Viva Vigan!

CEBU, Philippines -  Vigan has yet another festival! And the latest is World Heritage Cities Solidarity Cultural Festival, a six-day affair with parades, heritage and historical activities, from poetry to plays to dancing, and trade and food fairs. In short, it is a spectacular showcase of Vigan, a UNESCO World Heritage City, the only one in the Philippines.

Thanks to an extended invitation from Mayor Eva Marie Singson Medina, and our friend Susan Calo Medina, of Travel Time, we witnessed the dazzle of the recently concluded festival.

Our temporary headquarters was the Cuidad Fernandina Hotel, a Spanish-era house built in 1758 that had been refurbished with a new wing and a refreshing courtyard. Though the 33-room boutique hotel possesses the charm of the Old World, you can expect modern conveniences, from flat panel LCDs to spa services. It is also just a stone's throw away from Crisologo Street, the mestizo district dotted with more colonial houses and shops of everything Vigan. 

The ever-on-the-go Mayor Medina, a city girl who has taken to the gentler pace of country life remarkably well, welcomed the party to a table full of local delicacies. But I chose to have longganisa, pan de sal, and coffee only.

But at the Mayor's hilltop house, there was more food on offer: pinakbet, crispy bagnet, a torta of ipon, pipian, empanada, poqui-poqui, and even more delicacies that covered every surface of the table.

Back in the city center, we witnessed a living tableau unfolding right before our eyes. It was the Repazzo de Vigan parade-literally a look back to Vigan's past.

According to pre-colonial history, Chinese merchants would exchanged goods with the tribes of the Cordilleras. In the parade, the arrival of the Chinese was marked by several ladies dressed in red-and-gold cheongsams.

Farming was represented with a mock carabao and farmers who mimicked the act of seed sowing on the cobbled streets. An aged grandmother, tobacco pipe hanging from her lip, was forming a clay vessel, a nod to their famed pottery tradition. There were also fishermen, casting their silver nets, and fishwives offering the catch-of-the-day. Later, it was revealed that most of these actors were, in fact, real farmers, potters, fishermen, and market vendors. If they were going for authenticity, there is no better casting than getting the real thing.

In 1758, in honor of Prince Ferdinand, son of King Philip II, a Spanish Royal Decree transferred the ancient diocese of Nueva Segovia to Vigan, elevating its status as the city, Cuidad Fernandina de Vigan. As the seat of colonial power in the north, Vigan became the third most important hub after Manila and Cebu.

Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, all aspects of life were affected by the influence of the church, represented by a parade of religious orders in the festival.

The revolution showed the Katipuneros as unsuccessful and then the Americans came.

With the arrival of the Thomasites, the first American teachers of the Filipinos, they bestowed the gift of mass education to the country, democracy and the process of election.

The Japanese era was ushered in by kimono-clad women with spinning umbrellas. Romance was the seed of a legendary story here. Against all odds, two Filipinas fell in love with Japanese soldiers-Belen Castillo of Vigan and Major Sakae Narioka and Adela Tolentino of neighboring Magsingal and Captain Fujiro Takahashi-and their forbidden relationships saved the city from destruction.

An oversized mock of a television screen, behind which an actress played the present Mayor, marked the arrival of the modern city. Vigan was reborn as the first city of Ilocos Sur in 2001. Today, it is a progressive hotspot known for its tourism, shopping, and cuisine. It was the moment to blow their own horn, and they did it rightfully so. Vigan is a multi-awarded city, both in the region and across the country.

The parade ended with a showcase of GMA artistas, a sure crowd-getter that happens in all parades nationwide. Aloft their decorated kalesas were TV and movie actors Isabel Oli, Mike Tan, Michelle Madrigal, Bianca King, and Cebu's very own Manilyn Reynes.

After watching their version of the Kasaysayan ng Lahi, we proceeded to the Food and Trade Fair, which the group toured for a pirate's horde of goods. There were the famed abel weaves made into towels and tablecloths, blankets and napkins, everything and anything. Another member was spotted snapping up baskets, plant holders, standees, and more native home products. Eventually, the group succumbed to big furniture items like a credenza, a side table, and a buffet table, which will be shipped back to Manila. With topnotch craftsmanship, it was just hard to resist, these Vigan finds.

Soon, it was dinner, and we found ourselves in Mayor Medina's front garden, a refuge blessed with a cool breeze and a canopy of stars.

Next day, after Mass, we decided to go our separate ways. Some went to Governor of Ilocos Sur Chavit Singson's Baluarte Zoo, an 80-hectare property populated with white deer, camels, ostriches, parrots, orangutans, and tiburin or mini horses. Others sought out pottery. Susan was off to interview the Mayor and film the performers of the zarzuela, daniw, and dallot.

Lunch was served at the Hidden Garden, a secret restaurant in Barangay Bulala full of potted plants, green gardens, sculpted topiaries, and flowering bushes. Once again, our table was laden with riches from the Vigan kitchens-sisig, pinakbet, bagnet, sinigang, pork ribs with sampaloc. Then, Corazon Regua demonstrated how to make the salupsup, another delicacy made from malagkit rice slightly toasted with coconut and muscovado sugar.

Back at the hotel, we gathered at the courtyard to find sacks of chichacorn and dragon fruit, a crate of frozen longganisas, and huge boxes of bibingkas, all of which were sent by the gracious Mayor.

The Travel Time crew, who seemed to have seen and done it all, requested us to settle in our seats. Slowly and scientifically, they distributed the bags, the potted plants, the boxes, and the packages in every nook and cranny of the vehicle. When all was loaded, we were amazed not only because everything fitted but also for the fact that we were comfortable in our seats of choice. Don't ask me how, but they magically did it! Bursting to full, we made our way to Makati.

After a couple of hours of travel, one of our companions found a tiny empty space in the bus. Then, she lamented how, in this hollow spot, we could have placed one more bag of longanissa or one more ream of abel. We looked at her in disbelief. Then, everyone burst into laughter as we continued our journey back home.  (FREEMAN)