Holoprosencephaly: The Siquijodnons: Portrait of a People

The people of Siquijor are known as Siquijodnons. Historically, the original name of Siquijor was Siquijod, a name that presumably came from Datu Kihod, the legendary ruler of the island from the pre-Hispanic times. When the Spaniards came in the 16th century, they changed the island’s name from Siquijod to Siquijor.

The Siquijodnons, like their beautiful island province, has been grossly misrepresented in many accounts about Siquijor. Many outsiders thought that there are many mangkukulam (sorcerers) in the island, as well as black magicians and voodoo practitioners. Others propagate the legend that Siquijor is inhabited by frightening creatures that come at night like the engkantos, aswangs, manananggals, ek-ek, and nunos. I have not seen one of these creatures, but I have met many sensible people professing to their life that they have seen one or two.

Nevertheless some of the people who propagate these eerie stories have never been to Siquijor itself. Some maybe are just hearsays, stories that have been passed on to generations that may have been decorated with more than what had actually happened. Yet, I would not say that they are entirely untrue. During my week-long stay in the island, I have experienced some things that may or may not be due to paranormal things. I would also say that now, I believe that aswangs and mangkukulams really exist, although they are different from the stereotype mangkukulam and aswang that are always portrayed in the movies. I do not believe in them at first, considering them as just part of our local mythology. But my long travels in the Visayas (Panay, Samar, Leyte, and now Siquijor) have only made me aware that they do exist, and walking among us. Fortunately, these aswang and mangkukulam are extremely rare people. But I would reserve my observations and experiences on this in my future articles.

Yet the prevalence of belief in the aswang and mangkukulam are doing a lot of unfair view about the Siquijodnon people. Most of the Siquijodnons are also afraid of the aswang and mangkukulam. The Siquijodnons are actually a very religious people, and almost every home I visited has an altar for the Santo Nino and the Holy Family. Surely, they are misrepresented outside of Siquijor, but I would tell you that they are some the most hospitable and beautiful people I have ever met.

During my week-long stay in their lovely island province, I have come to admire their simplicity, complacency, and sincerity. When they invite you to their homes, they really welcome you. Crime is almost unheard of. Did you know that Siquijor has one of the lowest crime rates in the country? I visited their provincial hospital and I have not found anyone victimized by stabbing or mugging. I have also visited their provincial jail and found that the jail was empty of prisoners. The jail guards are having an easy job. I thought that they should just convert the jail into a museum or something. Of course, once in a while they have some law-breakers too, but most of the time, the offender is always found to be an outsider and not a true Siquijodnon.

In Siquijor, you can park your vehicle anywhere on the side of the road and nobody will bother with it. In my first day in Siquijor, Johnson, my habal-habal driver, led me to a high mountain pass and we had to leave his motorcycle on the side of the road. I asked him if it was not safe to leave the motorcycle without someone guarding it. And he told me, “Don’t worry about my motorcycle, no one steals motorcycles here”.

Here I have no fear that somebody would snatch my camera. It just doesn’t happen here. Theft and robbery, if ever they happen are most likely the doings of outsiders—like the reported theft of several antique religious statues in the churches whose culprit was found to be a native of Manila dealing in antiquities.

Every time I take out my camera to take pictures, the Siquijodnon people—man, woman, child, elderly, have a ready and natural smile. Thye love to see their pictures recorded in the LCD screen of my Nikon. I, on the other hand, am very pleased to photograph them.

The Siquijodnons, in general are very simple people, a characteristic that has somehow helped preserve their island province. No one takes advantage of nature. What they get from nature is only what they can eat or use for the day. For example, one day I found a group of youngsters picking something from the beach. I found that they were collecting sea urchins which were a delicacy in Siquijor. When they had enough for their family’s meal, they left the beach even though I saw that there were still several sea urchins lying on the beach.

The Siquijodnons greet you with the word “maayo”, which means “Good” shortened for Good Morning/afternoon/evening. They have endearing calls for everyone. A male adult is called “bay” or “padi”, a female adult is called “Inday”, a male child is “dodong”, and a little girl is “nene”.

The Siquijodnon men love to drink tuba, the local wine made from coconut sap. They would group together and have a merry drinking, especially on late afternoons, although they could drink it at anytime of the day like Coke. When they had money, they also drink Tanduay or Red Horse. But I have not seen any fight erupting from these drinking sessions. When they got drunk, they use to tell of humorous stories, but not any boastful things. As a gesture of hospitality, they would invite you to join, but a polite decline is always appreciated by them.

After drinking, they just go home quietly, singing to themselves, but not disturbing those whom they pass by. Surprisingly, this very character was found on the earliest Filipinos by the Spanish chronicler Antonio Pigafetta, who wrote of Magellan’s sojourn in the Philippines. When the Magellan fleet landed in the Visayas, they saw men drinking tuba many times, but not making any trouble. Pigafetta also noted that the men still walk straight even if drunk. The men just slept afterwards.

This led me to think that the Siquijodnons, among the peoples of the Philippines, still possess the character of the early Filipinos. The relative isolation of their island province has preserved many of the early virtues of the gallant and hospitable Filipinos of the pre-Hispanic times. Maybe this is due to the fact that many households do not own a television, and thus were protected from the invasion of modern and dangerous ideas.

The Siquijodnons will always remain special in my memory, and I will never forget them even though a lot of sweet memories of my past travels may fade in time. These portraits are just my simple tribute to these wonderful and beautiful people. They may not represent the whole strata of Siquijor society, but they nevertheless portray what the Siquijodnons are like: humble, simple, complacent, long-suffering, and very hospitable.

Quarrying limestones from the hills

An offer I couldn't refuse!

I met this lola coming from the mass at the St. Francis of Assissi Church in Siquijor, Siquijor. Instantly, she reminded me of my both lolas from my father's and mother's side (My both Lola had already passed away many years ago, making me a complete orphan of lolas) When I took her photo, she smiled at me. I wanted to embrace her and did, which made us both happy. I found she was only 102 years old and still going to church every day! Well, God blessed her with long life for her faith!