BAYANIHAN REPUBLIC:
Stored Treasure / 21 May 2011
http://digitista.blogspot.com/2011/05/wowed-by-carabaos-pulilan-carabao.html
In
my quest to chronicle every Philippine treasure that I can possibly
see, I started being pro-active in personally checking out the
wonderful things that our country has to offer. May 15 is such a
fantastic date as many things are happening all through out the
Philippines. Last year, I was able to experience the unique Pahiyas
Festival in Lucban, Quezon. But this year, the May 15 event I chose to
witness is the Pulilan Carabao Festival (which is just two towns away
from my ancestor's place)! =)
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The marker in Pulilan, Bulacan |
Finally, together
with my cousins, I was able to witness one of the most colorful
festivals in the Philippines, the Pulilan Carabao Festival, in Pulilan,
Bulacan.
|
The Pulilan River |
|
My cousins enjoying the fiesta |
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A farmer and his animals gearing up for the parade |
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This carabao seems excited for the celebration. |
The Pulilan Carabao Festival is a tribute
to San Isidro Labrador, the patron of laborers and farmers, the same
saint being venerated in the festivities at several towns in Quezon
Province and Nueva Ecija, all in Luzon island. It is celebrated every
14th to 15th of May each year.
San
Isidro's history dates back to 1,000 years ago. Isidro or Isidore was
born in Madrid, Spain in 1070. Coming from a poor family, he served and
plowed the farm land of a wealthy landowner named Juan de Vargas.
Isidro, known for his kindness to poor people and animals, is a regular
mass goer. Every morning, before he goes to work, he hears mass at one
of the churches in Madrid. His fellow farmers complained to their
master that Isidro was always late for work. As the farm owner, Juan
didn't take it sitting down, he investigated the issue and he was
surprised to find out that an angel was doing the plowing for Isidro
while he is praying to God! Upon seeing the miracle, Juan knelt down in
awe. From then on, people will see the landlord kneeling down beside
the image of San Isidro.
|
San Isidro Labrador |
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The San Isidro Labrador church in Pulilan, Bulacan |
|
Statue of San Isidro Labrardor with Juan de Vargas |
And the miracle didn't end there. On
another day, Juan, Isidro's master, witnessed an angel plowing on either
side of Isidro which is a work worth of three laborers effort. It was
also said that Isidro was able to help bring back the life of his
master's deceased daugther and helped burst a fountain of fresh water
from drought stricken land to quench his master's thirst.
Now we know why San Isidro became a patron of laborers and farmers.
|
The carabao and the farmer smile to the crowd! =) |
In
honor of their patron saint San Isidro Labrador and to symbolize
farmers' hardwork, the Pulilan Carabao Festival was created. Carabaos
symbolize farmers' hard work as they play a key role in farming,
planting and harvesting and outshine dogs in being the bestfriend of men
working at the farm. =)
The
Pulilan Carabao Festival starts with the La Torre at 12 noon where drum
and lyre bands with marjorette dancers grace the streets, line up in
front of the church and perform in front of the crowd. Between 2 to 3
PM, the procession of bands, cultural dancers and of course carabaos,
about 150 of them, starts. Like what Juan de Vega did with San Isidro,
some of the carabaos were able to kneel before the church as they pass
by.
|
It's La Torre time! |
|
The band |
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This is my first time to see a xylophone this big! |
|
The cultural dancers prior to the Carabao parade |
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Here comes the carabao! |
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The first carabao I saw kneeling. |
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Jollibee praying that his carabao will kneel. |
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Jollibee's carabao kneeled a little longer than the others. As you can see, Jollibee is so pleased. =) |
As the festivity deals with procession of quite large animals, many soldiers were deployed to the streets.
It
was such a long hot tiring day but seeing the carabaos was all worth
it. I just wished the human parade will be a little shorter so that the
crowd can fully enjoy the sight. For this occassion, the carabaos
weren't able to finish the parade because it rained.
|
a kid patiently waiting for the carabaos' arrival despite the scourging heat |
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Families having fun during the fiesta |
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Direk Laurice Guillen was one of the celebrities who witnessed the celebration. |
Townsmen
believe though that the rain is another sign of blessing, as we all
know, water is a farm land's life blood, and it's badly needed
especially a this extremely stressful hot weather! And of course, San
Isidro was known to intercede miracles of providing water during
drought.
|
Carabaos walk faster as rain approaches.
|
I
decided to take a look at this Philippine tradition as I wanted to
witness how the people in Pulilan, Bulacan creatively express their
faith, give importance to the animals that help them in the field, get
united and uphold community spirit, and celebrate life. For me this is
another rare treasure that our country has that every Filipino, and
every life explorer, must see.
This is another check in my 2011 task list! What could be next? Hmmm...
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