Pahiyas enchants diplomats

It was during a recent trip in Quezon with foreign diplomats that my sense of nationalism was rekindled, making me feel truly proud of my country and that of my race.True enough, it is in the presence of delighted foreigners and through their testimonies that one can really learn to value his country.

Last May 14, I joined Manila-based foreign diplomats in their first-ever familiarization tour of Quezon organized by the Department of Tourism in cooperation with the Department of Foreign Affairs. The tour was led by Tourism Assistant Secretary for Planning and Promotion Eduardo Jarque, and Region 4 Tourism Director Louella Jurilla.

Tourism Secretary Joseph Ace Durano thought of the trip to counteract negative travel advisories being issued by foreign embassies. He expects that through this cultural immersion, the diplomats will be able to see for themselves the real state of the different destinations in the country, and discover at the same time the Filipino culture.

Our first stop was at the Escudero clan’s sprawling property — the Villa Escudero Plantation and Resort in Tiaong, Quezon where we were given a traditional Filipino reception. After viewing the historical relics, religious icons and antique furniture at the Escudero’s ancestral mansion and museum, foreign diplomats were treated to a tour of the resort on carabao-drawn carriages. The wife of Chilean Ambassador Jorge Montero obviously could not contain her love for animals that she carressed the carabao before the start of our tour.

An awe-inspiring part of this tour for most of us was when we were brought to the resort’s man-made waterfalls, at the foot of which were guests taking their sumptuous lunches. This lunch-by-the waterfalls is a top attraction in Villa Escudero. Families take their pictures at this magnificent sight. This was followed by a very engaging cultural show at the Coconut Pavilion while we devoured a snack of crunchy toron (banana wrapped in lumpia wrapper).

In half an hour, we arrived at the Kusina Salud restaurant of noted fashion designer Patis Tesoro for lunch. This place in San Pablo City has long been generating raves in the culinary industry for its delectable organic Filipino cuisine and homey ambience. Our lunch consisted of lentil soup, caldereta, ensaladang mangga, organic lechon kawali, etc. United States Embassy Counsellor for Political Affairs Scott Bellard couldn’t get enough of the rare tasty lechon.

After lunch, we visited Tayabas’ Casa Comunidad and the St. Michael, the Archangel Minor Basilica, one of the oldest in the country.

The highlight of our trip was the world-renowned Pahiyas festival in Lucban, enlisted by the DoT as one of the country’s tourist towns.

Like the diplomats, it was my first time to see the Pahiyas Festival, featuring houses adorned with kiping (rice wafers) and harvested crop creatively arranged into elaborate decorations.

Held every 15th of May, the Pahiyas is considered among the best Philippine Harvest Festivals. Deeply rooted in the traditional thanksgiving celebration for a bountiful harvest, the festival is held in honor of San Isidro Labrador, the patron saint of farmers.

Locals said the Pahiyas traces its roots to the 16th century practice of gift-giving to Franciscan missionaries who taught them Christianity. To show their gratitude, the Lucbanins brough their best harvest to church in solemn thanksgiving and to ask for more blessings.

This practice, however, was stopped after a few years due to the inability of the small church to accommodate a more bountiful yield. Instead, the people displayed their crop in front of their homes for the priest, carrying the image of San Isidro Labrador to bless them. Locals believe the houses along a designated route are twice blessed. So every year, the priest changes the route, giving all residents the chance to participate in the ritual.

This eventually evolved into a full-blown festival that lured people from many places including foreigners.

The festival day itself is celebrated on the 15th of May, where residents start to decorate the facade of their houses only in the early morning of that day to avoid copying of designs by their neighbors. But for this particular year where the event was graced by foreign dignitaries, most of the residents began decorating on the 14th for us to see a sample of their masterpieces.

It proved to be a very pretty sight — the houses were adorned with fresh fruits and vegetables, some with native baskets, colorful hand-woven buntal hats and even drape cords of the delicious Lucban longganisa. The kiping decors, however, stand out as the stars of the show.

Kiping are actually paper-thin wafers made from rice flour paste, shaped in the form of the leaf of the kabal tree, and dyed in brilliant red, fushsia, orange, green and yellow. These are strung together to form all sorts of shapes — from oversized flowers to arangya or chandeliers. After the celebration, the kiping creations are taken down, cooked into rice chips and eaten.

I wanted so much to taste a kiping that I asked a resident if she could give me one. Unfortunately, the very fragile kiping (breaks easily) did not even make it to our van, I broke it and lost it while we were busy sightseeing for other beautiful houses.

The entrepreneural spirit of the Lucbanins also transformed a part of the small Lucban town into a bazaar selling all kinds of merchandise and goods from souvenir shirts, bags, toys, and popular Lucban delicacies. Our foreign companions bought a lot of these pasalubongs while enjoying the sights and sounds of the festival.

Just looking at their faces, anyone can tell that they were having such a good time. I talked to most of them and had the same exuberant reactions. They were impressed with our rich culture, the Lucbanins’ ingenuity in their house decorations, and delightfully suprised with our love for food (our trip comprised of a bountiful feast at every stop). Most of all, they were touched and overwhelmed with the Filipinos’ genuine, incomparable hospitality.

And for that, I could only agree with much pride and joy. For the first time in years, I felt truly proud of being a Filipino — of my fellow kababayans, the Lucbanins who manifest incredible ingenuity through the Pahiyas festival, and of belonging to this brown race whose excellence, resiliency and hospitality is known worldwide.

Hopefully, though, more and more foreigners see through our souls and focus on our goodness and the beauty of our islands. And may they not only be as ambassadors of their respective countries but as ambassadors of Philippine tourism as well.

[ Lucban Town Wiki ]