Bulacan: Dancing at the Obando Fertility Rites

I was at the Obando Fertility Rites last May 17. A three-day fiesta honoring the towns patron saints: May 17 for St. Paschal, May 18 for St. Claire and May 19 for the Our Lady of Salambao, this festival in Obando has attracted couples praying for children among others.

It was a pleasant early morning drive to Obando via the old town center of Polo (Valenzuela City). This northwestern part of Metro Manila was foreign to me until today. I heard there were a lot of heritage structures in Malabon but I will have to reserve exploring the said town for another day.

The participants to the fertility dance during the three morning processions are dayo (visitors) from other towns in the Philippines. Most ask the patron saints for a son or a daughter, a husband or a wife or good fortune. They believe that by dancing, the spirit of life to enters into the wombs of women.

My host for today was Dir. Ting de los Reyes of the DOT who is from Obando. It was a good thing the procession passed by his house, twice in fact since there is only one major road and the procession had to make a u-turn back to the church. I enjoyed watching the musikong bumbong play on their bamboo instruments as the devotees danced the traditional pandanggo.

I told Ting I was a bit disappointed though since many were no longer in traditional Filipino costumes plus you had the bands playing "Boom Tarat Tarat" and "Itaktak Mo" instead of the traditional music. And then we ask why foreigners don't take notice of our festivals as much as our neighbors in Asia? It's because we don't keep the traditions intact, replacing traditional music with pop music, and traditional Filipino costumes with t-shirts, many a times with the mayor's name on it! Imagine if Thai or Japanese festivals did that!

Ting was disappointed himself since the priest insisted on including an ati-atihan group to make the procession livelier. Father, the Ati-atihan is in Kalibo, Aklan! Let's leave the Obando Fertility Rites alone and keep it original. Anyway, I hope our local officials understand the importance of keeping traditions intact. And let's keep all those t-shirts out and bring back our traditional Filipino costumes in our festivals.

More photos in Multiply.

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Pampanga: Fr. Ed Panlilio is Pampanga governor-elect!

Among Ed won the elections! Go Pampanga! I just came from the proclamation of governor-elect Fr. Ed Panlilio. Indeed, every vote counted. He won by 1,147 votes! I'm sure that should have been bigger (if you know what I mean). But the important thing is he won. May Pampanga lead the way for the Philippines!

The atmosphere at the Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center was electric. The crowd was phenomenal! It was not the type that lined up for something after (not hakot in other words). It was people power! More photos in Multiply.

Panlilio, Eddie T. - 219,706
Pineda, Lilia G. - 218,559
Lapid, Mark T. - 210,875

Related articles
Priest topples Pineda, Lapid in Pampanga polls
Miracle in Pampanga
Catholic priest elected Pampanga governor
Interview with Pampanga Gov.-elect Ed Panlilio
Panlilio keeps guard up vs rivals, jueteng lords

Heritage watch
Congratulations to Mayor Fred Lim for winning the mayoral elections in the City of Manila! The city's heritage now has a protector. Also check out a video of Iloilo heritage produced by the Iloilo City Cultural Heritage Conservation Council, the City Government of Iloilo, Canurb and ABS-CBN, uploaded by Bernard Arellano. Bravo Iloilo City!



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Bulacan: Carabao Festival in Pulilan, Bulacan

I missed the Pulilan Carabao Festival today. The parade started at 2 p.m. but I was still voting here in San Fernando, Pampanga. I guess though, with the elections set today, the celebration in Pulilan would not be as grand as last year. So I was content with looking at photos taken by Sidney Snoeck from last year's festival, held annually every May 14 in honor of San Isidro Labrador whose feast day is tomorrow. (Photos courtesy of Sidney Snoeck)

Don't miss the happenings in Quezon tomorrow which include the Pahiyas Festival in Lucban, Mayohan in Tayabas, and Agawan in Sariaya. I also heard the celebration in Gumaca is another must visit. From May 17 to 19, the streets of Obando, Bulacan will be alive with devotees doing the traditional fertility dance.

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