The Tiago house Is a ancestral house in Barangay Tabunok. It was owned by the chiropractor known as Noy Tiago, he was a famous chiropractor among Talisaynons in the 1960s and 1970s. The house is in a S shape with large wood sliding windows and white curtains, below the windows are typical “Ventanillia” or a small window under the larger window that allows better ventilation for the room. The ventanillia are balustraded, because of time part of the first floor of the house has been turned into concrete, but there is still half of the house that is wooden. The second floor has old furniture but most old things have been lost to time or stolen because there are now tenants. The roof of the house was once Cogon grass but it was turned into corrugated steel last year. The first floor also has patterned windows and 4 doors.
The story of the house is varied but one reliable source in the form of one of the relatives of Noy Tiago informed me that most of the house was constructed around 1934 or 1935. Noy Tiago was one of the most famous chiropractors in Talisay. People have told stories of when they were kids and they were scared of the chiropractor because Noy Tiago would bring a massive banana leaf to lay over the child before doing his massages. Post war the house was renovated because part of it had been burned because the house was used as a Japanese outpost that had to be cleared during the landings. The houses’ location was between the crossroads of Barangays Poblacion and Tangke, making it a great area as in the past there were only two roads connecting the Poblacion and Tangke to the bustling Tabunok. Noy Tiago did not become a soldier during the war instead making a group that would concentrate on making Bakya shoes. Bakya are the traditional wooden Filipino shoe made of lightweight wood like Santol or laniti. The wood was carved into the preferred size and shape of the wearer’s foot then a piece of cogon or wood was put atop to seal the wood, similar to the rubber covering over modern day Sandals. Noy Tiago was a master in carving Bakya shoes, he was so renowned that his shoes would go for double or triple the price of normal Bakya, during the war he was in his early 20s.
One story passed down from Noy Tiago was of a man named Yasu, the story goes like this. Noy Tiago during the Japanese occupation needed a guide when going to Lagtang because of the road that was blocked with Anti tank blocks while trying to find one he met a man named Yasu while selling Bakya in Tabunok. Yasu was a man of small stature but was fast and could climb almost anything, though he came to Cebu as a migrant he was poor and struggling. Though Noy Tiago was distrustful of the Japanese he gave Yasu a pair of Bakya slippers and 2 pesos to help him get to modern day Jaclupan, the reason why Noy Tiago wanted to get to Jaclupan was because he had to collect wood to make his slippers. Yasu agreed seeing that he had nothing better to do. While crossing the Mananga Noy Tiago slipped and was carried by the water to a small embankment though injured he was alive. Yasu even with his small stature carried the injured Noy Tiago to Jaclupan on his back, when they reached Jaclupan Noy Tiago still could not stand because of his injuries so he pointed at trees and told Yasu to pick off their branches and place them into a small rattan basket that Noy Tiago had made. With the task complete Yasu s carried Noy Tiago on his back all the way back to his house in Cansojong, from then on Noy Tiago was not distrustful of the Japanese and one quote always comes up in this story according to several neighbors “Salamat sa gayud karon ginoo na nagpadala ka nag anghel pabang pabang kanako”. Translated as best as I can “Lord, I always thank you that you sent an angel to (Help or Carry) me”
Post war he would go to southern Cebu and apprentice to several masters the art of traditional chiropracting. During the 1960s he would come to a house if called, though currently it is unclear it is said that he either had boys going around Talisay who would shout “Pahilot” basically saying “Who wants a massage?” or he already had the telephone, because of his work in chiropracting he became famous. Noy Tiago had the reputation of being one of the most skilled people in the field of Bakya making and Chiropracting. By the 1980s he had already established himself and started to feel his age and stopped making Bakya and doing his chiropracting, though he became an avid naturalist during this time planting many types of domestic and foreign trees in his property, unfortunately these trees have been cut. The year of his death is unclear but some sources say he died anywhere from 2004-2012. One source claims that Noy Tiago was 81 when he died, then again his date of death is unclear. Anyway his legacy will live on through his Children and his ancestral house
