Fiestas in Bauan, Batangas Province by Severino A. Garcia, 1927

This page has been transcribed from an ethnographic paper written by one Severino A. Garcia in 1927. The page is archived at the digital library of the National Library of the Philippines. This transcription is made to make it easier for researchers to find it using search engines.

[The original file at the National Library of the Philippines’ digital library is extremely blurred and/or faded in parts and almost impossible to read using human eyes. This transcription, therefore, was made with the assistance of AI technology. There may be some errors in the transcription.]

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FIESTAS IN BAUAN, BATANGAS

by

Severino A. Garcia.

Note: I am using here the word, “fiesta,” to include all festival and religious holidays and everything of our respect which is held in honor of a certain event lasting at least one-half day.)

The occasions for the holding of fiestas in our locality were probably much more numerous formerly than we do have in the present days. It is to be expected for the religious idea of life, as commonly expressed in the form of ceremonies or festivities, was strong in the minds of our old people. Even small petty feasts as occasioned by one’s recovery from sickness, pompous voyage of those embarking on the sea, good harvest, successful delivery at childbirth, etc. were held. On these occasions eating and excessive drinking of wine were frequently indulged in. Some sorts of dancing and “music” were also the most important features. Slight traces of these practices are, however, still found in some of our barrios.

But in general, the regular fiestas now being held in our locality, both in the town and in the barrios, may be grouped as follows with their respective dates when each is held:

(I took the following list from a record in our municipality)

Lista de Fiestas Oficiales y Religiosas:

Enero 1° – Año Nuevo, Oficial y Religiosa.
Enero 6 – Tres Reyes, Religiosa.

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Febrero 2 – Candelaria, Religiosa.
Febrero 22 – Washington Day, Oficial.
Abril 14 y 15 – (dias movibles) – Jueves y Viernes Santo, Oficial y Religiosa.
Mayo 1° – Labor Day, Oficial.
Mayo 3 – Gran Fiesta, Oficial y Religiosa.
Mayo 26 – Ascension de Ntra. Sra. [very blurred word, unreadable], Religiosa.
Mayo 30 – Decoration Day, Oficial.
Junio 16 – Corpus Christi, (movible) Religiosa.
Junio 29 – S. Pablo y S. Pedro, Religiosa.
Julio 4 – Independencia America, Oficial.
Agosto 13 – Occupation Day, Oficial.
Agosto 15 – Asuncion de Ntra. Señora, Religiosa.
Noviembre 1° – Todos los Santos, Religiosa.
Noviembre 24 – Accion de Gracias, Oficial.
Noviembre 30 – Bonifacio Day.
Diciembre 8 – Concepcion, Religiosa.
Diciembre 25 – Pascua de Navidad, Oficial y Religiosa.
Diciembre 30 – Rizal Day, Oficial.

When the fiesta is a religious one, it is purely an affair headed by the church; or by the municipality, in the case of a civil or official holiday. There are, however, some occasions when both the church and the municipality share in holding, in which cases we call them civil-religious fiestas. Such are the New Year’s, the Christmas and the town fiesta, the latter being held on every third day of May.

How the Religious Fiestas are Held.

A foreigner or a traveller who goes to our town can easily tell without much information the advent of a religious fiesta. On the day preceding the occasion, one will hear the extra-ordinary tolling of the church bells which occurs three times during the whole day – one in the morning, another at noon and the last, in the evening, each toll lasting for half hour or 15 minutes. The ringing of these church bells

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Well the approach of a fiesta can be distinguished from a regular toll in that it is usually in a “repique” form continuously and loudly rung, so that we normally speak of it as “basag and campana,” meaning the bell is broken. If we may state in connection with this that we have the biggest church in the whole province of Batangas and a tower which would hardly be surpassed in height by any other similar tower in the province, it being as high as the Rosario temple in Manila. Its bells are also worthy of notice on account of their very high sounding quality which can be heard as far as a distance of about four or five kilometers. To our visitors during fiestas, this church is, therefore, an object of interest.

One thing to be noticed on the night preceding the fiesta, is the general illumination. Every house is brightly illuminated on the outside, the large oil lanterns being hung by the side of the windows, except the Protestant houses of which there are about four or five of them in the town. The lights are not put out until dawn. Beginning at about eight o’clock of that evening, one band (music) goes around the town with paper lanterns leading (carried by small children), and another plays at the town plaza.

No household preparation for visitors is made on the occasion of a religious fiesta, unlike what we do during the town fiesta which is our biggest celebration. The church, however, make preparations for the special ceremonies on the

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Service of the fiesta. Four small altars are usually erected at the four corners of the church yard. After the big mass (misa mayor) has been held inside the church, a small procession is held in the church yard accompanied by the two bands following. The procession stops at every altar where a young boy who has been trained for that occasion recites a sort of religious declamation which we call “loa” or “alabao.” It goes on until a round in the church yard has been made. Then the procession enters again the church. The whole parade which begins at eight o’clock in the morning lasts until about eleven. Nothing more is done during the rest of the day except the evening procession in the town which brings the fiesta to a close. Such as what have been described usually characterize our religious fiestas except, of course, the Saint’s Week and the Days of All Saints when the ceremonies are much more elaborate and more people attending.

As to the attitude of our people during the religious holidays, there seems now a declining tendency to pay a high reverence for the sacredness of these days. My observation is that during the past years (about 10 or 12 years ago), people had a high regard to a religious holiday (we call “pangilin”) to work during that day is an anomaly and a sign of irreligiousness. It is ridiculed by the Catholic community. At present, this attitude is taken seriously only by the so-called “Paliban.” To the majority of our people it seems less whether one works or not, except, however, during

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Only holidays like Christmas, Corpus Christi, Candelaria and [very blurred word, unreadable] (Tatlong Haring Mago) when people really observe the sacredness of the day.

The Town Fiesta.

As pointed out in the opening paragraph, our town fiesta which is held every third day of May is a civic-religious affair. It is our biggest celebration, being the day of our patron Sta. Cruz; and the time when all our people who have been living in some other places are returning here.

I may state in this connection that many of our laborers working in Tayabas and Mindoro in the abaca and [very blurred word, unreadable] business, and it is during the early approach of the 3^rd day of May when they come back home en masse. They consider it more as the time for the meeting of friends and relatives than during the Christmas season.

About a week before the fiesta, people begin to make their preparation. Ordinary works are set aside temporarily until the fiesta has passed. However poor may a family be they do not miss to make their own household preparations, although no visitors are expected to come. The well-to-do families usually have their stone houses painted with lime (apog), others mend the falling parts of some of their houses; in short, everything is fixed in the house so as to make it appear beautiful and clean when the fiesta arrives. The real activity is seen in every kitchen. All the household utensils of high value which have been kept during ordinary days are

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Are brought out and cleaned, and prepared for the table. The materials of extra-ordinary food are now also being prepared. All sorts of local “sweets” are made, common among are those which we call “casuy” and “calamay.”

“Casuy” is made from the fruits of a certain kind of palm. This plant bears fruit in season (once a year) in the occasion of our town fiesta so that when we speak of the plant we are usually reminded of the fiesta. This is also the time when those who owe favor (“utang-na-loob”) to somebody else presents something which the latter might use for the fiesta. For example, the Kasama of a certain family in the town would usually bring bundles of fuel, or eggs or chickens to their masters. The patients of a certain doctor or the clients of a lawyer who have not been charged of fees for their respective cases would customarily do the same thing. Not only are presents of this kind offered, but they even offer also their personal help during the fiesta.

Meantime what these individual preparations are being made, the town in general particularly the well-to-do and business men, the municipal and school officials are also busy preparing for the activities to be done during the fiesta. It has been the practice in our local public schools that a few days before the fiesta the school authorities would offer contests to our elementary school pupils. Usually contests are held – one for the fourth graders, one for the fifth graders, one for the sixth and another for the seventh grade pupils. Prizes in the form of books and o. [very blurred word, unreadable]

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School supplies (usually a dictionary, a fountain pen, works of Rizal, etc.) are donated by some of the distinguished professional men of the community. The winners are announced daily and prizes awarded on the occasion of the “Juego de Castillo” which I shall attempt to describe in the later part, which is one of the last and biggest features of the celebration. Training of school athletes are also being done during this time to prepare for the games to be played on the day of the fiesta.

The parts played by our town officials and other enthusiasts of the celebration prior to the fiesta are mainly: conducting election of queen, construction of pagodas in the town plaza, collecting contributions from the people whenever they deem it necessary, contracting bands (music), preparing materials for a sort of firework, preparing stunts, etc.

The election of queen is one of the biggest and hottest activities made before the fiesta. There are usually five or six candidates launched by different societies. In our town there are 5 societies at present; namely, the “Kampon ni Pakalal” composed of mostly professional men and college students, the “Knight of Rizal” – a society of teachers and other college students who, for some reasons, don’t belong to the first organization, the “Kampon ni Balagtas” – a vernacular society, the “Progressive Youth of Bauan” or the “Batang Aratan,” as commonly called because of its members being the newly growing young men and women of the town, and the “Lakas ng Bayan” –

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The members of which are the young men working in the different shops like the Plateria, Panaderia, blacksmith shop, barber shop, etc. and to whom we usually attach the name, “out-siders,” in order to support their respective candidates to the election of queen each society usually spend at least one hundred or one hundred fifty pesos. The proceeds obtained in this election are paid to the bands hired, or when there is a surplus of money, it is held to meet other expenses for the fiesta. Contributions, however, are occasionally collected from the town people who do not belong to any of the said organization whenever there is lack of money. The contributions vary as much as from twenty-centavos to five or ten pesos from each family.

About 4 days before the fiesta, the “pagodas” are constructed in the plaza. (“Pagoda” as used here is a sort of “palosko” made up of purely bamboo materials and decorated with paper lanterns and paper ribbons of different colors). About four or five of them are erected, depending upon the number of bands that will occupy and for which they are purposely constructed. These bands are usually hired in the city (Manila) or in the neighboring towns. We have two local bands which are also paid. (In spite of the meager fund we usually have for the fiesta, the town can still afford to hire as many as 4 or 5 bands, because 2 or 3 of them are donations from our rich and business men who contribute together for this purpose).

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Program of the Celebration

Like the fiestas in other towns of the island, our town fiesta has usually its “opening day” which we call “Vesperas.” It is already regarded as a part of the fiesta proper and its most important feature is the meeting of all the hired bands which go around the town for the first time to herald the opening of the celebration. It is also during this time when visitors from the neighboring towns and those returning home are first coming. No activity, however, is done on this day except in the evening when a general illumination of the town is made. Band concerts in the “pagodas” are also held for the first time until about ten o’clock of that evening.

The program for the fiesta proper which occurs on the following day may be briefly described as follows:

– 4:00 A.M. – all the bands hired for the occasion will make their “recorrida” or going around the town, passing through all the main streets, particularly the streets of those who have contributed much to the celebration. They usually stop in front of the house of the municipal president or the house of the priest where they hold a short concert for about ten or fifteen minutes and then proceed going around again. At about 6 o’clock when the mass is to begin, all these bands meet at the church to accompany the services.

– 7:00 – 9:30 – mass is held.

– 8:00 – 11:30 – Athletic games prepared by the school are with one or two bands attending. Families are either

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Bands are again taking their “recorrida” around the town.

When it is an election season, this time is utilized by the different candidates for the holding of mass meeting at the town plaza. More people usually attend to this meeting than to the athletic games.

– 11:00 – 12:30 – Band contest with the church bells.

– 2:00 – 4:00 P.M. – “Juego de Anillo” – it is the most traditional game held during the fiesta. It has always been an important feature of the celebration and I remember that ever since my boyhood days no fiesta has ever yet passed without having this game. This is the only occasion when the elected queen makes her appearance in public. A sort of a royal court is erected near the place where the game is played, and the queen with her attendants sit in this court. Awarding of prizes (both to the winners of the game and those of the contests which has been previously held) are made after the “Juego de Anillo.” The queen herself presents the prizes.

– 4:00 – 5:00, shortly after the awarding of prizes, different stunts and other local games are held. Among them are the thread-eating race, the apple-eating race, egg-race (running with basket of eggs on the head), etc. What we call “akyat sa sibo” is the most interesting among the games. A bamboo pole of about 12 feet high which has been thoroughly rubbed with a fatty or shinny substance and which bears a purse of money at the top is erected on the ground, and children compete in climbing to the top to reach the purse. The

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One who succeed in reaching the top and looting the purse of the money. It is interesting to see because many children could hardly climb to as high as five feet before they fall down on account of the sliding surface of the bamboo pole.

– 5:00 – 7:00 – general “recorrida” again of the bands. This is also the time when the visitors from other places take their “paseo” around the town. They are mostly groups of young men and women.

– 7:00 – 8:00 – Grand procession (religious) in the town, after which a sort of fireworks is exhibited in the “patio” (church yard).

– 8:30 P.M. – 1:00 or 2:00 A.M. (Day 4) – Final band contest in the “pagoda.” This is the event of the day which usually attracts the biggest crowd. We purposely hire those bands which we know to have been long competing, because they exhibit their most beautiful pieces. Not infrequently, however, troubles arise in this contest. I remember several times when this kind of band contest went even to the extreme of personal fight, because of the spectators who usually instigate the trouble.

It may also be mentioned in connection with the day’s celebration that games of chance like gambling, beto-beto, etc. although tolerated, are rampant during our town fiesta. I don’t know any reason why our town officials purposely tolerate these vices during fiesta time. They are, however, prohibited as soon as the fiesta is over.

Barrio Fiesta

About two weeks after the town fiesta, the barrio people

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Begin holding their own celebration which we call “Pasyon Poon.” It is so-named from the fact that the “Poon” or Holy Cross in the town is brought to the barrio where the fiesta is to be held. A sort of an altar similar to a “pagoda” which the barrio people call “toklong” is erected in the center of the barrio where the Holy Cross is kept during the whole celebration.

Every house is beautifully decorated with paper lanterns and paper ribbons of different colors. The well-to-do families in the barrio who expect to receive many visitors usually have their houses annexed with a “sibi” or temporary shade (made of bamboo materials) where the people are assembled. The visitors are mostly the people from the town.

In the morning of the fiesta, the ceremony in the “toklong” is held. This is purely an affair of the barrio people and the visitors from the town usually come after the mass. Nothing is done during the whole morning except the so-called “pandanggo” which is a sort of barrio dance. At noon, dancing and singing are indulged in every house where there are visitors. They are mostly performed by the visitors from the town. At about two o’clock in the afternoon, the “Juego de anillo” begins. It is usually held in front of the toklong where a group of all the young women in the barrio are seated. Then comes the procession at six o’clock, after which the Holy Cross is brought to every house where a sort of individual family ceremony is held. This is one of the most important features of the

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Fiesta celebration, the “paakyat ng poon” fashion is usually held. Before the cross leaves a house, it has been the custom of the members of the family that after some services have been offered they would kiss the basal part of the cross or get some articles and rub them on its surface. Such in general is the method of celebrating a barrio fiesta in our place. It is dedicated mostly to the services rendered to our Holy Cross. Our people pay a high reverence to it because it is said to be a mysterious cross (It has been a popular rumor that during the eruption of Taal Volcano, this Cross was said to have been responsible for the safety of our town. They say that it disappeared in the Church and flew high up in the air somewhere between Taal and Bauan during the course of the eruption so that fire and ashes were not able to reach the town. Since then our people began paying a high reverence to this cross)

Celebration of National Heroes

Ever since the birth of our two active societies, the “Kampon ni Palakak” and the “Knights of Rizal” we have been celebrating our heroes with more pomp and splendor than we did formerly. The former society stands for Bonifacio and the latter, for Rizal; thus, the Bonifacio and Rizal days are the biggest celebration among the national heroes.

The activities of the celebration are confined mostly in the afternoon and evening of the day. Nothing is done in the morning. At about three o’clock in the afternoon the civic

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A program. When it is Bonifacio Day the parade is held under the auspices of the “Kampon ni Palakak;” and when it is Rizal Day, it is under the “Knights of Rizal.” Nothing particular in the parade. It is like the parade held in Manila, and differ only, of course, in the number of attendance. In our town the participants are usually the representatives of the different societies, the municipal official, and students – the collegiate, the high school and the elementary school pupils in distinct group, etc. There are also beautiful decorated floats, each accompanied by a band. The burden of expenses is shouldered by either one of the two societies mentioned, depending upon what day it is (Rizal or Bonifacio).

After the parade speeches are held in front of the heroes’ monument (we have monuments of both Rizal and Bonifacio erected by the two societies). The celebration of Bonifacio Day usually comes to an end after the speeches. But during Rizal Day we have a bigger celebration. Besides the parade in the afternoon, the “Knights of Rizal” annually renders a musical literary program in the evening, in which the life and works of Rizal are pictured in the form of drama. This program is held in the cockpit.

Bauan, March 4, 1927.