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Wednesday, April 27, 2005
Katagman Festival: A glimpse of Oton's history
THE town of Oton in southern Iloilo will celebrate its 433rd Foundation Day on April 28 to May 3 and along with it, the Katagman Festival.
This year's theme "Bahandi nga Maragtas Sang Kasaysayan Ipanubli sa Kabataan" is a week-long festivity, attracting tourists to its trade fairs, Laro ng Lahi, on-the-spot painting contest, fun-run, bomborador or its much anticipated kite-flying competition.
The highlight of the festival is the tribe contest, a fusion of dance and theater performance, blending choreography with theatrical production. Highlighting its identity is the introduction of a uniformed and distinct dance step and a mask---a replica of the golden mask dugout in Barangay San Antonio in 1973 and is currently on display at the National Museum.
One can take a glimpse of Oton's history with the celebration. In 1572, the municipality of Oton formerly known as "Ogtong," was the first settlement established in Panay during the Spanish Period which later became the seat of the Alcadia de Panay until the year 1581.
Oton today is only 10.6 kilometers away or 15 minutes drive from the city. It is the gateway to the southern part of Iloilo province. Its stately municipality is made up of 37 barangays distributed to its land area measuring to 8,456 hectares.
In a part of the country where histories tend to be ancient an rich, Oton is unique in having the earliest and richest in Iloilo.
History states that Oton was the seat of Madia-as Confederation in Panay under Datu Paiburong. It was then one of the few places in Panay where civilization first started and the Batiano River, then a flourishing Malay Port was where the trading among the Malays, the natives, and the Chinese merchants took place.(Provincial Tourism Office)
(April 27, 2005 issue)
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