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THE PHILIPPINE FESTIVALS
By Rudy M. Viernes
The first day of May in the Philippines ushers in the start of a month of festivals, merrymakings, processions, Santacruzan, Flores de Mayo, flowers and the Virgin Mary.
May is a festive month which implies feasting or celebration. In most little towns and villages the annual fiesta is an event of communal activity. The focus is the selection of a fiesta queen whose parents by tradition is the host. They would lavish the dining table with sumptuous fares, the centerpiece of which is the mighty lechon. Guests would come and go, from far and wide, relatives or not, invited or not. They would be host for the day and their daughter queen for a night. The provincial governor or some VIP would crown her. Why, the occasion happens only once in a lifetime! It’s a justification to celebrate! There would be an all-day of eating and drinking binge. Image! Karangalan! Or keeping appearances. It’s the hiya complex. Bahala na!
What happens when the party is over and the guests have long gone and the giddy queenship is just a wisp down memory lane? The family who might have hacked all their earnings or borrowed from loan sharks at usurious rates is now faced with unredeemable debt. And nobody would remember them they were once the toast of village society.
There were social reformers who viewed fiestas with disdain because they often border to worldly frolic and mindless extravagance. The late Sen. Raul Manglapuz (who also ran for President) launched a movement to ban fiestas citing their pomp and excesses. He said that if the money spent for the gluttonous feasting were spent for more productive pursuits there would be progress. His catchphrase then was “Fiestas for Progress.”
Manlapuz mentioned the example of Pateros which made progress because the townspeople pulled their resources to form cooperatives to produce balut, a popular delicacy but pretty hairy–scary to the naive. Manglapuz campaigned for agricultural fairs to showcase the produce of the earth. To encourage excellence of farm produce there would be awards for the largest calabasa, the longest upo, the fattest swine, the handsomest cow.
Of course Manlapuz, a Catholic, never suggested to do away with the religious aspect of the fiesta — the veneration of the patron saint during mass in thanksgiving for a bountiful harvest. Just refrain from profligate spending just to impress.
But the fiestas have survived. Nobody would want them abolished. Not the fatalists who philosophize that the annual fiesta is an occasion to enjoy for tomorrow they die. For once they have the excuse to splurge a little, indulge a little to make up for all the days of sloth and boredom. Not the cura parokyo who would make hay because it’s boom time for baptisms, confirmations, church weddings; when the Ninongs and Ninangs and the more affluent in town would feel more generous with their contributions.
Marian processions abound everywhere during May, and the most famous is the Santacruzan which means Holy Cross. It is considered the most alluring of Filipino festivals not because of its pomp and pageantry but for its awesome display of pulchritude and fashion. It’s a religious procession to commemorate the mythical search of Helena of the Cross on which Christ was crucified.
Legend has it that when Constantine was emperor of Rome he and his mother Helena became avid cross devotees. Constantine saw a vision of a cross with the inscriptions “In Hoc Signo Vinci” which means “By This Sign You Conquer.” He changed the eagle sign of the Roman emblem with the Cross, which won him decisive battles. Thankful he decreed Christianity the state religion and he and his mother were converts to Christianity. Queen Helena led a pilgrimage in search of the true Cross which she came upon buried in the ruins of Jerusalem .
Thus Santacruzan has become a storied tradition that dates back to pre-colonial times, when the Creole Friars introduced it in the 16th century.
But many people began to be quizzical about the relevance of Santacruzan. What this generation knows about Santacruzan is essentially a roadshow of elegant femininity of pretty girls called sagalas, elegantly dressed and made-up, escorted by good-looking gentlemen called Constantinos in resplendent barongs. It has become a beauty contest and haute couture where the sagalas and their escorts are the marquee names of filmdom and the modeling ramps, gowned by the Who’s Who of the fashion world. Due to its mass appeal the Department of Tourism stages Santacruzan on a grand scale to drumbeat tourism especially during summer.
Santacruzan and Flores de Mayo are often integrated festivals. What is focused in Flores de Mayo are the Reyna Elenas who carry bouquet of flowers in a procession with the statue of the Virgin Mary behind them on a carroza. Upon reaching the Church the Virgin Mary is brought down and settles her to the side altar. Little girls take turns to adorn her with the blooms of the season — sampaguitas, ilang-ilang, dama-de-noche — while the faithful recite the rosary to end the Flores de Mayo celebration.
Religious festivals and processions take place all year round in all parts of the country, too.
The fabled Ati-Atihan processions in the Panay provinces, Iloilo and mini-versions elsewhere, albeit with various twists, are vibrant, pulsating and frivolous extravaganzas. Hundreds of sooted and freakishly clad revelers tromp the streets carousing and rollicking in undisguised frivolity in sync with the rhythm of the deafening beats of drums and cymbals that overload the senses prompting everyone to join in the frenzy — a raucous procession that could eclipse the fabled Mardi Gras of New Orleans or Rio in Brazil .
Sinulog in Cebu is equally a splash hit for its festive air. And like the Ati-Atihan it is held in tribute to the Santo Nino.
The fiesta of Our Lady of Peace in Antipolo and Our Lady of Manaoag are not as flourish but they have their own share of faithful for their religious fervor and the miracles they spring.
For sheer drama no religious waterborne festival can rival the magnificence of gaily-bedecked flotilla of motorboats carrying and escorting the Our Lady of Peñafrancia along the Naga river in Bicolandia. A similarly grandiose fluvial parade called Pagoda sa Wawa is staged in Hagonoy, Bulacan which had some blemishes due to tragedies in the past.
During the Lenten Season the island of Marinduque stages the Moriones Festival. The all-male participants don wooden masks representing Roman soldiers with perennial scowl. The festival reenacts the dramatization of the one-eyed Longinus and his miracle. According to lore when Longinus thrust his spear into the side of the crucified Christ the blood spurts into his blind eye and restores his full sight. This miracle converted Longinus to Christianity.
The residents of Balayan, Batangas highlight the feast of their patron saint with a Parada ng Lechon. Each roast reflects the theme of the participating organizations. For instance, the nursing association dresses their pig in a nurse uniform with cap and stethoscope. During the parade the lechons are protected by barbed wire to ward off pranksters who pick on the pinkish skin.
But the sea of bodies of bare-foot male devotees who carry the image of the Black Nazarene around Quiapo in Manila on January 9 is the ultimate in frenetic devotion. Massed throng risk life and limb to touch the image in the belief that they be purged of their sins.
Pulilan, Bulacan has its own roadshow where the stars are the carabaos in the Carabao Festival. Hundreds of these beasts of burden adorned with garlands of flowers are paraded and end in denouement at the churchyard where their riders command them to kneel to be blest.
In December Pampanga towns stage the Christmas Lantern Festival at the onset of dusk so that the glow from the lanterns illuminates the darkness in magnificent splendor. The entries represent the pyrotechnic creativity of each barrio. The winner is warded cash, but the more coveted is the” Star of Bethlehem” title.
But don’t forget the unobtrusive ubiquitous Block Rosary processions that are traditional neighborhood activities during May which is the tail-end of the summer months after which the rains would come so the planting season could start.
These festivals are fabrics of Filipino culture that showcase his devotion and religiosity.
While the fragrance of May blossoms pervades the air, the pleasant scent of Philippine summer fruits is unmistakable. The most famous is the mango. It’s now produced year round in some parts of the country but it is sweetest during summertime. It is a major Philippine export (but not to the USA ?) unrivaled anywhere because its firm flesh is “luscious, sweet and delicious” so the tourists say. We say “Amen” to that.
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