Rizal And The River Communities of 19th Century Town of Pasig

September 06, 2011

José Rizal immortalized the Pasig River more than any other Filipino intellectuals in our history. In his novels, he mentioned the river many times and even wrote about the legends that abound in it. The climax of the Noli Me Tangere, that chase on Ibarra happened in the Pasig River.

In the 19th Century, great highways were nonexistent. Roads were unpaved, primitive, and unsafe. The trip, Laguna to Manila and vice versa was usually done with small steamboat (barco de vapor), casco, and pituya. Rizal gave us a vivid glimpse of that travel in the opening chapter of the El Filibusterismo, where the steamship "Tabo" was navigating the Pasig River.

He wrote about the river communities of the town of Pasig:

"When Padre Florentino greeted the little group there were no longer traces of the ill humor of the past discussions. Perhaps they were influenced by the spirits, by the charming houses of Pasig, the glasses of sherry they had taken to whet their appetite........

Where could these houses be? What are those houses he was writing about? Rizal could be describing the area around Sumilang nearing Kalawaan, where houses were said to be beautiful and well built. Those that were said to be located near the church -- the dominating edifice at that time.

The view of the church from the Bitukang Manok. Note the dome of the church

Our national hero also mentioned of legends that abound the Pasig: Malapad Na Bato, Dona Jeronima's Cave, and the Buwayang Bato, the crocodile that turned to stone.

~The Legend of Doña Jeronima ~

"Once upon a time there was a student who gave his word to marry a maiden of his village who, it seems, he later failed to remember. She, faithful, waited for him for years and years, wasted her youth, became a spinster. One day she heard that her old love had become Archbishop of Manila. She disguised herself as a man, came by the Cape, and presented herself to His Most Illustrious Person, demanding the fulfillment of his promise. What she asked for was impossible, and the archbishop had a cave built, which you have seen, draped and decorated at the entrance with tangled vines. There she lived and died and there was buried, and tradition relates that Doña Jeronima was so fat that to enter she had to go sideways. Her fame as a charmer came from her custom of throwing into the river all the silver plates on which she served lavish banquets to which came many a gentleman. A net was stretched underwater to catch the pieces which were thus washed. It is not more than twenty years since the river passed close by, almost kissing the mouth of the cave, but little by little it receded from it, as its memory fades among the Indios".

In the latter part of Chapter I of El Filibusterismo, a group of travelers was having a conversation at the upper deck of the Tabo. Two characters, Ben Zayb the journalist, and Don Custodio, were discussing ducks or itik . Don Custodio telling Ben Zayb:

"I am not talking of wild ducks, I mean the domesticated ones. Those that are bred in Pateros and Pasig."

Duck raising, once a source of livelihood to many Pasigueños who once settled along the banks of the river-- The barrios of Pinagbuhatan, Bambang and Kalawaan. The duck industry in these communities flourished for more than a century.

In the mid-1960s when industrial pollution started to ravage the Pasig River, the duck raising industry started its decline, as feeds of freshwater snails like the "sambuele" (Melania sp.) became increasingly difficult to find. Duck raisers started to abandon the business. It was then taken over by the Chinese entrepreneurs, only to abandon it later.

In the 1990s the duck raising industry of Pasig was dead. The end perhaps of one of the oldest known industries of the city.

DOÑA JERONIMA'S CAVE from PASIG CITY MUSEUM Photos