This is the barangay "that
never sleeps". The numerous open-air tiendas where people converge to
drink, talk and sing in merriment, do not close until early dawn. By the time
these people go to sleep, fishermen or fishertraders start preparing to go out
to the seas or to the market. Jose Raymond Reyes described Pasil in his write-up
" The Fishy Business of Pasil"
At two in the morning, Pasil
begins to teem with people. Large tin tubs of fish are the orders of the day
for the eager customer. The place begins to smell of sea and sweat. But for the
fish vendors, it's just another early morning at the market.
Pasil's market's early beginnings
were traced to a few "sakayans" or outrigger boats trading fish along
the shore behind Plaza Gines. The area was reclaimed before the war and the
market was erected...
Pasil has become a byword, from
the kitchens of the filthy rich to sidewalk grills of food stalls.
According to Manuel C. Enriquez,
Cebuano historian and native of nearby San Nicolas, and Juan Cabase,
octogenarian, and a native of Pasil, the name Pasil came from the word Pansil.
Long before this area became heavily populated, it was already a place where
the fishermen brought in their catch. The word Pansil underwent a change
through constant use and became Pasil. This was used to name the place and
later the barangay that grew herein.
Virgiloo A. Damayo writing in a
Special Centennial souvenir issue in June 12, 1998, a presentation by the Pasil
Barangay Council says:
The name Pasil was pre-hispanic
in origin. li is derived from an old Bisayan word "pasir", meaning a
clean, sandy beach blessed with two rivers: Guadalupe and Mambaling. Pasil
marked the fact of early settlements. Historical evidence showed that Pasir was
not only a flourishing fishing Village but one of the leading ports for
inter-island and Asian long-distance trade before the coming of Magellan in
1521...
Oral tradition claimed that the
shores of Pasil is the site where Magellan's cross was planted and where the
image of Santo Niño was recovered. The image was kept by Tupas, known as Hari
sa Pasil.
Pasil was relatively peaceful
after the Tupas resistance of 1565, and the " dons" against the
Spaniards in 1585. By the middle of the 19th century, she appeared as one of
the major and populous barrios of San Nicolas. Pasil served as one of the
suppliers of stevedores, as Cebu thrived in international trade from 1860s
until the outbreak of the Tres de Abril uprising in 1898.
The Forbes Bridge, a vintage
landmark, is in Pasil.
Considered the foremost hero of
Pasil is the very own son of the barangay- Luis Abellar. Although appointed by
the Spaniards themselves as the cabeza de barangay of Pasil, he joined the
Katipunan in Cebu and was one of its early leaders. He deeply resented the
injustices and indignities inflicted on the natives. After the Tred fr Abril
uprising, he together with other KKK officers, was arrested and summarily
executed.
Another (adopted) son of the
Pasilnons was Luis Flores, a Samareño, who has elected the KKK president the
day before the Cebu uprising, and when the revolutionaries took over the city
in December, he organized the civil government. He was elected as president of
the Cebe Provincial Council. He is fittingly honored in Pasil by a street
bearing his respected name.
Although Pasil lies in the
southern rims of the city proper, Pasilnons are a lot different from other city
folks. For one thing, they talk differently. Pasilnons have an accent of their
own. They too have distinct mannerisms and modes of living. These they have
inherited from their forbears. Although comparatively disadvantaged compared to
the residents of other sectors of the city, they are almost the only ones who
eat five or more meals a day. Their famed concoctions of lansiao, kiampao,
tinulang isda, pawikan, tuslob sa bowa and linarang attract food connoisseurs
to Pasil.
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