Capiz and the Asiatic Cholera

The Cholera squad

Filipino historians and anthropologists have long held the belief that civilizations thrive and survive where water flow forth. Bodies of water are not considered as barriers for transportation, rather they were esteemed as super-highways that facilitated the trade, commerce, and transport of the natives and goods. Indeed, water is life. But it also turned out to be a curse, a cause of misfortune.

In 1882, Capiz wailed in sorrow. Cholera attacked 31 towns in the province, wiping out a total of 9,256 lives. For about a quarter of a century, Capiz had fallen victim many times over to cholera. But the worst was yet to come.

From 1899-1923, the world was swept by the Sixth Cholera pandemic. It reached the Philippines in 1902, the cause was rather simple, as shared by Felice Prudente Sta. Maria in her book The Governor General's Kitchen. The story goes that a shipload of vegetables from Canton, China, a cholera-infested region and where produce were believed to have been enriched with night-soil, was refused entry in Manila. The enraged ship captain dumped his goods on Manila Bay. The poor families of Tondo dived in to rescue the cabbages, not knowing that these greens were kissed by death’s curse. It took no time until cholera quickly spread like wildfire in the Philippines, killing more than 200,000 lives. The most celebrated victim was Apolinario Mabini who perished in 1904. In the province of Capiz 4,650 people fell victim; 3,016 died.

American authorities reported that on September 8, 1903, a small fishing boat from Estancia, Iloilo, discreetly docked in the port of Libas. Aboard was sick man and the disease quickly spread to every pueblo in the province. A medical inspector was sent from Manila with medicines and disinfectants and a “cholera hospital” was built to address the crisis. More than 670 Capiznons died from the 1903 cholera.

A new wave of cholera epidemic hit Panay Island in 1906, the disease originating in Iloilo on September 1 that year. It reached Capiz, Samar and the Moro provinces and prevailed until April 1907. One out of every 50 Capiznons died from cholera.

For a while in 1907, Capiz was cholera free but not for long. In March 1908 cholera made its resurgence and gradually spread until the towns of Capiz, Dao, Ivisan, Mambusao, Panay, Pilar, Pontevedra, and others became infected, a total of 673 cases being reported up to the close of the year with 1 out of every 115 people in the Iloilo, Capiz and Antique suffering from cholera, doubling the April 1907 figure.

In April 23, 1908, Frank W. Carpenter, Executive Secretary of the Insular Government, telegrammed Dr. Victor G. Heiser, Director of Health, who was then in Baguio reporting the condition in Capiz, explaining to him the necessity of a cholera expert to put the epidemic to a stop. Carpenter also reported that the municipality of Sapian had already registered 40 cases and 29 deaths, Ivisan 22 cases and 20 deaths, Capiz 3 cases and 2 deaths.

While the services of the health officer of the province, Dr. Francisco Xavier, were deemed satisfactory by the government, the need for a cholera expert was necessary to assist him. The district health officer from Iloilo, a certain Dr. Araneta, was sent to Capiz. He was given every facility to suppress the disease, and some 30 vaccinators who were on duty for the insular bureau of health were pressed into service as cholera inspectors; but the disease continued to increase. On June 5, the director of health telegrammed Dr. Xavier asking him why “despite the large number of men and funds at your disposal better results should be been obtained to date.”

The provincial board authorized the employment of a number of sanitary inspectors and the Philippine Assembly made an appropriation of P1,500 to be used in exterminating the disease. At the close of the year the epidemic was apparently under control.

One of the factors that triggered the rapid spread cholera in the islands was the limited training of Filipino health officers, " required properly to prepare them for combating epidemics and carrying out general sanitary work." This was nevertheless addressed with the trainings they received. Their attitudes towards their work were also observed: they were deficient in eagerness, “executive ability”, and devotion to duty. Many appeared to be rather inclined to "interest themselves in politics to the great detriment of their work."

The country's climate and topographic conditions were also ascertained. The ignorance of the natives and lack of hygiene were underscored as others factors. They ate with their fingers, which favored "the rapid spread of cholera."

Preventive measures were taken. In her book, Fifty Years in Hollywood, Gemma Cruz Araneta  (2019) narrated how Dr. Heiser issued a directive banning contaminated food, including the favorite fares, like bucayo, ginatan, tikoy, calamay, suman de maiz, pinais na gabi y chumpos, baling, sorbete de buco, gata, palitaw, patis, pilipit, lumpia, pinipig, bico, gulaman, toge, bagoong, and all kinds of fresh vegetables and peeled or cut fruits.  Chinese delicacies like buche, hopia, toyo, misos, sotangjon, and pancit were blacklisted. Noticeably, many of these food those days were prepared by hand, so contamination would have been very easy.

Filipino scientists also came to the rescue. Dr. Manuel Guerrero emphasized the importance of drinking only sterilized water and not eating raw food. In her book, Araneta wrote: “He warned against doing one’s laundry in rivers and streams with (dead bodies!) and sewage leakages; he indicated that for drinking water, boiling for at least ten minutes is the simplest and most effective method of purification.”

It was the curse of cholera that triggered the government to improve the country’s drinking water. These unsanitary conditions were remedied by a massive campaign that centered on cleanliness and proper hygiene. Thus, waterways were cleaned, drains and ditches were constructed. In the pueblo of Capiz, a water tank was deemed necessary as a source of potable water for the locals. It was finally built in 1916 at a cost of P5000, money borrowed by the provincial government from the insular government. When the tank was finished, it supplied the town with 800,000-1 million liters of water. Around this time also, the Pasteur Institute had formulated the vaccine that curbed cholera fatalities.