BASEY, SAMAR

Ø History

The story begins to the childless couple Kadiko and Guilanda in the village of Omit which is presently called Bgy. Magallanes. This couple had been praying and dreaming of having a child for so many years but unfortunately they were not blessed even by just one. But one day in the woods, the couple finds a very beautiful baby and as what others said, the baby was an unwanted white baby or probably an albino. 

The couple was very very happy because their prayers have been answered. They name the baby, Bungansakit which means “fruit of sorrow or sacrifices”.  The couple have been praying for a child for around twenty years and that day was the answer for their sacrifices and devotion.

The baby grows unusually very beautiful and possesses distinct foreign features that the villagers think the child as an offspring of a fairy and a mortal parentage. That idea about bungansakit brings much attention because of her atypical and extraordinary features that people of power and influence try to subdue or capitalize on her. 

Bungansakit falls in love with Suguihon, a consciencious and skillful bachelor living near to the village. They were married in a Christian wedlock.  The story ends tragically when a envious and covetous Moro suitor plunders the Christian villages of Omit and Balud and abducts Bungansakit to Moroland.

The word Basey comes from the vernacular Baysay (means beauty). This is in deference to its most beautiful erstwhile inhabitant named Bungansakit. When the new town adopted the name, a competition in her honor caused Bungansakit’s original home village of Balud to be renamed Guibaysayi (means most beautiful).

It is easy to presuppose that the Americans named Basay Basey, with emphasis on the last syllable. The idiosyncrasy of the English language tends to have difficulty pronouncing ah, when followed with consonant y. The locals probably unwittingly popularized the word by imitating or ridiculing the American pronunciation. But to claim that the Americans originally adopted the word is not supported by facts.

Basaynons themselves contracted Baysay to Basay for convenience in ordinary talk. In turn the Spanish corrupted Basay to Basey to suit in their formal writings. Basey is always found in Spanish records relating to the town. This includes early Spanish maps of the Philippines, which puts Basey in its right location. In addition, the church bells, which date back as early as 1858 in the St. Michael’s church belfry are engraved with Basey in reference to the town. These bells predate the arrival of the Americans in 1898.

Ø Product

The banig or mats measure around 2×3 meters and as thin as a chipboard. A banig is usually made from “tikog”, a special reed grass which grows in swampy areas along rice fields and has solid, jointless and usually triangular stems.

Banig weaving is the common source of income of people in almost any part of Samar, most especially by the housewives.

The traditional art of mat weaving continues to flourish in the old town of Basey. The practice of this ancient art has been handed down from one generation to the next. The weavers are locally known as “paraglara” (usually women weavers). The paraglaras is said to practice and were taught the traditional mat weaving at an early age. It is believed that the people in Basey had been weaving mats long before the Spaniards came in the Philippines.

Colorful banigs are more expensive than the simple ones. Because of the increasing demand of the product, the once known “banig” as a sleeping mat is also now being made into bags, decors, place mats, furniture matting, and adornments of ceiling panels or walls, throw pillows and more.

If you plan to visit Basey, Samar, visit their local tourism office. They can bring you to a showroom and workroom where you can see the traditional art of mat weaving.

The traditional art of mat weaving continues to flourish in this old town whose name has become synonymous with woven sleeping mat, or “banig.”

And the practice of this ancient art, which has been handed down from one generation to the next, recently took a new turn as demand for the product increases.

This is because use of the banig has expanded. Where once the age-old mat was used solely for sleeping, it now adorns modern walls or ceiling panels. It has been turned into bags, throw pillows, framed decors, as well as place mats and furniture matting.

Ø  Tourists Spot

The hilltop Church of St. Michael the Archangel was said to have been built in the 17th century by Fr. Cristóbal Miralles.  It was burned and looted of its treasures on Corpus Christi Day during a slave raid in 1663. In 1845, it was repaired by Fr. Domingo de Madrid who also built a bell tower, a stone and coral convent, and a cemetery with a small chapel within.  It was damaged by a storm in 1880.  In 1894, Fr. Vicente Gutiérrez replaced the church roof with galvanized iron.

The convent, adjacent to the church, was the headquarters and hospital of the U.S. 9th Infantry around the time of the attack on Company “C” in Balangiga. A month later, the convent became the headquarters and hospital of a battalion of U.S. Marines under the command of Maj. Littleton W.T. Waller, which was attached to the Sixth Separate Brigade under Brig.-Gen. Jacob H. Smith. This Marine battalion was tasked with turning southern Samar into a “howling wilderness.”  During the Liberation, it was used as an evacuation center by Leyteños.

Mt. Carmel Chapel, in Brgy. Buscada, is located about 1 km. away from the present church.  It is the parent church of Tacloban (in Leyte) and the origin of the Tacloban’s revered Sto. Niño icon. Tacloban’s creation as a barrio of Basey dates back to the 1770s.  This church, built in 1845, has a Jesuit façade with layers of tombs for walls made out of coral stone blocks.  It is the starting point for the historical exchange of images between Basey and Tacloban City.

Rawis Caves Municipal Eco-Park, in Brgy. Rawis, is located a few kms. upstream, near Brgy. Inumtan.  This recently discovered cave has glistening stalactites, stalagmites and other natural rock formations like the “Natural Statue of Virgin Mary” and the “Bathtub.”   The presence of cave pearls indicates that the place is still “pristine.”   Behind Rawis Cave is the 30-ft. high Balantac Falls.

Balantak Falls 

Jinamoc Island was established, during World War II, as a naval facility for the Joint Intelligence Naval and Military Operations Center, an air and sea intelligence operational force.