BRIDGING THE GAP
Chinese influences in the sugar industry of 19th century WV
The Chinese has long been a part of Iloilo's history. Historical and archaeological studies indicate that the Ilonggos already had trade relations with the Chinese beginning with about the 10th century and onwards to more recent times. By the time of the Spanish contact, a good number of them had already settled in the town of Molo, now one of the districts of the City of Iloilo. The Chinese found in that place had either permanently settled down and may have taken a local girl for a wife, or was an ambulant or transient trader.
By the 19th century, the sinamay or weaving industry in Iloilo had already flourished and the province had began to develop the reputation as the center of the textile weaving industry in the country. The Chinese were omnipresent in this lucrative industry due to the fact that they provided the silk and some cotton needed by the local weavers. Some of these Chinese also bought or bartered the finished woven products to be sold elsewhere in the Philippines. Also significant is that many of the Filipino-Chinese mestizos began to playa more active role in the weaving industry in the latter half of the 19th century by becoming entrepreneurs themselves.
As to the sugar industry, although history does not record how the Chinese got involved in it, it seems that they had a substantial influence in it. It appears that almost all the important terminology used in the process or preparation of muscovado sugar are of Chinese origin. The large vat where the sugar juice is cooked to form into "panocha" is "cawa". To transfer boiling sugar from one "cawa" to another is called "yaya". To clean the sap of impurities is "suiani". "Cansaja", on the other hand' is the term for the wilted leaf of the cane and "siapo" is the bagasse.
Among the mestizos of Chinese descent who figured prominently in the development of the sugar industry in Western Visayas were those who had almost retained the original sound of their family names. They were the Consings, Conlus, Cuaycongs, Lacsons and Locsins, to mention a few, who became well-known hacienderos in Negros. They, together with other Ilonggo entrepreneurs, migrated to the western part of Negros from Panay beginning with the second half of the 19th century. Many of them were already successful rice farmers and fabric merchants, as well as enterprising proprietors before they shifted their capital to sugar production that assured them tempting yields. Even in the cultivation of sugar cane, it is most likely that many Chinese laborers were also recruited and employed. Thus, it can be said that the Chinese,especially themestizos, did play an important role in the making of Western Visayas as the hub of sugar cultivation and sugar trading in the country.