IN Catholic Philippines, January is the month of the Santo Niño, the Holy Child Jesus. It is a time of festivals, pagan revelry, folk Catholicism, grand parades, dancing in the streets, outlandish costumes, adroit choreography, and rhythmic, if thunderous, drumbeats.
The people of Aklan started it all with their Ati-Atihan, a spectacular success. Then the other Visayans followed suit, like the people of Antique with their Biniyaran, of Cebu with their Sinulog, and of Iloilo with their Dinagyang, among other feasts.
Recently, to, uh, drum up support for the Dinagyang ("to make merry" in Hiligaynon), Iloilo City Mayor Jerry P. Treñas (a product of the Ateneo University and a Bar topnotcher), the Iloilo Dinagyang Foundation and the Iloilo Business invited media persons to a preview of the festival.
The visitors were provided tantalizing glimpses of the rich culture of the province in the course of the hectic two-day familiarization tour.
There was Iloilo's to-die-for cuisine. At Breakthrough and Tatoy's restaurants, the tables groaned with fresh, succulent oysters, seafood soup, native chicken, grilled squid, roast pig, daing-style fish, and shrimps and prawns. And don't forget the bachoy (Ilonggo noodles in soup) at Ted's and the broas, hojaldres, biscochos and other biscuits at the Panaderia de Molo that the Visayans do so well.
During the evening buffet at the garden of the Arevalo Sinamay House, where exquisite cloth is hand-woven using a traditional loom, I demolished a plateful of scallops on shells, and shamelessly waited for seconds.
The Arevalo mansion, one of many old houses in Iloilo, is the ancestral home of the Gisons. Owner Cecilia Gison Arevalo informed us that she inherited the house, which is filled with antique objects, from her mother Rosario Chavez Gison, who was born in 1903.
The house, in turn, belonged to Rosario's grandfather, which would make it close to 200 years old.
Also two centuries old is the church of Santo Tomas de Villanueva in Miag-ao, one of the Philippines’ great churches, with its unique floral façade. (The renovated ceiling, not very attractive, had drawn the ire of INQUIRER columnist Bambi L. Harper. The good-natured parish priest, Msgr. Claudio Sale, pointed out that the renovations were done before his time, and he indicated he would rectify the matter.)
Precious antiques—religious or secular—are also found in the Museo Iloilo, with its tableaus of indigenous peoples, and at the Archdiocese of Jaro headed by Archbishop Angel N. Lagdameo.
At the Archbishop's Palace, we learn from Fr. Neil Antenor-Cruz, official spokesperson, that many members of the Jaro clergy had supported the revolutionary ferment in 1897.
When the revolutionary government was proclaimed in November 1898, Gen. Martin Delgado, the leader, a graduate of the St. Vincent Ferrer Seminary, "found trusted aides and loyal supporters" among the Jaro clergy (from "Jaro" by Fr. Midyphil B. Billones).
Cut to the Iloilo Golf and Country Club in Santa Barbara, northwest of the capital city. "This is the oldest golf and country club in Asia," said a sprightly Anatolio T. Viray, 88, father of opera singer Gamaliel Viray.
"And I," he announced, beaming, "am the oldest golf and country club manager in Asia."
Nearby is the Santa Barbara Sanitarium, where you will see the members of the Women United Through Handcrafted Lace and Embroidery Inc., a project of the Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, at work.
Some of the women are Hansenites and they work with nimble fingers, rapidly creating attractive patterns and designs. The products, including vestments and framed works, are for sale—not inexpensive but worth it, considering the skill and the painstaking labor required.
In the evening, hosts Marissa, Kristin, Rowena and Nereo (a former PDI Visayas correspondent) took us on a tour of the city bathed in lights. A wondrous sight to behold at night is the Lizares Mansion, now the Angelicum School, with practically every inch of the façade lighted up.
And then, what do you know, we went bar-hopping.
Barracks Bar, a huge watering hole catering to the young, was bursting at the seams that Friday night. And things were even livelier at Vega, a disco house, with the dancers galvanized by a DJ who certainly knew his music. (Boy, these young Ilonggos really know how to unwind at week's end.)
The Dinagyang festivities actually began last Dec. 17 and continued off and on through January with Masses, a beauty pageant, parlor games, a kayak race and other activities.
The preview for the media showcased three so-called "tribes"—the Tribu Bola-Bola, a cultural group of the Iloilo National High School, with Rommel Flogen as choreographer; the barangay-based Tribu Pana-ad, with choreographer Robmar Buensuceso; and the Tribu Paghidaet of the Lapaz National High School, with choreographer Ramil Huyatid.
The three groups radiated fierce, youthful stamina and precision dancing, hardly missing a beat with their frenzied but well-rehearsed movements.
The festival culminates on Jan. 27 with a grand parade of all 13 "tribes" in competition, followed by dancing in the streets in the afternoon.
With the hype over Dinagyang and other festivals (such as the Parao Regatta this summer), and over the ecotourism potential and economic opportunities, Iloilo officials led by the charismatic Mayor Treñas have served notice. They will reassert Iloilo's claim to the title of "Queen City of the South," which Cebu grabbed from her years ago.
|
