A Google Map of Poblacion..

( click on the map to enlarge it )

Here is a Google Map of Poblacion..Some business establishments and landmarks were labeled ( I am surprised how Google got those info )..No street names. but I guess you would know if you have stayed in Asingan for a long time and you might be a traveling peddler. ..

Some streets have no names yet. I wonder who are the ones in Asingan in charge of naming streets?

Would be nice to have a street named after ya while you are still alive to be able to see and enjoy it, don't you think?...:D.

Just a whimsical thought..

two maps of Asingan showing the Barangays

HERE ARE TWO MAP DRAWINGS OF ASINGAN..Of course, it is not very accurate, but it could serve as an illustration for any kind of souvenir program in which a map of Asingan is needed..You can easily make a copy of the map by clicking your mouse on one of them ( I recommend the black and white illustration ) then select Copy from the menu. Afterwards, go to a blank WP template ( text, Microsoft Word or even Paint ) then click Paste as soon as you put your mouse over the blank template..

I believe Bobonan is now Palaris, and Ariston is now divided into two..

The center square is Poblacion, but I will still have to find a map of this "downtown" area of Asingan...Maybe I will lift one from Google Maps, but not all the names of the streets would be there...

SHOTS OF DUMAQUIT AND MACALONG

The above shot shows the Domanpot road ( marked with a red A ) and the irrigation road. I guess on the eastern side of the road would be Dumaquit and some where in that clump of houses would be the family home of Marcie and Juliet. I had the chance to visit it last 2009 when Juliet came home again.

C is a plantation of mango trees owned by Sen. Shahani. B is that road going to Cabincolan. D is the residence of the Deocares family..



This is an aerial shot of the Asingan cemetery. The Catholic cemetery is near the top of the photo. You can see the small road leading to this section of the cemetery. On this road you can see a small shanty belonging to some homeless people with nowhere to go. One of them hacked the way for us to the Northeastern corner of this area so I was able to see my parents tombs.

In a short time, I am afraid there will be another group of shelters in here. At least the old BANGAR TREE is already gone. That is the most haunted place in Asingan when we were still kids.. Lots of stories concerning rolling coals, puppies that morph into different animals ( a pig, then a horse ) or a big white bird that would appear and dissapear on a high branch( now you see it, now you don't ). And do not forget the story of the lady in white who hitched a ride on a tricycle one midnight in Poblacion asking the operator to bring her to Macalong. When they reached the cemetery, she asked the operator to stop. She got out and showed her bandaged and blood smeared face to the operator. The operator almost went bananas running and screaming and leaving his tricycle behind---#

more google shots of Cabincolan

This shot shows the intersection of the Irrigation road and the road going to my place and out into Cabincolan. The irrigation road goes out into Domanpot. Turn left and you will head towards Urdaneta. The huge house at the intersection I believe belongs to a member of the Deocares family. I never entered it yet but I heard it has a swimming pool. I think you can see the pool on this satellite shot.

The yellow arrow points to the road passing in front of my place, the red Arrow points at the Deocares residence and the orange arrow points at the irrigation road going out into Domanpot.

There is a waiting shed at the crossing too. That is the landmark for you to make a left turn if you want to go to Poblacion, going into the Sapigao Hardware store.

Between the Deocares residence and my place there is a beer garden. It is just a nipa hut with a couple of tables and a rented Karaoke jukebox. It caters to the residents of our area, I guess...

If at night you hear some Karaoke singers singing out of tune, I suspect it might be coming from this joint. Well the good thing about it is its privacy. You can bring a date here and nobody would recognize you because this is located in the sticks..:) No one whom you like to see would see you here..

CABINCOLAN/DUMAQUIT: PAST AND PRESENT

This is a Google earth shot of my place..X marks the spot where my house stands..Y is pointing to the triangular patch of land beside us which is for sale..It is 200 sq. meters at 2500 pesos per sq. meter..This is what our neighbour named Cherise (?) told us..It has a mango tree, just beside the right of way that goes beside our garage..Z with a thin line points to the bungalow of Fely Ungos..There are already a number of houses in the area and according to them, our place is very quiet, compared to some places in Poblacion..The rice fields in front of us gives a very nice view from our front porch..There are several stories re: it..one time, they said FVRamos whose house is also beside it wanted to buy a portion for a heliport..Up to now nothing yet..The white lines are small roads going in and out of the particular subdivision. If I heard right, one part of the rice field in front of us belongs to the DeVera family and some portions are for sale as residential areas...The irrigation road going to Domanpot I think is hidden by the trees and houses.That narrow concrete road that passes in front of our house is the "tambak" or shortcut mentioned by Marcie Wise in her historical account ( see the next article )..vdc

note: if you double click the image with your mouse, it might enlarge it...

STORY OF DUMAQUIT/CABINCOLAN by Marcie Wise

My maternal Grandmother's name is Rufina Esteban Padilla. Her two brothers are Panyong, the father of Amado Esteban who is one time owner of the Rizal Academy ) and Jovencio Esteban. Jovencio, on the other hand is a Math teacher who taught at the Pacifican Colleges and later, at the Rizal Academy.

Grandma Rufina have 2 children: Uncle Carlito, Marcelina, my mother, known as “Nena,” and Uncle Fred. *** When the winds of War started to blow over Europe in 1942, Laki Panyong advised us to evacute ( agbakwit ) to that area of Asingan known as Bangkag. The Esteban family has a large acreage of land in Bangkag where sugar cane (kaunasan) then was cultivated.*** As a result, the Esteban/Padilla family moved to Bangkag and built there a small nipa hut (bahay kubo). Subsequently, Grandpa Uming Casimero followed us too as they also had land there. Their land is situated just on the opposite side of ours. Consequently, the Uson and the Figuracion family from Domanpot also evacuated to that part called Bangkag-Laod (Bangkag North). *** In December, 1941, Japan invaded the Philippines and within a few months, defeated the American and Filipino forces. My Grandpa thought the occupation would not last long, but it lasted two years in Asingan.

Starting in early 1942, Japanese forces occupied Asingan. They set up a camp next to the Catholic church. According to my mom, people in Asingan saw the bombing of San Manuel by the Japanese . During the occupation, , my mother and other children would go to school in Poblacion(South Central School)during the day , making their way via the tambak (rice field paddies ). That tambak is presently the concrete road which passes through the front of Manong Vic's new house. It would pass thru Cabingcolan. At the time, there was no irrigation road yet. It was built after the war.** According to my mom and other witnesses, the occupation was very hard on Asingan. For example, if one Japanese soldier was killed, the Japanese forces would kill 10 Filipinos in retribution, burying them in South Central School. My mom and others witnessed these gory executions and will never ever forget them. In addition, the Japanese raped many women in Asingan.

To avoid conscription to the Japanese forces, men and women hid in the middle of sugar cane fields (kaunasan). Also, they would go to Banawang to hide. The Japs had also the vicious habit of abducting young women and making them "comfort women". You can just imagine what this word means.*** Laki Uming Casimero family has a helper. His name is Juan Paet. At that time, the Japs were hunting young men to conscript for the Japanese Army. But the young men were always on the lam hiding in the sugar cane fields. The Japanese saw Juan, took him and when he refused to join him, they tied him to an artesian well and whipped him mercilessly. But he survived the ordeal. He died only last year ( 2010 )

In September 1945, the Japanese commander in the Philippines surrendered to Gen. Wainwright in Baguio, thus ending the war.My Grandpa Panyong family then moved back to Baro with his only son, Uncle Amado Esteban. In addition, Laki Uming Casimero and Laki Jovencio Esteban families also moved back to Poblacion. My Inang Baket did not want to return so she stayed in Bangkag with her three children, one of whom was my Mom. My Mom built there our present house where we stayed until we immigrated to Hawaii.** The name Domaquit was formed in the following manner: Doma-for Domanpot; plus Quit for the ibakquit people. Accordingly, -DOMAQUIT is born. Before that people called us taga-bangbankag or abagatan.---#