The duman lives on!

Last Dec. 3, we were invited again to experience an honest-to-goodness barrio fiesta in Sta. Rita, Pampanga, which was celebrating its Duman Festival with an open-air concert by the Artista.Rita theater group. The longing for the past and for simpler times touches the hearts of many, this writer included. I never seem to get enough watching it. Now in its fourth year, it has metamorphosed from the simple choir it started out to be into a world-class theater group, producing two albums, namely "Kapampangan Ku" and "Pamanulí" in such a short time.

For those unfamiliar, Sta. Rita is a small town on the fringes of bustling Guagua, the crossroad for Manila/Pampanga/Bataan trade since colonial times. So quiet a town in fact, it was denigrated as Sta. Rita de Lele (tabi-tabi or peripheral) that it seemed destined to be sidelined by its other prosperous neighbors like Bacolor and Floridablanca.

And yet, it is exactly this seeming insignificance that gives its residents a sense of pride, where continuity is still a virtue and the goodness of community still counts. To put it simply, there is pride of place. It is this persistence of tradition that gave rise to its gastronomic fame: the duman, the equally famous turrones de casuy and its incomparable sans rival made by Apung Felisa Lansang-Ocampo, long deceased, but her legacy lives on with his nephews continuing the trade.

And what is duman, you may ask? It is the young rice harvested before its full maturity (hence, its yellow green color), and is solely from the lakatan or malagkit (glutinous) variety. It is planted only in the barrios of Sta. Monica and San Augustin of Sta. Rita during the months of April to June. And unlike the regular rice variety, which can be planted and harvested three times a year, duman can only be harvested in the cool air of November and December, otherwise it will not be a bountiful one. For every hectare, a farmer can produce only a maximum of 4.5 cavans of duman, while a maximum of 300 cavans can be harvested from the regular rice variety. It is not surprising then that duman is sold at a whopping price of P800 a kilo! (The local standard of measurement is one pati at P1,200 to P1,800). But to those who’ve tried it will swear it is worth its weight in gold.

As early as 6 p.m., the Sta. Rita de Casia Parish patio was already abuzz with activity. The 2,000 chairs that had been set in front of the makeshift stage were mostly taken, and by the time the show started at 8 p.m., it was an SRO affair. A long line of bamboo stalls were selling native delicacies, filling the air with the fragrant smell of binatirol na tsokolate (hand-whisked hot native chocolate) with some duman soaked in it, bibingkâ, puto bumbong, panara (empanada filled with green papaya), Sta. Rita’s famous asadong babi and bringhi (sticky rice with chicken) cooked by Apung Trining Alviz and her daughters Raidis and Celi, and Keren Shih, a food researcher. On the left side of the stage, three men with four-feet-long pestles each have been rhythmically pounding on a single mortar the palay continuously for three hours. The newly toasted duman was being sold to the public on the spot.

The Artista.Rita was founded four Decembers ago when the local parish choir was gathered together to stage a Christmas eve concert under the guidance of Andy Alviz (resident choreographer of Miss Saigon Manila/Singapore/Hongkong, and again next year for Seoul, Korea), and musical directors Recy Pineda and Randy del Rosario, all natives of Sta. Rita. After that concert, the three realized it will be a pity to let all those talents go to waste – the students, out-of-school youths, teachers, office workers, housewives, a construction worker, and a farmer. It was from this observation that the dream to help cultivate, hone their talents, give the break they deserve, paved the way for a person’s bigger dream. And thus, the Artista.Rita Theater Group was born.

"Metong yang kayamanan ning Sta. Rita ini. Pakamalan ye! (It’s one of Sta. Rita’s wealth. Treasure it!) Apung Maria Cunanan, a third-generation duman maker, was reputed to make the best duman in town in her younger days. She died at age 99 four years ago, a day after the first Duman festival was held. The duman, just like the Artista.Rita becoming another Sta. Rita’s treasure, will live forever!

Bernie Magpayo Nepomuceno, president of Holy Angel University, in her speech during the launching of Artista.Rita’s first album "Kapampangan Ku," which its Center for Kapampangan Studies was a major sponsor: "Become a better Filipino by being a good Kapampangan. The deeper, more enduring, and self defining roots for us are the ethno-linguistic identities which eventually develop into a sense of nationhood. Therefore, regionalistic loyalty does not cancel out nationalistic sentiments. They go hand in hand. The Center for Kapampangan Studies of HAU advocates the promotion and preservation of local history, culture and arts as the road to nation building."

Here are some testimonies from those who experienced the show:

Elwood Perez, movie director, native of Mabalacat, Pampanga: "The Sta. Rita Duman Festival brought back memories of my 1950s Christmases when my world was all laid-back in Mabalacat. My aunt and playmate Imang Jessie and I would sneak out of the bale matua (old house) to join the farmers’ children on that cold, duman-scented night. Because of the warm Dec. 3 air, the Andy Alviz-choreographed song-and-dance numbers, although several notches higher in technique, harked back to those ’50s summer zarzuela nights at the plaza.

"It may be a state of mind, but the bibingkâ, tsokolate, tamales, kalame, asadong babi and most especially the duman soaked in gatas damulag (carabao’s milk) taste much better in Sta. Rita during the Duman Festival when you relive warm memories of good times past."

Ernest Leung, former president of PDIC, married to Edwina Nepomuceno of Angeles City: "Amazing for so much grace from tiny grains of immature malagkit rice to inspire communal celebration of flavor, pounded from fragile grain of prolonged gestation. It was a wonderful evening of creative theater, impressive choreography, dramatic lighting and warm people. Truly a cultural event as tasteful as the duman."

Raffy and Elizabeth Alunan (Raffy’s mother, Rosario "Charito" Moreno, is a beauty from Magalang, Pampanga): "Legendary Kapampangan hospitality, classy artistry, excellent food, and fine weather made for a most memorable evening. It energized our spirits. Our thanks to the Leungs for bringing us along. We shall return. Congratulations to all for a job well done! The Duman Festival should be a showcase of Philippine tourism, if it isn’t already."

Glenda Barretto, restaurateur par excellence, native of Samar: "Duman with chocolate eh (espresso), made with carabao’s milk at that, is quite heavenly, but now I appreciate it even more when you witness firsthand the hours of labor and dedication spent in the making of duman. A toast to the people of Sta. Rita for keeping the tradition alive.

"The musical show that accompanies it is world-class. Even though I’m non-Kapampangan, I enjoyed the musical very much because of its universal appeal and fantastic choreography. Music and good food know no boundaries."

Larry J. Cruz, the man behind the LJC restaurants, traces his roots to Magalang, Pampanga: "What a refreshing change from the usual town plaza fiesta fare of ati-atihan bands, rock concerts, sing-along and basketball contests. First-class folk style Broadway musical. And the food! What can I say? Some of the best Kapampangan dishes I’ve tried, lovingly prepared by the townspeople themselves. Every city and town mayor should be invited next time, they can pick up a thing or two. Congratulations to the people behind it."

Randy David, sociologist, native of Betis, Pampanga: "Sta. Rita’s Duman Festival is a showcase of the best of local town culture presented in a world-class form. It is pride of place, pride of heritage, pride of language rolled into one. The young people behind Artista.Rita are showing us all Filipinos what it means and takes to keep our own culture alive."

Tita Datu Puangco, CEO and founder of Ancilla Enterprise Dev’t. Consulting, born in Tarlac: "Watching Arstista.Rita was like watching a quality Broadway show except that it had the ambiance of folk theater. The cast depicted in song and dance the best in Kapampngan culture. That evening, I touched my culture and felt truly proud. It reminded me of my childhood summers spent in Bacolor with our apu, and also in Arayat with our aunt which enabled my sister and I to soak into the culture. I saw a strong commitment in the Artista.Rita group, but above all passion and beauty."

Danny Gozo, topnotch PR consultant, born in Guagua: "I felt very proud to be a true-blue Kapampangan! Some of the songs I last heard as lullabies my impu (grandma) would sing for me. And the food was to die for! When Larry Cruz says the bringhi was the best he’s tasted, you gotta know it’s for real. Kudos to the organizers!"