All About Butuan

This is a compilation of stories about one's personal experiences in Butuan. We hope that this will help you get to know the place better. This will also put more value into what our Butuan really means to us. We hope you enjoy the stories and share us with your own adventures too.  

Photo credit: http://www.pbase.com/timonera/image/4783993

Originally compiled by Butuan Global Forum Incorporated.

By Roging Rosales

Butuan then and now is comprised of many barrios that were the breadbasket of the community. Known to me at the time, on the east side, are Ampayon, Taguibo, Tiniwisan, Baan, Mahay and Tagabaca. On the west, were Bancasi (where there was a detachment of the Philippine Scouts, bombed by  Jap planes on the second day right after Pearl Harbor), Pinamanculan, Bonbon, Ambago and Libertad. Down south were  San Vicente, Bit-os, Bitan-agan, Bugabus, San Mateo, Tungao, Dankias and Mandamo. Up north were  Agusan Pequeno, Bading, Babag, Maug, Bansa and Magallanes (both former sites of the poblacion until moved because of the yearly floods to Agao, the present site). Lumbucan and Masao were sitios of Magallanes. Magallanes provided fresh fish like the banak, pigok, etc. crabs and the seasonal hipon (shrimp) and uyap (shrimp fry).

My grandpa used to take me on a baroto ride on the small rivers in the Bansa, Masao, Libertad rivers to buy nipa for roofing. I was then familiar with laksoy production. These were the outer perimeters that surrounded the "poblacion". These provided the community agricultural products such as coconut that provide copras, lana (oil), husks, silhig (broom) and others; rice (the ilon-ilon, raminad, San Pablo—produced in the basakan for 6 months and the upland rice (the aromatic "kurikit"); corn, tubers, vegetables, fowls, animals, fruit trees; a hundred more crops.

The poblacion then was limited to El Filibusterismo St (radio station DXJM area) in the home of Tio Pilo and Tia Pion Montilla,  the river bend at the end of Silongan and Mabini sts., to the south the post office (present) area to the north, the Catholic cemetery to the west and the Agusan river to the east. Montilla Blvd. at that time was mostly mudflats. In the 50's and early 60's the kids used to get the "bagon" (vine) they used as missiles for their sling shots in traditional turf war between the Agao and La-od boys using Guingona Park (today known as Rizal Park) as the battle ground.

The area north of the current post office up to Bading was called Poyohon. Road infrastructures were then connected by gravel roads to San Vicente, Agusan Pequeno and towards the towns of Buenavista, Nasipit, Carmen; I think all the way to Misamis Oriental (I had not gone to the latter areas then). And to the east up to Surigao was gravel road starting from Baan. Some of the streets in the poblacion were constructed from corals or "pagang". When it rained the streets were not flooded—unlike today—because of good drainage and the “pagang” easily absorbed the waters.

Beside Jose Basa (now Lagnada St.) was a huge canal or  "embornal” stretching from the present office of the Superindent of Schools, passing underneath Juan Luna, Magallanes, Silongan and Mabini streets towards the river bank. We used to fish in that canal that was then covered sometime in late 50's or early 60's. Juan Luna St. was adorned on the west side with big acacia trees that gave way to street expansion and concreting. Acacia trees can still be found at Buhangin, Mahay, San Vicente.

Transportation in the poblacion was the calesa or tartanilla drawn by horses, bicycles or "cadilakad" (jocular contraction of Cadillac and lakad). Carabao-drawn carts were used in going to the barrio. There were trucks. The first car that I know of was the one owned by Tio Mateo Tupaz who was the manager of the Butuan Sawmill, owned by Rafael Consing. It was a black Ford sedan, l930's model, with step board on each side; to start the engine, one had to crank it.

We used to ride on weekends to Agusan Pequeño and San Vicente. Barotos (wooden dugout boats) plied the Agusan river and its tributaries. To go to Baan (no bridge yet) one had to take a baroto. Or some enterprising individuals (males mostly) would go to a secluded place, undressed, held up his folded clothes with one hand, swam across the river and go with the current towards the other side. Launches were available. Insek Vicente DySeko, a well respective Chinese businessman and probably the wealthiest, who spoke fluent Spanish with my grandma, operated the “Silvestre” that brought merchandise to the towns up river for sale or barter with forest products like oway (round rattan poles) and balaba (split rattan) and agricultural produce back to Butuan. The other launch was the “Hele,”  I think it was owned by the Ong Yiu's; shipped lumber up towns for sale or in exchange for farm and forest products.

Most of the houses had backyards planted to different fruit trees and vegetables. The front yards to flowers of several varieties. Some yards were fenced with hardwood, bamboos or bahi (ironwood) to keep the pigs or dogs from straying. A few had the US standard toilet with flushing water; others just a toilet bowl where one had to pour a pail of water. Several hundred more used the antipolo type attached on small structures joined with a "taytayan" or wooden bridge several feet from the ground and for one storey houses anybody just walked a few feet away to the C.R. All the houses had galvanized water tanks to save rain water for drinking. Some had deep wells for laundry and cleaning. 

Several artesian wells were located in several public places of the town. What year they were installed, I have no idea, but the water passed through 4-to 5-inch diameter water pipes embedded down the ground for several feet and flowed continuously non-stop throughout the years as I can remember until it dried up sometime in the late 50's. The residents, including myself, used to take a bath in the communal wells while the women washed the clothes. The artesian wells were enclosed in concrete structures divided into 4 to six compartments. One was located near the hospital, another in front of Mano Miguel Bokingo's residence at Mabini st. just a walking distance from our house. The third I can remember was that well at the corner of Zamora and Juan Luna streets on the property of Mana Oding Low. There were also some up north whose exact location I can no longer remember. Across the river, in Baan, near the house of Mano Sanong and Mana Anang Piencenaves, parents of Flora Albarracin, our former Asst. Provincial Treasurer during our time at the capitol, was a flowing artesian well, when lit, caused it to emit flames. There were two concrete water tanks, one installed at the back of the present police department—the old provincial capitol and in later years became the city hall—and the second just east a few feet from the present Puericulture Center.

The latter sunk halfway due to the strong earthquake sometime in the 20's or 30's that caused some streets to crack wide open. My grandpa would tell us that he was one of those who rescued a woman who fell into one of the fissures.

The same earthquake caused the old Catholic church in Bansa, at the entrance of the Bansa river, to sink, showing only part of the belfry now almost totally engulfed by a balete tree. On top of the church was the del Rosario sawmill. We inspected this area with Mano Etoy Flores sometime in the 80's and found some burnt candles. It was reported that hundreds of year earlier Muslim pirates burned that church. An antique crucifix was earlier discovered and given to Mano Pioy del Rosario.

Life was simple for the ordinary folks. They dressed simply in camisa de chino, camesadentro, t-shirts, short sleeves polo barong with khaki or maong pants. For the well-to-do, particularly government officials, they wore mostly white shark skin suits with bow ties, white or black and white leather shoes, a Panama hat. Buri hats were worn by the ordinary individuals. For the officials, the baston (cane) carved with intricate designs indicated authority. But the ordinary folks had the same passion as the affluent—siesta time—reportedly a Spanish influence, a daily routine on their rattan hammocks, or bamboo or bahi beds on their backyards.

Homes of the affluent were constructed of the best materials, like tugas, bayong, narra with iron zinc roofings, windows made of capiz shells framed by narra wood. For the average family. the houses were made of low class lumber; many had nipa walls, or bamboo splits, sometimes the floorings were split bamboos or bahi (palm tree). Many of these houses were burned by the guerrilas in 1942 to prevent usage by the Japanese.

On the industrial side, there were the Butuan Sawmill, the Ong Yiu Sawmill, the Sawmill operated by Mr. Kellog who also owned the Gomoco Mining Company in Rosario, Gibung, the Butuan Electric plant.

I still remember some names then well-known in town such as Gov. Jose Rosales, his wife, Apo Pascual, the brother of my grandma, Diego Rosales, Mano Eli Rosales, Tia Elisa Ochoa, a Dr. Pedro Calo, Dr. Manuel Santos, a Dr. Padua, a certain Aruj, Mano Pedro Torralba, Quirino Torralba, Francisco Rosales, Miguel Bokingo, Insek Vicente DySeko, Silvestre Dy, a Jose Azote, Ramon Burdeos, Telong Montalban, Ester Luna, Rafael Consing, Atty. Andaya and others too many to mention. There were several foreigners who worked in the Kellog sawmill and the mining camp in Gomoco. Andres Spandonis was a familiar face in town. There was a certain tall individual, a Khilomeir (spelling unsure), I think a German, who the kids were afraid of. Grand parents used to tell the kids to stay away from him because he was out to kidnap children, kill them and their blood to be splattered in the mines so gold nuggets will come out. The old folks used to warn kids to come home before six in the evening so they could join the Angelus prayers, now sadly no longer a common practice.

I was then in Grade One in 1941 and I can still vividly recall all those I mentioned in the previous paragraph. History tells us that the Philippines was bombed by the Japanese a day after Pearl Harbor. That would be the Feast of the Immaculate Concepcion. We grade schoolers were in our classes that clear afternoon when we heard a sudden loud explosion in Bancasi. We learned that the Japanese planes had bombed the military installation there. Everyone was ordered to go home.

My cousin, Nonoy Tupaz, myself and other children run towards Silongan street where the Tupaz residence was located; run along the "embornal" (Culvert pipe) through side pathways. Nonoy would shout "Hoy, Roging, lagoy pagdali" (Hey, Roging, you better run fast.) Days after, my grand parents, who cared for me early in my younger days, brought me to Mandamo and I never saw Butuan until almost four years later. My family all those years evacuated not only in Mandamo but to other places like Esperanza where my mom, Gracia R. Go, had a 3 storey house just up on a promontory of the town at the corner of Wawa and Agusan rivers. The first floor was a store where we had a Muslim worker.

We also stayed in Santa Fe where a farm house was built. There, we experienced food shortage because of locusts infestation and had to buy rice from Tagabaca where it took days to travel back and forth.

The buildings and structures in 1940-41 that I still could remember were: the provincial hospital located at south end of Silongan and Mabini Sts. near the river bend where strong currents occur during flood time. In that river bend there was a legend that a huge underground cave existed up to Vinapor, Carmen. Kids were afraid to go near because of the "kugtong (sea monster)" which swallowed kids. The hospital was bombed by US planes during the liberation. The ground area was then used by the AHS - in the 50's as garden where students prepared the plots on a Saturday and by next Monday plants were already ready to harvest, thanks to the smart boys in our class.  

The Provincial Jail was located in the AHS area where the Jose C. Aquino-donated building was built. It was also bombed. The jail housed the Japanese prisoners after the war. The PC barracks used to be in the area, the rear area, now occupied by the Agusan National High School. Further north, was the elementary school building and Gabaldon-type school building which was used as a temporary provincial hospital in 1945 right after the end of World War II. The Capitol building is the present police station. This was turned over by the provincial government to the city in later years. Another concrete building was located across at Juan Luna and del Pilar Sts. The Guingona Park had a kiosko, fountain and planted with Royal Palm trees. At fiesta time this was full of people, bands or rondalla playing music; the estocada was performed by many Butuanons. And there was giant maniquin, popularly called "higante ni Tome" after the owner, Mano Tome Sanchez, roaming the park to the amusement of the residents who came from the Catholic church across the street.

In l968, the park was remodeled during the time of Mano Moling Sanchez with his wife Helen spearheading a fund drive with the Bayanihan Dance Troupe performing to the delight of patrons at the city gym. The old church constructed with first class lumber, like the tugas, magkono, stood in that area now where the Sacred Heart of Jesus statue is located. Across Zamora St. was the nuns' convent. Further north, at the junction where Washington, Magallanes and Mabini streets merged, just west of the present Philippine Ports Authority building was the public market, just across Life Bakery. A few hundred meters from the PPA building was the old wharf where the Corrigedor ship used to dock. This ship which used to dock in Surigao was hit by a mine in late 1941 at the Manila Bay which killed hundreds of passsengers including some from Butuan such as the sister of Mano Moling, the wife of Mano Yoyong Garcia. Of course, there were commercial buildings, sari sari stores. Since they were our neighbors, I can't forget the store of Don Vicente DySeko, who I said earlier spoke fluent Spanish with my grandma. Inside that building were Chinese women whose feet were small, hardened or callous; walked like newly hatched chicks. I learned that at a certain age below seven to ten the women were required to wear iron shoes until adulthood to prevent them from committing adultery.

One such store was the Japanese-operated Butuan Bazaar where we used to buy toys. Once the Philippines surrendered in 1942 the Japanese employees were the first to take the reins of Butuan government.

After the war, we went back to Butuan, built a house with a store downstairs at Silongan Street and I resumed my schooling.

After graduating from Agusan High School in 1953, I enrolled at the University of the East and finished Bachelor in Business Administration four years after. My first job was a bookkeeper for Angel Cembrano; then Mano Moling Sanchez asked me to handle his political HQ at the Ochoa building in front of Life Bakery in his first reelection bid for Congress. This was where I met Emy, my wife, who was one of the clerks with Paying Sanchez and Elsa Radaza (maybe I will be spiritually guided or inspired to write about our love affair). From there on I was asked to manage the political headquarters whenever there was an election. This gave me experiences and insights about politics.

After the 1957 election—where Mano Moling won his first reelection against Tito Guingona, who in later years became Vice President of the Philippines, Atty. Francisco Ro. Cupin and Fernando Gancayco, owner-operator of MASTRANCO bus company and rice mill—I joined the rural bank owned by the family of Mano Moling Sanchez. I started as Asst. Bookkeeper, was promoted to several supervisory positions until I was appointed Manager in l970. (An interesting sidelight to the reelection bid of Mano Moling: This was a five-corner fight with Mana Elisa Ochoa and Tito Guingona running as independent Nacionalistas, Mano Moling as official NP candidate, Mano Ingkoy the official Liberal Party bet, and Fernando Gancayco as an independent. Gancayco was a native of Catanauan, Quezon; a town mate of Mr. Cipriano Luna, husband of Mana Ester. His niece Mana Viring was married to Mano Diyong Villanueva.)

At the rural bank, I had the opportunity to revisit all those places mentioned in previous paragraphs. While still in the bank in 1979, I was surprised to be nominated, in my absence and without my knowledge of the process done in Malacañan, as Vice Governor of Agusan del Norte. Elected overwhelmingly in l980 over my two rivals, both lawyers, my term lasted for six years (our term limit then) until the Edsa revolution. I served on under President Cory for a fews weeks until my replacement took over in that revolutionary government.

I served either president or chairman of the board of several organizations like the Boy Scouts of the Philippines, Farmers and Bankers club, Butuan Museum Foundation, Philippine Mental Health Association and the Puericulture Center to mention a few. While politicians enticed me to go back to politics, I opted to bring my wife Amy and four of our qualified children to California. I worked with Bank of America from which job I have already retired. 

N.B. Encouraged by two of my good friends, Vic de Jesus and Jody Navarra, I write this piece about the good old Butuan, with more to come.