A re-reading of Baltog and Tondol: An exotic story told only in whispers even residents do not know they live here.

Tondol of Today

Tondol is presently one of the sitios of Barangay Tagaytay, Camalig. A conspicuous feature of the place is the Philippine National Railroad (PNR) rail track which traverses the area. The starting point of the historic place is from railroad crossing going towards the left or southern quadrant—that could be Tondol of the ancient times. It is also near a river that flows from a South-East going a North-West course. The place has a lot of banana plants, tall grasses, and rice fields. The population center of Tondol (80 households) lies more or less some 15 meters away, southward of the railroad.

Tondol of the Past

Tondol is now merely the name of Purok 3, Sitio Tondol, Barangay Tagaytay, Camalig, Albay. Tondol happens to be one of the five most ancient settlements of Camalig, Albay. The four others being Baligang, Miti, Cotmon, and Quilaponte (now Barangay Bongabong). In other words, there was no Tagaytay yet, but Tondol was already a progressive settlement.

Tondol of Baltog

Tondol played a significant part in the Ibalong Epic. It was mentioned in the epic to be the site of the kingdom of the first hero of Ibalong, Baltog. The veracity of Tondol as the place where Baltog set up his kingdom has been the subject of study by several writers and Bicol culture and history enthusiasts and scholars. This was to prove that Tondol of Camalig is what indeed was referred to in the Bicolano epic and that it was there where Baltog set up his kingdom.

The features of Tondol of Camalig indeed bear those mentioned in the epic such as the presence of Lingyon Hill. There is no other Lingyon Hill anywhere in the Bicol Region but that one which can be found in Legazpi City. There are accounts which claim that Lingyon Hill is much older than Mayon Volcano which means that when the Ibalong Epic came to be, there already was Lingyon but no Mayon yet. Thus, Tondol of Camalig stands as the Tondol in the epic. The epic mentions a talisay tree where Baltog hang the humungous jawbones of the Tandayag na Opon which he defeated in a bare hand, bare fang combat.

Talisay trees are abundant in the place, until today. There was one very big talisay tree which survived for time but gave up to super typhoon “Trix” in 1951. Ergo, Tondol of Camalig is the Tondol in the epic.

The Ibalong Epic, also known as Handiong or Handyong, now has only 60 stanzas all the rest have been lost to something, sometime, somewhere in the ancient past. Thus, Bicolanos have to be contented with what they now possess, a fragment of their colorful and engaging folk history.

Like any ancient epic, Ibalong was passed down from generation to generation, by narration or by chanting. It was epic chanter/bard Kadungung who told the story of Ibalong. Fray Jose Castaño, OFM is said to have heard the story chanted by a blind bard he called “Homero de Ibalon” in what is now Ligao City. Later Fray Bernardino de Melendreras, OFM translated into Spanish Castaños’ version of the story.

For a long time, nobody heard about Ibalong until Dr. Merito Espinas studied Melendreras’ translation. He did everything he could to popularize the story until Legazpi City caught on with his idea and started to celebrate the heroism of Baltog, Handyong, and Bantung in its now famous annually staged Ibalong Festival.

Ibalong starts with the story of Baltog’s arrival in this land, Ibalong, Tondol particularly. Muscular and skin so pale, and whose hair is golden, much like corn silk, the long shiny fibers at the top of an ear of corn. He came from the place known as Botavara, from the race called Tawong Lipod, the Wind People. He was fast and strong, just like the wind. He could be here and now and then gone in the blink of an eye.

The people of Tondol were congenial and gracious. They welcomed Baltog to their settlement. Baltog was happy with the warm welcome. He found that the place had a soil so rich, the vegetation so lush. But, also, infested by beasts and strange creatures. He saw that the people were a prayerful lot. They prayed to their moon gods as often as they could. Baltog decided to make the land his new home, built his house, cultivated and planted their crops as well as what he brought with him. The beasts and creatures of the land were forced to move away from the lands they had once lived in and roamed.

There was the biggest, most vicious, and most intense among those beasts, the Tandayag na Opon, so gigantic for a wild boar, so seemingly intelligent for a beast. It was antediluvian thus nagtatandayag as the people would label it, tandayag na opon—antediluvian boar. It would attack the fields during the night where none is on guard and destroy everything it fancies.

One evening, Baltog, furious of what has been happening to the crops, chased the Tandayag, engaged it in a battle using his bare hands, and after a long bloody combat that lasted several days, killed it, broke its enormous jawbones and later hung it on a talisay tree (tropical lead wood tree, *Terminalia catappa) in front of his abode in Tondol for everyone to see.

Upon learning of the victory of Baltog, the people prepared a feast and celebrated. The very big jawbones of the dead boar became an attraction for everyone. Thus, came the tribes of Panikwason and Asog (sect of male shamans pretending to be females) from far away, to marvel at it. The people then rewarded Baltog with their unanimous declaration of him becoming their chief, their paramount leader. Their King!

Tondol is indeed significant, for Baltog, a hero in the Ibalong Epic built his kingdom, the first in a trilogy, in the said place. The event in Tondol, in the story, is noteworthy because of all the places, Baltog chose to stay in Tondol and Tondol, the place, is not a figment of imagination but real and existing since those pre-Hispanic times, extant until the present only shrunk from a big settlement that it was to being a mere Sitio; from being a center of attention to the edges of oblivion.

Baltog is Virtual, Tondol is Real

The story of Baltog, the first king of the Ibalong kingdom, may be virtual but Tondol, as one of the first five ancient settlements of the place that would be known as Camalig until the modern times, is an historical reality.

Because Tondol is pre-Hispanic, then it can, at one time, boast of its own distinct culture just like another ancient settlement which ever since and until now was known as Cotmon, whose Hoyop-hoyopan Cave was discovered in 1972-1973 to be a seat of civilization. The artefacts found in that cave all prove that before any strangers came over to this place, there were already others who were here before them.

It is unfortunate that majority of Camalignungs, particularly residents of Barangay Tagaytay, where Tondol has shrunk to a mere Sitio, the undermost political unit in the scheme of political heirarchy in the land, are unaware of the historical as well as cultural and literary value of Tondol. Perhaps it was only very recently that a limited number of citizens became aware of what Tondol was, when the Ibalong epic would publicly be celebrated. Still, it’s easy to count those who have tried to understand what that epic is all about. Here is a big story that begins in Tondol and moves about in all places that would be known today as the Bicol Region.

Once Baltog got settled in Tondol, he started to plant what everyone would call linsa. Linsa would become very valuable to the people of Tondol. Its corms became a staple food item. The other parts of the plant found some other uses, and as food too, of course. But then a monstrous, antediluvian boar started to ravage the linsa plantations of Tondol. The monster would attack at night when no one kept watch over the fields. The people asked Baltog for help. He swiftly responded. One night he confronted the boar, threw aside his spear and dagger, and wrestled with it with his bare hands. The combat was so ferocious and long drawn, the combatants even reached up to where Lingyon Hill is. But Baltog prevailed and broke the jawbones of the tandayag na opon. He took the jawbone to Tondol and hang it on a talisay tree by his abode.

Tondol and Pinangat

The Tandayag na opon was of course fictive but the linsa exists up to these days. But could it always be linsa when there are several species of taro? Could linsa not be gabi or apay which is now a main ingredient of an iconic Camalig dish, the pinangat? Could it not be the apay that has popularly become gulay na laing? Could it then be that linsa or be it apay was first grown in Tondol? Linsa is commonly known in Camalig as anok, it is a very popular ingredient for many meat dishes. It can be noted too that the soil in Tondol and the water that flows over it are properties wanted so much by apay to grow healthily, abundantly, lusciously.

And then talisay trees are not rare in Tondol they are in fact abundant in the place. Indeed, the monstrous jawbones of the tandayag na opon remains to be a gripping story to listen to on moonlit nights but the talisay trees of Tondol remain for people to romanticize even on early mornings or late afternoons.

Tondol seems to be an exotic story never told or if ever, told in whispers. Whatever value it holds in the history of the place and even in the literature of the people has been greatly diminished. In fact, even Barangay Tagaytay residents, when asked where lowland Tondol is, have to scratch their heads and only to point at upland Tondo to the west.

The other ancient settlements like Cotmon, Baligang, and Miti have, at least, maintained their names and their political status unlike Tondol which is now a mere Sitio and more lamentably, Quilaponte, which has become a mere patch of rice field and the name has been erased from memory to now be known as Bongabong.

Let’s Take Care of Tondol

Tondol is significant not only because it plays an interesting part in the Bikolanos’ regional epic, Ibalong or Handyong. It is doubly significant because Tondol is found to be one of the historically proven five most ancient settlements in Camalig. Tondol, thus, holds stories both mythical and real. It is a testimony to the claims that Camalig already had its own civilization and progressive settlements long before the Spaniards set foot in this land.

The public acknowledgement of the literary, cultural, historical and heritage values of Tondol, the territory of an ancient historical settlement, the site of the inception of what would become the glorious Ibalong Kingdom (in the Ibalong Epic, fragment though it has become) would be a cause for celebration and big pride for the residents of what is now Barangay Tagaytay and the municipality of Camalig.

Featured image: Stylized photo of Tondol sitio, Barangay Tagaytay, Camalig traversed by the PNR tracks.