I was at the Obando Fertility Rites last May 17. A three-day fiesta honoring the towns patron saints: May 17 for St. Paschal, May 18 for St. Claire and May 19 for the Our Lady of Salambao, this festival in Obando has attracted couples praying for children among others.
It was a pleasant early morning drive to Obando via the old town center of Polo (Valenzuela City). This northwestern part of Metro Manila was foreign to me until today. I heard there were a lot of heritage structures in Malabon but I will have to reserve exploring the said town for another day.
The participants to the fertility dance during the three morning processions are dayo (visitors) from other towns in the Philippines. Most ask the patron saints for a son or a daughter, a husband or a wife or good fortune. They believe that by dancing, the spirit of life to enters into the wombs of women.
My host for today was Dir. Ting de los Reyes of the DOT who is from Obando. It was a good thing the procession passed by his house, twice in fact since there is only one major road and the procession had to make a u-turn back to the church. I enjoyed watching the musikong bumbong play on their bamboo instruments as the devotees danced the traditional pandanggo.
I told Ting I was a bit disappointed though since many were no longer in traditional Filipino costumes plus you had the bands playing "Boom Tarat Tarat" and "Itaktak Mo" instead of the traditional music. And then we ask why foreigners don't take notice of our festivals as much as our neighbors in Asia? It's because we don't keep the traditions intact, replacing traditional music with pop music, and traditional Filipino costumes with t-shirts, many a times with the mayor's name on it! Imagine if Thai or Japanese festivals did that!
Ting was disappointed himself since the priest insisted on including an ati-atihan group to make the procession livelier. Father, the Ati-atihan is in Kalibo, Aklan! Let's leave the Obando Fertility Rites alone and keep it original. Anyway, I hope our local officials understand the importance of keeping traditions intact. And let's keep all those t-shirts out and bring back our traditional Filipino costumes in our festivals.
Among Ed won the elections! Go Pampanga! I just came from the proclamation of governor-elect Fr. Ed Panlilio. Indeed, every vote counted. He won by 1,147 votes! I'm sure that should have been bigger (if you know what I mean). But the important thing is he won. May Pampanga lead the way for the Philippines!
The atmosphere at the Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center was electric. The crowd was phenomenal! It was not the type that lined up for something after (not hakot in other words). It was people power! More photos in Multiply.
Panlilio, Eddie T. - 219,706 Pineda, Lilia G. - 218,559 Lapid, Mark T. - 210,875
Heritage watch Congratulations to Mayor Fred Lim for winning the mayoral elections in the City of Manila! The city's heritage now has a protector. Also check out a video of Iloilo heritage produced by the Iloilo City Cultural Heritage Conservation Council, the City Government of Iloilo, Canurb and ABS-CBN, uploaded by Bernard Arellano. Bravo Iloilo City!
I missed the Pulilan Carabao Festival today. The parade started at 2 p.m. but I was still voting here in San Fernando, Pampanga. I guess though, with the elections set today, the celebration in Pulilan would not be as grand as last year. So I was content with looking at photos taken by Sidney Snoeck from last year's festival, held annually every May 14 in honor of San Isidro Labrador whose feast day is tomorrow. (Photos courtesy of Sidney Snoeck)
Don't miss the happenings in Quezon tomorrow which include the Pahiyas Festival in Lucban, Mayohan in Tayabas, and Agawan in Sariaya. I also heard the celebration in Gumaca is another must visit. From May 17 to 19, the streets of Obando, Bulacan will be alive with devotees doing the traditional fertility dance.
Yesterday, I went around the historic province of Cavite. Our first stop was the Emilio Aguinaldo Shrine in Kawit.
The ancestral home of Aguinaldo, the first president of the Philippines, it was the site of the proclamation of Philippine independence on June 12, 1898. On that day, the declaration of independence from Spain was read from a balcony of the house and the Philippine flag formally unfurled by Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista (and not Aguinaldo as is erroneously depicted in the old five peso bill). The Philippine National Anthem was also played for the first time by the Banda Malabon (of San Francisco de Malabon, now Gen. Trias, Cavite).
Sadly, the museum was closed. I find this government practice of closing historical sites on Sundays stupid since it robs Philippine citizens the chance to visit these places when they’re off from work. I’ve been in the museum several times before so it wasn’t really a loss. But it would have been nice to see it again. If you want to find out what you could see inside, click here.
From there, it was a forty-minute drive south to Maragondon where we visited the Church of the Assumption of Our Lady which was declared a national cultural treasure, and the Bonifacio Trial House, a national historical landmark, which like the Aguinaldo Shrine, was closed on Sundays.
According to the NCCA, “The church was built in the early 18th century by the Jesuits, with later additions by the seculars and the Augustinian Recollects. Much of the church and belltower, and the lower portion of the convento is made of irregular river stones, indicative of the early level of technology operating at that time. The intricately-carved retablos, pulpit and church doors (with galleons and floral designs) date from Jesuit times, while the hugely carved beams crossing the nave were installed by the seculars-- one of the beams even carries the name of the indio priest who commissioned them. The unusual horseshoe-shaped communion rail, with a flooring of inlaid wood of various colors, recalls that of San Sebastian Church, Manila, another Recollect construction.”
The house of Teodorico Reyes, now known as the Bonifacio Trial House, was where Andres Bonifacio and his brother Procopio were court-martialed. It was a kangaroo court as many historians put it. And their conviction for sedition and conspiracy and subsequent execution in the mountains of Maragondon haunts whatever legacy Aguinaldo was able to leave. In the end, it was Bonifacio whom the nation recognized with a public holiday and grand monuments in Metro Manila.
After this quick detour, we had to rush to Silang since we were in Cavite to help our brods campaign. It was actually fun going house to house giving out flyers of Congressman Boying Remulla whom we met earlier in the morning for coffee at his house. Another group was helping out Congressman Gilbert Remulla in Imus. We also campaigned for Senators Joker Arroyo and Kiko Pangilinan. Silang is the largest municipality in Cavite in terms of land area. And the barangays we visited seemed to be on opposite ends. It was sad I wasn't able to check out their church since we had a lot of work to do.
With our mission completed. We passed by neighboring Tagaytay City to check out Taal Volcano before motoring to Indang to go night swimming at one of the natural spring resorts which are a plenty in the town.
By the time we arrived in Indang, it was getting dark. So we skipped the church and headed to Barangay Tambo Kulit where most of the resorts could be found. We were pointed to the Rio Villa Nuevo Resort which many say is the best one in town. When we saw the small waterfalls in the compound, we said this was it! It was PHP12o per head for night swimming. There are several pools of spring water if you do not fancy walking on rocks and streams. We went straight to the waterfalls and enjoyed the rush of cold water.
After an hour, we rushed back to Tagaytay for a late dinner in Teriyaki Boy. We were supposed to go back to Manila. But the group enjoyed the trip so much that we decided to stay overnight. So we checked-in at the three-room inn under the Mile-Hi Diner which is located in the same restaurant compound. The standard room is PHP2,250. Good thing it was a Sunday and weekend vacationers had already left for Manila; so rooms were available. It was a cold night, a welcome respite from Manila's heat. Check out the photos in Multiply. I'm sure Bikoy Villanueva should have his account of our trip anytime soon.
Jose Abad Santos Day Today, the anniversary of the martyrdom of Chief Justice Jose Abad Santos of San Fernando, Pampanga (one of the three people in the 1000-peso bill), is a non-working holiday in the Province of Pampanga. Happy Jose Abad Santos Day to all!
I was at the HCS office today in Museo Pambata (former Elks Club Building) for an HCS Youth Chapter meeting. Several schools were represented including UP, UST, Ateneo, DLSU and Adamson. It just shows that the heritage advocacy is being powered by young people. The group has a lot of plans for the year. Check out the HCS website regularly for updates.
After the meeting, I walked to nearby Rizal Park. There are several important heritage buildings around the perimeter of the park including the Elks Club Building (Museo Pambata), the Luneta Hotel, Army & Navy Club and Manila Hotel which are all National Historical Landmarks, and the former Department of Finance and the current Department of Tourism buildings. Rizal Park itself is a National Historical Site being the execution site of several Philippine heroes and martyrs. While the Rizal Monument is one of three National Historical Monuments.
My stroll around the park was pleasant. The afternoon breeze was relaxing. The park is well-maintained and the landscaping was quite good except for the flagpole area (I don't remember seeing all those pots and volcanic rock at the base of the flagpole before), which I find cluttered and very kitsch! Whoever approved that should be fired!
Around the park were several monuments to the martyrs of Bagumbayan and markers at the sites of execution of Jose Rizal, and the three priests namely Mariano Gomez, Jose Burgos and Jacinto Zamora. Across Roxas Boulevard was the Quirino Grandstand. If you notice a small marker with the number zero on it, that's Kilometer Zero which is the reference point for all road markers in Luzon. Anyway, after that short stroll, I went back home.
I was at the Obando Fertility Rites last May 17. A three-day fiesta honoring the towns patron saints: May 17 for St. Paschal, May 18 for St. Claire and May 19 for the Our Lady of Salambao, this festival in Obando has attracted couples praying for children among others.
It was a pleasant early morning drive to Obando via the old town center of Polo (Valenzuela City). This northwestern part of Metro Manila was foreign to me until today. I heard there were a lot of heritage structures in Malabon but I will have to reserve exploring the said town for another day.
My host for today was Dir. Ting de los Reyes of the DOT who is from Obando. It was a good thing the procession passed by his house, twice in fact since there is only one major road and the procession had to make a u-turn back to the church. I enjoyed watching the musikong bumbong play on their bamboo instruments as the devotees danced the traditional pandanggo.
I told Ting I was a bit disappointed though since many were no longer in traditional Filipino costumes plus you had the bands playing "Boom Tarat Tarat" and "Itaktak Mo" instead of the traditional music. And then we ask why foreigners don't take notice of our festivals as much as our neighbors in Asia? It's because we don't keep the traditions intact, replacing traditional music with pop music, and traditional Filipino costumes with t-shirts, many a times with the mayor's name on it! Imagine if Thai or Japanese festivals did that!
Ting was disappointed himself since the priest insisted on including an ati-atihan group to make the procession livelier. Father, the Ati-atihan is in Kalibo, Aklan! Let's leave the Obando Fertility Rites alone and keep it original. Anyway, I hope our local officials understand the importance of keeping traditions intact. And let's keep all those t-shirts out and bring back our traditional Filipino costumes in our festivals.
