When should we celebrate the fiesta?
Posted on January 20, 2009, 12:54 AM under Culture and TraditionAs expected, discussion arose on what the real date of the town feast is. For the nth time, we always ask ourselves on when we should celebrate and what we should celebrate. On one hand, you have the local government who professes that we hold our “town fiesta” on the last day of January. On the other side of the equation is the Catholic church who wants to celebrate the “patron saint” of the town, who is Saint Joseph Husband of Mary.
So the question now to our visitors is simple: When?
Here are the options:
1. Last Sunday of January. In 2004, the Sangguniang Bayan approved an ordinance setting the town’s feast day on the last Sunday of January. Their basis was their own survey conducted in nine barangays, though as we can see below, results were from eight barangays only.
Respondents were given four options – January, March 19 which is the feast of patron Saint Joseph, May 1 which is the feast day of Saint Joseph the Worker and December 24, the date when Baras was separated from Tanay. It could also be remembered that former Mayor Dionisio Donato Garciano in an executive order set January as the Family Day. Mayor Wilfredo Robles back then said that there was no politics involved. “Dapat lang na ang mga tao mismo ang magdesisyon dahil sila naman ang maghahanda. Hindi naman sila bibigyan ng munisipyo ng ipanghahanda nila,” Robles said when this writer interviewed him for Manila East Watch. Until 2007, Sikaran Festival is also held during this period.
2. March 19. Parish priest Romarico Hilario has been saying all along that people should celebrate the feast of Saint Joseph Husband of Mary on March 19. In my interview last year, he said this is the teaching of the Church. “Hindi ko naman pinapakialaman ang pamahalaan niya (Robles). Wala akong karapatan na magpalit, mag-iba, magbago, pigilan. Ang idinidiin ko, bigyan natin ng diin ang March 19, yung kaarawan ng ating patron,” he said. Last year, the feast was celebrated on March 15, March 19 being a Holy Wednesday. Hilario explained that the Lenten season always takes precedence than any other celebration, so the Catholic church adjusted the date. This could mean that though the feast of patron is on March 19, it could change depending on when the Lent falls. You can read the whole interview here. An old calendar, published 86 years ago also identified March 19 as the feast date of Baras.
3. May 1. Aka Tromba Festival. Sitio Malalim and Barangay Pinugay celebrate the feast of Saint Joseph the Worker on this day. In the town proper, however, this means Tromba Festival. This was also the date Garciano selected as the town fiesta when he was still the mayor. There’s Pagoda sa Ilog in the morning and Tromba in the afternoon. Since 2005, there was Agape or street party at night. The word tromba is a corruption Turumba, which is really a festival in Pakil, Laguna. I hypothesize, though this still has to be proven, that when Barasenians transferred to Pakil during the Second World War, they might have known of this tradition.
Disagreements like this only show how immature we are as a people, as a community. Fiesta does not only mean putting food on the table so that our visitors can have something to eat. It is not only shown in singing contests, games or exhibits. Just because you have banderitas hanging above your head means its fiesta. Rather, we should view fiesta as a collective action of the community, one as a thanksgiving for the grace of God and two, as an aspiration for a better future.
Please take note that we only want an intelligent discussion. It’s no longer a question of why hold a fiesta on the first place – that it’s too expensive, too lavish, waste of money, etc. That is not the question. What we want to know is how you support your argument.
By the way, I have modified the comments section. You can now reply to individual comments.
January 20th, 2009 at 6:23 am
It seems to me that whatever date we celebrate our town fiesta, in the end everybody had a lot of fun and disappointments as well. After the feast, nobody complains or questions how much money we spent. Most of the time, we felt relieved after the days of hard work of preparations and accomodations. We spent money and time but I am certain that all of us accept this realization as part of our daily lives. We are living in a community with cultures and beliefs, we should not argue about that. But the real problem, I may say, is the changing of the dates that corresponds to the changing of the politics of our town. I can’t blame the people that thinks that our fiesta was influenced by politics. The people of baras should do something about this problem. We should not tolerate the politicians to manipulate this beautiful culture we’ve been practising since we’ve been born. The feast date should be fixed, no matter when it is, no matter who the mayor is and no matter who the parish priest is.
How about boycotting our own fiesta? (Joke! Hehehe!)
January 21st, 2009 at 7:53 pm
Sa panahon ngayon ng KRISIS, kailangan pa ba ang ganyang karangyang kapistahan? dapat sana’y isang magarbong misa na lamang ang ilaan ng ating lokal na pamahalaan para sa pasasalamat sa mahal na Patron San Jose, lalo na sa Dakilang Jesus, para sa ikauunlad ng bayan at matiwasay na pamumuhay. Ilaan na lamang ang gastusin (250 k?) sa mga pangangailangan ng mahihirap nating kababayan o kaya’y ipaubaya sa simbahan ang pondong ito upang makarating ng tama sa mga nangangailangan. Tularan natin ang Taiwan sa pamamahagi ng kita ng kanilang bansa sa lahat ng kanilang mamamayan, ito ang tunay na paglilingkod sa kapwa. PEACE!!!
January 22nd, 2009 at 11:37 am
Fiestas in the country has been celebrated to honor the Patron Saint of a particular town. This is a Spanish tradition that has been assimilated in traditional Filipino custom and Culture. Meaning, fiestas is basically a Church and NOT a local government event. Obviously therefore, Fiestas as was mentioned by Fr. Rico and Fr. Vanni should have a “liturgical significance”. Celebrating it in January runs counter to tradition. In a nutshell, the question is “Who are we honoring in a Fiesta? is it the Patron Saint, in our case St. Joseph or the municipal government?”
If it is the municipal spending for it (a whooping 250 Thou), then it must be a municipal event. This is incongruent with the letter and spirit of the Tradition and Custom mentioned.
January 22nd, 2009 at 11:51 am
The picture of the Pagoda sa Ilog with the images of St. Joseph and Mama Mary, speaks for itself. Celebrating the fiesta every May 1, together with the Tromba Festival is more significant than Jan. which has no relevant purpose at all, which at most, is a municipal Thanksgiving Day. Don’t we think its better to celebrate Thanksgiving day in the Feast itself of our Patron St. Joseph, whether it be March 19, or May 1 (Tromba Festival) which is likewise a Church event, and at the same time “Workers Day” para isang celebration na lang?
January 24th, 2009 at 1:00 am
our municipal body is obviously part of the church. i suppose the church could’nt run the celebration itself since the culture became bigger in time in which it became a celebration attended by not just the parishioners but also my people from different towns. it is fair for the government people to be recognized for their full support of the fiesta. spending money for the celebration doesn’t mean the municipal government is taking all the credits of the celebration. let’s be thankful that our government is spending money for our town instead of not knowing where they’re putting that money. yes, there’s an argument of the amount they alloted for the fiesta, but that’s a different issue, i think. and for the church, i believe it has its own way of celebrating the patron’s day and i also believe the parishioners are always part of the church’s celebration.