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| La Carlota’s Pasalamat Festival performance during the festivals showcase on April 13 2015 |
When the vice governor of
Negros Oriental, Edward Mark Macias headed a delegation to go to Negros
Occidental and met its officials, headed by governor Alfredo Marañon, Jr., to
discuss mutual cooperation between the two provinces that occupy the
Philippines’ fourth largest island, he was surprised to learn that both
delegations share the same sentiment about a deeper relationship.
It’s a mutual dream, said
Macias to a large crowd gathered for the first day of Negros Occidental’s biggest
local festivity, the Panaad sa Negros Festival. That dream is to join the two
provinces—“long lost sisters separated at birth,” he described—into one separate
region.
Currently, Negros Oriental
belongs to the largely Cebuano-speaking Central Visayas region while Occidental
to the largely Hiligaynon-speaking Western Visayas region. The division of
Negros Island into the two provinces was implemented in 1890. It was not just
political and arbitrary. A range of mountains also divide the island, and the
provinces belong to two separate ethnic groups with their own unique histories
and cultures as well as shared features.
The
idea for the single-island region dates back to the late 1980s just after the
Marcos administration. Resolutions have been drafted on the Negros Island
Region over the years, and the movement has recently acquired renewed energy.
It is believed that making Negros Island a single and separate region will
speed up development. The Panaad sa Negros Festival 2015 highlighted this with
the theme “Negros: One Island, One Dream.”
While the theme furthered
the movement in unifying the two provinces, the festival also featured the
diversity and unique qualities of the towns and cities, which make Negros
Occidental distinct. This was very much evident in the festival booths, which
were made permanent structures in accordance to the initial plan of a one-stop
shop for all things Negros Occidental, as well as the festival dances.
The annual Panaad sa Negros
Festival is meant to showcase the history, cultures, heritage, industries and
tourism of the province and be an occasion to gather Negrenses together as well
as entice visitors. Panaad means
“vow” or “fulfilment of a vow,” or “panata”
in Filipino. The first festival was held in 1993, timed also to celebrate
Negros Occidental’s becoming a separate province on April 30, 1901. From being
a three-day event, Panaad sa Negros has become a one-week affair. This year, it
was held from April 13 to 19.
The
festival began with a mass and the ringing of a bell, announcing the start of
festivities and activities, one the early morning of April 13. The week was
jam-packed with events and activities, almost all held at the 25-hectare Panaad
Park and Stadium in the barangay of
Mansilingan in the capital Bacolod City. The sports complex, constructed for
the Palarong Pambansa in 1998 and planted with eucalyptus trees, has become
home to the festival after being held at the provincial capitol and at the
BREDCO Port during the early years.
The
Panaad sa Negros events are the kind that has been de-rigueur in Philippine
festivals and fiestas such as the Lin-ay sang Negros beauty pageant, a fun run
and other athletic tournaments, agricultural trade fairs, motorcades, etc. Local
culture was cultivated in activities such as the Kultura Negrosanon:
Paindis-indis sa Binalaybay, a poetry contest; and a rondalla contest. They
have a contest on composo, the Hiligaynon ballad, before. The Panaad Bulang, a
cock-fighting derby, showed that the culture of cock-fighting is very much
alive and entrenched in Negros Occidental communities it is difficult to
eradicate. The trade in fighting cocks s considered a top industry here but
remaining undocumented.
In recent years, the
organic farming movement has been strong and receiving local government
support, becoming a prominent part of the Panaad Sa Negros Festival. The
Organik Village at the Panaad Park has become one of the attractions during the
festival with its own set of activities such as a market of fresh produce, food
stalls offering inventive items, seminars, quizzes, all promoting organic
farming. This is one of the ways that show that province has already
diversified its agriculture and industry. Negros Occidental is still known as
the sugar producing capital of the country. In the past, vast tracts of land
were dedicated to only one crop—sugar cane—making the province vulnerable to
the fickleness of the sugar market. With food security as one of the thrusts of
the local government, Negros Occidental is also focusing on vegetables and
fruits cultivation, livestock and fisheries. There was a sizable livestock fair
that can be very interesting
But
the most interesting attraction was the Panaad Tourism and Agri-Trade Fair and
Exhibits, composed of the themed pavilions of the 19 municipalities and 13
cities of Negros Occidental. This fair is one of the best in the country. The
towns and cities have their own spaces on which they build their pavilions. It
is a combination of a weekend market, a theme park, exhibition spaces, information
centers and a tiangge. Here, they
showcase agricultural produce, tourism exhibitions, cultural products, local
cuisines through makeshift eateries, handicrafts through souvenir shops, etc.
The pavilions can get
creative. Calatrava’s is in the shape of cave while Moises Padilla’s is in the
shape of a carabao. Toboso’s is the shape of a fish, while Cauayan’s is in
shape of a bamboo tune.
The Silay City pavilion is
a replica of an old ancestral house, which the city is known for. Inside, it
presented an exhibit on the old lifestyles and homes of the prominent families.
The Negros Occidental
pavilion, called Balay Kalamay, featured a small exhibit, “Camarin: The Story
of the Negros Occidental Sugar Industry” about sugar and the sugar industry, curated
by leading tour guide, Raymond Alunan Bayot. The exhibit featured old
photographs, equipments, the story on the National Federation of Sugar
Planters, the processes of making sugar, etc. It even recreated, on a small
scale, the interiors of a home of the so-called sugar barons, complete with
authentic pieces of furniture and appliances. There was a fully functioning
turntable that can play vinyl records, the oldest if which dates back to the
war years, from the collection of the tour guide.
The most popular attraction
of the provincial pavilion was an authentic steam locomotive, used to transport
sugar cane harvests, donated by the Central Azucarera de la Carlota.
The Bago City pavilion was
also impressive. There was a heritage trail that guides visitors through the
attractions. One attraction was a fortune teller. The city is said to be also
known for manghuhulas, besides from
the ancient priest called babaylan,
highlighted every year with a festival. A replica of the Kipot Falls proved to
be a highlight.
The pavilion of Murcia this
year caught the eye with its whimsy and bright colors. Giant pinwheels and
candies adorned its yards. They called their exhibit “Enchanting Murcia”
enumerating why the town is captivating.
Crowds
of thousands went through the pavilions, feasting on grilled seafood of the
coastal towns and cities, checking out the root crops of the upland towns, buying
Guimaras mangoes at the Valladolid pavilion, etc.
By
late afternoon, the stadium, which can accommodate about 25,000 poeple in its
main grandstand and open bleachers, hosted the showdown of festival dances of
the province’s towns and cities. A performance from Bacolod City’s popular
Masskara Festival introduced the spectacle of 20 participating local government
units that proved to be the highlight of the Panaad sa Negros opening day.
La Carlota’s Pasalamat Festival, a
thanksgiving event for harvest and tribute for workers, presented an exuberant
dance with attractive pineapple-inspired costumes to the original beat of the
samba. San Carlos City’s Pintaflores Festival dance was a kinetic display of
painted bodies and flowers, as the name implies. The Kabankalan City’s Udyakan
Festival dance was inspired by the five folk dances of the city. Bago City’s
Babaylan Festival emphasized the role and powers of the ancient shamans. Sagay
City’s Sinigayan Festival’s dance advocated for environmental protection.
Cadiz City’s Dinagsa Festival,
a Santo Nino festival, shared features from other famous Santo Nino festivals
including dancers mimicking the Ati. On the other hand, San Enrique’s
Bulang-Bulang Festival highlighted its cockfighting with dancers, beautifully
dressed like fighting cocks, demonstrated the five movements of the fighting
cock—dalagan, tuka, lupad, arigay and
bulang.
La Castellana’s Bailes de
Luces Festival performance used lights in imaginative ways. With dancers clad
in all gold, Sipalay City’s Pasaway Festival performance told about the saway, a piece of copper found in
riverbeds and hills, believed to cure ailments and fashioned into amulets to
guard against aswangs. Talisay City’s
Minuluan Festival celebrated how the early villagers, led by Kapitan Sabi, warded
off the attack of sword-wielding pirates from Jolo with only rattan canes.
In Cauayan’s Lubay-Lubay
Festival dance, the bamboo was prominently used, while Candoni’s Dinagyaw sa
Tablas Festival performance told the town’s history.
Valladolid’s Pasundayag
Festival used the steps of its folk dances pasiguin, pamulad isda and salate
mais in a dance that celebrated the town’s bounty and patroness Our Lady of
Guadeloupe. The dancers of Ilog’s Kisi-Kisi Festival imitated the movements of
crabs, fish and shrimps to highlight the province’s longest river.
History
and local culture got enthralling dance-drama interpretations from the rest of
the partipants—Manapla’s Manang Pula Festival, Silay City’s Hugyaw Kansilay!, Victorias
City’s Kadalag-an Festival, Hinobaan’s Pag-Banaag Festival, and Murcia’s
Tinabuay Festival.
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