Historical Background
Loakan Liwanag and Loakan Proper, which used to be parts of one Loakan barangay, compose two of the 129 barangays of Baguio City in the Cordillera Administrative Region. Loakan was one of the early settlement areas of the Ibalois, the indigenous people of Baguio City.
Spanish Period
Loakan was mentioned in William Henry Scott’s book “The Discovery of the Igorots” as a resettlement area for recently baptized Igorots in October 1756.
Another account is recorded in Otto Scheerer’s book “On Baguio’s Past” about the visit of Fray Pedro de Vivar to Loakan in June 1775 as part of his mission to Christianize the so called “Infieles” or pagans who resided in the highlands or the Cordilleras. The priest arrived when the community was in the middle of observing a ritual that disallows entry of outsiders. The following day the community allowed him to set up a cross but the people did not immediately undergo conversion as they had “to consult their neighboring communities first,” probably their indirect and polite way of refusing the priest.
The third reference to Loakan was an account in the same book of William Henry Scott about the trip in 1833 of Fray Jose Torres of Mangaldan, Pangasinan who went to La Trinidad passing through Antamok and Loakan. The book mentions how he was “received hospitably all the way, his hosts usually butchering a pig and offering taro and camotes – he watched a whole village drying them in the sun for storage in baskets.” (Scott: 1974).
These accounts point to two facts: early inhabitants of Loakan practice an indigenous way of worshiping God. Secondly, that Loakan produced enough to feed its inhabitants.
Unknown facts, however, occur between the visit of Fray Jose Torres in 1833 and the arrival sometime in the year 1840 of some Loakan Ibalois’ forebears. The new settlers arrived at a deserted Loakan with signs of previous habitation based on visible burnt house posts and abandoned human skeletons interred under rocky caverns. There are two theories to be tested: the first is related to the arrival in 1829 at the present day La Trinidad of Col. Guillermo Galvey who left the area after “burning 180 houses”. His subsequent visits in the region for the next ten years were marked by military expeditions using “fire and sword” to subjugate the indigenous people of the Cordillera. Inhabitants of Loakan, located east of Tonglo, could have borne memories of the Battle of Tonglo in 1776 when Spanish led forces decimated the town. The news of Galvey’s attacks and the defeat of the Ibalois’ defenses could have sowed fear in their hearts so they left Loakan to seek refuge somewhere.
Another theory is an epidemic that could have ravaged the community. The epidemic must have been either homegrown or spread by the arriving Spanish soldiers who were known to infect local inhabitants with smallpox. Rather than live in a stricken place, the people must have left for healthier places.
Forebears of the Ibalois in Loakan
Today’s Ibaloi inhabitants of Loakan trace a common root from three sets of siblings: Tofeng and Damon; Batil, Sabong, Shashoy, and Boncog; and Dangeg, Shadin, and Shainay. An account of the oldest living person, Shania Reeves-Palispis (95 yrs. Old), says her great grandparents, Kalias and Sabdey, and their daughter, Bugan who was her grandmother, arrived in Loakan sometime in 1840. Batil was not part of this arriving party but as a hunter he soon found himself in the company of Kalias and his relatives who settled in Loakan. He was first married to Bitnay of Bakakeng who died and re-married Dangeg who hailed from Acupan.
Land Ownership and Use in Loakan
When the early known settlers arrived, they chose where to stay in Loakan. These known arrivals were led by Kalias, the son of Tofeng and Endecas. Kalias and his family stayed first in Pidawan, today’s site of the Standard Buildings of the Philippine Export Processing Zone. He later moved to construct another house in Sadjo. One of Kalias’ tasks as Kapitan was to implement the Spanish government’s reduccion program which entails gathering people in one town for easier taxation and protection. In this case, the township selected was Kafagway, later called Bag’iw. After the American-Spanish War, they returned to Loakan. Thus, Loakan Ibalois remembered residing at Bag’iw for sometime.
The following were the first settlement areas in Loakan and the lead families that later developed it:
These families cultivated sweet potato and gabi. They also cultivated rice at the swampy valley floor that was earlier drained through a canal. Early Ibalois in Loakan treated land as a resource for everyone to use. Ownership of the land goes to the first who cultivated it while allowing others to use it under a usufruct arrangement. An open space was free for anyone willing to cultivate it for uma after which the land was allowed to fallow and regain its fertility.
The native concept of land ownership changed under the American Period when the government decreed the titling of lands using the Torrens system. Loakan residents started to survey their lands in 1906 but the Public Land Act of 1903 required only agricultural lands, exempting pasturelands which led to the loss of wide tracts of lands the family of Kalias owned. Later, the government issued Certificates of Title to the descendants of Kalias, Bay-osan, Batil, and Kanedja. Their lands were the first ancestral lands to be titled in the expanded Baguio territory numbering 001 to 015. Their un-surveyed land was included with Camp John Hay.
The initial recognition to the native’s ownership to ancestral lands, however, did not prevent the government to implement expropriation proceedings to take over the Ibalois’ lands.
In l926, the government chose the rice fields of Loakan as the ideal location for an air strip. The people protested but to no avail. The western part of the runway was extended to its present length in 1946, ending in the once valley floor any agricultural activity that served not only the economic but also the socio-cultural needs of a thriving community.
In l948, the government approved the survey of the land chosen for a military school on a 373 compound which used to serve as pasture land of Tagley and Pilanta, and residential areas of other Ibaloi families in Loakan. The Philippine Military Academy (PMA) opened in 1950.
The last government expropriation took not only the remaining unoccupied land of some Ibalois but also the sites of their residential houses. The Export Processing Zone Authority created through Presidential Decree 66 of 1972 chose the areas of Pidawan and Sadjo for an export processing zone in Baguio City.
The Ibalois in Loakan have applied for the titling of their lands as provided by the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA) of 1997. However, a special provision in Section 78 covers the Ibalois in Baguio City, providing another hurdle for the final acquisition of their Certificate of Ancestral Lands (CALT).
Political Leadership
When the first Commandancia-militar in the Cordillera was established in La Trinidad in 1846, the military governors divided the surrounding localities into rancherias. Loakan was one of the designated Rancherias where Kalias was assigned during the time of Blas Banos as Kapitan while his cousin, Bay-osan, was his assistant.
Like his father before him, Tagley was appointed Consejal de Baguio to represent Loakan in the City Council in 1905.
Mateo Carantes who was born in Old Lucban married Ugasia, Kalias’ daughter, during their residence at Kafagway. He was Captain Baguio Rancheria and representative for Baguio and Benguet under the American regime for one year.
Mateo Carantes’ son, Maximino, would later serve as Municipal District President of Tuba in 1923 to 1925.
Institutions in Loakan
Loakan Elementary School - The site of the Loakan Elementary School and High School is located on a lot donated by Consejal de Baguio Mil-an a.k.a Agmaliw Siguid. Volunteer parents helped build the first school building in early part of 1929. In June 1929 the school formally opened as an elementary school with only one teacher. Mr. Alvares and Mr. Gavino taught in the following school year 1930-1931 while Mrs. Angeline Smith and Mr. Foronda taught during school year 1932-1933. They were replaced by Mr. Amado Salinas and Mr. Rafael Cuilan. Mr. Amado Salinas continued teaching together with Mr. Severino Ravanzo who taught until 1941. In 1945, the school reopened with only one teacher and remained a primary school until the year 1947. In June 1948, a Grade V class was opened until the school became a complete elementary school in 1949 under the leadership of Mr. Cornelio Ramos as Principal.
Loakan Annex, Baguio City National High School – In 1968, a two year level secondary school was established in Loakan. The first teacher was Mrs. Aida Cuilan-Milo who was assisted by Loakan Elementary School teachers. They were Mr. Johnny Rios, Mrs. Quirina Rios, and Mrs. Edith Cabusas who taught specific subject areas. The principal of Loakan Elementary School, Mr. Federico Delizo, also served as the principal of the new Loakan Annex. In 1981, the four year levels were completed. After almost a decade of lobbying in 2008, the Loakan Annex of Baguio City National High School was named Mil-an National High School in honor of Mil-an a.k.a Agmaliw Siguid who donated the school lot.
Shrine of Saint Lorenzo Ruiz - The first Catholic Church in Loakan was built through the Belgian CICM priest, Fr. Roberto Esbroeck, in early 1950s. Catechist Concepcion Pangilinan assisted him and supervised the construction of the first chapel located in a 700 sq. m. lot donated by ex-Gov. Ben Palispis from a portion of the lot he bought from Mil-an Siguid. The chapel became the Shrine of Saint Lorenzo Ruiz in September 1985.
Loakan Baptist Church - started in the early 1950s from the Bible Classes held in the house of Rafael Cuilan and his wife, Dumpia Chacchacan, in Ongasan. Pastor Rev. Alfred Conant was the first pastor. He was assisted by Rev. Jerome Casner and family, and the Baguio Baptist Church. Loakan Baptist Church was formally organized in 1956 before the departure to the United States of Rev. Jerome Casner and his family. From a makeshift chapel located on a hill in today’s Maryhills donated by Mr. Ngamoy Sacay, husband of Catalina Chachacan-Sacay, Loakan Baptist Church was transferred in 1970 to its present site on a lot also donated by Mr. Sacay. In the succeeding years, the Church grew in membership and services to include a preparatory and primary school.
Loakan as Part of Tuba
After the creation of Baguio City on September 1, 1909, Loakan was made part of Tuba by virtue of Executive Order No. 77 signed by Governor General W. Cameron Forbes on December 11, 1911. On August 6, 1925, Executive Order 37 signed by Governor General Leonard Wood extended the boundaries of Baguio City to include Atab, Loakan, Camp 7 and Irisan. The extension was not without the protests of affected residents led by Maximino Carantes who was then the Municipal District President of Tuba. In a letter dated January 15, 1925 to Governor General Leonard Wood, they expressed resistance to their inclusion with Baguio City. Carantes’ co-signatories included others in Loakan such as Biscaya, who was Tuba’s Councilor for Aropong, and Comising or Tagley.
Loakan Today
A century after Baguio City’s charter, Ibalois are still the majority of permanent residents and land owners in Loakan. Most are still practicing their indigenous rites and rituals and recognize the value of these to the individual and family’s well-being even while some Ibaloys became faithful to their Christian beliefs or learned to inter-phase their indigenous practices with their Christian faith. The continuing observance of indigenous practices, use of the Ibaloi dialect, and remaining ancestral lands sustain the roots of the Ibalois’ identity in Loakan.
Compiled by Rosella Camte-Bahni
References:
Barangay Loakan Historical Research Team. A Story of Loakan. (Unpublished, 2000)
Loakan Baptist Church. History of the Loakan Baptist Church. 2006
Research Notes of the Barangay Loakan Historical Research Team
Scheerer, Otto. “On Baguio’s Past: Chapters from Local History and Tradition,” The Archive: a collection of papers pertaining to Philippine linguistics (Manila 1931-1932), Accessory Paper No. 1.
Scott, William Henry. The Discovery of the Igorots. (Philippines: New Day Publishers, 1974).
Acknowledgment to Tuba Municipality for historical papers regarding the separation of Loakan from Tuba.