Gridcrosser: May 2017

The contingent from Tapaz highlighted Panay Bukidnon culture and came out the first place winner

In the late afternoon of April 23, 2017, Villareal Stadium in Roxas City, Capiz, bustled with eager spectators and harried but high-spirited performers in vibrant costumes of traditional attires, monsters and glittering gowns. One by one, the performing groups, representing their towns, roused the crowds with music and dances depicting the stories and cultures of their towns in the first street dancing event of the Capiztahan, the Western Visayan province’s festival.

Capiztahan, portmanteau of Capiz and kapistahan, meaning “feasting” or “fiesta,” was held this year from April 21 to 23 to celebrate the province’s foundation anniversary. It was moved from its usual dates of April 14, 15 and 16, because of this year's observance of the Holy Week.

The festival commemorated the establishment of a civil government in the area in April 15, 1901, during the American colonial era, from being an encomienda during the Spanish colonial time. Capiz is one of the four provinces on Panay Island in central Philippines. Like its adjacent province Iloilo, its people is predominantly Hiligaynon, with communities of Panay Bukidnon in the interior upland areas. The festival is one the province’s way of showing its distinction. Incorporated also into the festival is the commemoration of the death anniversary Manuel Acuña Roxas, who became the Philippines’ president, after whom the capital is named, and is one of the province’s most illustrious citizens.

But history is just a launching pad for gathering together, merriment and spectacle. Capiztahan is mostly a motley of events and activities, many of which have become de-rigueur features of contemporary Philippine festivals. In the recent one, there were sports events such as arnis, basketball, bowling and triathlon tournaments, and gatherings for different sectors of the community. The fair and the night market showcased local products. There were band performances and contest, and night entertainment. Of course, the beauty pageant Mutya sang Halaran sa Capizatahan was also much anticipated.

Several events allowed people to experience local culture; some, though unoriginal, were done with Capiznon flavor and flair. A new annex of the Paranublion: The Roxas City Museum was inaugurated. The five-year-old Pasundayag Capisnon, formerly called Parade of Lights, enlivened the streets with dancers in costumes studded with lights and floats of lights, depicting sea creatures. Fiesta Capiznon was a communal feasting, where guests and visitors were invited to partake of the food in a Philippine fiesta tradition, but this was made grander with large piles of seafood, such as oyster, shrimp, prawn, crab and squid, laid out on the tables, attesting to the province’s promotion of being the “Seafood Capital of the Philippines.” The Palumbaanay Sportsfest incorporated traditional games as well as aspects of traditional crafts such as nipa-thatch making, net mending and rice pounding, while the Baroto Race on Panay River used the local boats.

Local culture was also displayed in eye-catching manner in its street dancing event. The street dancing parade and competition has become an indispensable feature in contemporary Philippine festivals, the main event that not only enthralls audiences, but also offers glimpses of the place’s culture and history through dance dramas and spectacle.

For the first time this year, Capiztahan featured a street dancing parade and competition, called Sadsad Capiz, where the province's capital city and sixteen towns participated, sending their contingents.

Capiz’s apprehension in holding the Sadsad was brought about by the enduring popularity of the festivals of its neighboring provinces—the Dinagyang Festival of Iloilo and the Ati-Atihan of Aklan, both in celebration of the feast day of the Santo Nino in January—whose street dance events have become iconic.

According to provincial tourism officer Alphonsus Tesoro, there is always the tendency to derive from, to be influenced by and borrow from Iloilo’s Dinagyang Festival, the region’s most famous festival. The organizers consciously want to steer the street-dancing look, steps, music and themes to be uniquely Capiznon, and one cultural resource they are tapping is the Panay Bukidnon culture. However, while the Panay Bukidnon are indigenous to Capiz, they are also indigenous in all the provinces of Panay. One can also say that influence of the Dinagyang Festival is inevitable because both Iloilo and Capiz are predominantly ethnic Hiligaynon.

Nevertheless, the Sadsad contingents merrily presented melange of local cultures and cultural influences, which they believe represented them.

The town of Tapaz was declared the first-prize winner, depicting a well-known but dying Panay Bukidnon tradition, the keeping of binukot. Tapaz is among the three towns of Capiz with Panay Bukidnon populations, which practiced the choosing of the binukot. This was shown in the contingent’s dance. The word binukot comes from the word bukot, meaning “to keep,” “to cover,” or “to hide.” The community chooses a girl and isolates her from the rest of the community, not allowing to step outside of the hut to keep her skin fair. She is always veiled, carried on a hammock, and not allowed to do any chores. She is taught to chant epics and stories, becoming a keeper of the community’s history and stories.

On the other hand, the delegation from Cuartero, the second-place winner, focused on the town’s popular folkloric monster, the half-python and half-cow bawa, believed to inhabit the forests of Mount Kinanat-ulo in the barangay of Carataya and to kill human intruders by devouring their heads and sucking their blood. They told a story about a group of hunters who go into the mountain, leaving a trail of destruction. They encounter a bawa, who kills their leader and kidnaps a member of the group. Villagers organize themselves to attack the bawa. Upon reaching the mountain, they discover that the kidnapped hunter is alive and are surprised that there are many bawas. After the skirmish, the villagers are defeated, but the bawas release the hunter and explain that they are the guardians of the forests and encourage the people to protect the mountain and the forests.

The richness of the marine resources and the beauty of the sea was the theme of the third-place winner, the group from Tanque National High School of Roxas City. Another Roxas City contingent, from Don Ynocencio A. del Rosario National High School, also tackled the beauty and richness of the sea. Their story was peopled by siyokoys or mermen and a queen of the sea, who take revenge on the land dwellers for spoiling the sea.

The rest of the Sadsad entries were dance dramas depicting local histories, folktales and legends, livelihoods and native practices, characteristics and traits, and advocacies such as environmentalism as well as aspirations, highlighting the positive values that should be enacted.

The town of Ivisan, known for oysters, presented bucolic snippets of farming and fishing. It also depicted destructive fishing practices and the how the townspeople got together in the spirit of buyloganay to rehabilitate the seas and curtail destructive practices.

The town of Pan-ay recounted the history of the town’s icon, the lingganay or bell, which is considered the biggest bell in Asia—how the townspeople contributed coins, which reached a total of 70 sacks, for the making of a bell. Bells have been a vital part in the life of a town, tolling for celebrations and deaths, and telling the time for prayers.

Pontevedra depicted its being an old trading center, famous for its seafood, such as the crabs and shrimps, in 1980s, while the town of Dumarao, which celebrates its Padagyaw Festival, mined its own folklore, peopled by engkanto and maligno, the history of babaylan and the adherence to the Catholic faith.

Sapian’s story was about the bird called kawkaw. In folk belief, when one is heard near a house, one member of the household will become sick and die. Its dance depicted villagers capturing and killing birds. A fairy put a curse on one bird, the kawkaw, because of the sound of its calls, to be a harbinger of death, serving as punishment for the people’s disturbance of the birds. Villagers are then caught off guard by calamities because there are no more birds to signal the coming of calamities. The unfortunate events make the villagers realize of the importance of birds.

Maayon told the story of a folkloric character, after whom the town is named. The story of the rivalry also explains the names of some places in Capiz. Dum-arao and Agbubulo vie for the heart of the maiden Magayon. The father of Dum-arao, Madya-as, put them to a test—to kill the notorious crocodile of Panay River. Agbubulo wins and takes Magayon as bride. Magayon and Agbubulo eventually separate.

Dumalag told the legend of Suhot Spring, a popular tourist atraction. While pursuing a bird at the foot of Mount Panginraon, a lost hunter comes upon a clear spring and a cave from where echoes a beautiful voice. He jumps into the spring to follow the voice. A beautiful maiden, who reveals herself to be a mermaid and a guardian of the place, saves the hunter from drowning. She also gives him directions to find his way home. The hunter keeps retuning to the place, which is kept secret, and soon they fall in love. However, the man also discovers the riches of the place. With companions, he loots the place. The mermaid gets angry and sends floods to follow them. Heartbroken, she disappears, appearing only from time to time.

Sigma was inspired by its local history, depicting a local revolution against the Spanish colonial authorities led by Katipunan member Juan Arce.

Jamindan depicted the diwata, protectors of forests and other natural forms, while Dao told about duwende and its popular product, the balut. Dao’s dance depicted duwendes as small, supernatural beings believed to have pointy nose, fearsome teeth, long white, kinky hair and angry eyes. They live in earth mounds, or anthills or punso; big trees; and abandoned houses; and come out at certain times of the day—six in the morning, noon, six in the evening and midnight. People who disturb them suffer from a variety of ailments including itching and vomiting, and must appease them by repairing their homes and offering crops and silver coins.

Panitan depicted the ordinary lives of the townsfolk as well as their religiosity, shown in practices such as celebrating the Flores de Mayo.

Pilar highlighted the taklong, a snail from the forests, which is a native food. It also told the popular folklore about the Golden Ship, which is said to be seen by the peoples of Masbate, Gigantes, Guimaras, Antique, Mindoro and Manila. The ship, which ferries the engkantos, is said to end up at the Balisong and Puting Bato caves.

The town of President Roxas told the story of one of its barangays, Aranguel, a settlement in the old times frequently attacked by pirates.

The stories the Capiznons told showed their own beliefs and aspirations, as well as a commonality with and influences of other communities outside the province, cultural fusions that can be their own.