 |
Cavite City is simply a peninsula called "Tangway" by it's natives. During the early Spanish time, it was known as "Ciudad de Oro" until the year 1614, when the Spaniards fortified the place with "Muralla" (high thick walls) and surrounded it with moats, the place was called "Puerto de Cavite".
It is almost entirely surrounded by water namely the three bays, Cañacao on the northeast, Bacoor on the southeast and Manila on the northwest. It is connected by a narrow isthmus to the mainland. According to folklores and legends, the earliest settlers came from Borneo, led by Gat Hinigiw and his wife Dayang Kaliwanag who bore seven children. Archaelogical evidences in the coastal areas show prehistoric settlements.
Cavite City was given royal encomienda or land grant in May of 1571 by the spanish conquistador Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, which was named Cavite la Punta. Cavite la Punta was christened Cavite el Puerto also known as Cavite Nuevo, when the spaniard discovered that Cavite la Punta was a suitable place for the repair and construction of their ships and galleons. Puerto de Cavite was linked to the history of world trade. Spanish galleons sailed every July to Acapulco, Mexico. Between 1609 and 1616 the galleons Espiritu Santo and San Miguel were constructed in the shipyard of Puerto de Cavite. In 1590 the surrounding walls (muralla) and Fuerte Guadalupe on the south side were built. The forts of San Felipe Neri and Porta Vaga were constructed in 1595 and was respectively completed in 1602. It was also a haven for churches, convents and hospitals. The Franciscan Hospital de San Jose was built for sailors and soldiers in 1591, the San Diego de Alcala convent in 1608, the Porta Vaga (La Ermita), San Juan de Dios, Santo Domingo, Santa Monica (Recolletos) and San Pedro, the port's parish church. Plazas and parks were evidence of importance, Plaza de Armas across from San Felipe Fort, Plaza de San Pedro across from the church and Plaza Soledad across from Porta Vaga, Plaza del Reparo was at the bayside.
Cavite City was founded as town in 1614.San Roque was added and founded as a town also in 1614. It was placed under the civil administration of Cavite el Puerto until it was granted a right to be a separate and an independent pueblo in 1720. Las Caridad, formerly known as La Estanzuela of San Roque, separated and was founded as town in 1868. The spanish Governor General Jose de la Gardana granted the petition of the people led by Don Justo Miranda to make barrio La Estanzuela an independent town.
Cavite City pre-spanish government was one of a tribal form called the barangay system. It was ruled by a datu. When the spaniard came, it was changed into a castilian organize pueblos. Filipinos was appointed as civil administrators by the provincial spanish Gobernador Politico Militar. Each pueblos was headed by a Gobernadorcillo, later known as Capitan Municipal. He is assisted by different level of Tinientes and several Cabeza de Barangay. Don Tomas Salazar was the earliest and only Gobernadorcillo recorded in the history of Cavite City. He held the position from 1846 until 1851.
CHAVACANO
Chavacano
the dialect mostly spoken by majority of the Caviteños that lived in the city of Cavite, whose origin has begun during the arrival of the first Spaniards three centuries ago. Today very few Caviteños in the city of Cavite speak the Chavacano dialect and perhaps it will come to cease of its existence or completely dissapppear in the near future.
During the stay of the Spaniards near the military arsenal in Cavite City, the people that lived in the proximities of the arsenal put themselves in contact with the Spaniards and began to incorporate in their own dialect many spanish words which gave birth to a Hispanic - Philippine dialect called "Chavacano" of long ago and of today.
According to many opinions, the Chavacano dialect was scattered in different places of the Philippine archipelago, only of its sort in the Far East or perhaps in the Hispanic world.
The Chavacano dialect has the same grace and beauty of the spanish langauge as it has been in its own right and peculiar rules. An example of the Chavacano dialect as shown in the song "Caviteña".
Tindera de Tinapa
Luego por la noche, yo quiere
cena toastao de morisqueta.
asao de tinapa
Carne todos el dia,
yo ta pastidia.
Ya pasa una tindera de tinapa
curriendo ta lliba;
Ñora, cosa ba ese curriendo ta lliba?
Tienda ñora, di tinapa.
Cuanto ba, ñora, un cuarta?
Yo ta vendi dos nu ma.
No uste si pitot-pitot puerte,
porque mi tienda di machaca.
Ustedes mana tindera cargado
Este machinada cuando el tienda ta lliba.
No uste platica ansina,
baka uste cara machaca.
No uste habla ansina, baka uste desgracia.
Another example of a typical humoristic oration in Chavacano that comes from the collection of Don Eliodoro Ballesteros of the city of Cavite, a great admirer of this dialect and one of the progenitor of its conservation.
Dear Tatay:
Ya excribi yo con uste el Lunis
para recibi uste na Martis
Y para sabi uste na Mierculis
Qui yo nuay mas cualta na Viernis
Di ritira yo na Sabado
Para pidi con uste cualta na Domingo
Contestacion:
Querido Hijo:
Ya escribi tu conmigo del Lunis
Y ya recibi yo del Martis
Ya sabi yo del Mierculis
Qui yo manda cualta contigo na Viernis
Pulqui si tu di ritira na Sabado
Di ribinta yo tu cabeza na Domingo
One of the poets and Philippine writers, Jesus Balmori expressed himself in Chavacano. He was a great admirer of the Chavacano dialect and wrote several verses in this dialect. Another admirer of this dialect was Don Jaime de Veyra, the illustrious writer and famous Philippine historian, who feared more than all the probable extinction of the Chavacano when he wrote the following prophetic lines, "I am afraid that the inevitable absorbtion of the tagalismo on one side and the invasion of the anglicism on the other hand, will wipe out or extinguish this inherited Castilian language in existence with his last representatives in the following generation."
And, according to the Philippine catedratico, Alfred B. German who wrote a thesis on the grammar in Chavacano dialect, the present conditions no longer favor the disenrollment of the same one. There are many reasons for the probable dissappearance of the Chavacano dialect, but the main thing is the massive arrival of the Tagalog speaking people in the city of Cavite. The educated class has scorned the Chavacano dialect, refusing to speak it or replace it with the Tagalog language.
Professor Gervacio Miranda who also wrote a book in Chavacano dialect said in his preface the following thing,"My only objective to write this book is to possibly conserve in written form the Chavacano of Cavite for posterity," fearing the extinction of the Chavacano dialect.
Nowadays, in the same city of Cavite, the Chavacano still exist. Nonetheless very few Caviteños speaks of this hybrid language. The survival of this dialect depends on their people, the Caviteños of the city of Cavite, who have inherited this dialect from their ancestors.
We need to find a safe remedy or solution for the Chavacano from dissappearance before it's too late for us to save it from extinction. Although it is in writing, on the other hand, perhaps the civic and culture organizations would have to collect all the works written in Chavacano and file the same in libraries. If possible,this form of conservation of the Chavacano dialect could assure us for the future of Caviteño generations in the city of Cavite.
Himno del Ciudad de Cavite
(Chabacano Lyrics)
El ciudad donde yo ya naci
Muchos hijos qui ya muri
No mas ya pudi ilos sufri que ta haci
Masque el vida no bale mas pirdi.
Ciudad Cavite, ta'qui todos nisos
Para el otro ta pudi sabi
Na todo'l tiempo, na todo'l occasion
Siempre junto nisos de aqui.
Ciudad Cavite, el inspiracion Di niso vida y corazon
Ciudad Cavite, hasta qui muri
Ta dali gracias nisos aqui.
|
