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The Presidencia of the town of Capiz. Inset: photo of Walter C. Clapp |
In November 1902, Walter C. Clapp, the first Episcopal priest in the Philippines went to Panay Island, where he visited Iloilo and then Capiz to do a "prospecting tour" on behalf of the Episcopal mission. On November 25th he left Iloilo for Capiz. His short stint in Capiz was later included in a report he presented to the Episcopal mission in the United States. Here are extracts of his notes about Capiz, providing a glimpse of how the place looks like at the turn of the 20th century.
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Rev. Walter C. Clapp |
Some Notes of Matters Philippine
By The Reverend Walter C. Clapp
The Sacramento Missionary, Lenten-tide 1903
From Iloilo, on Tuesday, November 25th, I took passage on
the General Blanco for Capiz, the
capital of the province of the same name, lying near the coast of northern
Panay. The water distance from Iloilo is about one hundred and twenty minutes,
and the trip should be made in fifteen hours in these slow, inter-island craft.
But we were delayed in getting clearance from the medical officer, delayed
again and almost anchored by having to tow to two heavy lorchas [three-masted sailing ship] in the faces of a strong
monsoon.
Forty-eight hours from the time of leaving Iloilo we dropped
anchor in the harbor at Le Bas [Libas, a fishing community], at the mouth of
the Panay River, on which Capiz is situated. A quilez [probably caleza?] took us up to the town along a smooth
road bordered on each side by a thick towering growth of nipa palm. I may say,
in passing that the abundant production of this plant in the province
determines its chief and characteristic industry. From the budding stalks is
gathered, by tapping the nipa tuba, which, fermented, becomes the nipa vino, from which in turn, by
distillation, are obtained various grades of aguardiente, or alcohol.
Capiz is an attractive town of neat appearance, simple,
almost medieval, in its isolation. Stone watch-towers at the river-mouth in one
direction, and on the sea-beach in another, guarding against the approach of
the dreaded Moros, are reminders of a past that is by no means ancient. A large
and recently-constructed church forms the architectural center of the town.
The Rev. Clapp would
later spearhead the Cordillera mission in 1903 . He adopted a three-year old
Igorot and baptized him as Hilary. Later, the boy would become the first Igorot
doctor and the first Igorot governor of the Mountain Province.
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