita’s treasures in them.

The merchant fairy queen is also known in other names like: Maria Makiling & Maria Sinukuan in Luzon; Reina Encantada, Maria Benita (referring to the brilliance that emanates from her and to her benevolence), Maria Capra (probably because of her association with the bird of the same name or perhaps because she sometimes appears as chocolate brown in complexion riding on a sea-turtle during floods in Mananga River at Talisay City, Cebu), Sofia (in reference to her profound wisdom), Siring & Maria Anave (this name is associated with her ability to transform into a mermaid) in Visayas & Mindanao.

Oral history tells that in the morning of 1932 a group of U.S. Navy from Detroit, Michigan, U.S.A. arrived at Combado, Cantu-od, Balamban, Cebu by way of the Combado River which was wider at the time compared to the present. One of the Americans was named and he was a certain Bolanton (or Blanton). He asked a certain lady named Siria and a seven-year old girl Luz Pilapil, the youngest illegitimate daughter of Felipe Pilapil the last Municipal President of Balamban, if they knew a certain young beautiful lady named Maria or a certain old woman named Rosa Mistica who owned a very big aircraft carrier. Accordingly, the said woman bought dozens of cars in one of the car companies in Detroit but had left the car keys. After being informed about the matter, the company owner followed the mysterious woman to give her the car keys personally. But he was surprised to see her aircraft carrier waiting at the harbor. It so happened, he was a member of U.S. Navy Intelligence. Instead of giving her the car keys right away, he called up the U.S. Navy.

The U.S. Navy decided to follow her ship for they were suspecting that she may be a spy for the Japanese Imperial Navy Wakamiya who might be plotting for a war and a surprise attack against America. It could be remembered that there were conflicts between America & Japan on simple racism. In 1905, the Americans brokered a peace deal between Russia and Japan. Some Japanese felt they had been robbed of the fruits of their victory, and that the white Americans had cheated them in order to help the white Russians. In 1907, California passed a set of Jim Crow-style racist laws considered outlandish even by the lax standards of the day, further infuriating the Japanese. The Japanese might had had waited for so long to fight back.

They told Siria that they had followed the said ship from the sea to the Combado River but had lost her. They believed that a Panama Canal “lake & lock” principle had been applied in the river system as what they had witnessed earlier. But their boat was trapped in a shallow area and could no longer follow her ship that vanished in thin air. Siria told Bolanton that she and Luz had seen the ship too at dawn while they were peeing beside the river. They hid behind the tall grasses after hearing a loud siren of a ship or a sound of a conch. Then a white Pegasus alighted near them and drank water from a spring beside the river. Afterwards, they saw a very big radiant ship cruising to the mountains. It was accompanied by tritons & dolphins. Siria retold that there was a party going on in the ship. Then they saw a shining lady wearing a multi-colored gown who was standing at the back deck near the stern. She, holding a chalice, was looking cautiously at the river. The shining lady went back inside after somebody called her by her name, Maria. Then the ship was gone. What they had seen afterwards was a glowing timber which ironically floating against the current towards the mountains. Furthermore, she told Bolanton that Maria was not a human being but a supernatural being who was living in an enchanted city in Tu’tu’ or Tulu’tulu’. The place is part of Camasilis, a sitio of Barangay Cabagdalan and a boundary between the municipalities of Balamban & Asturias.

Oral history farther tells that Bolanton and the other Americans went to Cabagdalan by way of the river using their trucks. They found Tu’tu’. It was a sedimentary rock that looked like a tall door. But they could not find Maria. What they had discovered instead according to the story was that the place was rich in gold deposits based on their detectors. They climbed up the rock. The area was a dense forest. In the midst of that forest, they saw a crystal-clear lake. In the middle of that lake, in its depth, a living tree with green leaves was visible. Accordingly, it was the tree of life. The Americans camped around the area and were setting up for gold mining. It was noon when they saw a large group of apes playing on the branches of the trees. When they were about to shoot some of them, a white monkey with a yellow lotus on her ear appeared near the lake. The local guides told the Americans that it was the fairy in her enchanted form. They said that her presence was a warning on not to shoot the apes or touch anything in the area. The Americans took heed. But they still continued on gold-digging.

One night, when the moon was full, a supernatural phenomenon occurred. An apparition of Maria appeared at the same hour in three different places simultaneously. She appeared at the top windows of the parish churches of Asturias & Balamban to Father Roman Hamili & Father Thomas Borces respectively and at the door curtain of a certain house in Cabagdalan where most of the Americans were resting. She was floating in the air emitting lights. The fairy told everyone to stop digging for gold and to stop exploiting the area for it was the source of all waters on Earth and that if they would continue the whole world would be flooded and the lives of all people of Tuburan, Asturias, Balamban, Toledo, and the whole island of Cebu combined were not enough to pay the damage being done.

At that time, Bolanton and two companions had gone at the foot of the mysterious cliff. The rock emitted green lights and a portal opened. Bolanton run into the portal. His companions chased after him but were thrown away by a certain force. Bolanton who was able to enter the portal had found himself standing at the foot of a sea-rock that was facing a city of gold & crystals with tall buildings. At the center of the city stood a very tall tower or a skyscraper by which unidentified flying objects were hovering and some were flying around it. At the top of that tower stood an empty flaming throne flashing with lightning and roaring with thunder. The throne was owned by whom they called “Solomon, the Wise Prince & Lord of the Universe” who was still to come from the heavens above who would rule the earth before the end of days, a time when their city would merge with the visible world. Nobody was allowed to sit on that throne except him who was to come. The throne was guarded by Maria and a host of fiery dragons. 

Bolanton heard a loud sound of a conch. Then he saw a godly-formed Triton leading a school of lesser tritons. They all accompanied the enchanted ship. Then he said, “Be sure that no mortal has entered the portal. Else, the Kraken might have followed him. The Kraken can grab the warship and can seize it down to the bottom of the ocean. Be sure that the Kraken is not unleashed until the end of days.”

Afraid that he could be seen, Bolanton swam back to the portal. To his horror, the Kraken’s tentacles were entering. Using his rifle, he shot at the tentacles. Bolanton was hit by one of the tentacles and was thrown outside the portal. Bolanton saw his truck and ran towards it. But he was horror-stricken seeing his reflection on the mirror. His face, skin, & hair were seemingly hit by a nuclear radiation.

Out of so much fear, the Americans left the place and swore not to set foot again in that area.

The last foreigners that had gone to the place, according to the story, were General Tomoyuki Yamashita and his soldiers during the Japanese Occupation on the outbreak of World War II. Riding on horses, they were tracking the shortcut trail from Balamban to Liloan or from Balamban to Danao. They were carrying a big Japanese treasure box full of golden Buddhist images & gold bars. But on their way to the northeast, the kraken grabbed the treasure box including the soldiers who were carrying it and pulled them into the bottom of the river basin. Afraid, they rode fast and left the treasure box to the kraken. 

The said trail was the same trail tracked by Hara Amihan (Queen Juana) & her companions when they escaped to Daanglungsod after Cebu City was bombarded with Miguel Lopez de Legaspi’s cannons in 1565. Daanglungsod (literally it means “old town”) was a sunken part of sitio Bangbang of Barangay Nangka, which was the old trading capital of Balamban during the Pre-Hispanic Era. Bangbang got its name from alibangbang or the pompadour discus which was very abundant in the municipal rivers during those times. Moreover, according to oral history, Hara Amihan & her companion camped around the area in Mahanginhangin. As an offering to the supernatural beings that inhabited the place, Hara Amihan threw the famous legendary double-edged sword Zulfikar at the river basin. Furthermore, oral history tells that when the said queen was at the Combado River, there was a flood. In order to cross the other side of the river on their journey to Daanglungsod, the queen was to walk across the arms of her soldiers who stood as human bridge by connecting arms, with one hand holding his own elbow, and the other holding the shoulder of another soldier. They called this principle as balangbalang. Accordingly the present town got its name from Balangbang, a coined word from the phrase “Balangbalang paingon sa Alibangbang” (holding arms, connecting elbows, forming bridge towards Alibangbang). Balangbang was spelled in Spanish as Balanban but it still had the same pronunciation. But later on during the American period, the new town, after Daanglungsod sunk, was Americanized in pronunciation. And that pronunciation was generally used until in the early 1980’s by the elder people even though the town’s name was already spelled Balamban.

Finally, according to the present generation the sword Zulfikar was really found in Mahanginhangin. But they could no longer trace by whom and where it went.

One thing is sure. Cabagdalan is a promising barangay for agro-tourism. Although it still has low market logistics due to rough & rocky roads, it is a booming barangay in terms of culture & education.

In fact, in 1995, Cabagdalan National High School was built near Cabagdalan Elementary School to meet the demand in education. An annual Sinulog Dance competition is held every 29^th day of January. And the barangay is planning to revive the “Search for the Queen of Cabagdalan”, a combination of money contest & beauty pageant, in which the winning queen will be seated on a throne formed like a bagdal.