Pelayo: Missing Ibon Ebon Festival

WHEN translated in English, the event means "birds and eggs" festival. But it sounded way better when town locals pronounce it using their dialect. And there was more to it just simply birds and eggs. It was one of the biggest and most awaited events in Central Luzon and the people of Candaba really put their hearts in it. The festivity polarized the whole archipelago that it even got featured in an in-flight magazine of Philippine Airlines. A popular morning TV show from a major broadcast network even made an on-site live telecast of the said event. The Ibon-Ebon Festival was as big as the sky. And just like that, it just flew away after the term of Mayor Jerry Pelayo.

The Ibon-Ebon Festival was conceptualized to promote the town's ecotourism, endorse the protection of migratory birds and also highlight Candaba's duck egg industry. During its 6-year course, former Mayor Jerry Pelayo believes that the festival was able to achieve these objectives.

On a bigger picture, the event was able to uplift the importance of Candaba swamp as a wintering site, thus minimizing and even pushing it to eliminate shooting and poaching of endangered bird species nationwide. Observers also find it difficult to deny the fact that it tends to unite people not only within the 33 barangays of Candaba but also the whole 4th district of Pampanga.

Unfortunately, the widely popular Ibon-Ebon has been scrapped without public consultation in 2013 taking away the town folks' pride that brought the small part of Pampanga to national and even global recognition.

Lamentably, the adverse effects that resulted from scrapping a national event are taking a huge toll on the ecosystem as the number of birds visiting the popular swamp continue to dwindle down in an alarming rate.

According to the Asian Waterbird Census (AWC), only 1,700 birds have been recorded in Candaba in 2019. This is a far cry from the 13,160 birds recorded back in 2010. As poaching is allegedly said to continue, it could be a bigger challenge to revive a festival that is suppose to focus on migratory birds if the flock continues to decline in number. Instead of Ibon-Ebon, the next administration might just call it Ebon Bibi Festival to emphasize singularly on the town's thriving duck egg industry.

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Kuya J Pelayo IV is a Kapampangan broadcast journalist. For comments and suggestions, e-mail at 4th.pelayo@gmail.com.