Pasig Half Century Ago

 

    While browsing through old fiesta souvenir books of the Pasig Church, I stumbled upon a beautifully written article by Marcial Esguerra. Featured in the 1955 souvenir program for Pista ng Bayan in Pasig, this piece offers a fascinating glimpse into the town’s rich spiritual and cultural heritage.

    Pasig, the town-turned-city where I grew up, feels vastly different from the Pasig my parents knew. This article takes me back to a time we can only wish to experience—a time when life revolved around simple joys, close-knit communities, and deeply rooted traditions. It paints a vivid picture of Pasig before it became the bustling, highly urbanized, and populous city we know today. So I share this beautiful article to look back into the past.

    To the younger generations in particular, it would be interesting to know about Pasig at the turn of the century, for then Pasig was a far cry from what it is today. Then, we had no autos, no electric lights, no tap water, no cines, no radios, no telephones, no TVs and no modern appliances as we have now.

    At the time, Pasig was a small sleepy town confined at the confluence of the Marikina and Pasig Rivers, isolated, as there were then no bridges across these rivers, and no inter- town roads to speak of. Transportation to Manila was solely by means of the Pasig, not until the railroad and the street cars were extended to the town. The streets were dirt roads, winding along the Marikina River and Pariancillo Creek and sparsely built with long stretches of vacant lots. The market place was then located at Plaza Rizal and there used to be a big barrio, Barrio Sta. Rosa, by the bank of the Marikina River where the dike is; because of the constant erosion of the river bank, people abandoned the place and moved to a site further inland, now Barrio Sumilang which was originally called Sumilang Kabayan. And clusters of bamboo groves were everywhere, making the town ady during the day but foreboding at night.

    The Pariancillo Creek was then navigable the year round and was very valuable as a means of transportation. It was always alive with people in bancas and on bantilans, bathing and doing their washings and other house hold chores. Its water was clear and used for domestic purposes. The Pasig River was not yet polluted, its water crystal clear where big rafts of coconuts, logs and bamboo floated lazily on their way to the markets. And steamboats used to ply regularly from the lake towns to Manila and back laden with goods and people with regular stops at Bambang.

    Life was then slow and simple, the Pasigueños were mostly farmfolks, fisherfolks and pottery makers. Even without the use of modern fertilizers, our farmers used to raise more rice per hectare than today, unwittingly, they were already practicing the Masagana and Margate systems, Pottery making was an important household industry, particularly, in Barrio San Miguel, Maybunga, Rosario and Buting where earthen pots were manufactured by the thousands and exported to Manila and neighboring provinces. The Marikina and the Pasig Rivers and even the Pariancillo Creek and of course the Laguna Lake were teaming with fish, making fishing an important means of livelihood. The Pasigueños were, as usual, industrious and self-sufficient.

    After supper, the town literally sleeps, the night dark and silent. Lighting was by means of oil and wicks and later with petroleum. But there were no thieveries although windows were left opened and doors unlocked. The people were law abiding and had healthy respect to their neighbors right, they were peaceful.

    Pasigueños were god-fearing and very reli- gious, all Catholics. At the sound of vesper, children used to run home wherever they were to say prayers with the rest of the family, after which they kissed the hands of their elders as a sign of filial reverence. The youth were brought up the hard way, Spartan like. They were trained early to help their parents, run errands, hew wood, carry water and tend domestic animals. There were no juvenile delinquency problem.

    During Sundays, it used to be a sight to see throngs of people in their best Sunday clothes, in colorful camisa de chinos and barongs troop to the church walking all along the way from the remotest barrios. On All Saints Day, groups of people used to go from house to house to say prayers for the dead. And during Christmas, the children invariably were taken a-visiting their relatives, far and near, to renew their ties of relationship, which customs, although still extant, is fast dying out.

    Children started their education at home by learning first from cartillas and catons, a very effective method in teaching them how to read. Parents were, at the beginning, indifferent to sending their children to public schools, the youngsters were afraid of the Americanos. Grade school pupils were as grown up as the present high school students are.

    At the time, sad to say, cholera was prevalent, and so with smallpox and lucky was the child who grew up without the stamp of this disease, Infant mortality was hign for there were no doctors and people relied solely on arbularyos and hilots. Drinking wa ter was taken from wells or from rivers.

    Sari-sari stores were the favorite places of social contact, especially at night, where stories were told and retold, ideas exchanged and community problems discussed. Import ant messages and ordinances reached the people thru town criers. There were then no newspapers and the happenings of the day reached the people weeks later and in different versions already.

    As at the present, December was the liveliest part of the year, what with our town fiesta, Christmas, and New Year's Eve celebrations. But then December month was held more significant for it was the season of rice harvest upon which the lives of the people depended so much. Poor harvest due to flood or draught or of locust meant a year ahead of privation. But with bountiful harvest, December month became marketly gay and the grinding of guilingans and the staccato of pestles, pounding rice in bayanihan fashion could be heard throughout the night.

    Truly, there is a big difference between Pasig at the turn of the century and what it is today. The progress within so short a time is simply marvelous. The present generations are, in many ways, lucky because they are noe living in a better world, but it is a sad commentary that many of the beautiful customs and ways of life of our forebears had been forgotten. The good ones should be revived and preserved.  – by Marcial Esguerra 1955