The Maiden of Narvacan Pond

On a road, going toward the ocean, there is a little bridge. The bridge crosses a pond that flows beneath it. Next to the pond, is the house of a doctor.

One night, the doctor heard the sound of a woman weeping outside of his window. He looked out the window, catching a glimpse of a beautiful woman's silhouette, sitting at the banks of the pond. Feeling a deep sorrow in his heart, he decided to go down and console her.

When he got outside, and approached the weeping woman a quarter way around the pond, she looked up at him. She was a very stunning lady, with long black hair that covered her bosoms. She seemed to be wearing a long skirt that was dipped into the water, along with her feet.

"Oh sir," she said. "Please help me!"

He answered, "What shall I do for you, miss?"

"Please come with me!" She said with urgency.

At the moment he would say "where" he saw her raise her legs. Where he expected feet to be was a tail of a fish! He stared in shock and ran away.

From that point on, he knew that she was a mermaid. A few months later, there was news of a young man who drowned in the pond. The police report said there was no sign of struggle on his body. But, the doctor knew that young man fell for the allure of the mysterious maiden of the pond.

Everisto and Elena Cabebe

In the ili of Narvacan, on the Maharlika Highway, was a big house. In that house lived Everisto and Elena, with their 5 children. From oldest to youngest was Edwin, Efren, Evangeline, Elie and Estephanie.

Everisto was the agricultural minister of the Ilocos Region. Through the remittances of his father and brother Nicolas sent as carpenters from Oahu, Hawaii, he went to college to study agriculture. He was able to travel to London to study the different plants. He was a kind hearted, educated man. He would write speeches for his children. He also encouraged them to do well in school so that they may have an easier life, than working under the hot sun.

Elena worked in a shop in the ili. She sold candy and other house needs. Elie would help her in her shop, eating lots of candies! But then, her teeth got rotten cause she did not brush her teeth at night.

Elie would climb the trees in the neighborhood, singing songs. Her sister Evangeline and her friends would tease her. Then, Mamang Ket would call her down and spank her for being a naughty girl. But, Elie had the same kind heart like her father. She would laugh it off, and play with her little brother Estephanie.

As the years went on, all the Cabebe children grew into adults and were college educated. However, during the 1970s, there were no jobs. One day, Elie met Rogelio. Rogelio went to ask Everisto her daughter's hand in marriage. Everisto tested him by speaking to Rogelio in English. Since Rogelio was already living in Maui, Everisto agreed.

And so, Elie and Rogelio were married. They moved to Maui, and Rollie was born in 1979. They lived in the house that Juan bought in "Dream City." Then Rogelio built a house in Pukalani. Ellen-Rae was born shortly after.

Juan and Maria Cachola

Juan and Maria Cachola were married in Narvacan, Ilocos Sur, and built a house in Dasay. Juan was among the Filipino soldiers who fought the Japanese during WWII. He survived the Bataan Death March. After the war, he found that there were no jobs to take care of his family. In 1946, he signed up and went to work in the plantations of Maui, with Hawaii Cane and Sugar (HC&S).


Juan went back and forth to the Philippines, with the money he earned as a sugar cane worker. Every time he went back, he got Maria pregnant. It was through letters and photos that he was able to see his sons grow. Maria used the money that Juan sent home to buy land in Dasay, so that their family would not need to migrate into the cities. At the time, more people were losing their land. However, Maria bought land for them to grow tobacco and corn. Seeds were distributed to them by Virginia Tobacco, company.

One night, two men with guns entered Maria's home through the glass-less windows, demanding food and money. Lucklily, there was nothing to give, and they left the young mother and sons alone.

Rogelio grew up as Juan and Maria's second son. He saw how his favorite fishes he loved to catch when he was younger, began to disappear from the river. He saw how his older brother Ernesto got to go to college with the remittances of his father. Maria said there was no money for him. Determined, Rogelio worked the tobacco fields, selling his harvests at the market. Eventually, he made enough money to join his brother in Manila, and enrolled in college.

Maria went to follow them to Manila. Narvacan was becoming more dangerous for a single woman to live alone.

Although Ernesto and Rogelio were college educated, they could not find jobs. President Marcos also was calling for Martial Law, in response to the mass demonstrations of Filipinos who were angry at his policies. He was making the cost of living too expensive, yet the people did not have jobs or good paying jobs at that!

It was 1965, Juan took advantage of the new American laws that allowed him to bring over his family to Hawaii. Two sons were college educated. He also had a third younger son. He built a home in Kahului, Maui, in a new subdivision called "Dream City." He was determined that his family would have a chance to opportunities, in Hawaii.

Narvacan, Ilocos Sur

Some say the early Ilokanos can trace their indigenous identity to the Tinggian or Itneg peoples. The town of Narvacan got its name when then Spanish came to western part of Luzon, and caught their ship on the reef. The natives saw the approaching ship, stood on a mountain that resembles an overturned boat, and yelled "narbakan, narbakan," or, you're sinking!

When the Spanish established themselves, they treated the natives like many exploring western Europeans at the time. They saw the native Ilokanos as heathens, and imposed Catholic religion upon them. The Spaniards saw the natives as souls that needed to be "saved." However, this view was just a reason to convince the natives to pay them tribute and work the land for them. Churches were set up as the center of the encomiendas, which were tracts of land where villages were located. The Spanish colonials imposed Spanish last names to natives and alphabetized the villages to keep record of tributes. Of course many Ilokanos resisted. But, the Spanish forces also had military weaponry and pitted tribes and villagers against one another.

The occupation of the Spanish on the Ilokos region was brutal. This is why many Ilokanos also resisted, like Diego and Gabriela Silang of Ilokos Norte. Their heroism strikes chords with many indigenous and "Third World" freedom fighters. Diego was a general who fought against the Spanish. But, when he was captured and executed, his wife Gabriela took over. Eventually, the Spanish used their weapons and brutal tactics of blocking food and water to her army, weakening the resistance forces. She eventually was captured and executed. But, today her memory lives on to remind us of the Ilokano women's strength, and Ilokano people's love for their people and lands.

During the times of the illustrados, Narvacan also had many underground Katipunan fighters. Vigan was a few miles away, a center of Spanish control in the Ilocos region. The Narvacan Katipunan was necessary, in order to keep alive ideas of resistance among the Ilokanos.

As the Philippine nation increasingly found itself controlled by western countries, the native people experienced more hardships and poverty. However, this happened with the assistance of elite natives, many of which were "mestizo," half Spanish, half Native. One famous Ilokano, who was also known for plundering the Philippines, is Ferdinand Marcos. He was the President of the Philippines in the 60s to 70s. Many say that he was a smart man, but because he was advised by bankers and bureaucrats that influenced him to develop the Philippines as an export-oriented country, he allowed the plundering and poverty to worsen during his regime.

Today, Narvacan and the Ilocos Region maintains its cultural practices, food, native and hispanic cultural mixtures, churches, and modern developments. Many Ilokanos have migrated out of their homeland, to work abroad. Many migrants say its because they are looking for better opportunities; there are no jobs. Their governments did not care for them.

I write this perspective on the history of Narvacan in order to highlight the issues of colonialism and outside occupation, as among the reasons for the Ilokos regions predicament.