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BY ROMA GONZALES
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Wednesday, January 25, 2017
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FINALLY proving that I can now undertake major climbs, my first encounter with Mt. Madja-as last December should have led me thirsting for more two-thousand-meters-above-sea-level adventures, but it surprisingly brought me scampering first to the library.
While no scholar, it was still exciting to piece tidbits of information that sing of the richness of pre-Hispanic Filipino history and culture. For instance, the mountain shares — or perhaps, even inspired – the name of the Confederation of Madja-as, a pre-colonial, Indianized state established by the 10 Bornean datus who fled the rule of the tyrant Rajah Makatunao who ruled the kingdoms of Brunei and Srivijaya.
Led by Datu Puti, this meant the arrival of the Malay race in what would be the Philippines. The datus first settled in the Visayas area, which as claimed by some, was actually named after Srivijaya, a city-state on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia. “Panay” was probably from “Pannai”, a kingdom in Sumatra, or perhaps from the Ati word “aninipay”, the name which the natives called the island.
Today, a statue of Datu Paiburong stands proud on Esplanade One, he who got the land that juts out like a nose out into the sea then aptly called “Irong-irong.” He helped facilitate the barter of Panay from the Atis who ruled and occupied the island under King Marikudo and his wife Maniwangtiwang. In exchange for a golden hat and “Manangyad”, a pearl necklace so long it touches the ground (note the meaning of the Hiligaynon word “sangyad” is pretty much the same), the historic and pivotal sale was made.
With the datus ruling the districts of the Confederate, it grew so much in power that it rivaled the Rajanate of Cebu, the Sultanate of Sulu and the Kingdom of Tondo. One material claimed it became so much of a threat that the last two mentioned had to team up against it.
Coming to Visayas by way of sea, the Srivijayans proved to be skilled nautical voyagers — in fact so skilled the Chinese have to give them a name – “Posheya” – and record them in their ancient texts. It was thrilling to read that the Hiligaynon word “pangayaw” literally means “to go raiding” as these ancient people delegated a time of the year to raid other territories, like the Vikings of the West. They loved their rivers as well — and this is proven by the 30-hour oral epic Hinilawod or “tales from the mouth of the Halawod River.”
And then we have the myths and legends. They say Madja-as is wife of another great mountain, Mt. Kanlaon in Negros Occidental and mother of the islands Maningning, Batbatan and Mararison in Antique. While different stories and versions vary, they all end on one note: that Madja-as still laments the separation from her family and her 14 waterfalls were actually her tears. Some stories say Madja-as was created by the gods to cover an old sea.
Her revered name is also tightly intertwined with Visayan Mythology. On her mystical mossy forests, there is Sidapa, the god of Death, guarding his enchanted tree. When a person is born, he makes a mark on his tree. When the human grows tall enough to the height of his delegated mark, he dies. He was said to have saved the beautiful Libulan, the moon boy, from the monster Bakunawa, causing some today to wonder if ancient Visayans were liberal in their definition of gender and sexuality (check out “The Aswang Project” on the Internet for more good reads on the subject). With him as well on the mountain are Pandaque and Magwayan, also gods that have to do with death. Thank god, I didn’t read all about this before we climbed although perhaps by some genetic memory, I was inexplicably just as spooked as much as I was intrigued by this mountain.
It was not unlike meeting a famous movie star — at least for me. Perhaps we can say the great mountain is indeed no less than an earthen celebrity for few other landforms in the entire country is as steeped in history and literature. But while I always thought highly of this mountain, it was not until recently that I pondered on why our earliest Visayan ancestors named their confederate after it.
Perhaps they did not wish to be forgotten, as the mountain will always stand as a proud witness to their accomplishments, most notably their disgust of tyranny and escape to freedom. Perhaps they always wanted to be remembered for greatness and with reverence, which now after being acquainted with the richness of their history, I dare say they deserve no less.
Never have I been more proud to be a Bisaya./PN
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