Death in Baras
Posted on October 27, 2008 by Herbert Joseph Carigma under Culture and Tradition
I know that you are intrigued, or should I say, bothered by the title of the article. I had the same reaction when I read the title in a website I was browsing last Sunday morning. I was doing a research for a commissioned work. Yes, the article talks about the death in Baras, Rizal.
So much for the introduction. The article is actually about the things Barasenians practice when someone dies. It was written by Maria Caridad Isidro of Ateneo de Manila University. The article was published in the journal Philippine Studies in 1978.
Four days from now, we’ll be heading to the cemeteries and other resting places of our departed loved ones. This scholarly piece then is very timely.
The article is very educational. It gives us an idea on the practices of the older folks during the death, wake and burial of the departed in the 1970s. I know some of them are still practiced but some customs are discontinued. Let’s take a look at those practices:
- ringing of the church bells the moment someone dies. Also known as “dubla,” there are different tones and pitches of the bells to identify if it was a man, woman, adult, child, single or married who died. Another term my grandmother used was “iskalada.” These times, however, I no longer hear the toll of the bells.
- creation of the coffin by the community. Because death is a lively business, atauls are now sold, though some are for rent.
- items of the deceased are placed near their coffin and are included in the grave
- the discreet method of giving the ambag / abuloy sa patay. I’ve seen this a couple of times on some wakes / lamay that I attended. The donor will fold the bill, press and hand it over to the family member who happened to be near the coffin.
- tong-its, tirimbe and mahjong. What’s a wake without gambling. This should be taken positively though, as we want to keep the lamay lively (no pun intended), and financial assistance to the family of the deceased since a portion of the winnings, called “tong” is given.
- no mirror, no bathing, no sweeping of the floor, no burial on Mondays. The article will explain this in detail.
- on the day of the burial, the coffin should not touch any part of the house as it is carried out, otherwise, another death may follow.
- young children make “lakdang” over the coffin
- cleaning of the house when the coffin leaves the house. What I saw before was not just sweeping of the floor. Binubuhasan talaga ng tubig ang sahig.
- for government officials and veterans, their remains are brought to the municipal hall with the coffin draped with the Philippine flag. For the well-off, a musical band is included in the procession to the cemetery. I remember my grandfather who plays some instruments joining the procession, but he seldom does it now.
- gathering of those who attended the funeral for a meal in the house
- pasiyam and ika-40 days. Since my mother serves as a lector/commentator in the church she would sometimes bring pansit, puto, kutsinta, or biko that came from the pasiyam. The hermanos/hermanas in the church also get candies.
More than these, a death is usually an opportunity for a reunion. A few weeks ago, my classmate’s father died, Less than a week later, her mother died. Almost all our classmates in high school attended the wake. Kung kailan pa may namatay, doon pa nagkasama-sama.
Download and read the article here.
On a side note, I hope that somebody would research more about the customs and traditions of Barasenians. I’m fond of reading chronicles of the normal life in the province, from the break of dawn till the wee hours of the night. I bet our kababayans abroad will miss their hometown if we have a book, something like a yearbook, about the Baras identity.
2 Responses to “Death in Baras”
Comment by pagong sa ilog.
bakit maraming magnanakaw sa baras cemetery? hindi mahuli ng mga pulis-baras.
ang libingan na dapat ay lugar ng yumao na mga mahal natin sa buhay ay nagiging lugar ng mga addict at magnanakaw. (ang libingan ng mga magulang ko ay ninakaw ang steel bars, atbp.)
PAUNAWA KO LANG SA MGA PULIS-BARAS NA HIGPITAN AT MANMANAN ANG PUBLIC CEMETERY NA GINAGAWANG LUGAR NA TAMBAYAN NG MGA ADDICT AT MGA MAGNANAKAW.
Comment by Dell.
I remember my grandmothers telling me some of the practices when someone dies. Most of them was already told in the article. But the music was not mentioned. In the early days, people bring guitar to play music during the wake. But now, I learned that people play videoke on wake. I forgot what my grandmothers told me why there was music, with guitar playing. And now, I have a hard time comprehending why videoke. Well, one of my grandmothers died just recently and my mother told me that it was fun having the videoke during her wake. Her great grandchildren were singing. Since I know my grandmother to be a very happy music-loving person, I never complained about the videoke. If her spirit was around during the wake, I’m positive she was having a great fun, too!
Herbert, does your mother knows that she was mentioned in this article? And in the “take home” section pa! Hehehe! Anyway, as far as I remember, giving “take home” food to the prayer group, mostly the elders of our church, who are doing the pasiyam and 40-days, just became a practice of appreciation of the family to the group who are doing the prayers for nothing. Hermanos and hermanas loved to have candies coz they already quit smoking and candies are the substitute for the cigars. For some who never smoke, they just accepted the candies coz they were offered.
This “death culture” in Baras written here was Catholics’ practice. How about the other religions’ “death practice?”