Holy Name University

Center for Religious Education and Mission

WitCUL: Society, Culture and Religious Heritage

ASSESSMENT FOR TANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE

Name: Balaba, Yvonne Kaye A. Class Schedule: 02:30-03:30 MWF

Address: Guinacot, Guindulman

Instructions:
Please provide the type of Tangible Cultural Heritage that is asked for in the corresponding
section. For every one of these that you have identified, please give a short description and
attach a picture.

Part 1: Give at least two (2) Environmental Heritage located in your barangay or town…

1. Eskaya Bat Cave

The Eskaya Bat Cave is located

within the ancestral domain of the Eskaya
tribe, an indigenous tribe found in the
southeast interior hinterlands of Bohol, in
Barangay Biabas. It has gleaming stalactites
and stalagmites, and during dusk, thousands
of bats rush out of the cave in a deafening
roar. This cave served as the headquarters
and hiding place or safe house of the Eskaya
warriors against the Spanish, American, and
Japanese during World War II. It was also the
place where their ancient elders held their
blood compact to seal their agreements and
at the same time provides abode (habitat) to the Kabjaw (insect-eating bats) the number of which
will take some 20 minutes for all bats to fly out of the cave when looking for food at night.
2. Burial Caves

In the cliffs of Barangay Basdio,

burial caves can be found. Inside these
caves are coffins made of molave wood
and are shaped like boats with bow and
stern appearing prominently. Its length
ranges from six to seven feet and each
weighs 50 to 70 kilograms. The bows of
the markers point toward the sea due to
the ancient belief that the boats are the
dead’s vehicles to heaven. According to
Prof. Jose Marianito Luspo, a local
historian, the ancient graves in Basdio are
part of burial practices in the province wherein the dead will be buried in shallow graves and after
several years, they would exhume the remains and place these in boat-shaped coffins which
would be put in small caves that would become their final resting places.

Part 2: Give at least three (3) Built Heritage found in your barangay or town…

1. Nuestra Señora de la Consolacion Church

The Guindulman Church was built in

1881 as dedication to the Nuestra Señora
de la Consolacion. It is located at
Poblacion, Tabajan and was culminated in
1950. The lower part of the church is made
of coral stone blocks while the upper part
is made of concrete and wood. In front of
the main facade is a portico that supports
the balcony and the ornaments gracing the
altar dates back to the 1950’s and 60’s.
2. Ambush of 1944 Heroes Monument

Situated in Barangay Cabantian, specifically

in the boundary of Guindulman and Duero, is the
Ambush of 1944 Heroes Monument. This
monument is a trace of the past on how Boholanos
fought for freedom. It was during the Japanese
occupation in 1944 when the members of the
guerrilla unit which was organized by the Major
Esteban Bernido, native of Guindulman who also
became a representative of the 3rd Congressional
district of Bohol, governor of the province, and
finally occupied one of the important cabinet
positions of the country, ambushed the Japanese
troop in the said area wherein the Japanese
suffered heavy casualties while the guerrilla unit
escaped unharmed.
This trace of history is enough evidence that
we are not inferior to any other human race, that
our town surpass others’ over the years.

3. Saint Mary Academy

Saint Mary Academy

was founded by the former
parish priest of Guindulman –
Rev. Fr. Sebastian Valleser,
with the able support of Mr.
Inocentes Amora, the first
principal. The school was
established to cater to the
demands of parents and the
youth of the town and its
neighboring environs for a
Catholic education and to
minimize juvenile
delinquency as a
consequence of war. In June 1946, it was permitted to open a complete high school academic
course but due to the rapid increase of enrolment, Fr. Valleser asked for assistance from the
Augustinian Recollect Missionaries of the Philippines (ARM) and until now, it is managed by the
Augustinian Recollect Sisters.
Part 3: Give at least five (5) Movable Heritage found in your own house or a relative’s or
neighbor’s house.
Note: Be sure to ask permission when you take a photo of their property.
1. Sewing Machine
My grandmother’s sewing machine is
more or less 50 years old. Despite the age,
she kept it well that it is still functional
today. Because of poverty, this machine
had been very important to her for it served
as her way of providing her children the
glamorous dresses of the old times in order
to keep them confident. This machine has
a wooden cabinet, and the rest are already
metal.
This just shows that people were
already engaged in fashion, and
technology for clothing industry had been
developing since then.

2. Corn Mill/Grinder

Before corn mill machines were invented,

corn mills back then are made up of stone. It is
commonly called as “Batong galingan” in our place and
it is owned by my late grandfather’s family
approximately in the year 1920s. According to my
grandmother, pieces of corn will be put in the hole at
the center of the lower stone and the upper stone will
serve as a lid and pressure that when it is stirred or
grinded with the help of a wooden handle, the corn will
be crushed and become finer and powered and the
husk will separate.
3. Tagjaw

Tagjaw is a sturdy heavy pot made of clay

used exclusively for storing water. As per my
grandmother, in 1920s, my great grandfather
used to command my late grandfather to be in
charge in fetching water from the “Atabay” or
deep well. The water will go through the opening
of the pot, covered with a lid or anything in
substitution to the lid, and the rope around the
neck of the pot will be his handle/help with
carrying the heavy pot containing water, to store
under the “Bangera” (part of the kitchen) for later
use.

4. Banga

Banga is the newer version of tagjaw. It is a

large spherical baked-clay water jar also used for
storing drinking water, except that it has a little faucet
to control water flow (counterclockwise direction for
water to flow and clockwise for closing). It also has lid
to cover the jar and my grandmother used to put a
plastic cellophane cover before the lid for better dust
protection and safer water to drink.
5. Wooden Ladle

Before the stainless steel ladles most of us

use today, wooden ladles were common. It is locally
called as “Luwag” and is made up of a flat bamboo
stick with rounded tip handle and a scoop which is a
fined hard coconut shell tied together by a rattan fiber.
It also has a hole at the center of the upper part of the
ladle for hanging purposes.
This particular ladle had been functional ever
since I was born. It was there during my younger
years when I used to live with my grandparents and
is used until now.
Required by: Josefina T. Cemine