DECONSTRUCTING THE ARINGAY MYTH : AN ANALYSIS

by Rolando Q. Mallari, MD

The Myth

It was said that Aringay was named after a beautiful daugther of Datu who ruled the southern settlement.  The girl called “Aring”, was the subject of a near tragic courtship by the only son (bugbugtong) of the Datu from the northern settlement.  One dark night of December both son and daugther met secretly near the bank of Carayan Lucsin (now Aringay river) and planned their elopement.  Anticipating that something would go wrong with their plan.  Aring wanted to end her life and suddenly jumped into the river.  The young man however, was quick to rescue “Aring…! Aring…! Ay…!  

This incident resulted in the marriage of the daughter of the Datu from the northern settlement to the young lad who is from the southern settlement. The enlarged communities were then called Aringay.

The Analysis

Historians say that before the Spaniards came, the Philippines had communities around the archipelago that are already well-developed. They said that the datu, timawa, bagani and alipin are not terms to depict social classes. The datu is the head of the community. If he is not apt for his job, he is replaced by other well-abled persons in the village. The timawas are the warriors, while the baganis are the people that maintain the peace and order of the village. The uripons are groups of  people who are serfs, laborers and household helpers. But unlike that of India where there is a caste system and people can not transfer from one caste to the other, there are evidences that the pre-Spanish occupants of the islands do not have a social class strata. Although this is still open to a big debate, people during those times can freely move from one work to another as long as they have the skills or means to do so. Even “queers” were very much respected and were given stature in the community where they acted as the babaylans. They are the bringers of good and bad fortune. And it was through them that incantations were made to ward off evil and bad intents in the community. 

We also have 'foreign' relations. We have intermingled with the Chinese, Malaysians, Indians, Japanese, Indonesians and Polynesians through trade. Traders from the Middle East also came and traded their goods. Barter was the name of the game until money evolved in the form of gold, silver and semi-precious stones. All of these were already happening in our so distant past. 

When I was young, the Aringay River was just high and mighty. The river banks were high. Young people like me were forbidden to take a dip in the water as the possibility of drowning is very high. The river’s depth was from 12 to 15 feet, a far cry of what it is today. I can imagine the north and south enclaves of the story in the legend. And since there were no bridges to facilitate movement, they use boats in travelling  from one bank to another. I am visualizing that the trading boats all the way came from Pangasinan, then they have a stop over to do trade with  Sto. Tomas;  then they set their anchor at the port in Agoo where some traders do business while the other refill their food and water and  sail northward and upon reaching the mouth of Lucsin river (the old name of the Aringay).  The traders follow the river upstream and trade goods with local communities. You can easily visualize a very active market system through trading with the foreigners. I highly suspect that the Aringay area during the olden times was very rich with root crops such as sweet potatoes, yams, rhizomes, garlic and onions which the Aringay forests are rich of. 

Apart from hunting and minimal agricultural activities our ancestors were said to be fishermen. It was said that the Spaniards brought and taught agriculture to the natives and even brought the carabao which had become the beast of burden in the farms.

Having said that, I clearly visualize our ancestor greatly fishing in the Lucsin river which was teeming with giant carps(carpa) , murrel (dalag), ox-eyed tarpon (bulan bulan), crabs, shrimps, araro and freshwater mullet (purong). They also venture into the great sea to catch big fishes which they sell in the markets. 

courtesy of https://ferdzdecena.com/lifestyle/dispatches/art-valdez-voyage-of-balangay/

Sometime in the ‘70s, the treasure hunting activities on the proverbial Yamashita gold became heightened. They dug in the Anteng mountain somewhere in Sta. Rita East and found something more than gold. They found Chinese jars, pots and plates. This is a historic find. This is an archeological finding of magnitude for Aringay. The find were said to be dated 3 BC and they are now in display at the La Union Provincial Museum. It was a pity that there were no formal archeological searches done after that. A whole gamut of Aringay history should have been unfolded. 

Not the real find. This is a picture of a similar jar unearthed

Are these artifacts historical? Or are these artifacts stolen and were buried in the Anteng area to be uncovered through digging in the deep recesses of the mountain? Or are these indications of the early history of Aringay? 

If I am to dissect my treatise further, I am of the belief that this is an indication of the early history of Aringay. There are two main settlements along the river. The Northern settlement and the Southern Settlement. The ancient jars were found in Anteng, Sta. Rita East, found in the southern embankment of the Aringay River. If it were so, the northern settlement would be in Salapac? Or would it be in Central Poblacion? 

Picture courtesy of PGLU. If you want to visit the Chinese jars and plates, the Museo de La Union houses it and it is located just at the back of the Provincial Government of La Union

In my treatise, the early inhabitants of Aringay traded freely with other nationalities. They might have traded these jars for wine storage. And the plates were used for food container and as to when eating. I can visualize that our ancestors had an affinity for good food and thus love to eat and party - a characteristic which we still have until today. Another possibility on this matter is that some of our ancestors were married with the foreigners and had established their residence in the area.

Some of you might say that this maybe be more recent. These might have been acquired during the Spanish period. But the greatest evidence that in the early history of Aringay, we have been interacting with other “nationalities” is the results of the DNA ancestral studies on some Aringayenos. The results came out that there ancestors were East Asian, South Asian , Central Asian  and Polynesian. Interpreting it further these are people from Middle East, India, China and of course Polynesia. My theory fits findings on Aringay ‘archeologically’ or genealogically. 

On the other hand, the story  on the Aring-ay phenomenon remains to be a myth. Aringay was Alingay or Alinguey. It refers to the boat used in the mighty Lucsin river. It is relatively a large boat that can be used for marine transport. The Japanese and the Spaniards are known to speak words with a heavy “r” pronounced Alingay as "Arringay" or "Arringuay" and the name was pronounced as such and eventually evolved to the name Aringay. 

I believe Aringay has an honored past and its present inhabitants should look at findings like to look into the past. We are in an era where things new, innovative and highly technological are always in our midst. May these technology lead us to our past. And I quote, "The past can not be changed. The future is not yet in your power. Learn from the lessons of the past."