And the bell tolls merrily in Cabuyao
Street dancers from Southville-Marinig. Photos by Büm Tenorio Jr.
Every festival in the Philippines is unique. For every street revelry, there is a corresponding reverence.
The Filipinos’ love for their culture bind them to a thousand and one celebrations observed in the country. The beauty about celebrating festivals is that each occasion is an opportunity for a reveler — even for a mere bystander — to learn about his or her heritage.
My job has allowed me to witness almost every festival in the Philippines — from Panagbenga in Baguio City to Kadayawan in Davao City. I covered, too, Dinagyang Festival in Iloilo, the Coconut Festival in San Pablo, Laguna, Masskara Festival in Bacolod, Pahiyas in Lucban, Ati-atihan in Aklan, Sinulog in Cebu, Lechon Festival in Balayan, Batangas, even the Padul-ong in Borongan, Eastern Samar. I had even gone on a small Catholic procession in Lamitan, Basilan in the early ‘90s when the place was still shy of becoming an extremists’ lair.
Those big festivals are surefire crowd drawers. Until I discovered a promising new kid on the block — the Batingaw Festival in my own hometown of Cabuyao. City Hall officials said that when the festival was introduced in the early ‘90s by former Mayor Etok Aguillo, simultaneous ringing of bells was done in the town. This signaled the people’s pleas for a bountiful harvest because Cabuyao, despite its many factories that include Nestlé and Asia Brewery, was also an agricultural community. Through time, and now with the beefed up efforts of Cabuyao City Mayor lawyer Mel Gecolea to make the tourism sector of Cabuyao a contributor to the city’s kitty, the Batingaw Festival has been in the radar of local tourists.
Pride of place was written on the faces of the residents of Cabuyao last Friday (Aug. 4) when the city celebrated its fifth year of cityhood. As early as 5 a.m., townspeople awoke to witness and participate at the yearly Batingaw Festival, which was excitedly participated in by the residents of the 18 barangays of the city. Though in the contest proper, only six barangays fiercely competed.
Revelers from Southville-Marinig, a coastal barangay, brought home the grand prize of P50,000. Coming in as second placer was Southville-Niugan (P30,000). Third place (P15,000) went to Baclaran, another coastal barangay.
Other participants who showed fluidity in movement were those who came from barangays Mamatid, Banaybanay and San Isidro. If I would give a special prize, I would accord it to San Isidro dancers — they formed architecturally straight lines on the streets. In their sincerity and simplicity in routines, they also stole the show. (Another shoutout to the newly-formed but very active LGBT community of Cabuyao. The city is LGBT friendly.)
“The winners were able to tell a beautiful story through dance,” said Dennis Quila, a judge in the street-dancing competition and a proud Cabuyeño who is the composer behind Aiza Seguerra’s hit Pagdating Ng Panahon. After all, street dancing is also about choreography, which is not only about dance steps but also about the ability of the dancers to tell a story through their movements.
Merrymakers danced on the streets of Cabuyao in choreographed motions, in their kaleidoscopic costumes, wearing smile as wide as the sky. No group paraded the streets without carrying a bell — either a gigantic cutout, emblazoned on their shirts or props or worn like a bracelet trinket, the way Mayor Gecolea and the members of the city council wore their bell bracelets.
The bell is the symbol of Cabuyao. Once upon a time, as oral history of the city says, the town’s church had in its belfry a kampanang ginto or golden bell. The said bell would toll so loud its pealing would be heard even by the people living in neighboring towns. The townspeople one day awoke to a quiet Cabuyao. No bell tolling for the pride of the place was missing. Some say the bell was thrown in a river, in Laguna Lake. It was never found.
But the bell resurfaces in the golden hearts of the people of the city who dance on the street and make merry. The golden bell that was never found is the bell that peals in their hearts.
See you at next year’s Batingaw Festival in the city of Cabuyao. It’s worth the experience.
(E-mail me at bumbaki@yahoo.com. I’m also on Twitter @bum_tenorio and Instagram @bumtenorio. Have a blessed Sunday!)
