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Saturday, December 17, 2005
Dinagyang: At home with its humble beginnings
By Elsa S. Subong
IT MIGHT have copied most of its features from other similar festivals, such that it is perceived to be no different, except for the relatively prestigious competitions in tribe performances. It might just be an imitation of other festivals as some observers opined. It may not have a historical root, as claimed by many critics and historians. Or it may just be a vehicle for economic and tourism development.
For Father Roy J. Margallo, OSA, Parish Priest of San Jose, Iloilo City, these are not the core issues in the celebration of the Dinagyang. After all there are no written documents available that can resolve these issues; only possible explanations and opinions gathered through the years. Fr. Margallo believes that these can always be reconciled, as long as people stick to the fact that Dinagyang had its humble beginnings in the devotion to the Senor Sto. Nino that began to take root, in the hearts of Ilonggos some 39 years ago.
Then parish priest of San Jose Rev. Fr. Ambrosio Galindez started to introduce the devotion to Sto. Nino in November 1967, with the usual novenas and masses in honor of the latter. The devotion sparked a spiritual inspiration among the faithful in the parish such that they readily made it part of their religious lifestyle.
The following year, a replica of the original image of the Sto. Nino de Cebu was brought to Iloilo by Fr. Sulpicio Enderez. He intended that image to be given as a gift to the Parish of San Jose through Fr. Galindez. It was no ordinary arrival in Iloilo, for the faithful, led by members of the Confradia del Sto. Nino de Cebu, Iloilo Chapter, worked to give the image a fitting reception starting at the Iloilo airport, down the streets of Iloilo, where they paraded it.
Since then, the image has made its home at the San Jose Church, where devotees pray honor his Feast, which falls on the third Sunday of January. Fr. Margallo said that the observance of the feast follows the Liturgical Calendar of the Church. The first parish feast of the Senor Sto, Nino was celebrated in 1969, a year after its arrival. The main feature of the feast was the fluvial procession where the image was borne on a decorated banca, starting from the mouth of the Iloilo River at Fort San Pedro, down to the Iloilo Provincial Capitol and back to San Jose Church.
The observance of the feast since the arrival of the image was characterized with merrymaking confined only within the parochial level. The Confradia patterned the features of the Ati-atihan similar to that of Ibajay, Aklan, where natives dance on the streets, their bodies covered with soot and ashes. It was not an imitation in its entirety of rituals, but an imitation done in the spirit of the devotion to the Child Jesus.
Fr. Margallo said that the early ritual in the celebration took its theme from some historical facts, like, the devotion to Senor Sto. Nino was first exhibited by the natives of Cebu, where the image was first brought by the Spaniards. It was the tribal groups who first paid homage and it was in this prototype of devotion that the present festival takes its form, contextualized only in Ilonggo culture.
Fr. Margallo added that wishing not to depart from the original spirit of the devotion and in appreciating the gift of faith that was "transported" from Cebu, the Ilonggos have all the reasons to celebrate, be merry, through street dancing, fluvial processions and local reenactment of that devotion in tribes competitions, conceptualized by participating barangays.
Within a span of ten years, the devotion assumed wider popularity and magnitude, that the yearly observance of the feast became a much awaited event. It could not just be within the parameters of the parish nor the nearby barangays, for the sounds the rhythm and the motion reverberated not only on the streets but in the hearts of the pious Ilonggos. The devotion, the faith, the spirit are all aching to reach out to other aspects of life, hence they must take many significant and relevant forms.
Father Margallo viewed the developments that follow as "perfect timing" for a partnership that tremendously flourished through the years until today.
In 1977 that simple, humble devotion had found its way into the mainstream culture, which, again Fr. Margallo called "a blending of purpose." It was the year, the national government mandated the regions to come up with festivals or celebrations that can boost the spirit of tourism and development into one. The city of Iloilo readily identified the Iloilo Ati-atihan as its tourism potential project, which came on time just as the local parish proponent could hardly handle the growing challenges of the expanding upsurge of devotion.
Fr. Margallo said that the national and local government and the Iloilo Ati-atihan found each other at the right time and the right place and blended their purpose together - to strengthen the devotion to Senor Sto. Nino as well as push the development goals of Iloilo City.
This blending of purpose is captured in that magnetic word Dinagyang, the symbol of devotion in dynamic motion, in making Iloilo today, "the only one", evolving its own story of faith and culture in perfect timing. (ESS/PIA)
(December 17, 2005 issue)
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