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The "SCORCHED EARTH" policy adopted by the guerillas during the height of World War II have changed everything in this town. Palacial ancestral homes made of hard wood designed with Castillan splendor were all burned and left ashes to blend back to mother earth. Hence the grand panorama of Spanish influence in the urbanization of this town were all wiped out to oblivion never to get back in the memories for posterity of a small but tightly knit community. The resulting damage of that war have brought havoc to the quietness and self sustaining dignity of this town. Many have left and established their livelihood elsewhere. For those that stayed and for those who came back after getting educated or self improved elsewhere, changes happened right in their eyes. New buildings were constructed and new homes for the ever exploding population popped out everywhere. Everything has become new - new concrete and more beautiful homes accentuated with new concrete streets and beautiful parks in town. The town hall or municipal building was rebuilt in its contemporary design. Successive mayoral administrations have to agressively pursue this reconstruction undertaking to what it currently is. Several of those officals had the benefit of using this office to leap towards provincial or even national prominence. It has become the focal point of the town activities and is a significant point of interest for the town tourism. For many of the townsfolk, the old municipal building that was unceremoniously gutted down during the guerilla movement, mostly called it the tribunal. That building was massive and was built with lumber from choice trees cut so that it could withstand harsh weather. It was built to last, way back in 1916 with lumber handcrafted in bigger sizes compared to the current commercial standards. In most cases wider, longer and thicker with the pitch very pronounced to attest the age of the tree. Some called it the casa municipal or municipio for short. Typical of the Spanish township designs, the municipio is the center of town. Looking from where it faces, the schools immediately follows, then the church and the public market with streets connecting all this public conveniences. The architecture was a basic two story building with the stairs in the middle of the building facing the main entrance. The main entrance were two huge wooden doors, made of the Philippine hardwood with the distinction of being the National Tree named "Narra". In both floors the layout is symmetrical on both sides. Both the ground floor and the walls were concrete. The stairs leading to the different offices were made of selected quality wood - railings of which were hand-carved by known craftsmen of the time. On both sides of the stairs the were municipal jails, - on the left was for men and on the right was for women. On entering the municipio, one could see the telephone office that received and sent messages. The voice of the operator could be heard some fifteen meters away as there was no enclosure. On the right side of the ground floor were the offices of the municipal treasurer, register of deeds and land taxation office where the residence certificates called the *cedula were issued/bought. On the left side of the ground floor, the first room you see has tables and shelves with acid jars and batteries for the Ibajay telegraph station. A submarine cable linked Ibajay with Manila. All messages coming from Manila and addressed to the provinces of Panay Island had to pass thru Ibajay and in the same token, messages coming from those provinces addressed to Manila. Truly, this is a claim to fame of Ibajay that even during those years, Ibajay is a communication center for Panay. A 24-hour duty of the telegraph operators were maintained as heavy traffic of messages were coming in/out to/from Capiz, Iloilo and Antique and continuously processed. The submarine cable surfaced in the village of Aslum beachfront and from there the cable goes on the posts through northern part of town and eventually connected to the Ibajay Telegraph Station right in the "municipio". The postmaster had his office next to the telegraph operators' where postage stamps were sold and Philippine Postal Savings Bank booklets for those who save were issued. This was the only bank in town then for such purpose - saving. Mails within the Panay Island were transported by means of regular commercial bus lines and vise versa. There were no postal trucks/buses in Panay for this purpose, hence postal service have to contract with the regular passenger bus service. Mails going outside of the island are transpoted by regular passenger vessels. The next office to the postmaster was cleverly marked Jefe de Policia or Chief of Police but it was really the office of the whole police department for Ibajay. Incidentally it was also adjacent to the men's jail. Here the arms and ammunitions for the force were kept and maintained. Policemen recorded the events of the day especially on crimes in the "police blotter", or nowadays known to be the "Police Logbook". Interrogations of suspected individuals were conducted in this office. Typically such interrogations were done in low tone because other prisoners in the jail can overhear it. We now go up the stairs and one could breath the crisp fresh air from the azotea or the terrace. It was near the big trees - the acacia, the santol and the orange which provides both the much needed shade during hot summer days and the tangy sweet and sour fruits for everyone, which incidentally, also abound everywhere during the summer season. From the azotea one would enter the main hall, floored with beautiful, waxless but glossy lauan wood. Same with the walls and ceiling around. It was here where Judge Leonardo Garduno of the Court of First Instance Branch 3 of Capiz held his sessions. Near the two windows facing south, a raised platform was constructed, for the judge. Down below on the left side of his court was the well known hawla ni Garduno (Garduno's cage), enclosure where witnesses of those scheduled for cross-examination sat during the court proceedings. Immediately in front of his bench is a long table used by both the defense and prosecution lawyers assigned to the case during the proceedings. The long table, the bench, the desk and the cage are all handcrafted specially built out of exquisite Philippine hardwood. On the wall behind the bench a big framed picture of Gen Emilio Aguinaldo on his inauguration as President of the Philippines. It was given to Ibajay as a prize for having won in the Birang nga pinoepog, beat-treated abaca cloth, (in contrast with stone-washed), during the Sinamay exhibition in Manila. In that picture one could see the soldiers of the Revolutionary Army, the carriage of Gen. Aguinaldo, the Barasoain Church, the site of the constitutional convention of the First Philippine Republic, portion of the park of Malolos and hundreds of townfolks sitting on the embankment of the river facing the plaza witnessing the historic occasion. Big photographs of Presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln of the United States hanged on the top of the wall. This was clearly another sign of "foreign-influence" to the local government.
Pictures of Jose Rizal, President Quezon and Sergio Osmena decorates the eastern walls in the main hall. The western wall had the pictures of Andres Bonifacio, Gen. Antonio Luna, Speaker Manuel Rojas and a huge picture showing all the governors of provinces of the Philippines, dressed in their traditional costumes, as does the Ifugaos of the North and the Muslims of the South. These names mentioned above represents the cream of Philippine national heroes and statemen. The right side of the second floor was assigned to the office of the "presidente municipal" later known as municipal mayor. A smaller table in the same room was allocated for the municipal secretary. During those time, the team work of the two is the most influential of the town government. The next door was occupied by the juez de paz (justice of the peace). This court is one level lower than the Court of First Instance that occupies the main hall and therefore he has a relatively smaller court as well. When there was no trial, the presidente municipal and members of municipal council conducted their regular municipal business meeting/session in this same hall. The remaining offices on the left side of the second floor were those used by the supervising teacher now known as the District Supervisor, and president of the sanitary division presently known as Rural Health Physician with his sanitary inspector/s. All those happy memories .... The pre-war municipal building of Ibajay had witnessed many historical events under several administrators and has also produced a few good men. The past pinnacle of resourceful, gentle, quite, kind and humble people; the pristine showcase of Ibajaynon beauty, now, only but memories remain.
*Cedula or residence certificate is another form of individual taxation disguised as personal identification paper - proof that you are not an alien[?] in your own land. Ceremoniously the revolutionaries of the Spanish-Filipino war tore down their cedulas to show defiance against the policy imposed by a foreign-based government.
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