kuwento ni kapitan kokak: fiesta

Showing posts with label fiesta. Show all posts

Sunday, May 6, 2012

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

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Tribal War: Sinulog vs. Dinagyang

Is there really a Tribal War? Media Hype or Regional Pride? With the pride of both regions on the line, you be the Judge on the Sinulog vs Dinagyang Rivalry.. who can help it?

As Aliwan 2012 grand champion, Iloilo's Dinagyang has beaten Cebu's Sinulog , the former with 5 wins while the latter has 3 wins out of the total 10 Years of the Festival.

Sinulog2011

sinulog2011

For two consecutive years (2011 and 2012) , i went to Cebu to witness Sinulog festival which is held each year on the third Sunday of January in Cebu City to honor the Santo Niño, or the child Jesus. It is essentially a dance ritual which remembers the Filipino people’s pagan past and their acceptance of Christianity. The festival features some the country’s most colorful displays of pomp and pageantry: participants garbed in bright-colored costumes dance to the rhythm of drums, trumpets, and native gongs. The streets are usually lined with vendors and pedestrians all wanting to witness the street-dancing “Sinulog” plainly means “graceful dance” accompanied by drumbeats that become a crowd-drawing international cultural festival of Cebu. I am really amazed by their dedication : the Cebuanos dance almost more than twelve hours notwithstanding the weather, may it be too hot or too rainy.. all for the love of their tradition

Sinulog 2012

sinulog 2012

dinagyang2010

In 2010, I attended the Dinagyang which is a religious and cultural festival in Iloilo City, Philippines held on the fourth Sunday of January, or right after the Sinulog In Cebu and the Ati-Atihan in Aklan. It is held both to honor the Santo Niño and to celebrate the arrival on Panay of Malay settlers and the subsequent selling of the island to them by the Atis. The root word is dagyang. In Ilonggo, it means to make happy. Dinagyang is the present progressive word of the Ilonggo word, meaning making merry or merry-making. A religious and cultural activity, it is a celebration of Ilonggos whose bodies are painted with black in effect to imitate the black, small and slender Negritos who are the aborigines of Panay.

The warriors are dressed in fashionable and colorful Aeta costumes and dance artistically and rhythmically with complicated formations along with the loud thrashing and sound of drums.. There are a number of requirements, including that the performers must paint their skin brown and that only indigenous materials can be used for the costumes. The current Ati population of Iloilo is not involved with any of the tribes nor are they involved in the festival in any other way.

dinagyang2010

Filipinos love festivals and in the modern world where tourism is such an important part of the economies of nations, there is no better way to draw tourists, visitors, and get great press than to have amazing events that highlight the beauty, products, craftsmanship, and heritage of the many cultures that identify themselves as Filipinos.

While the Sinulog is a whole day affair on the third Sunday, Dinagyang is held for two half days on the fourth saturday and sunday for the Kasadyahan Street Dancing and Ati-Ati Street Dancing,respectively. Sinulog dancers will have one major performance at the Abellana Stadium while the Dinagyang dancers have four major performance in four major judging stages, like a carousel.

These two festivals have been pitted against each other as to which is better and the best festival in the Philippines. In fact,they have been consistently vying for the top post in the annual Aliwan Fiesta. Aliwan Fiesta is an annual event that gathers different cultural festivals of the Philippines in Star City Complex in Pasay City wherein contingents compete in dance parade and float competitions, as well as in a beauty pageant. the event is dubbed as "The Mother of All Fiestas," with prizes totaling to P3 million (roughly US$70,000). Aliwan Fiesta, which began in 2003, aims to showcase the different Filipino cultures and heritage not only to the people in Metro Manila but also to the rest of the world. The contingents, meanwhile, aim to promote their respective regions both economically and tourism-wise.It was originally organized as a visual extravaganza for the Christmas season, but it has since been held during the summer months of either April or May. Aliwan is a Tagalog word for "entertainment" or "amusement."

sinulog2011

The Dinagyang has 4 wins while Sinulog has 3 wins out of the total 9 Years of the Festival

2003 Halad Festival of North Cotabato

2004 Tribu Atub atub, Dinagyang Festival of Iloilo City

2005 Pintados de Passi Festival, Passi City, Iloilo

2006 Lumad Basakanon Sinulog Festival of Cebu City

2007 Lumad Basakanon Sinulog Festival of Cebu City

2008 Lumad Basakanon Sinulog Festival of Cebu City

2009 : Buyogan Festival of Abuyog, Leyte
2010 Tribu Paghidaet (Dinagyang, Iloilo)
2011 Tribu Pan-ay (Dinagyang, Iloilo)
2012 Tribu Pan-ay (Dinagyang, Iloilo)