[1][2] Briefly, he became an administrator in Camalig, Albay in the Philippines and in 1878, became a minister in the town of Lupi in Libmanan and afterwards in Ligaw.
[3] In Spain, he was asked to submit contributions to the Archivo del Bibliofilo Filipino, whose editor was Wenceslao Retana.
At the end of his monograph, he added a 60-stanza epic story written in Spanish detailing the adventures of native heroes Handyong, Baltog and Bantong and how they tamed the wilderness of the Bicol plains fighting monsters and the wily enchantress Oryol,[4] and how civilization slowly took root among the people.
No known copy had yet been seen of Melendreras' "Ibal" although, according to Espinas, a certain Valentin Marin y Morales clearly stated that "La poesia que trae el Jose Castaño en su obrita publicada por Retana en 1985 esta tomada de Ibal del P.
"[5] This view, however, was not adhered to by another writer, {{ILL}Jose Calleja Reyes|bcl}}, who in his book, Bikol Maharlika, claimed that Marin's statement was hearsay.