BRIDGING THE GAP
Sibalom and its river system on the crossroad
(The writer was in Sibalom, Antique on a cultural immersion with his graduate students on May 27-28, 2006).
Sibalom is an interior municipality of Antique, about twenty minutes ride from the capital town of San Jose de Buenavista. It's main geographical landmark is the long and wide Sibalom River that stretches up to the Province of Iloilo before flowing out to the sea. As to how the town got its name is still shrouded in speculation, but one popular legend says like this: When Spaniards first arrived in the area, they asked some of the inhabitants who were in the river at that time washing and fishing as to what the name of the place was. The people thought that the Spaniards were asking how the river was and they answered, "Suba dalom!" Well, the colonizers did not understand and they presumed that it was really the name of the place. However, they did not get the correct pronunciation of the words, thus the name, "Sibalom".
The existence of the Sibalom River would explain the rise and development of a settlement that eventually became the town of Sibalom. The river is the reason why the alluvial plains of the town are fertile and Sibalom is one of the biggest rice-producing municipalities of Antique. The people also grow a considerable amount of peanuts and coconuts, plus an assorted variety of vegetables such as balatong, kadios, kamote, dagmay, balinghoy, and kalabasa. Various fruit trees are furthermore cultivated by the inhabitants.
The Sibalom River itself is a source of irrigation water needed by the farmers in the locality. It is also where people catch fish such as pantat, halu-an, tilapia, kasili, and ubog; as well as crustaceans like ulang and kagang or freshwater crab, making use of indigenous fish traps or contraptions. The river also serves as a favorite place for bathing of the locals and their visitors, or just to observe people fishing in it. Moreover, the river is the source of attractive and multi-colored mineral stones used in the manufacture of bodily ornaments and decors in Sibalom that find their way to as far as the United States and Canada.
The town, on its part, exhibits the principal features of urbanization. It has a public market, a parking terminal for jeepneys, a wide plaza and presentable town hall, churches of various religious denominations, a health center, banks, eateries, and even beer houses. There are also tricycles plying the streets and themselves interior barangays of the town.
Other than farming and fishing in the river, the inhabitants of Sibalom are also engaged in raising cattle, goats, native chickens, ducks and hogs. Interestingly, one Sibalomnon entrepreneur has even started to manufacture feeds for poultry, piggery and livestock, making use of available indigenous raw materials. This, certainly is a big boost to the local farmers because his feeds are not as expensive as those made with known brand names. Considering that bamboo is presentable all over the place, a few families are engaged in the making of bamboo containers, including the famous amakan used in drying rice under the sun. Also, a source of pride of the Sibalomnons is the persistence of an old-age industry in the town, the weaving of patadyong. Sibalom patadyong is considered to be even superior than the patadyong made in Miag-ao, Iloilo. Moreover, the making of native delicacies is an on-going occupation in the town as evidenced by the visibility of bandi, puto and bibingka being peddled around. Furthermore, there are machine shops that cater to the repair of motor vehicles and the manufacture of iron grills and gates.
As one can observe, Sibalom is at the crossroad of the old and the new. The people are looking forward to a faster development of their town brought about by modernization and globalization but, yet, they are also hoping that they will be able to preserve what is good and beautiful in their native customs and traditions.