The Legend of Maria of Calaba

Barangay Calaba, Bangued and the Rock

According to the locals, Calaba may have gotten its place name from the Iloco word calab/kalab which means to climb. In the past, people living across the river may have had to climb and scramble through rocks to get to that part we now call Calaba. 

Calaba River is the local name for the portion of Abra River that flows through this part of the province. A 900-m bridge which is known as Calaba bridge has made crossing easier and safer. The bridge has also become a good spot to watch a sunset or a sunrise.

While on the bridge and facing Mt. Bullagao or Abra's Sleeping Beauty, you may notice a big rock on the left bank. The old folks call it "Takkim Manok"(or chicken droppings). If you wish to have a closer look at it, you can head south on Abra - Ilocos Norte Rd, then turn right onto Calaba Extension. You will pass by the Calaba Fiesta Restaurant. Continue until you reach the river bank. The rock will be on your left. 

Enjoy the view but always be careful. The Legend of Maria of Calaba is engraved into local folklore.

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Maria of Calaba

A long time ago, there once roamed a beautiful lady named "Maria" in search of a place to stay. The old folk tells us that she had a beautiful face, with long flowing blond hair and wearing a white dress. Some people call her "Maria Clara" or "Maria Karamot" (because she had long nails), while others simply called her the "Sirena" or mermaid. It is believed that she has chosen the big rock by the Calaba River as her home.

Legend tells us that her nails could extend and reach far across the river to wrap around humans she wished to play with.

Like ordinary people, Maria is playful and knows how to love. Unfortunately, the people she loves or plays with often end up drowning in the river.

People living by Calaba River often hear strange sounds coming from the big rock. Sometimes they hear the Sirena singing when she is in a good mood. There are also times when they hear her in the middle of the night washing clothes using the local "pakpak." The "pakpak" is like a small paddle used to pound clothes while washing.

But what the people fear the most is when they hear the mermaid cry. This only means that another person will soon drown in the river. She cries because she is lonely and is in search of someone to be with, thus taking a human to join her in the deep. It has been told that she is usually heard crying when the river swells especially after a typhoon.

Some people claim that Maria sometimes walks around the town of Bangued, going to market or joining the procession during Holy Week right beside the image of the Blessed Virgin Mother.

By the big rock, people have discovered a cave submerged in the water. They believe this is where she actually lives but no one dares enter.

To this day, many still believe she is there. Every year, a life is sacrificed in the Calaba River and believed to be the doings of the legendary mermaid named Maria of Calaba.

 Info Source  http://bangued.multiply.com/journal/item/25/Maria_of_Calaba (an obsolete website)
Check out the new website and follow Banguedenio on instagram.

The Rock is also mentioned in  the book, The Pain of Bliss, Bangued: Our Lost Town - A personal memoir of Vesta Borbon Bañez⁣. Here is an excerpt from it :-

As for the Abra River, it is still the same source of respite to the townspeople,

especially during the summer, providing a much needed site for all the picnicking

and rafting (and now the regattas) that the town needs for its recreation.

The story still persists, though, that the River still takes its annual toll - someone

always dies in that river at least once per year. Many a party or picnic, given even

by the most prominent townspeople had at one time or other been beset by

tragedies of someone dear just drowning there, always in the midst of the revelry

and jubilation.

A few of the victims that I cannot forget were: Rody Navarro, son of Nana Tibing;

George Valera, only son of Judge Pacoy; Atty. Francisco Balmaceda himself; the

young daughter of Ex-Governor Gabino Balbin and Danding Barros; and also

Ama Doro Barcelona, father of our close friend Rosa, who took such good care

of my son, Franz, while he was still a baby. (Rosa got married to our friend,

Santiago Venus.)

There were also a great number of them from the farms and barrios who also fell

victim to the sometimes raging, sometimes calm River, that nevertheless took

lives of the townspeople of Bangued so regularly. This exacting of lives happened

mostly in the summer, coinciding with the time most people were having fun in or

by the river, that the townspeople began to attribute these “Occurrences” to the

assumed presence of a mythical creature they called a "Serena" that supposedly

ruled the Abra River.

 

Stories of sightings of her - half-human and half fish with a beautiful face and

long wavy hair and glittering multi-colored scales, were rampant in the olden

days, especially during the days when transportation to the outside world from

the interior town was possible only through rafting in the hot sun or in the balmy

moonlit nights along the Abra River all the way to Santa and Vigan, Ilocos Sur.

That, presumably according to a historian, is the reason why the whole province

was called Abra, the River being an opening into the important town of Vigan

which during the Spanish times was the prime Ilocos town of Nueva Segovia.

There was a big rock on the side of the Calaba River where the boys and men

used to dive from. It was called "Takkim Manok" (or chicken shit!), and they said

there was a cave under it; once anyone happened to enter that cave, there was

absolutely no returning. There were so many stories about the Calaba River

(Abra River on the other side of town), yet people keep on going there, to go

fishing, or gathering shrimp, or just plain swimming, if not for boating, or

picnicking, as most any folks are wont to do with a river; it is still a great source of

fun for the townspeople (regattas are now being played here, too), and I guess

the River will remain an indispensable part of the town for as long as it remains

there.

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