In the beginning

 

There was Andres Malong who in the mid 1600's led Pangasinan in a revolt against Spain. Malong was the feared leader of the town Binalotongan -- so-named for their primary source of income, mungo. 


Malong and his troops became notorious and earned the monicker "amputi'y layag" (white ears) because they would take the ears of those they've killed as trophies. But alas, the ill-fated revolt would crumble under the weight of the Spanish military tactics (which included pitting Filipinos against Filipinos). 


And to ensure that another Andres Malong would not rise and challenge the status quo, the Spanish authorities razed the town of "mungo", only to rename it "San Carlos" after it was rebuilt. An attempt, no doubt, to erase from the minds of the people the source of their strength -- income from the mungo trade. It is for this same reason that Spain ordered the deletion of mungo in the classic song "Bahay Kubo". Spain does not want the Indios to remember what fuels revolutions! 


But sadly, the damage has been done. No one remembers anymore the original version of the Filipino classic song. Watch the youtube video below:

Alright, it is not technically the best rendition of the song. But hey, I needed the excuse to post Luke's youtube video here.

Tactics such as these is what initially drove the mungo trade underground, and thus the Mungo Mafia was born. But like the Hukbalahap, and later on, the New People's Army, what was initially a cause oriented movement has evolved into something else entirely. 


The Mungo Mafia lives and thrives controlling the mungo market to this day. Notwithstanding that their initial cause has already been won. Sadly, the Mungo Mafia is no longer the Freedom Fighters they once were and has become nothing more than a money grubbing bunch that does not care for the cause of freedom.

Blame goes to Neckromancer for feeding me these historical tidbits.