RITUALS
Hagabi
1 The
Hagabi feast is the most expensive, the highest and final ritual in the display
of Ifugao wealth. One who has performed
the Hagabi feast has attained the highest rank in Ifugao society, in wealth as
well as in social prestige. He is
entitled to certain privileges such as a voice in village affairs, the sounding
of the gongs at his death, invitations to similar feasts even in distant
villages.
2 A
man intending to give the feast must have everything ready: rice, rice wine and
animals. When all is set, they announce their
intentions to their relatives.
3 On
the appointed day, the male villagers go to the forest to look for a big
hard-wood tree, preferably an ipil or narra.
To the sound of gongs the men go about their search for a tree that must
be big enough for a hagabi couch to be carved out from a single trunk with no
joints at all. As soon as a tree has
been selected, the men start working, sawing and chipping until the tree is
felled. From the fallen tree trunk the
men start hewing out a rough form of the hagabi. In its rough form, the hagabi looks like some
monstrous animal with two heads, one on each side.
4 On
the last day of their stay in the forest, the folks back home and along the way
are notified so as to prepare food to serve the hagabi party as they pass
by. Sometimes it takes two or three
days for the hagabi to reach the owner’s
house, not because the forest is far but because the men who carry it make so
many detours and stops on the way just for the fun of it. And when the party stops for the night on the
way home, the man holding the hagabi is expected to butcher a pig for the meal.
5 The
hagabi is tied with strong vines to a sturdy pole. As many as thirty men line up on opposite
sides of the pole and with the aid of small poles tied to the main pole they
carry the hagabi on their shoulders. As
they inch their way along, they keep shouting “He, he, he,” meaning perhaps,
heavy is this hagabi. They have much fun
pushing and swinging the hagabi from side to side amidst shouts and
laughter. Some don’t even help to carry
the poles. Instead they would hang on to
the pole and swing on it thereby adding to the weight.
6 As
the hagabi nears the village, people from all around come to witness its
arrival. When the hagabi is about a
hundred yards away from the house of the owner, someone takes a basketful of
cooked malagkit rice and puts it down in the yard. Those who are around each take a handful of
the rice and throw it at the men carrying the hagabi. Then a sort of free-for-all throwing ensues. However anything that might hurt is not used.
7 As
soon as the hagabi is in the yard, the owner leaps on it while it is still on
the men’s shoulders. He stands majestically
and bids everyone to be still and listen as he eloquently announces that he is
a wealthy man just his ancestors had been.
He welcomes the hagabi home but he also bids it to come with only the
best of everything… fortune, health and wealth, increase of his pigs and
chickens and that his fields will yield good harvests. The people feast and drink and a big carabao
called the hidug is butchered for the sacrifice of the day. At about sunset the festival ends and the
owner at his leisure will then fix the roughly-hewn figure to give it its
polished look.
Putong
1 The
Philippines is known as a land of friendly people. Tourists to the country have nothing but fond
memories of the natural warmth and affection that the Filipinos shower on their
guests. From Luzon to Mindanao these
virtues are extolled on all who come, but nowhere is it more beautifully
expressed than in the island of Marinduque where the effusive hospitality of
the people is brought forth by honoring and adopting the visitors as children
of the island in a ceremony called “Putong.”
2 “Putong”
is the ritual that has been performed by the townspeople of Marinduque for many
years now. The origin is lost in history
but tradition has established its practice.
The old folks of the island speak of the time when the celebration of
the “Putong” began as a fulfillment of a promise to perform the ritual in
return for favors granted. This usually
occurred when a person in a household was taken ill and the parents and
relatives of that person pray for his quick recovery in return for which they
promised to perform the “Putong” every year for a certain number of years.
3 The
rite of thanksgiving revolves around the honoree—the person for whom the favor
was asked—who sits on a chair at the center of the room, with a sponsor
standing behind him holding a lighted candle.
As he sits there, the old women folk of the town and his relatives
perform the ritual. If the honoree or
celebrant is indisposed or is out of town at the time of the scheduled celebration,
his photograph is set on a chair at the center of the room and the festivities
go on as if he were present.
4 The
ceremony is usually celebrated at the residence of the most prominent person in
town. The living room or yard is
bedecked with palm fronds and flowers and the lights brightly shine through the
night as if for a ball. A group of old
women who are usually professional singers for this type of celebration are
dressed in kimonos and shirts with flowers in their hair and garlands around
their necks. These women request
permission to enter and join the celebration.
They dance and start singing to a haunting melody as they sway to and
fro around the room. In their hands,
they carry small baskets filled with petals which are thrown around the honoree. The oldest of the group then approaches the
celebrant with a crown of entwined vines and flowers which she places on his
head amidst shouts of jubilation. The
dancing continue as flowers and petals are happily strewn about the room. Before the crowd breaks and the ceremony ends
the host throws coins for a mad scramble to the enjoyment of the crowd and the
children.
5 Feasting
and dancing then follows the celebration as the whole town joins in to share in
the momentous event.
6 This
gay and lavish affair, which started as a symbol of thanksgiving has evolved
into a symbol of welcome where it is now celebrated to honor special visitors
to the island of Marinduque. The guests
are honored with the festive rite because it makes them feel that they truly
belong and are really welcome.
7 Great
is the hospitality of the Filipinos and with each time the “Putong” is
celebrated so do the Marinduquenos endear themselves to the hearts of their
friends.
Runsay
1 It
is said that once a long time ago, while a Tagbanua datu was sailing on the
beach, he suddenly saw eight men and one woman seated on a large metal cooking
vat sailing through the waves near the shore.
They called to him with a message that his tribe should hold a “runsay”
every year on the fourth day after the full moon in December. They said that the people should prepare
offerings to them; rice, wax, cigarettes, fruits and one chick. For they were the spirits—the nine deities
who took care of life. They warned the
datu that if his people did not call on them every year they would become very
sick and die.
2 And
so it is that very year on the fourth day after the full moon of December one
of the most dramatic of the Tagbanua rituals is performed on the beach near the
mouth of the Aborlan River in Palawan.
3 The
ritual of the runsay begins at dusk and lasts till dawn, embracing five
distinct phases. The first phase is
devoted entirely to building a twelve-foot ceremonial raft, for the ritual is
centered around this raft, which at midnight is set to sail into the unknown
deep carrying the offerings to the nine deities.
4 The
second phase marks the time when the spirits of the dead and the nine deities
are called. The datu performing the
ceremony arranges the offerings just beyond reach of the lapping waves. Then, squatting before the offerings he
throws a pinch of rice into the air. He
then calls to the spirits of the dead asking them to help him call the nine
deities and convince them that they should protect the Tagbanua from the
spirits of epidemic sickness.
5 The
raft, still resting high on the beach, is the scene of the third phase of the
runsay. The families of the tribe pile
the raft with food. Then, the datu picks
up a bowl full of rice, holds it towards the sky and the sea, and prays
briefly. He then lights a candle, sticks
it on the platform of the raft, and at the same time throws seven pinches of
rice taken from the bowl into the air, calling the nine deities to partake of
the offering. The “promise” made has
been fulfilled.
6 As
the wind blows over the beach, a signal goes out through the crowd and the
children edge towards the raft to dive into the mound of food, and try to
obtain and eat as much as possible.
While the children fight to get the food, the surrounding crowd becomes
very boisterous, shouting encouragement and laughing at the food bedecked
figures.
7 A
brief lull in the ceremony follows wherein the raft is cleaned up and repaired.
Then the datu once again calls the nine deities, initiating the fourth phase of
the runsay. The women, representing each
family approach the raft with baskets of offerings. The quantity of the offering being determined
exactly by the number of members in the family.
When all the individual offerings have been piled and arranged on the
raft, the datu ties a small chick to the platform and sticks candles on both
sides of it.
8 And
then the fifth phase begins. The raft is
brought by the men of the tribe to the water about two hundred yards from
shore. The crowd quickly gathers on the
edge of the surf to watch the raft as it moves briskly out to sea, the
excitement rustling through the crowd as the raft sails away, for it is
considered an ominous sign if it should “be returned” to the beach.
9 Ceremonial
dancing and laughter follows as the ritual comes to an end and the Tagbanuas,
once more protected by the deities, meet the dawn.
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