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I’m sure most us have a childhood story to tell about a tree. But did you know that more than benefiting us with so many things, we also have quite a list of stories of origins from trees?
Well, to look beyond their existence, they are among God’s amazing creations. My friend once told me: “you can make things happen, c’mon, you’re not a tree.” She’s just pointing out that I’m not stiff and I have a choice and capability to move on my own. But amazing enough, if trees are not stiff, they might not protect us from harm especially when storms come in our way.
We, at WOWBatangas.com, extend our sympathies and prayers to the victims of Super Typhoon Yolanda. This typhoon’s strength brought massive destruction which caused a continuing heartbreak to all of us. And we will never stop praying that the Filipino spirit will still prevail.
READ MORE: Ways on how to help the victims of typhoon Yolanda
Going back to trees, here in Batangas, did you know that some towns and a city in the province was named after trees? Let me tell you the stories behind the names of Talisay, Ibaan, Lipa, Balete and Mataasnakahoy.
The first on the list is Talisay. Long before Balai Isabel was established in the municipality, older than the tale of monster lurking around the Taal Lake, Talisay is but a happy town mostly religious and very humble. They wished for a kapilya for them to have a house of prayer. Generous people contributed and the town had a simple parish. Yet they still long for a bell tower where they can put their beautiful church bell. There grew a Talisay tree.
The Talisay tree with some branches stiff enough to handle a heavy church bell. The bell became instrument for people to be notified when the mass is about to start. Hanging in a Talisay tree, the church bell sways back and forth calling people from different parts of the town to come and hear the mass.
One curious person who wondered where the bell sound is coming from got an answer from a woman who responded, “Ayun. Doon sa may Talisay.” Then each time there were visitors coming, asking of the same thing, they tell that under the Talisay tree is a church bell that calls the people. That’s the birth of the town’s name, Talisay.
Second on the line is Ibaan. Iba, a fruit-bearing tree similar with a kamias tree (except for the former’s fruit is round and yellow), is abundant on the area. Then as settlers begin to multiply in the area, close to establishment of a town, they would tell people where they are from “sa may Iba-an”.
Next is the home of kapeng barako, Lipa. I am a Lipeña at heart. When I was a kid, my classmates are fond of joking about the name of Lipa.
Once there was a Spanish soldier who just tinkled around and unfortunately, he grabbed the itchy Lipa leaf and had it as a tissue paper. Few seconds later and he’s jumping, running and crying out loud for itchiness. Well, that’s just our grade school object of laughter.
The real foretold story about Lipa goes when settlers near the Taal Lake (then Bombon Lake) moved because of the devastating eruption of Taal Volcano. As they go along the way evacuating from the devastated area, they carry the image of San Sebastian. When they arrived at their settlement, they had to put down Patron San Sebastian. The next morning, everyone turned anxious because the Patron was missing. They searched for three long days and found the Patron on a Lipa tree. They interpreted the “message” that the Patron wanted to name their new settlement after that Lipa tree.
The story of how Balete got its name, is just like Ibaan’s history. A certain area near the Taal Lake is very abundant in Balete trees, take note, no white ladies included. Back then, there were really few settlers in the town. Time passed by and they named the town Balete.
The last on the list is Mataasnakahoy!
I’m really fascinated with the name of this town. It’s literally very witty how the name came to be and when I had the chance to research for its history, it directed me to two young boys.
Once there was a town where two young boys and their mother lived in a makeshift house. They were really problematic about their mom who can’t even eat on her own because of her severe illness. All of their known medicines were given to her to make her well, yet, they still can’t cure their mother’s illness. Then there came a night when the mother dreamt of a very tall tree somewhere in the forest. The fruit, according to her dream, will cure her.
The next morning, the two young boys went to the direction their mother told them to find the tree that will cure her. When they arrived at the area, they found a very tall tree. They climbed the tree, got the fruit, and gave it to their mother. Soon after, their mother became well.
Because of the miraculous thing that happened to the ill woman, the town was named after the tall tree which in Tagalog is “mataas na [punong]kahoy”.
Batangas has a lot of stories to share to us — a proof that we have interesting history that is anchored on humble beginnings and.
With all the stories we’ve shared, we hope they could all be simple reminder of how important trees are. In times when typhoon hit the country, we know that trees help prevent massive flooding. May this remind us that as we do our best in protecting ourselves, conscientious effort to protect the environment as well.
