Antipolo and the pilgrimage

Tayo na sa Antipolo, At doo’y maligo tayo,

Sa batis na kung tawagin, Ay Hi-, Hi-, Hinulugang Taktak!

I can still sing this song merrily to myself in Tagalog as I recall my younger days when I used to go to Antipolo with my friends. These are one of the most happiest and unforgettable days of my youth. I also joined the Antipolo pilgrimage processions which usually start from Manila. We would walk and ride carromatas all the way to Antipolo and end up in the town of Our Lady of Antipolo.

The merry month of May would not be complete without thinking of the Antipolo Pilgrimage. Religious devotees walked from the end of the railway to Antipolo and the more affluent are carried in hammocks called “Hamaka”. My brother Alfredo has the following vivid account of this tradition, which he portrayed in his book Looking for Liling, a story about World War II veteran, Rafael, or Liling, who was my eldest brother:

“Pilgrims would take the carromata to Sto. Cristo where by early dawn at the Colgante Pier near the Quinta Market, bancas decorated with buntings took the boisterous pilgrims down the Pasig River to Taytay for two pesos. This exuberant river route ferried the banca riders past Malacañang Palace, on to the pottery-making town of Bangbang. Pasig, where the paddle-weary boatmen paused to catch their breath, and passed the narrow channel appropriately named Bitukang Manok (chicken intestines) where pilgrims dropped alms in nets attached to long poles held by mendicants along its banks, and finally to Taytay. From here, after the usual haggling with the hammock carriers, the rest of the trip was negotiated by the women individually stretched out inside a hammock borne on the shoulders by two strong men. Old folks and even some male dandies also traveled in hammocks; but spritely young men took to horseback to impress the young ladies, riding escort alongside the hammocks of their favored ladies. It would be dusk by the time the party would settle down in the town of Our Lady of Antipolo.”

Antipolo, located in the central part of Rizal province, was then the holiday spot of prominent families. The tradition was to go there once a year, to pray to the much-venerated image of the Virgin of Antipolo, Nuestra Senora de la Paz y Buen Viaje, or Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage. People would also attend cockfights and engage in their favorite card game called panguingue. Another favorite entertainment is going to picnics to the Hinulugang Taktak waterfalls and spring. Teenagers would revel in all-night haranas (serenades). Many people looked forward to feasting on Antipolo’s traditional merienda fare of sweet mango and suman.

Antipolo was named after a tree locally known as Tipolo (Autocarpus Incisa) which was in abundance in the area at the time. The early written account of the city’s history was recorded in 1578 by the Franciscan missionaries who came to christianize the natives like the Dumagats. Early records referred to the natives as Tagal, Indians and Black (the aetas). It is said that these missionaries built the church at Bosoboso. In 1591, the Jesuits replaced the Franciscans in Antipolo who organized the village into a parish. They built a chapel in Sitio Sta. Cruz, among them were Fr. Pedro Chirino and Fr. Francisco Almarique. The same year, the first homily in Tagalog was delivered in a mass celebrated at a place now known as Pinagmisahan.

La Virgen was brought from Acapulco in 1626. In my book Fiestas, I mentioned that the veneration to Our Lady begun to increase when her image “disappeared” from the altar and “appeared” on top of the antipolo tree. In 1648, the Virgin accompanied five consecutive galleon trips from Manila to Acapulco. During her first trip on board the galleon ship, San Diego, it was said that she performed a miracle by calming the seas when a storm threatened to sink the ship. Thus, the Antipolo Virgin was bestowed the title Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage. Her last voyage was in 1672. On May 6, 1947, the first procession of the Virgin of Antipolo was held starting at the hills of Pinagmisahan. This place, and the Virgin, primarily, were always thought to be miraculous. It was widely known that when pestilence hit the towns of Antipolo, Cainta and Taytay, the Virgin of Antipolo was taken, upon advice of the Parish Priest, to Pinagmisahan. A mass was celebrated there and prayers were heard and the suffering vanished.

Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage had always been like a mother who always made sure no harm would fall on her children. Just like real mothers. Tomorrow is Mother’s Day and I have this short story to tell. A number of years ago, a little girl said to her mother, in one of those bursts of confidence that children sometimes have, “Mama, I am nearer to you than I am to Papa.” Her mother asked, “Why, what do you mean, my dear?” “Why,” she replied, “I am your own little girl, but I am only related to Papa by marriage”. We wish all mothers the best.