Gateway to Quezon: Tiaong, Quezon

* Bantayan [fortress?] – entry point to the towns of San Antonio, Padre Garcia (Batangas) and beyond

* an abandoned house; I wish I could own this thing, for free or through purchase

* one of the gates of Tiaong Elementary School* the famous balete tree on the equally famous curve (kurba) in the poblacion

For me the town of Tiaong is best remembered for having Claro M. Recto as its son. He was born on February 8, 1890. He headed the 1934 Philippine Constitutional Convention and was the one who wrote the bill which made Rizal’s two novels a compulsory reading in all colleges and universities in the country. But of course, these are all from the books and I was unfortunate not to be able to hunt down any thing related to Recto there. I was wondering if he ever attended the elementary school there in the poblacion.

* a house on the street leading to the town church* inside the St. John the Baptist church

* the church outside; if I am not mistaken, the style has resembles
the one found in Villa Escudero

* the spot where Congressman Jun Punzalan was killed

* a small monument in memory of Brid.Gen. Vicente Umali,
one of the founders of the President Quezon’s Own Guerilla
or PQOG during the Second World War

And I think Tiaong gives of a preview of the vast ‘historical look back’ that one would encounter in Quezon. Beyond it lies Candelaria and Sariaya which still have those huge houses from (I suppose) the pre-World War II times.
   
I have mentioned in an earlier entry about a conference I attended in which a paper presentation dealt with names and words whose meanings have changed over time. There was a mention of Tiaong and it has a somewhat nasty (I hope this word is not an exaggeration) connotation. I do not wish to do an ad lib here (I missed putting it in my notes) thus I skip putting here the general idea of the meaning. Anyway, I wish someone out there, a chance reader perhaps, could share his or her knowledge about the name and its possible origin/s.