Balayan, Batangas: Where lechon is king

Year after year, the people of Balayan, Batangas

look forward to the tradition of celebrating the

Feast of St. John the Baptist or San Juan on June

24. How the townsfolk celebrate this day is so

extraordinary that Balayan has become a

popular tourist destination. It is the only town in

the Philippines where the roasted pig or lechon

takes centerstage during a fiesta. These are

paraded like beauty queens around town, much

to the delight of spectators. Why lechon? The

roasted pig has been traditionally the main

course during fiestas or any major gathering. For

some reason, the people of Balayan have found

the San Juan Fiesta as the best time to focus

attention on this main food course.

The earliest recorded Balayan fiesta was in 1906. However, it was temporarily stopped

during World War II. After the war, the old customs and traditions of celebrating the

San Juan fiesta were revived and remain alive up to this day. The festivities happen

only in the town’s Kanluran district. Districts Silangan and Bunbon celebrate their own

fiestas at other times.

Balayan is only 108 kilometers from Manila or just a two-hour drive, making it easy for

urban merrymakers to travel and join the festivities.

Weeks before the celebration, streamers color the

sky, from the town welcome arc all the way to the

town proper. On the days leading to the fiesta, the

Hermano Mayor’s house is turned into a “tuklong” or

the temporary dwelling of the icon of St. John the

Baptist. People troop there every night for the

observation of the Novena.

On the eve of the fiesta, the street where the

“tuklong” is located is closed to vehicles. A Holy Mass

is celebrated in that place. After the Mass, most of the women walk straight to their

kitchens to prepare bountiful food for the next day. Meanwhile, the town’s pig

roasters or “mag-lelechon” bring their pigs to the only slaughterhouse in the area.

Around 500 pigs are butchered for the occasion, used either for the parade or as main

course during lunch or dinner. It is also a custom among the townsfolk in Balayan to

invite everyone to their homes to partake of their food preparations.

Pigs are roasted as early as 2 or 3 a.m.. The roasting is usually done in open areas,

like empty streets, abandoned lots or under the houses. The skewered lechon is

turned over a bed of coals for at least three hours until it is golden brown and

crispy-looking. Milk or orange-flavored softdrinks are sometimes washed over the

lechon to give it more color, according to expert “mag-lelechons” from Baranggay

Tingloy.

Pig roasting has been a tradition passed on to the townsfolk by their forefathers.

They also claim that the best pig to be roasted is the native Tagalog, which doesn’t

get too heavy and big.

Even the pig’s innards don’t go to waste, especially the liver.

The liver are delivered straight to the house of Balayan’s

best lechon sauce maker, Aling Soli Soriano. Her secret

formula is the fresh liver. She chops them by hand to keep

its natural flavor. The eve of the fiesta is the time when she

is especially busy because she usually makes the sauce

available as soon as the lechons are delivered to those who

ordered them.

As early as 7 a.m. on the day of the fiesta, most of the

lechons are ready for the parade. These are dressed in

funny, but eye-catching costumes. The roasted pigs are

dressed like boxers, Katipuneros, beauty queens, farmers,

and fishermen. At the end of the parade, the lechon that has

the best costume wins a prize.

Before the parade, the icon of St. John is transferred from the “tuklong” to Balayan’s

300-year-old church where an early Mass honoring the patron saint is heard. The

lechons wait at the church’s courtyard until after the Mass and the image of the

patron saint is brought outside to signify the start of the festivities.

A hometown band leads the parade, followed by over a hundred lechons that come

out of the church gate one after the other. To make the parade livelier, it has also

been part of tradition to douse people with water as commemoration of the role of St.

John the Baptist.

St. John baptized Jesus and it is from this that the custom came about. Even before

the parade, the residents have fun throwing water at each other.

The celebration doesn’t end here. In the evening of the same day, it has also been a

tradition for the Hermano Mayor to sponsor a procession of Balayan’s most beautiful

women escorted by the handsomest consorts. The parade is called hila. Four are

chosen to recite the luwa, a ceremonial recitation of verses offered to St. John. The

recitations are done in the town’s hall.

It is no wonder Balayan is jampacked every June 24. Aside from the lechon parade

and the tradition of water-throwing, the fiesta is also the best time for families and

childhood friends to have a reunion. (Reprinted from Cruising magazine, July 2000

issue)