GMA to grace Ati-atihan; Kabankalan Sinulog on

Kalibo’s Ati-atihan gets a real boost with President Arroyo as guest this weekend.

That is a welcome gesture since Kalibo still has to live down last year’s bloody rampage that killed nine people, including the policeman who ran amuck felling people with his M-16 rifle.

The incident, of course, was isolated. But Kalibo still has to live it down. And the Ati-atihan could be affected, although there are indications that the swell of habitual Sto. Niño devotees seems not to have abated.

Still, there are many who may have had second thoughts about joining the Ati-atihan.

The President was reportedly invited by Aklan Gov. Catalino Marquez, Rep. Joeben Miraflores and Vice Gov. Ronquillo Tolentino to grace the Jan. 14-15 Sto. Niño affair.

Aklanons, according to Gov. Marquez, will be honored by the President’s presence during the concelebrated field Mass known locally as Pasalamat (Thanksgiving).

The highlight of the affair will be at the end of the Mass when the image of the Holy Child (Sto. Niño) is handed over to the principal guest, usually the mayor of Kalibo. This Sunday, it will possibly be the President herself, who will receive the image and shout three times "Viva kay Señor Sto. Niño."

This then sparks the start of the street-dancing. That’s the principal lure of the Ati-atihan. Anyone can join the street-dancing and let his/her hair down, with nobody caring or resenting it.

My late wife (Dr. Lourdes L. Espina) used to be among the most avid Ati-atihan joiners. Once, one of my sons astounded me when he joined a group of Iloilo and Manila mediamen prance on the streets and took one regulating the human traffic.

But that is Ati-atihan.

Many Boracay tourists often participate in the Ati-atihan. Although over the years, the lure of the island resort often left Ati-atihan behind. Many Boracay visitors have learned to attend instead the last Sunday Ati-ati of Ibajay, Aklan’s most populous town.

There, as I had mentioned in previous columns, the townsfolk have managed to maintain the purity of the religious and cultural festival. They have succeeded also in doing away with the temptation of commercializing the religious festival. That also makes the Ati-ati an appealing fete for foreigners. And gradually, I have observed a growing number of foreign tourists in Ibajay’s Ati-ati.

But the Ati-ati does not necessarily countenance dancing in the streets the same way as the Ati-atihan does. There are still those who dare join the dancers. But they simply insinuate themselves into the crowd.

Otherwise, the Ati-ati procession is simply that — a religious proclamation of the Ibajaynons’ faith in Sto. Niño.

But it does have its own unique features. The floats of the participating barangays are decorated by the products of the respective communities. Thus, the first time I attended it, I was astonished to discover that the pinkish decor of a float turned out upon closer examination to be cooked shrimps. And the dark color of the float of one of the coastal barangays to be that of charcoal-broiled fish. Other floats boasted corn and other agricultural crops.

Of course, most of the floats have the ubiquitous lechon, which are bid out to the viewers.

Another feature of the Ibajay Ati-ati is that all the participants carry bundled ready-to-eat food at the tip of their bamboo poles or whatever it is that they carry around to help them walk. And these are given out to anybody who asks for food. That’s a very hospitable Christian gesture that has made it an enduring phenomenon.

Sinulog

Today’s Sinulog in Cebu has evolved into something more than just the Sinulog of my youthful days in the Central Visayan city. I remember those days when as a five- to seven-year old boy, I participated in the Pit Señor.

This time, though, I’ll be heading for Kabankalan City to attend its Sinulog festival. For Mayor Pedro Zayco, the city government and the Sinulog Festival Foundation Inc. have left no stone unturned to commemorate the Sinulog’s 30th year as memorable as could be.

This is actually a nine-day affair replete with unbridled merrymaking and with cultural presentations worth remembering, pointed out Adolfo Mangao Sr., the foundation’s chairman.

There’s one noticeable thing. Since early this week, I have seen hundreds of visitors already making their way to Kabankalan City for the Sinulog.

The highlights of the affair this weekend will be the grand opening ceremonies in the city’s football field. This will be followed after the 7 p.m. affair by the Barkadahan sa Sinulog, a disco party with a live band. Then, there will be the dinner show with Ryan Racal, a Star in a Million finalist.

At 9 p.m., the Kabankalan plaza will be the scene of the riotous Don Romantico Sing-and-Dance Alike Contest.

Sunday will feature the fluvial parade of the Sto. Niño from Talubangi to Lugway along the Ilog-Hilbangan River. That is held early in the morning at 5:30 a.m.

After the Sugar sa Lugway, the participating tribes will assemble in the football field to participate in the grand tribal parade after the concelebrated Mass.

The post-lunch period will be the tribal competition where every participating tribe will display its wares, especially its choreographed dances.

Vice Mayor Raul Rivera stressed that the annual event is reflective of the social cohesion that pervades in Kabankalan City.

Well, these are just among the festivities that have become Filipino traditions as Pinoy Catholics pay their tribute to Sto. Niño. As a matter of fact, the Vatican has authorized a special Mass for Sto. Niño, proof that even Rome has finally recognized that the Filipino people are devotees of the Holy Infant Jesus.

Kabankalan City is 91 kilometers south of Bacolod and had a population of 461,901 last year. It has 69,735 hectares and two sugar mills, including the Southern Negros Development Corp. and the Dacongcongon Central.

Lately, it has grown by leaps and bounds, becoming the principal gateway to Dumaguete City in Negros Oriental with the opening of the highway through Mabinay that has cut down travel time to Negros Oriental by almost half.

Bolder crimes in Bacolod

Criminals seem to have become bolder in Bacolod City. Last Monday morning, there was the robbery in the Pizza Hut outlet in Robinsons Place with the gang taking off with some P300,000.

The cash vault was recovered 14 hours later at Hacienda Katumbal, E.B. Magalona town. Two minors were setting traps for birds in a sugarcane field when they spotted it. They reported their find to Senior Inspector Santiago Rapiz, E.B. Magalona police chief.

Then, there was the killing of 19-year-old guest relations officer Irene de la Peña inside a local motel. Police are readying charges against somebody engaged in foreign exchange who allegedly hired several people for the killing.

Then again, there is the mysterious "Bonnet Gang" which reportedly abducted and molested a female coed in front of Robinsons Place last Jan. 3.

Police released yesterday an artist’s sketch of one of the alleged gang members. He is reportedly between 17 and 22 years old, skinny and short, fair-complexioned, about five feet, five inches tall, and weighing about 120 pounds. He was described as fluent in both Ilonggo and English.

There were suspicions that the gang members may belong to prominent families in Bacolod.

The crime wave continued last Thursday morning when three motorcycle-riding persons held up a cashier and driver of the Saragaso Construction and Development Corp. along Burgos street. Cashier Marietta Pillone Labis, 51, had just withdrawn P114,000 for the salaries of the company’s employees from a Land Bank of the Philippines branch when the heist took place.

Labis was accompanied by 45-year-old Renato Deramon Estrella, the driver of the firm’s Nissan pick-up.

Later in the afternoon, laborers of Hda. Adela in Barangay Lantad, Silay City, recovered a plastic bag containing an ATM card, Labis’ identification card, several notebooks, two bunches of keys, and a calculator.

Superintendent Pedro Merced, Bacolod’s beleaguered police chief, took that incident as a personal challenge to him.

But other than just words, Merced must be able to solve this series of crimes if he wants to recapture public confidence in the police force.

Bacolod City Mayor Evelio Leonardia, however, has his own perception. "I believe that Col. Merced can address the problem. I am pretty sure that he can solve this holdup incident," he told local mediamen.

Well, amen to that. Just keep your fingers crossed.