Mabalacat City Holds Maitinis for Hope and Gratitude

A group from the barangay of San Joaquin during the procession (Photo by Roel Hoang Manipon)

As most people in the Philippines, which is predominantly Roman Catholic, prepared for the midnight mass  called Misa de Gallo and Noche Buena on the eve of Christmas Day, December 24, 2024, many residents of Mabalacat City, Pampanga, were busy preparing for the maitinis, the final procession of the lubenas tradition. 

            By five in the afternoon, groups of procession participants from different chapels in the sitios and barangays of the city in northern Pampanga began converging at the Our Lady of Grace Parish Church in the city proper, with images of the patron saints, mounted on carrozas or karosas (float) bedecked with fresh flowers, and Christmas lanterns. 

            By six in the evening, the darkness descended and the thick clouds obscured the stars. A shear line was affecting parts of the Philippines, and Mabalacat experienced intermittent drizzles. But the church grounds were brightened by lit lanterns bearing a variety of designs and powered by portable generators as parishioners readied for the procession. 

A program was set up, with hosts interviewing participants on their preparations and revealing for the theme for this year’s Lubenas ding Parul at Maitinis ning Pascung Panagbait ning Guinu, “Hope for the promise, gratitude for his birth,” explaining that “[i]t reflects the faithful anticipation of God's continued blessings and guidance while also expressing deep thankfulness for the birth of Christ. His birth symbolizes the beginning of the divine promise that brings peace, joy and love into the world, reminding the parish to celebrate both the hope for what is to come and the gratitude for what has been given through Jesus.”

            The hosts introduced the eleven chapels with their groups of participants and patron saints, as they trooped to the front of the church to be blessed by the parish priest, Reverend Monsignor Jose U. Lacap, and out to the street for the solemn procession, which proceeded along a stretch of MacArthur Highway and returned to the church. 

            The maitinis procession was participated in by the Santa Maria Magdalena (Saint Mary Magdalene) Chapel in the sitio of Libutad in the barangay of Santa Maria Magdalena; the San Judas Tadeo (Saint Jude Thaddeus) Chapel of the sitio of Aguso, San Francisco;  the San Francisco ning Assisi (Saint Francis of Assisi) Chapel of the barangay of San Francisco; the San Roque (Saint Roque) Chapel of the barangay of Mamatitang; the Santa Ines (Saint Agnes) Chapel of the barangay of Santa Ines; the San Joaquin (Saint Joachim) Chapel of the barangay of Santa Joaquin; the San Jose Talapagobra (Saint Joseph the Worker) Chapel of the barangay of Mangalit; the Nuestra Señora del Santísimo Rosario (Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary) Chapel of the barangay of Santo Rosario; the Santa Maria, Indu ning Dios (Holy Mary, Mother of God) Chapel of the sitio of Homesite in the barangay of San Francisco; the Nuestra Señora de Lourdes of the sitio of Lourdes in the barangay of San Francisco; and the Nuestra Señora de Gracia (Our Lady of Grace) of the barangay of Poblacion.

 

The lubenas tradition

            Mabalacat is one of the several towns and cities, which still practice the lubenas, a devotional procession of patron saints held for nine days before Christmas, from December 16 to 24, on the eve of the simbang bengi, the dawn mass, usually limited within a barangay or sitio and centered around its chapel.

The celebration of Christmas, a largely Christian commemoration of the birth of Jesus Christ, was introduced in the Philippines together with Roman Catholicism with the Spanish colonization of the archipelago starting in the sixteenth century. It eventually became the most beloved celebration among Filipinos, giving rise to folk and extra-liturgical practices and traditions among several Christianized ethnolinguistic groups, including the Kapampangan of Central Luzon. 

The Kapampangan lubenas is believed to have started in early 1800s in the town of Bacolor. The name was derived from the word novena, the nine-day practice of praying. In early practices of the ritual, devotees used candles to light the way. Eventually, lanterns were incorporated, first lit by candle flames and then by gas lamps and electric light bulbs. 

The Kapampangans are believed to have pioneered the parul or Christmas lantern, especially its continuing development into star-shaped ones and ones with intricate designs, which have become an icon of Filipino Christmas celebration.

The present format of the lubenas, includes a cross-shaped lantern leading the procession, followed by people holding poles with twelve lanterns, arranged in two rows, representing the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ. Sometimes, a lantern in the shape a fish, a symbol of Jesus Christ, is included, usually placed behind the twelve lanterns. At the tail of the procession is the image of the barangay’s patron saint, carried on the shoulder or mounted on a carroza, bedecked with flowers and illumined by a giant lantern behind it, and devotees singing “Dios te Salve.” The procession can be accompanied by a brass band or a guitarist. 

The final lubenas on the eve of Christmas, in which processions of different barangays or chapels, converge at the church, is called maitinis in some towns, said to be derived from the Spanish maitines, the first of the seven canonical hours of prayer, observed after midnight or early hours of dawn. The maitinis is followed by the Misa de Gallo and Noche Buena. 

The practice of lubenas can vary in different towns. In some, maitinis is only observed. In Santa Ana, the majigangga, a giant puppet representing John the Baptist, and simple lanterns in the shape of a tent were incorporated until they were discontinued. In San Fernando, lantern competitions were held at the end of the lubenas, which became a separate attraction and evolved into the now famous Ligligan Parul, a showdown of giant lanterns. 

            Many practitioners join the lubenas as panata, a common religious expression among Filipinos—a ritual vow or promise to ask favors from God (or any religious figures), as thanksgiving for favors granted, and to ensure overall wellbeing and good fortune.

The devotional practice though has diminished over the years. Presently, town and cities with existing lubenas include Bacolor, Angeles City, San Fernando City, Mabalacat, Mexico, Magalang, Santa Ana and Santo Tomas in Pampanga; and Bamban, Capas and Concepcion in Tarlac, which is part of traditional Kapampangan home range. 

            With renewed interest and intention of revival, events are being produced, reenacting the lubenas with participants now wearing costumes, geared towards being a holiday attraction with components such as lantern competitions and touristic spectacles such as a grand gathering and recently created festivals that proliferate in the country. These are usually organized by local governments. Lubenas are traditionally held by communities and local churches.

 

The pastoleras

In Mabalacat, the maitinis remains to be organized by the parishes, with a very visible youth participation including LGBTIQ+ people. 

            The procession was followed by the Solemn High Mass of the Lord’s Nativity. The simbang bengi in Mabalacat is known for using the pastolera, the collection of hymns in Latin, arranged by local musicians and performed during the ceremony. 

            Latin hymns had been sung in Masses in the Philippines until 1969, when Pope Paul VI promulgated the Novus Ordo Missae or new Roman Missal, allowing local languages in liturgy. However, a few areas in the Philippines retained the Latin hymns, especially during special occasions such as Christmas, including Mabalacat. 

            During the Mass, a choir sung a repertoire including the “Kyrie” (Lord Have Mercy, which is in Greek), “Gloria” (Glory to God in the Highest), “Credo” (Apostle’s Creed), “Sanctus” (Holy) and “Agnus Dei” (Lamb of God), believed to be from Missa de Pastores (Shepherds' Mass, a Christmas Eve mass honoring the shepherds who watched over the birth of Jesus Christ) of Catalan composer Antoni Vaqué. The voices were accompanied by music from violins, organ and cello, played by a group of musicians. 

            Shepherded by faith and tradition, parishioners packed into church, spilling into the patio and grounds, as soft drizzle began to fall.   

Participants from different chapels in Mabalacat trooped out of the Our Lady of Grace Parish Church for the maitinis procession (Photo by Roel Hoang Manipon)

Bright lanterns from a group from Santa Ines illumine the  maitinis procsession (Photo by Roel Hoang Manipon)

Devotees from the  sitio of Lourdes in San Francisco (Photo by Roel Hoang Manipon)

Devotees from the barangay of Mamatitang in a procession (Photo by Roel Hoang Manipon)

Devotees carry Chrtistmas lanterns to the church for the maitinis procession (Photo by Roel Hoang Manipon)

A cross-shaped lantern leads the maitinis procession (Photo by Roel Hoang Manipon)

The carroza of the baranagy of San Joaquin (Photo by Roel Hoang Manipon)

The corroza and lanterns of the sitio of Homesite, San Francisco, after the procession (Photo by Roel Hoang Manipon)

Parishiopners attend the Misa de Gallo at the Our Lady of Grace Parish Church, known for its pastoleras (Photo by Roel Hoang Manipon)

Pagkamboan: Honoring the Dead and Spirits of Ancestors in Tabawan Island, Tawi-Tawi

Dulangs have already filled the luma pagkamboan or house of the ancestors in the barangay of Tang-ngah and have spilled into the letehan outside the house (Photo Roel Hoang Manipon)

Every year, residents of Tabawan Island gather for one of their important celebrations, the Pagkamboan. Those living or working in other places but who trace their roots to the island return home to be with families and friends for a tradition of honoring and remembering the dead and the spirits of ancestors, practiced even before the arrival of Islam in Tawi-Tawi.   

            Tawi-Tawi, a cluster of islands between the Sulu and Celebes Seas, is the southernmost province of the Philippines, predominantly populated by the Sama, the seafaring people of Maritime Southeast whose traditional home range also includes parts of Malaysia and Indonesia. The Philippine Sama is generally grouped into the land-dwelling Sama Diliya and the mostly sea-dwelling Sama Dilaut, who are known for their houses built over the water and standing on stilts. The Sama also identify themselves by their home islands/communities, such as Sama Sibutu, Sama Laminusa, and Sama Tabawan. 

            I have been coming to Tawi-Tawi for several times, fascinated with the Sama ways of life and traditional cultures. It started in 2018 to observe and document the igal or traditional Sama dance with its master dancer Sakinur-ain Mugong Delasas, who became our motherly figure as we explore the islands and its people, in Bongao and Simunul islands, and boat-building traditions in Sibutu Island. We made an excursion to Sitangkay, the southernmost town, a community connected by narrow walkways and waterways. This time, we were going to Tabawan Island upon the invitation of Omarjan Ibrahim Jahuran, writer, cultural worker and Indigenous Peoples Mandatory Representative of the municipality of South Ubian. 

After about two hours on a speedboat from Bongao, the capital of Tawi-Tawi, that sliced through the Celebes Sea, we arrived in Tabawan Island, the main island of South Ubian, in the northeast part of the province, a day before the Pagkamboan, which fell on March 5 in 2024. Pagkamboan is celebrated three to five days before the start of Ramadan, a time for fasting in Islam, in the Islamic lunar month of Nisfu. 

            The Sama Tabawan live in about four residential clusters, in houses built on stilts over the water, on the shores of the island, leaving most of the land area uninhabited. The Sama are afraid of ghosts which haunt the land but cannot cross the water, joked Jahuran, who has been advocating for the safeguarding of the heritage and traditions of his home island including the Pagkamboan. 

The old traditional structures are concentrated in the barangay of Tang-ngah in the island’s largest community at the southwest shore, where there are old communal houses and the langgal, a traditional structure that serves as the community’s masjid, connected by a communal area or walkway, called letehan, made of planks of wood. This area can be considered the heritage heart of Tabawan Island where a few examples of the luma maheya or big house, the luma pagkamboan or house of the ancestors, and there luma pangatas or commissioned longhouse still stand. They were built in the vernacular Sama architecture with layang-layang embellishments, standing on wooden stilts above the water like the rest of the settlement and used for different communal purposes including gathering and resting. The langgal, a meeting hall for rituals, prayers and other religious activities of the community, said to be built in the early 20th century, remains to be the most important structure in the community. This cluster is surrounded by homes and a jetty port.  

            Inside a luma maheya, Jahuran introduced us to the village elders or traditional leaders to pay our respects and to ask permission to observe, participate in and document the Pagkamboan the following day, bearing a gift (money is preferred).

            While the Pagkamboan is still practiced in some communities in Tawi-Tawi, Tabawan’s celebration is most likely the biggest and most vibrant, and the Pagkamboan is one of the most compelling manifestation of the ancient practice of ancestor veneration that survives until today among the Sama people. 

Ancestor worship or veneration was common in the precolonial belief systems of many ethnolinguistic groups in the Philippines. It was almost wiped out with the arrivals of Islam and Christianity, both frowning upon or disallowing the beliefs and their practices.

Many believe that Islam was brought to Tawi-Tawi by Sheikh Karim'ul Makhdum, said to be an Arab missionary from Syria, who arrived in 1380 in Simunul Island (Some say in Sibutu Island).  

            However, ancestor veneration still survives in some form or way, mostly syncretized with the prevalent religion, especially among the Sama Tabawan. It is in our way of life, said Jahuran. And this can be observed in everyday life, not just during pagkamboan.

            While at the house of the grandmother of Almunshar Alpha Astarani, one of our guides, we noticed an empty room, reserved for the spirits of the family's ancestors, should they decide to stay or rest for a while. While it is not forbidden to stay or sleep in the room, no one uses the room. The big houses for the ancestors, the luma pagkamboan, have similar purposes. 

An important part of Pagkamboan is visiting the grave site, which is located on Bumbun at the northwest tip of Tabawan. Yearly, Tabawan residents make a pilgrimage to the gravesite to take care of the graves of their dead and perform rituals. Even the day before Pagkamboan, some residents visited the site to avoid the crowd. 

While most of Bumbun is dedicated to the Muslim dead, there is an area for the Catholic dead. The town has a very small population of Catholics and even Chinese-Filipino. Some residents tell stories about a creature that prowls Bumbun Island. The kangkang laut, which looks like a large monitor lizard or even a dinosaur, is said to emerge at midnight to dig up fresh graves and devour the newly buried dead.

            The day before the Pagkamboan, residents were already preparing, particularly cooking the two foods that are always present during the special occasions—the panyam and the jah—both made of rice flour. 

            We met sixty-one-year-old Jannatun Jahuran, who has finished making trays of panyam.

“This is the panyam to be included in the dulang (food tray) for the prayer to our ancestors tomorrow that we call kamboan, during the month of Sha’aban. Panyam and jah should always be present for the prayer ritual during kambo’an especially here in our community, in the barangay of Tang-ngah. We should offer these rice cakes for our dead ancestors,” she explained in her native Tabawan dialect of the Central Sama or Sinama language. 

Also called panyalam, panyam is also prepared and consumed by the Malays and Bajaus of Malaysia and Indonesia, who call it penyaram or pinjalam, as well as by several Philippine Muslim ethnic groups such as the Tausug and the Maguindanao, especially during celebrations. 

In a nearby house, we observed another woman cook the cake. Rice flour, brown sugar and coconut milk were mixed to form the batter, which was then fried in oil. Using a wooded stick, she made dents on the edges of the cake to make it look like a flower. 

            At another house, we met twenty-eight-year-old Marhaini Asande, making the jah. She said she learned how to cook jah from her neighbor.

“The rice flour batter is poured inside the hulayan (suspended coconut shell container with holes). The wooden handle of the hulayan is struck several times so that the batter drops to the boiling cooking oil inside the frying pan evenly,” she explained in Central Sama. “Once it is cooked, it is folded and formed into a roll with the use of gagayu (wooden spatula).”

Also called lokot-lokot, tinagtag and jaa, jah is also prepared by the Tausug, Meranaw, Maguindanao, Iranun, and other ethnic groups. Called kuih jala or roti jala, which literally means "net cake" or "net bread" in Malay, it is a popular snack in Malaysia. 

            With the panyam and the jah already prepared and the sun slowly setting in a blinding blaze over the water with rays piercing through cracks and slits of the langgal and the luma maheya, residents readied themselves for more cooking and the trip to the graveyard tomorrow.  

The day of the Pagkamboan started early. Before the sun rose as the community was still sleeping, elders and religious leaders gathered for a meeting inside the luma maheya and decided to go to Bumbun ahead of the crowd to perform the little rituals on each grave, knowing they would be pulled here and there by people to say a prayer on the graves of relatives and family members. As the rays of the sun crept through the rows of roofs, the elders boarded a boat and headed to Bumbun. 

By seven in the morning, families, groups of friends and their guests in small boats started to make their way to the graveyard island. Later, more boats appeared until a line of boats has formed like a procession on water. The shore of Bumbun would be covered with boats. Those who arrived late would have to hop from boat to boat to reach the shore. 

            The graves were marked by the sunduk, the grave marker of the Sama, made of wood or stone. There are two kinds of sunduk—the phallic ones, indicating the dead was male and the flat ones, indicating the dead was female. The traditional ones are characterized by decorative carvings called ukkil or okir.  

            The graveyard was now busy with people. For Catholic Filipinos, the scene is reminiscent of the undas on 1 November. Many other cultures also hold similar celebrations and practices of honoring the dead such as the Pitru Paksha practices of the Hindus in India and the Qing Ming Festival of the Chinese. In Sulawesi Island of Indonesia, the Torajan people hold the Ma’Nene every three years after rice harvest, when they bring out the corpses of dead family members, clean them and dress them up in new clothes. 

            Tabawan residents gathered sand and replenished the graves that have eroded through the year. Elders or imams performed the ceremonial pouring of water using a coconut shell over the sunduk and recited prayers or supplications. Some would leave items, such as cigarettes, favorites of the dead when they were still living, as offerings. 

            By late morning, residents returned to their homes and continued preparing food for offering and feasting. The food items, dishes and drinks went to the preparation of the dulang, which refers to the traditional circular food trays as well as the arrangement of food on the dulang, or modern receptacles in place of the dulang. Plastic or aluminum tubs or basins are now commonly used. 

            We dropped by the busy kitchen of Tang-ngah barangay captain Nuthamima Abdurajak Sarajan, who was cooking up a feast with the help of her sisters Sitti Jumliha Abdurajak and Nurbaria Abdurajak, constantly moving around kitchen and dissipating the steam that came out from the pots. They showed us the different stews and their wadjit, a sweet treat made of black glutinous rice. 

By noon, residents began bringing their dulangs to the luma pagkamboan in their area. We passed by the luma pagkamboan in the barangay of Laud, which was beginning to be filled with dulangs. But the Tang-ngah luma pagkamboan has been the most popular one for residents. Soon, the house overflowed with dulangs, spilling into the letehan. More people still arrived bearing their dulangs. Those who resided far from the luma pagkamboan arrived by boats.

Surrounded by a sea of dulangs inside the luma pagkamboan, the elders and imams started the pagduwa-a, praying for thanksgiving and supplications to the ancestor spirits, both in the Central Sama, the language of their ancestors, and in Arabic, the language of their religion, and inviting them to partake of the feast or food offerings.

“Pagkamboan recognizes the interconnection, interdependence and harmonious relationship between the world of the living and the ancestral spirits and dead members of the community, who they invoke and talk to from time to time in the graveyard or in the ancestors’ house as if they are beings in a different dimension or parallel universe,” Jahuran explained.

He said, “This shared communal value provides social cohesion among the inhabitants of the island community.” 

Though still practiced, the Pagkamboan is in danger of vanishing together with other traditions, many distinct to the island. The old, traditional structures are also experiencing disrepair. A heritage advocate, Jahuran authored an ordination identifying Tabawan’s intangible and tangible pusaka kamboan or cultural heritage and mandating their safeguarding. It was unanimously passed on November 16, 2020. The list included structures and sites such as the langgal, the luma maheya, the Bohe Deya or forest well, the entosan (traditional log pressing mechanism), laitan (an island for sail stitching), Kuta Tabawan or Tabawan Fort, which some believe to have been built before the arrival of Islam, and Bumbun. Identified intangible cultural heritage elements are paghinang sunduk or the making of traditional wooded grave markers; pag-anom tepo Tabawan or the weaving of Tabawan mats; pagjamu, the communal spirit appeasement ritual; pagduwata, a healing ritual; igal Tabawan, or traditional dance with steps unique to Tabawan; tagunggu’an Tabawan or titik Tabawan, traditional ensemble music; panyam maka ja or the making of traditional ritual rice cakes; and the Pagkamboan.

            After the pagduwa-a, residents retrieved their dulangs and brought them to their homes. The feasting began, where everyone is invited. We had the honor to partake of a meal with the village elders. Our hosts invited to a second one in their home. There would be more invitations to eat as we wound our way through the community. A large family and their friends and neighbors partook of a feast laid out on the walkway beside their house, and anyone who passed by is invited to join in.

Here in Tabawan Island during pagkamboan, food is also an important part bringing together people, even of different cultures, strangers and friends, and it also connects the living and the departed, those who are away to home, the body and the spirit, and the past and the present and hopefully the future.

The heritage heart of Tabawan Island where there are many old, traditional structures (Photo by Roel Hoang Manipon)

The traditional langgal serving as a masjid, the most important structure in the community (Photo by Roel Hoang Manipon)

The grave site of Tabawan is located on Bumbun at the northwest tip of the island (Photo by Roel Hoang Manipon)

The grave site on Bumbun with tradtional grave markers called sunduk (Photo by Roel Hoang Manipon)

Dawn breaking at the settlement proper of Tabawan on the day of the pagkamboan (Photo by Roel Hoang Manipon)

By early morning, Tabawan residents start to make their way on boats to the Bumbun Island to visit the gravesites of their dead, clean them and perform rituals (Photo by Roel Hoang Manipon)

As the sun rose highter, a line has already formed going to the gravesite island (Photo by Roel Hoang Manipon)

A family arrives on the shore of Bumbun Island, already filled with boats (Photo by Roel Hoang Manipon)

Marhaini Asande made cooking the jaa (Photo by Roel Hoang Manipon)

Jannatun Jahuran, holding a tray of panyam she just made for pagkamboan tomorrow (Photo by Roel Hoang Manipon)

Graves are cleaned and eroded ones replenished with the sand (Photo by Roel Hoang manipon)

The ritual washing of the sunduk or grave marker with water using a coconut shell (Photo by Roel Hoang Manipon)

The ritual washing of the sunduk or grave marker with water using a coconut shell (Photo by Roel Hoang Manipon)

By midmorning, residents make their way back home to prepare their dulangs and participate in the pagduwa (Photo by Roel Hoang Manipon)

Tang-ngah barangay captain Nuthamima Abdurajak Sarajan, with the help of her sisters Sitti Jumliha Abdurajak and Nurbaria Abdurajak, constantly move around kitchen, preparing many dishes and sweet treats for the pagkamboan feast (Photo by Roel Hoang)

Dulangs have started to arrive at the luma pagkamboan in the barangay of Laud (Photo by Roel Hoang Manipon)

Among the sea of dulangs inside the luma pagkamboan village elders and imams started the pagduwa, praying to the ancestor spirits to partake of the feast and for supplications (Roel Hoang Manipon)

A large family and their friends and neighbors having a feast, and anyone who passes by is invited to join (Photo by Roel Hoang Manipon)

A variety of dishes and snacks are laid out on a colorful pandan mat inside a home in the barangay of Laud. Everyone is invited to partake of the feas (Photo by Roel Hoang Manipon)

Omarjan Ibrahim Jahuran, writer and South Ubian's Indigenous Peoples Mandatory Representative, who has been promoting his island home's traditions