GUYITO, the Philippine Daily Inquirer’s mascot, becomes one of the stars of the Pahiyas Festival in Lucban town, Quezon province, marching down the town’s streets and gamely posing with tourists for selfies. DELFIN T. MALLARI JR.
Residents of Lucban town, Quezon province, celebrated recently the bounty of their farms on the feast of San Isidro, patron saint of farmers, through the colorful, crowd-drawing Pahiyas Festival.
While the fresh produce and other decors that adorned houses along the procession route did not disappoint revelers, longtime residents of Lucban, a town nestled at the foothills of Mt. Banahaw, are struggling to preserve the unique features of Pahiyas against modernization.
Dennis Jardin, Lucban tourism officer, said the local government had taken the initial steps by banning the use and proliferation of plastic or any kind of artificial kiping (colorful rice-based wafers elaborately arranged chandelier-style) as décor during the festival.
“The local government and residents are trying their best to preserve our unique festival. This is inherent in our culture and we will preserve it,” Jardin said.
Thanksgiving
Pahiyas, a thanksgiving feast for a bountiful harvest, is held every May 15 in honor of San Isidro. It is known for exquisite displays of multicolored kiping, fresh vegetables and other native products in every house along the procession route.
The Department of Tourism has included the agricultural town, 160 kilometers south of Metro Manila, on its list of must-see destinations, owing to its annual feast’s rich cultural history, color and gaiety.
A man was overheard telling his teenage grandson, while pointing to a modest two-story house adorned with colorful kiping and bahay kubo vegetables: “That’s the old kind of house décor that we used to see here in the 1960s and 1970s.”
He expressed disappointment at the loss of the true spirit of the San Isidro feast, noting the transformation of the annual event from a traditional religious activity to a heavily commercialized revelry.
“Well, it’s good for the local economy but, unfortunately, is causing the slow death of an ethic religious tradition,” he said.
Commercialization
During the festival season, the narrow streets of Lucban are transformed into a virtual display area for different product advertisements and streamers.
The Catholic Church has detached itself from the commercialized celebration of the feast of San Isidro. On Sunday, it staged the traditional procession of the image of San Isidro in the morning, unlike in past celebrations when the religious rite was part of the festival parade in the afternoon.
However, both church and local government leaders had joined efforts to bring back the festival’s focus on San Isidro.
As early as January, Jardin said his staff and other concerned offices had been going around the route of the procession to encourage house owners to use farm produce and local products as decorations.
Jardin said a house that used artificial decorations was automatically disqualified from the local government-sponsored contest for best decorated structure. The recognition comes with a P150,000 top prize.
More than 800 houses joined the contest this year, Jardin said.
The procession route changes every year to give other house owners a chance to showcase their artistry. Residents believe that houses along the route are bound to receive special blessings in the coming year.
But with the prohibitive cost of kiping, at P8 each, Jardin said most house owners used the basic and simple decors of the Pahiyas of old—fresh fruits and vegetables.
Guyito
But Jardin admitted that it was hard to fight modernization and the eventual commercialization of the festival.
He acknowledged that the entry of corporate sponsors in Pahiyas added color to the feast and, to some degree, helped the local government to continue the tradition.
He cited the sponsorship of the Philippine Daily Inquirer of the annual parade of carabaos that pull wooden sledges decorated with farm produce and flowers.
The event, called bikas gayak (well-adorned), is a tribute to the farmer and the carabao, a symbol of the hardworking Filipino.
“The Inquirer-sponsored event has been a great help in our continued struggle to preserve Pahiyas as a unique event in honor of San Isidro and our farmers,” Jardin said.
Guyito, the Inquirer mascot, graced the special event that is aimed at reviving the tradition of bringing back farmers to the center of the Pahiyas celebration.
First harvest
This year, at least 10 carabaos joined the event. The sledges with the most beautiful and unique decoration won cash prizes and gift certificates.
Fr. Noel Cabungcal, Lucban parish priest, traced the San Isidro festival to the religious practice of old Lucban residents to offer their first harvest to the deities as a form of thanksgiving.
“That was the practice of San Isidro back then. He combined farming work with his religious beliefs, to thank God for all the blessings. The farmers of Lucban do the same, despite their hard life,” Cabungcal said.
Accounts by the Lucban Historical Society (LHS) showed that during the harvest season in precolonial times, natives would bring their produce to the church, where the parish priest blessed these as a form of thanksgiving.
“But as … years pass by, changes in the manner of [celebration] and ceremonies of the [San] Isidro festival were affected because the Church [had] become inadequate to accommodate the [increasing] harvests,” LHS said in a post on its Facebook page.
After consultations with the priest, an agreement was reached for farmers’ harvests to be displayed at the doorsteps of houses to be blessed during the procession that features images of San Isidro and other saints.
“Not content with this change, the townspeople went on to outdo each other’s doorsteps, [making] the procession more lively and colorful,” LHS said.
A balikbayan from the US said she missed the traditional practice of people being allowed to grab house decors after the image of San Isidro has passed.
“Now, even if one asks for a piece of the décor, the request would be ignored because the house owner wants to preserve the decoration because [contest] judges would still evaluate them. They all wanted to grab a piece of the prize. This is not the San Isidro that we used to have,” said the woman.