The month of May is celebrated as National Heritage Month
and the Provincial Tourism Office of Capiz wouldn’t let is pass without
celebrating the occasion. After all, Capiz is a place rich in heritage. I was
invited by Ang Panublion Museum director, Ms. Che del Rosario, to the Dungog Capisnon Youth Heritage Camp at Nagba in Cuartero last Saturday. By the way, my
mother hails from Cuartero but I never spent more than half a day in this town.
It was almost one-hour trip and the
weather was pretty fair. We barely noticed the time passing by because of our
chatter and cheer along the way. One of the Heritage Camp’s activity is the encounter with
Cultural Masters—individuals who know too well the heritage of their group or
locality. Culture bearers and performers did stuffs they’re great at and the participants
got the chance to hobnob with them and see the different intangible heritages
of the province has to offer.
The Tumandok (Panay-Bukidnon) of Tapaz and Jamindan
performed their oral chants, danced the Binanog, , and demonstrated the Panubok,
their traditional embroidery. I was happy to have finally met Panay-Bukindon folks there and we got the chance to have photo ops with them.
The Ati tribe, meanwhile, show off their amulets, talismans,
and herbs, which are in demand in towns and cities because of their medicinal value
and protective magic against spirits.
The townsfolks of Cuartero, meanwhile, demonstrated how native
delicacies, like the bayi-bayi, suman, and ibos are cooked.
Capiz Eco-Park, meanwhile, is a thriving with its lush flora
and fauna. I can get lost here strolling under the cool shades, pondering upon
life, while enjoying the refreshing surrounding. Plant lovers like me will
surely fall for the herbs, vegetables and ornamental plans are organically
raised in the area. The place has a vermi-composting site so there’s a fresh
supply of compost for every plant.
For the first time, I saw the cultural dance of Cuartero, Saot sa Pisi, also known as Sayaw ni San Antonio. I must say the girls have had a lot of practice to perfect their performance here! The dance is performed in honor of the town’s patron saint San Antonio de Padua. The performers would dance while intricately weaving colorful ropes tied at the topmost portion of a pole by each dancer until they weave the ropes into 12 weaving designs.
And after that, we helped our sweet teeth with this
delectable native delicacies… the product of the demonstration of the ladies
from Cuartero.
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