Although the months of April and May are known to be the hottest summers of the year, they are also the gayest and most colorful during which every town, municipality, down to the smallest barangay, will celebrate its own festival. Like everyone else in the country, together with artist Tito Estrada, we packed our bags to celebrate for two days in our favorite little town of Liliw, Laguna.
When we arrived, activities for the Liliw Gat Tayaw Tsinelas Festival were well on the way with the party from ABS-CBN’s early morning show Umagang Kay Ganda, having loaded their gear and returned to the studios in Manila. Founded in 1571 by Gat Tayaw, this year’s festival had been earmarked from April 22 to 27, but the overnight stay was already filled with activities that opened up possibilities for much, much more.
As in the past, we were hosted by Lilipeña Concepcion Brosas whose home right smack in the middle of town made a perfect vantage point to watch the parades passing by. It was at Concep’s digs that we stayed overnight at the fourth level, together with a local import Rosel Hombrebueno who had worked several years in Manila but decided to return home where she owns a computer shop. Aside from its colorful shows, Liliw is best known for its cool weather like that of Baguio, its tsinelas and its cold water resorts.
“We are sitting on a huge mouth of water,†Concep told us, explaining that it is akin to a volcano except that instead of hot air, it spits out cold spring water. Liliw sits at the foot of Mt. Banahaw, which is 17 kilometers from Laguna’s capital in Santa Cruz.
Legend has it that Liliw got its name after its founder Gat Tayaw decided to name it after a bird that would alight on a bamboo pole their group had brought precisely for the purpose. During that excursion into the interiors, the party encountered a beautiful bird that alighted on the pole and commenced to sing “Liw Liw Liw,†thus giving the town its name.
Upon reaching Liliw, we immediately headed for the nearest tsinelas shop to buy our pasalubong for people back home. Then, we set out for the office of the mayor of Liliw. They were already closing when out came a big burly man asking how he could help us. He said he was the mayor and was rushing to the covered town hall where teachers from elementary to high school in Liliw were putting on a show. He suggested we drop by and watch the show. We did, and found Mayor Ericson Sulibit up on stage addressing the crowd. The show was fantastic with thousands of teachers of all ages, displaying their prowess in dancing on stage, each group dressed in its own colorful costumes.
On the way back to Concep’s home, Tito Estrada, myself and Rosel found artists on the street busy with their paintings. These were to be displayed the next day and with the winners to be given cash prizes to encourage them to further their art. We all picked one painting and found out from Rosel two days later that the artist’s name was Alonzo Emata, and his entry Kilangin Falls Adventure had won second place and P10,000. All through the night, from the fourth level, we could hear local bands singing and dancing the night away on the street. We had left our windows open since in Liliw, one would discover that the weather is cold all months of the year, and best of all, no mosquito dares enter. We are certain there would be some reason for this or some legend associated with the phenomenon.
The next day, we had planned to leave early to beat the traffic of those returning to Manila. But we had one more place to visit, that of the mayor’s office. On a trip to Liliw some years back, we caught sight of a mural on the wall. After asking around, we found it was by Jaime de Guzman whom we had met in the ’60s during our days as co-owner of the Indigo Art Gallery in Malate. We asked Mayor Sulibit what they planned to do. Smiling broadly, the mayor said he had found the contact with Jaime (also a Lilipeño) and the funds to have the important work of art restored. We had also met Jaime’s relative, Roxanne Lim, who would surely help in the restoration. That done, we were ready to go, happy with having witnessed new efforts at creativity and making new friends.
As a going away effort, we have written a piece dedicated to Liliw titled: Ang Alamat ni Gregoria, Roberto, at ang Ibon ng Liliw. It tells of the town playboy Roberto who would drop his girlfriends once he grew tired of them. The latest was Gregoria whom he had left waiting at the church in all her wedding finery. But Gregoria was made of sterner stuff. She prayed to the gods of the singing birds of Liliw to get even for her. They did and turned Roberto into a mosquito who couldn’t talk, or sing, or bite anyone. It was the worst punishment anyone could endure. We hope you like it.
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