Masbate performers share quarters, meals like ‘one big family’
Since Monday, the grounds of City Central School have been turned into a dormitory for the visiting Sinulog contingent of almost 900 performers from Placer, Masbate province.
At the back of one classroom, teenager Mario Santisima lined up with a pail to wash his clothes in an outdoor faucet used by fellow performers to wash dishes and take a bath.
It’s his first time to visit Cebu.
“I’m excited and tense at the same time because many contingents have also joined. It’s also my first time to be away from home,” he said.
As a props man, Mario will carry a replica of a small cow and corncob.
Rene Serrano, also a props man, said they joined the dance troupe of Placer, Masbate, looking for fun but stayed on because it was a devotion to the Sto. Niño.
“I only watched this before on YouTube and thought it would be fun. I didn’t know you have to sacrifice a lot. It’s not easy after all,” said Serrano.
They sleep with about 30 other props men on a thin mattress laid on the concrete classroom floor like one big family.
“Sinulog is different from other festivals because I see people are very prayerful. I pray for my peace of mind and enlightenment,” Serrano said.
Placer’s Tribu Himag-ulaw has won the Sinulog grand prize in Free Interpretation for two straight years.
This year, the town is entering dance troupes to perform in both contest categories of the Sinuog-based and Free Interpretation.
The crew of about 900 occupy all classrooms.
Preparing the group
Placer Mayor Joshur Lanete, who is one of the performers, makes sure that they have the stamina for the grand parade.
Lanete makes sure that the dancers and rest of the crew are well fed and nourished days before the street dancing contest.
The crew eat heartily, lining up for hot, cooked rice in plastic drums.
Imelda Caang, 44, ladled out iron-fortified NFA rice to the largely male performers who ate sinigang na baboy (sour pork broth) and mongos.
“Kapoy kaayo pero malingaw ra gyud ko. It’s my devotion,” said Caang, one of 40 support workers doing kitchen duties.
Most of the dancers, props men and drummers can finish six full plates of rice with a small portion of viand in one sitting, she said.
Ian Sepulveda, their in-house nutritionist who is an athlete and a cousin of Mayor Lanete, said they make sure the team is well nourished and “carbo-loaded” with carbohydrates days before the big parade on Sunday.
Potassium-rich food, fresh fruits, candy and chocolates are simple treats that keep the team going. They consume 150 five-gallons of water a day to stay hydrated.
house
parent
Maria Serena Ramirez, 38, for her part, serves as “house” parent for hundreds of young students, most of whom are first timers in Cebu and in the Sinulog festival.
She makes sure the classrooms are clean, the students are complete during bedtime, and monitors their health and other personal needs.
“I’m like their mother. One of the students left her bag in the bus who brought us here, so I have to coordinate with the bus company. Someone is having her period, I have to make sure they have enough feminine napkins. They get tired eyes so I buy them Eye-Mo,” Ramirez said.
Ramirez took a leave of absence from her job at Masbate’s Provincial Capitol to help the contingent.
“It’s really a sacrifice for all of us. We have to take care of each other,” Ramirez said.
She is not alone. Her husband is part of the contingent; her son dances and a college-age daughter studying in Cebu helps run errands.
MIRACLE
Lanete said that he owed his belief in the Sto. Niño to a childhood “miracle.”
He was two years old when fire hit his uncle’s house in Masbate. The entire house burned down except for the bed where young Joshur was sleeping below a small altar of the Sto. Niño.
Since 2009, he’s led his town in joining the annual Sinulog celebration as his offering every year.
“It feels good that as a devotee I am able to influence other people to believe in the Sto. Niño. Everything done here is because of our devotion. We all need the comforts of home but to serve in a place like this and serve hundreds of people (dancers, props men, chef, medical team) is something else,” Lanete said.
Instead of checking into a hotel, he sleeps with the young performers under a tent. He brought his own sofa to the school grounds.
“At night, it’s cold. But when you’re tired, you just sleep,” he said.
Lanete is a hands-on mayor. He makes sure he is present from hatching the concept, to the choreography, and ensures the cast is fed and healthy.
On Sunday the mayor will be one of the props men carrying the biggest papier mâché replica of Sto. Niño in the contingent.
“It’s really heavy,” said Lanete, but said the weight was a small sacrifice to be offered to the Child Jesus.
