Home of the most hospitable people

Cip Lachica’s

Balete, Banwa Ko

In the Service of the Baleten-on People

4th Class Municipality in the Prov-

ince of Aklan

Land area: 11,760 Hectares

Population: 26,360

Constituent Barangays: 10

Topography: The northeastern and

southeastern portion are intermit-

tence of rolling hills and valleys

and plains; the rest are mountain-

ous with outlaying hidden valleys

Produce: Agricultural and fishery

most notable are its piña cloth,

nito craft, pinipig, rambutan, oys-

ters, crabs, prawns (both brackish

and freshwater)

Accessibility: The Nautical High-

way links it to Iloilo, Kalibo and

Manila. It is just 21 km from the

Kalibo Airport

Must See: Basura Garden, Kabuhi-

an Livelihood Skills Training and

Exhibition Center

THE MUNICIPALITY OF BALETE, AKLAN

B A L E T E , A K L A N , P H I L I P P I N E S

(036) 272-3829

sueatbalete@yahoo.com

http://multiply.agtawagon.com

The Municipal Tourism and

Development Council

Balete, Aklan

Text and photos by Al

B A L E T E , A K L A N , P H I L I P P I N E S

Hon. Noemi Calizo-Cordero, Mun. Mayor Hon. Rizal G. Rodriguez, Jr. Vice Mayor Hon. Evelyn V. Villanueva, SB Member Hon. Inocentes F. Bantigue, Jr., SB Member Hon. Angeles I. Cuales, SB Member Hon. Ciriaco T. Feliciano, SB Member Hon. Cipriano L. Lachica, SB Member Hon. Elvis S. Requiro, SB Member Hon. Peter C. Recidoro, SB Member Hon. Paulino P. Balleza, Jr., SB Member Hon. Crispino P. Beltran, Jr., Liga President Hon. Milcah E. Sauza, SK Chairperson

Balete Banwa Ko by Cip La-

chica is a mural-like oil painting

in 1.47 m x 3.14 m canvass

completed on August 2009.

Mayor Noemi Calizo-Cordero

has commissioned the Baleten-

on artist to come up with some-

thing that would depict a Ba-

leten-on panorama. The result

was this transcendental realism

on the historicity of the Baleten-

on people. In the tradition of

Amorsolo, Cip manages to

catch the gentle breeze and the

sunlight as he portrays a pristine

clear Jal-o River that was full of

life. Then he shows us a boat-

man (please take note of his

talibong—a locally soldered

sword—proudly displayed in

his hip) and his wife coming off

Balete, Banwa Ko: Cip Lachica’s Transcendent Realism on the Baleten-on Historicity

from the mountains and hills of Oquendo,

Guanko and Cortes with their produce.

They are the so-called “taga-ilaya” juxta-

posing (read: set to doing barter trade)

with the fishermen from the swamps of

Calizo and Aranas—the “taga-ilawod”.

The topography and the structures in the

background manage to assert the paradigm

of historicity as the Baleten-ons con-

sciously define their role in the globaliza-

tion of their once sleepy town by the Jal-o

River.

The Balete Tree,

from which the village by the river of Jal-

o was named after, remains sturdy and tall

sheltering life from the elements. It takes

the center stage and acts as the balancing

and unifying object of the composition. In

it stands the Archangel Rafael, patron of

the Baleten-on people, the stranger who

looks over them, healer of their

blindness and other malaise, their

companion in their journey, their

advocate before the Most High.

Finally, in his attempt to transcend

realism without taking away from

the players their active involvement

in defining the history of Balete, he

introduces us to a dove pinching a

bunch of aural ivory lassos spread-

ing across the whole canvass. Peace

and unity, it tries to convey; it sup-

poses the future each and every Ba-

leten-on has to strive after. We are

to understand our past, to be at

peace with the present and hopeful

we ought to be for an integrated

better Balete in the future.

Detail of the Reapers

Detail of the Boatman and the fisherfolks

The obra as it hangs on the wall of the lobby of the Balete Town Hall