PITCHING IN

The heritage town of Kiangan
(First part of a series)
GLO A. TUAZON

KIANGAN, Ifugao – Kiangan is an old town, the oldest in the province of Ifugao. The name Kiangan evolved from the term Kiyyangan, the name of the ancient village that it used to be, located astride the Ibulao River. It is a name often told in their folk tales to be the dwelling place of Kabigat and Bugan, the mythological ancestors of the Ifugaos.

Kiangan is just one rural town but unknown to most outsiders, is very rich in history. From the welcome sign just across the Ibulao bridge, you might perceive a sleepy town, searing hot when the eye of the day rises as red as blood.

Beyond that sign is a place where the spirit dances and memories persist. Not far ahead starts the long winding road to the town proper, passing along the ever present terraces along the way. Reaching Poblacion and going around the seemingly silent route is a totally different story, all in one stretch of road.

In the history of the province, Kiangan is the seat of Ifugao government since 1889 until 1949, spanning sixty years from the Spanish to the American and Japanese era. It was also the center of commerce and education to the post war years until it was finally moved to Lagawe in 1949.
The Philippine war history would not be complete without the town asserting its right as one of the strongholds of resistance in the north during WWII. The Kiangan War Memorial Shrine was built in 1974 to commemorate the Filipino and American soldiers who died in that war.

The edifice is located in Sitio Linda, Barangay Poblacion just a few hundred meters away from their municipal hall. The memorial was constructed of steel and concrete and embedded with a huge wood carving depicting war scenes, making brothers of Filipinos and Americans who died side by side defending the land from the elite forces of the Japanese Imperial Army then led by the “Tiger of Malaya”. Gen. Tomoyuki Yamashita who surrendered to the Fil-Am forces on September 2, 1945. At the back of the edifice are twin stairs on either side spiraling up to a tower three floors up on a deck overlooking the area surrounding it. And the view stretches to the town of Lagawe and
the mountains around it.

The Kiangan Shrine is a well maintained lot, the manicured lawns spanning the length and width of the entire grounds to include the outdoor stage and the Ifugao Museum just a few steps across the memorial. The museum displaying relics and memorabilias of their history and heritage.
Take a tricycle ride and alight at Teachers’s Avenue still in Barangay Poblacion. An old wooden building stands big and imposing. The white paint turning cream with weather and use, warping in some places. It is a straight rectangular structure, with windows dotting the façade and the hallways echoing the voices and footsteps of children. Who else knows what echoes there when school is out and the children are not there?

You can feel the silence stretching all the way to the other end. In the Home Economics room of this school was where Gen. Yamashita and his command staff made the unconditional surrender on September 2, 1945. From here the “Tiger” was taken along with his men to Camp John Hay in Baguio City via Bagabag, Nueva Viscaya and La Union. The next day Sept. 3, 1945 in Baguio, he signed his formal surrender of the Japanese Imperial Army to the Philippines and Allied Forces.
Walk a little further along and on the left side is the Ifugao Academy and the UCCP Church, both very well antiqued and story laden too. In 1926, the Ifugao Academy was built and founded by Myrtle M. Metzger. He was an American missionary who came over and fell in love with the land and its people, he then started Protestantism in this place and in the records this school was the first High School ever in Ifugao.

Way up along is the so called Million Dollar Hill (Upper Poblacion). Story goes that the Americans poured in almost a million dollars to be able to conquer the hill during the war, hence the name. In the war years this hill was dotted with foxholes and trenches and tunnels made by the Japanese Army in their retreat to the mountains going to Hungduan and Wangwang, Tinoc, Ifugao.
Along the route is the Yamashita trekking trails today just across the junction to Barangay Nagacadan. This trail by the way is now one favorite trekking site, spanning about 30 kilometers of forested and terraced areas. The rice terraces of Nagacadan are also wonders to behold along with those of Bae.

In Sitio Bae, Barangay Ambabag also stands the Uhat Mission Site established by Fr. Jose Lorenzo in 1864. This is the very first Roman Catholic Mission in Kiangan under the Spanish rule. Nearby is the marvelous Ambuwaya Lake. Move to Barangay Julongan and you get to the Spanish Hill, named so as this is the place where the Spaniards erected a garrison after settling in the area. These are just some of the historical sites in Kiangan, but almost everywhere you go, there is one more story to tell and a sight to marvel at.