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| Virgen del Carmen, in 1957 and the replica of the original today. |
The story of the altar image, Ntra. Sra. Del Carmen, is inextricably linked with the founding of barrio Valdes, where the chapel in which the revered image is enshrined. Barangay Valdes was carved out from a portion of Floridablanca wildlands called “Masulput” (full of amorseco weeds) that was thought to be unproductive. The vast forested land was used as hunting grounds by outsiders.
The Valdes Family—who are of Cuban-Spanish and Filipino stock—were mainly responsible for clearing the land and turning it into viable agricultural estate known as Hacienda Valdes, possibly ca. 1840s-early 1850s.
It had live-in tenants who worked the sugar fields with their families. It gained a barrio status under its first head, Vicente Climaco S. Valdes, son of Capt. Basilio Bayot Valdes of the Spanish Navy and Manileña mestiza, Francisca Salvador, who managed the hacienda with help from his brother, Lubao-born Dr. Benito S. Valdes.
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| Original Virgen del Carmen, courtesy of Jcob Bacani |
The new barrio of Valdes, one of the largest in Floridablanca, was put under the patronage of Ntra. Sra. Del Carmen, to whom Vicente had a special devotion. It is said that he bought the image in Spain and installed it in a makeshift wooden visita, that would be modernized in the years to come.
The classically carved wooden image depicts Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, cradling Baby Jesus in one arm, and holding a scapular on the other hand. It is a mannequin figure of medium size, dressed in richly-embroidered vestments in traditional Carmelite colors of yellow and brown.
Barrio Valdes became quite developed, drawing people to
buy property in the area, which were converted into sugarfields, that proved
profitable in the world market.
In time, more houses and buildings were built, and the population grew that warranted the creation of a new barrio, Del Carmen, as a tribute to the patroness of the Valdes pioneers. It was formed with the condition that no chapel must be built there, in deference to Barrio Valdes, which already has one.
American businessmen who saw a promising future for the burgeoning
sugar industry put up a sugar central within the area called PASUMIL Del
Carmen, not knowing it was technically in barrio Valdes. So as not to confuse its
clients with regards to its exact address, the location of the mill was referred
to as Del Carmen-Valdes.
Vicente’s nephew, Gen. Basilio J. Pica Valdes, the son of his patriot brother, Dr. Benito with first wife Filomena Pica, took over the reins of the Hacienda. He was a national figure as he was Pres. Quezon’s Chief of Staff and defense secretary.
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| Source: Replica Image, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel FB Page |
The care of the image
of the Ntra. Sra. del Carmen was assigned to the Valdes-Rodriguez descendants. Findly
called “Apung Calmen”, the age-old image of the Virgen del Carmen is kept by the Rodriguezes, while a well-made replica reposes in the chapel, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Chapel, enshrined in a baldachin. The patron’s feast day, observed every July 16,
is marked with big fiesta celebrations in the barangay. The “pyestang barrio”
on the other hand, used to be celebrated every May 18-19.
SOURCES:
Valdes Barrio Fiesta Souvenir Program, May18-19, 1957
Photos: Our Lady of Mt. Carmel FB Page, Media & Social Communications, Jcob Bacani
Basilio Pica Valdes, geni.com
Floridablanca, Historical Data Papers
“Fortune Helps the Brave: Gen, Basilio J. Valdes”,
viewsfromthepampang.blogspot.com
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