A Postscript to Kafagway

A short while ago, I chanced upon a ten year-old Baguio Day souvenir magazine that changed my perspective about the history of Baguio City. In it was an article written by the late Freddie G. Mayo, a respected feature writer and manong from the days of the defunct Baguio Daily Vibrations news magazine who succumbed to the Big C in New York in May 1997. Manong Freddie’s Baguio Day article, featuring a short history of our beloved city, had been re-written, rehashed, updated, or plagiarized, and resurrected as staple reading fare for every Baguio Day anniversary supplement that I can remember. This deplorable practice made it difficult to pinpoint Manong Freddie’s original work as it may have been polluted by some inputs by writers not necessarily as adept as Manong Freddie. I’m sure if Manong Freddie was alive today, I conjecture he wouldn’t really mind anyway because of his affable and generous nature.

Manong Freddie’s mention of Quirante and his Antamog expedition aroused my interest on the subject, and for several nights, I obsessed over the circumstances surrounding that era of Spanish exploits in the Cordillera, leading right into the heart of what is present-day Baguio.

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Taking off from a recent article about Cordillera history etched in gold, I ended with a narrative on the exploits of Spanish expeditions resulting in Captain Garcia de Aldana’s occupation of Bua mines. Shortly before Aldana led 1,700 troops into that area in the vicinity of present-day Mines View Park in search for gold, a “holy war” against the Igorots was sanctioned by Augustinian, Dominican, Jesuit, and Franciscan theologians.

This “just war” prompted renewed Spanish offensives in the Cordillera mountains, beginning with the Aldana expedition of 1620. Three years later, Sergeant Major Antonio Carreno led a larger expedition into the territory earlier explored by Aldana. They built Fort Santiago above the present King Solomon mines, and Fort Del Rosario in the Antomok-Itogon area called Galan. However, taking advantage of heavy rains, Igorot warriors attacked the Spanish contingent which was caught helpless as their wet muskets were rendered useless. The attackers killed a Filipino field marshal and wounded Carreno himself, prompting the invaders to retreat and abandon their forts.

In early 1624, Captain Alonzo Martin Quirante led an expedition of 1,748 Spaniards, Filipinos, Chinese, Japanese, and Mexican troops to the same Igorot mines. They were supported by 500 Ilocano auxiliaries to replace expected deserters. The mission succeeded in rebuilding Fort Santiago and examining six mines in the Antamog and Galan areas. With 5,600 kilograms of ore contained in 400 baskets, the lead Spanish force left for the lowlands. However, upon reaching the Royal Audencia in Manila, Quirante’s loot was apparently found to be sub-standard, raising suspicions of foul play. The mission was cut short because allegedly, the three missions of Aldana, Carreno, and Quirante himself had already cost the Spanish government about P34,000.00, numerous lives, and no profit for the colonizer.

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Quirante’s expedition would mark the last of the Spanish gold conquests in the Cordilleras, at least for the next two centuries. It appears, however, that in one of Quirante’s likely trips to the suburbs of Antamog, he came across a grassy clearing that served as a Rancheria or pasture land for Benguet Igorots. It had seven thatched huts and the residents called the area “Kafagway.” On this clearing would later stand the original townsite of Baguio.

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The Baguio Day supplement article mentioned that the area was part of the La Trinidad, Benguet district. However, it was only in the 1800’s when the district of Benguet (then consisting of only the La Trinidad valley) was organized through the efforts of Col. Guillermo Galvey. Also mentioned in the Baguio Day article was an account about 21 native houses in the area during Quirante’s time, but reportedly, residents abandoned their houses purportedly to avoid confrontation between the Spanish and American forces. This could not have been true since the confrontation between Spanish and American forces only took place more than two centuries later. Benguet Igorots, like the Carinos, from their own accounts, migrated into the Baguio area from Tublay to escape some epidemic in their hometown. Although impossible to prove, the epidemic could have been small pox brought into the mountains by the invading Spanish forces.

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PAST FORWARD: On July 4, 1901, the Americans began establishing civil governments in other areas of the country after experimenting with the town of Benguet. Benguet became the first civil government in the country established by the Americans by virtue of Act No. 48 of the Philippine Commission, passed on November 22, 1900. The reason behind America’s preference of Benguet, despite its rugged and mountainous terrain and the alleged savagery of its people, over any other lowland town in the country is an interesting subject for a future column.

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For comments and suggestions, please e-mail the author at adambaguio@yahoo.com.