Spanish archive find may reshape Sipalay’s colonial history

The document includes a reference to a place called Sipalay in the year 1618

NEGROS OCCIDENTAL, Philippines – A 42-page digitized manuscript has drawn interest in Sipalay City, Negros Occidental, with local officials saying it could shed light on the area’s role during the Spanish colonial period or even reshape its recorded history.

The manuscript, written in an early Spanish script, was found online in 2022 by city tourism officer Jeck Lacson on the Spanish Archives Portal (PARES), an official platform for accessing historical documents managed by Spain’s Ministry of Culture.

The document includes a reference to a place called Sipalay in the year 1618. The first Spanish expedition to the Philippines, led by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, landed on the island of Cebu in March 1521.

The present-day Sipalay, which used to be a barrio of Cauayan, was founded as a town in 1948, and it was turned into a city in 2001.

“It was mentioned that there was already a Sipalay on Negros Island in 1618,” Lacson said.

PARES stated the scope and content of the digitized manuscript: “Expediente de confirmación de las encomiendas de Bongol, Tanjay y Sipalay en Pintados (Visayas) a Juan de Espinosa y Zayas. Resuelto.”

(File confirming the encomiendas of Bongol, Tanjay, and Sipalay in Pintados (Visayas) granted to Juan de Espinosa y Zayas. Resolved.)

Lacson said the digitized manuscript suggests that the recorded history of Sipalay – or a Negros Occidental territory as the Spanish colonizers knew it then – could date back more than 400 years, and strengthen efforts to establish a more accurate historical record.

If validated, he said, the manuscript could expedite the establishment of a Sipalay museum that would showcase memorabilia, artifacts, and other items that reflect Sipalay’s history, which officials plan to house in the old, unused municipal hall.

Sipalay, one of 12 component cities in Negros Occidental, takes its name from siparay, a term rooted in the Kinaray-a dialect spoken by early settlers from Panay Island. Paray is palay (unhusked rice) in Hiligaynon.

Lacson said he presented his find to the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) during a historical summit in Bago City held from July 21 to 25, and he was advised to consult the National Archives in Manila or find a living Spanish paleographer to translate the entire document.

Sipalay Mayor Maria Gina Montilla-Lizares has directed Lacson to pursue the decoding and verification of the document.

Solomon Lopez-Locsin, chairman of the Negros Occidental Historical Council, told Rappler on Sunday, August 3, that the Spanish manuscript regarding Sipalay’s history could mark the start of a “beautiful journey of discovery.”

However, Locsin said that aside from a paleographer, the discovery still needs academic guidance and peer review to validate the data and avoid misinterpretation of Sipalay’s history.

Nonetheless, he said Sipalaynons must be proud of the Spanish manuscript “because this is not a make-believe, but a record that had survived so many trials, and it gives us pride.” – Rappler.com