‘Outstanding Capampangan’ corrects Pampanga history

CLARK FIELD, Pampanga — The awarding ceremonies for the 10 Outstanding Capampangan held here the other night proved not only to be the grandest in 23 years but also a revelation.

In his short acceptance speech, Dr. Eusebio Dizon, an awardee in the field of science and known to be the only Filipino to have archeologically studied the Philippines in the metal age, from 500 BC to 500 AD, aroused the interest of the audience when he said that contrary to earlier theories, early Capampangans did not migrate into the country from Indonesia.

Dizon cited new archelogical and linguistic evidence indicating that "Capampangans were the ones who migrated to Indonesia and probably Sumatra".

As a matter of fact, even folk in Hawaii and in the Marianas Islands in the Pacific could even have Capampangan ancestors, he said.

Dizon, born in Mabalacat town, was one of the most applauded awardee this year in rites held at the Fontana Convention Center here last Sunday. The occasion was also in commemoration of the 434th foundation anniversary of Pampanga.

Dizon has a doctorate in archeology from the University of Pennsylvania, which he earned under a scholarship from the Ford Foundation. Specializing in archeo-metallurgy, he is known to be the only one in his field to have conducted archeological studies of the country in the metal age.

In 1995, Dizon helped establish the Archeological Studies Program at the University of the Philippines, the first archeological school in the country.

"While our accepted inherited wisdom from our scholastic predecessors, like Prof. Henry Otley Beyer and Dr. Robert Fox, that the Capampangans originated from Indonesia, particularly Sumatra without basis in terms of archelogical evidence, he believes the contrary based on new archeological and linguistic evidence," said a printed material distributed by the Pampanga provincial government during the awards night.

The material said Dizon, who had worked on his findings with Dr. Peter Bellwood, has compiled evidence indicating that "Capampangans were the ones who went to Indonesia and probably Sumatra."

It also cited Dizon’s studies that Capampangans then were "great boat builders and even sailed in the early period about 2,000 years ago to Indonesia and the rest of the Pacific such as Marianas and Hawaii."