Luuk where the roads lead to
July 16, 2006 | 12:00am
My neck was tight. My shoulders felt heavy as if I was carrying bricks. The left side of my waist was cracking in pain. What’s happening? "Saan ang manghihilot? (Where is the masseuse?)"
And so appeared Mutayam Sawadjaan, and she began her kneading. She prayed and blew on the parts of my body that she massaged. Here is one prayer she used to heal, although there are other prayers to correspond to certain parts of the body: "Ong tulak pitulak, Katulakan pitulak, Ikaw pa kya in dih ko nikatulak, Ikaw sakit (referring to the part of the body), Misan in sakalian alam bang ko itulak, Hikatulak ko rah, Ya jab barail (Gabriel the Archangel), Ya mikail (Michael the Archangel), Ya misirapil (seraphims), Ya abubakar, Ya Usman, Ya ali, O tuhan ko paiga in masakit daing, Hanngautah baran ko, Daha madto pa laum kuba bato, Di malimbay Kiamat. Barakat."
It means, "Those illnesses that others cannot cure (as she breathed on to my back), I can cure. Yours is only a simple illness to me. Even the devil inside you I can drive out (as she blew), by the help of Gabriel, Michael, seraphims, Abubakar, Usman and Ali. O Lord, heal this illness and throw it into the deepest pit of the earth that even angels and the devils cannot reach. Amen."
Gold, ancient animistic practices, toponyms, the segregation of municipal territories, the proof of ancient Samal-Butuan trade with Sulu, rebel areas whose leaders carry tantalizing names like Kalinggalang Caluang for "Warrior Caluang" and Maas Bawang or "Great Old Moro Bawang": All this leads to Luuk, a municipality in mainland Sulu by the Sulu Sea, which curves in and out to form coves, therefore protecting ships that are docked by mangroves.
In Jolo in 1898 American officers carried 38-caliber pistols as their sidearms. To their surprise, this pistol was not powerful enough to stop the Muslim juramentados who attacked American soldiers. Finally, in 1911 the Americans assembled the 45-caliber revolver in Ithaca, New York. They tested this gun in Jolo in 1913 in Budo Bagsak, and in one shot alone, the Moro juramentado and mudjahedins bounced three to five meters backwards… dead. But their spirits live on.
If you go by road from Jolo to Luuk, which I have never done as I travel by sea taking the pirates’ routes, you’ll first pass by lots of abaca, coconut and cassava farmlands. The Tausugs use cassava to make the delicacy known as patulakan.
That would be Indanan, named after the old Panglima Indanan who steered the municipality to some order, producing a congressman, mayor, board member, governor, and barangay captain who carried the name of this man of the seas. Added to Panglima Indanan’s descendants today is the family name Anni, in honor of his wife from Siasi, Sulu, joining two clans from different geographical territories.
In Indanan, there is a high peak called Mt. Tumatangis, so called because clouds often covered its peak leaving the illusion of tears as they hovered on the mountaintop.
Next comes Talipao, meaning "knot" and "pao" for bird. It is the hometown of Abu Sayyaf leader Commander Robot. This bandit was a houseboy in the Tan Residence in Jolo, but his real name was Galib Andang. Robot acquired his name because he played with the Tan’s child and her robots.
The houses in Talipao are of two types: an open veranda made of bamboo slats used for entertainment, an extension of the kitchen, and a laundry area connecting the two nipa houses, one, the sleeping area, and the other, the kitchen.
They have a two-story house, too. The lower portion is used to stock farm implements and produce. Located six meters above ground are the bedrooms.
Panamao is divided into two by a road. Old Panamao is on the left, and the municipality of Estino is on the right to comply with the political leaders’ territorial request. President Ferdinand Marcos declared Panamao’s separation in 1981 through PD 1757 as an MNLF appeasement scheme. In Panamao is Mt. Dakula volcano, which in 1641, to the astonishment of the Joloans, erupted simultaneously with Mt. Parker in Gen. Santos City. When it erupted, it sent showers of ash as far as Zamboanga Peninsula. It explains why Panamao has two lakes by her mountainside, of which one of them is Lake Seit, which is popular for relieving body aches. I should have swam there!
Finally, you reach Luuk by the port, which is governed by Mayor Abdurahkmad Omar and Mayor Abdurahman Arbison. What is there? The kindness of the Arbison is as pure as Tubig Puti meaning clean white water. Tubig Salamin, or glass water is where you could actually see your face on the water. Tandu Bato means island with a swamp in its middle. Actually, Tausug is like the Visayan dialect because of these Agusan/Butuan women whom the male Joloano traders married and brought back with them to Jolo in the 10th century.
Across Luuk is Capual, an island that shares its reputation with Luuk as being the haven of the once Samal pirates. Panglima Taupan was their chief who fished for Christians on the seashores of the Visayas and Luzon to sell to Europeans and Chinese.
Piracy has always surfaced and been curbed, resurfaced, of course, because of Sulu’s vast seas. But now land development is taking precedence for Sulu to become an economic zone, a program of Governor Ben Loong.
Mayor Omar of Luuk, the man of peace, whose enduring leadership makes him a friend to all sectors for all times, stresses that the whole Tausug populace are the sole treasures for productivity. Encouraged by the 487 hectares of land that have been plowed by 27 tractors for farmers to plant cassava and corn to sell as far as Manila, Governor Ben Loong’s slogan is "From a war zone to an economic zone," and "From tanks to farms" using some of the roads constructed by Americans.
We identified the barangays from toponyms that lead us to history. The youth must know where their forefathers grew up and what they saw in their lifetime. Here goes. Barangay Andalan was named after a medicinal tree used to cure skin diseases. Niog-Niog is so called because of the many coconut trees. Kanbulak means a place of flowers, and Kankabayo, a place for horses. So simple yet indicative of the past.
And go for gold! Divers have always been either Samal or Badjao in Sulu. Sources who arrived from a dive site said in their one-year experience, 27 Badjaos died after staying more than two hours underwater sieving the sand for gold artifacts. Inexperienced, they abruptly returned to the surface of the sea to a fast death from hypothermia. Porcelain has been found with rings and bracelets from Butuan and Indonesia. You see, as early as 9 AD to 10 AD, the Samals traded from Butuan to Sulu to China, Champa, and Cambodia as carriers of goods emanating from Borneo, Sulawesi, the Molluccas, New Guinea, Sumatra, Java, and Malay Peninsula, including India. To reach the South China from Sulu, they followed the Srivijayan-Madjapahit route of circa 500 to 1520 AD. From Java-Sumatra, they sailed via the Straits of Malacca to Champa and Tonkin in Vietnam on to Guangdong and other south China ports. On the way back, the Samals sailed past Borneo then returned to Sulu.
In line of government duty, educational classes for police non-officers was discussed with PNP authorities for those who have not attended school from 10 to 15 years, whether they have been promoted. The Philippine Public Safety College will schedule mandatory courses to make the PNP Joloans more efficient regardless of age.
Many policemen cannot afford P6,000 for a one-way ticket from Sulu to Cotabato. What misery! Since Sulu is part of ARMM, the retraining is held in Parang, Maguindanao. But the Sulu police are in the right direction with their desire to learn like their northern counterparts. Mabuhay!
And so appeared Mutayam Sawadjaan, and she began her kneading. She prayed and blew on the parts of my body that she massaged. Here is one prayer she used to heal, although there are other prayers to correspond to certain parts of the body: "Ong tulak pitulak, Katulakan pitulak, Ikaw pa kya in dih ko nikatulak, Ikaw sakit (referring to the part of the body), Misan in sakalian alam bang ko itulak, Hikatulak ko rah, Ya jab barail (Gabriel the Archangel), Ya mikail (Michael the Archangel), Ya misirapil (seraphims), Ya abubakar, Ya Usman, Ya ali, O tuhan ko paiga in masakit daing, Hanngautah baran ko, Daha madto pa laum kuba bato, Di malimbay Kiamat. Barakat."
It means, "Those illnesses that others cannot cure (as she breathed on to my back), I can cure. Yours is only a simple illness to me. Even the devil inside you I can drive out (as she blew), by the help of Gabriel, Michael, seraphims, Abubakar, Usman and Ali. O Lord, heal this illness and throw it into the deepest pit of the earth that even angels and the devils cannot reach. Amen."
That would be Indanan, named after the old Panglima Indanan who steered the municipality to some order, producing a congressman, mayor, board member, governor, and barangay captain who carried the name of this man of the seas. Added to Panglima Indanan’s descendants today is the family name Anni, in honor of his wife from Siasi, Sulu, joining two clans from different geographical territories.
In Indanan, there is a high peak called Mt. Tumatangis, so called because clouds often covered its peak leaving the illusion of tears as they hovered on the mountaintop.
Next comes Talipao, meaning "knot" and "pao" for bird. It is the hometown of Abu Sayyaf leader Commander Robot. This bandit was a houseboy in the Tan Residence in Jolo, but his real name was Galib Andang. Robot acquired his name because he played with the Tan’s child and her robots.
The houses in Talipao are of two types: an open veranda made of bamboo slats used for entertainment, an extension of the kitchen, and a laundry area connecting the two nipa houses, one, the sleeping area, and the other, the kitchen.
They have a two-story house, too. The lower portion is used to stock farm implements and produce. Located six meters above ground are the bedrooms.
Panamao is divided into two by a road. Old Panamao is on the left, and the municipality of Estino is on the right to comply with the political leaders’ territorial request. President Ferdinand Marcos declared Panamao’s separation in 1981 through PD 1757 as an MNLF appeasement scheme. In Panamao is Mt. Dakula volcano, which in 1641, to the astonishment of the Joloans, erupted simultaneously with Mt. Parker in Gen. Santos City. When it erupted, it sent showers of ash as far as Zamboanga Peninsula. It explains why Panamao has two lakes by her mountainside, of which one of them is Lake Seit, which is popular for relieving body aches. I should have swam there!
Finally, you reach Luuk by the port, which is governed by Mayor Abdurahkmad Omar and Mayor Abdurahman Arbison. What is there? The kindness of the Arbison is as pure as Tubig Puti meaning clean white water. Tubig Salamin, or glass water is where you could actually see your face on the water. Tandu Bato means island with a swamp in its middle. Actually, Tausug is like the Visayan dialect because of these Agusan/Butuan women whom the male Joloano traders married and brought back with them to Jolo in the 10th century.
Across Luuk is Capual, an island that shares its reputation with Luuk as being the haven of the once Samal pirates. Panglima Taupan was their chief who fished for Christians on the seashores of the Visayas and Luzon to sell to Europeans and Chinese.
Piracy has always surfaced and been curbed, resurfaced, of course, because of Sulu’s vast seas. But now land development is taking precedence for Sulu to become an economic zone, a program of Governor Ben Loong.
Mayor Omar of Luuk, the man of peace, whose enduring leadership makes him a friend to all sectors for all times, stresses that the whole Tausug populace are the sole treasures for productivity. Encouraged by the 487 hectares of land that have been plowed by 27 tractors for farmers to plant cassava and corn to sell as far as Manila, Governor Ben Loong’s slogan is "From a war zone to an economic zone," and "From tanks to farms" using some of the roads constructed by Americans.
We identified the barangays from toponyms that lead us to history. The youth must know where their forefathers grew up and what they saw in their lifetime. Here goes. Barangay Andalan was named after a medicinal tree used to cure skin diseases. Niog-Niog is so called because of the many coconut trees. Kanbulak means a place of flowers, and Kankabayo, a place for horses. So simple yet indicative of the past.
Many policemen cannot afford P6,000 for a one-way ticket from Sulu to Cotabato. What misery! Since Sulu is part of ARMM, the retraining is held in Parang, Maguindanao. But the Sulu police are in the right direction with their desire to learn like their northern counterparts. Mabuhay!
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