Coming Home to Bohol

 

It was fiesta time of May 1996  when I first visited my hometown in Matabao, Tubigon, Bohol . It was time of the year when old folk seem to have mastered the art of putting out all their earnings for the year.  After a week or two, they will start saving anew for next year’s fiesta.  “Nagpapasalamat kami sa Ginoo kay sa panahon sa pista nagkakita ang tanan mga kaigsoonan ug kaparetehan,” elders will say in the Visayan vernacular, meaning that they are thankful to God that close family ties remain in the island of Bohol as each town still has its way of attracting people to go home to celebrate the monitoring fiesta season.

 

It is a jokingly said that May is the month when Bohol is "sinking" because the population of Bohol during this month is multiplied twice, thrice, or even four times. Describing it as a reverse exodus, elders  narrate that once the first of May strikes, people from abroad, from Manila , and even nearby provinces begin flocking back to their small barrios like Matabao in the town of Tubigon. This is also the time for family reunions when family members from places far and near gather to keep in touch with loved ones.The bigger number of balikbarrios  is considered as  an indication that more are becoming well-off.  The larger the arrival means that more have been able to earn money for their vacation, as elders  pointed out that it is a given fact that the younger generation would prefer to stay in areas with better economic opportunities.

Boholanos are known for their unique hospitality. One of the most common hospitality "icon" or hallmark of the Boholanos is the FIESTA. Although Bohol fiestas occur for the most part of the year, no month is merrier during the fiesta month of May. The festivities during this time of the year put no rest day in your daily schedule .A fiesta is celebrated by a town or a barrio each day for the whole month of May in honor of its patron saint.  Once a year, the entire town is  decorated for the annual feast, in which there will be plenty of free food and drinks for all. Preparations for the fiesta already start long before, preparing the decoration, and saving for food. Fiestas are characterized by plenty of food and merriment. 

The merry Bohol fiestas heighten up as May enters. The fiesta month opens with the Tagbilaran City Fiesta on May1 and continues with other entertaining festivals held almost every where in the province. It is one of the most exciting and fun-filled occasions of the year. Why the townships celebrate their fiestas consecutively and all in one month is something I don't really know why for sure, but it still remains to be something truly awesome.

During the month of May, if one is just adventurous enough, he can go around the whole province of Bohol and enjoy eating for free for the whole month. Everyday in the month of May, there is a town, a barrio, or even a "sitio", that is celebrating a FIESTA.  Fiesta proper is a whole day of house-hopping for eating, drinking, and dancing the ap in each residence as rice cakes, kinilaw na pusit and fish, ube and many local delicacies are laid on the table. If you are a first time fiesta goer or mamistahay in Bohol, perhaps it is wise to acquaint yourself on our fiesta etiquette. Otherwise, you may not be invited again for next year's fiesta celebration. And if I may add a piece of unsolicited advice - do not eat too much in the first house you visit; it may not be the only house you will go to during fiesta day.Whether you're a family member or a virtual stranger, everybody's free to party and join in on the merriment.

Traditionally, a novena is made each day for 9 days before the fiesta, and nightly activities or presentations are usually donethe plaza  converting the plaza into a  special  area primarily aimed to raise funds fro development projects. . During the vesperas or vesper day, the day before the fiesta, a procession is made. A misa pontifica or pontifical mass is done at church during the day itself, followed by sumptous meals at each home. Processions and other exciting activities are held to celebrate the life of a patron saint or the whole city in general. Joining the procession in honor of San Jose , the barrio Matabao’s patron saint,  is to fulfill their promise of thanking him for bringing them back to where they really came from.

  In 1996 , I witnessed one evening where  middle-aged women hold plastic cups for the ap dance, a ballroom dancing event wherein the woman who accumulates the largest amount of money in her cup from those eager to dance will be declared the “queen of the night.”

 

The roots of Philippine fiestas go back even further - back to before the Spanish conquistadores arrived in the 1500s. In the old animistic culture, regular ritual offerings were made to placate the gods, and these offerings evolved into the fiestas we know today. A wonderful fiesta season means good luck for the rest of the year. For individual Filipinos, fiestas can be a way of supplicating the heavens or to make amends for past wrongs.

May 8 is the fiesta of my family's hometown  Barrio Matabao, Tubigon, Bohol. Although my lolo hailed from this barrio, The first time i went home for fiesta was in May 1996. I was only 26 years old then.

A day after the celebration, the balikbarrios normally proceed to explore the more exciting side of Bohol . The Gorecho clan is blessed to hail from a province known for  its famous icons – Chocolate Hills, the amusing tarsiers, the amazing beaches of panglao island, the sumptuous lunch along Loboc River and the dolphins of Balicasag, Pamalican and Cabilao island. The province prides itself of its beach resorts, a brochure even stressed that “all of them are gorgeous.”  It has 151 kilometers of coastline skimmed by lovely coves and clean white sand beaches. With an aggregate land area of 4,117.3 square kilometers, the terrain of Bohol is rolling and hilly as the island’s interior is generally flat although it is dotted by 1,268 mounds of the same shape – popularly known as the Chocolate Hills – throughout the towns of Carmen, Batuan and Sagbayan .Boholanos refer to their island homeland as the ' Republic of Bohol ' with both conviction and pride.Bohol is the home province of Carlos P. Garcia , the fourth president of the Republic of the Philippines (1957-1960) who was born in Talibon, Bohol.

my family photo of Fiesta May 1996

My surname is “GORECHO”, and I am one of the remaining species carrying the surname of a clan that originated from Barrio Matabao in Tubigon, Bohol . A surname that is not found in the Claveria Decree (Catalogo Alfabetico de Apellidos) when “Indios” were forced to change the surnames during the Spanish era as a means of population control, or a zoning scheme to determine your place of origin. A surname that perhaps originated from Galicia , Spain . A friar surname: theory, myth or fact? I am currently doing an extensive research on the family tree . At present, I already traced eight generations that originated from the matrimonial bondage of Isidro Gorecho and Tomasa Cristobal. Its interesting to note that surnames seems to re-appear in other lines (like Gorecho-Mante, Mante-Gorecho, Gorecho-Corpuz, Gorecho-Embradora, Embradora-Gorecho) signifying intermarriage between not-so distant relatives, a typical occurrence in the provincial set-up.

After the fiesta, residents would once more engage in their slow-paced life in the barrios.  And will save anew for next year’s fiesta.     

Overview of Bohol Fiestas by Date

Date	Town	Patron Saint
January 16	Cortes	Santo Niño
January 16	Pres. Garcia	Holy Child
January 16	Valencia	Sr. Santo Niño
January 17	Carmen	Saint Anthony de Abbot
January 29	Ubay	Holy Child
Last Saturday of January	Getafe	Holy Infant
February 11	Dagohoy	Our Lady of Lourdes
February 11	K of C - Tagbilaran City	Our Lady of Lourdes
April 5	Bool - Tagbilaran City	Saint Vincent Ferrer
April 27	Corella	Nuestra Señora del Villar
May 1	Tagbilaran City	Saint Joseph the Worker
May 3	Dao - Tagbilaran City	Santa Cruz
May 4	Alburquerque	Santa Monica
May 4	Mabini	Santa Monica
May 4	Sagbayan	San Agustin
May 8	San Miguel	Saint Michael
May 10	Calape	Saint Vincent Ferrer
May 15	Bilar	Saint Isidore the Farmer
May 15	Trinidad	Saint Isidore
May 15	Tubigon	San Isidro Labrador
May 15	San Isidro	Saint Isidore
May 19	Candijay	Saint Joseph
May 29	Talibon	Blessed Trinity
June 13	Sikatuna	Saint Anthony de Padua
June 24	Garcia Hernandez	Saint John the Baptist
June 29	Loboc	Saint Peter the Apostle
June 30	Inabangga	Saint Paul
July 16	Balilihan	Virgin of Carmel
July 16	Taloto - Tagbilaran City	Immaculate Heart of Mary
July 25	Batuan	Saint James
July 26	Alicia	Saint Joachim
August 15	Dauis	Our Lady of Assumption
August 16	Tip-tip - Tagbilaran City	San Roque
August 22	Taloto - Tagbilaran City	Immaculate Heart of Mary
August 28	Sagbayan	San Agustin
August 28	Panglao	San Agustin
First Saturday of September	Guindulman	Our Lady of Consolation
First Saturday of September	Lindaville - Tagbilaran City	Birhen sa Barangay
September 8	Loon	Our Lady of Light
September 10	Dimiao	Saint Nicolas de Tolentino
September 29	Clarin	Saint Michael
September 29	Jagna	Saint Michael
October 7	Buenavista	Santo Rosario
October 7	Lila	Holy Rosary
October 11	Pilar	Virgen del Pilar
October 16	Cogon - Tagbilaran City	Birhen sa Barangay
Last Saturday of October	Antequera	Virgin of the Most Holy Rosary
November 24	Maribojoc	Saint Vincent
December 8	Baclayon	Immaculate Conception
December 8	Catigbi-an	Immaculate Conception
December 8	Duero	Immaculate Conception
December 8	Sierra Bullones	Immaculate Conception
December 12	Sevilla	Virgen of Guadalupe
December 12	Booy - Tagbilaran City	Virgen of Guadalupe
December 30	Danao	Holy Family
Movable	Anda	Holy Infant
Movable	Bien Unido	Holy Child
Movable	Loay	Santisima Trinidad