FILIPINOS wouldn't be as colorful a race without tall tales retold through the generations. Rural folk tales on how a town or city got its name or why a nook in a narrow alley turned ice-cold on a hot, summer day are a dime a dozen.
Lipeņos have legends, too. The lipa tree has leaves so itchy it once drove the early Spaniards crazy. One particular Spaniard suffered the worst. An upset stomach unwittingly led him toward the trees to hide and, well, defecate. Since tissue paper was unheard of, he did what everyone did at the time after doing his thing -- plucked a few leaves off the tree and started wiping his arse with them. The excruciating torture from his swollen, bright-red behind prompted the Spaniards to call the town Lipa.
Of course, a sober version is that of the statue of the city's patron saint, St. Sebastian, discovered by locals on the lipa tree. Word of the finding spread around, and since then the place has been called Lipa. What became of the icon nobody knows, but lipa trees still exist to this day.
If Cebu boasts of having Lapu-Lapu, Lipa City brags of being the home to many important historical figures, such as Teodoro Kalaw, Gregorio Katigbak, Roman Dimayuga and Claro M. Recto.
It is also the adopted home of Vilma Santos, multi-award-winning actress and movie queen of four decades and running, who is married to Sen. Ralph Recto, the grandson of the great Recto. Today, as Lipa celebrates its 55 years of cityhood (under Republic Act 162), perhaps the city's main claim to fame is having as mayor the ever-perky and tireless actress, who is said to eat death threats for breakfast because of her campaign against criminality.
Proud breed
Lipa's rich past has spawned a breed of proud Filipinos, says public affairs officer Cherry Peņa. So proud are they that Lipeņos refuse to work as househelps. She says that in the old days, men would even refuse to work in factories.
Peņa adds that the real Lipa folk, excluding immigrants from neighboring towns, are landowners. "If [Lipeņos] have it, they flaunt it," she says.
During a wedding or graduation celebration, for instance, some families would prepare not two, not three, but 12 lechons. The entire barangay is invited, naturally. If a new car model is out in the market, Lipeņos just got to have it.
Make no mistake, though. The Lipeņos are also warm, friendly and extremely hospitable. Guests are always served with, at the very least, a cup of coffee; at the most, a banquet, even after guests insist they have eaten breakfast and it's barely 9 a.m. Lipeņos would go out of their way to make visitors comfortable, which often includes a tour around the house, including the bedrooms.
On occasional town parties, in fact, even strangers on the street are invited over for meals. "Sinsay muna dini (Daan muna kayo)," a Lipeņo would say. And, unless visitors are bent on offending a potential host, an invitation to dine must not be refused.
So, sinsay muna dini and experience the warmth this city has to offer.
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