Mayohan sa Tayabas:

Resurrecting the Cabecera spirit

As the sun and stars come together for a summer embrace, the Tayabasin commitment to the world unfolds. And so the dancing soars with the hands of heaven and earth both swaying in Tayabas land.

Like an individual human being, a social community is also a living entity in search of its own destiny. For Tayabas, this search needs an understanding of the self—her inner being, meaning and history.

A pulsating story is disclosed within the pages of Tayabas history. It is a past that promises immeasurable wealth to one who opens the book. By reconnecting with the past, answers are revealed to illumine the questions: What is Tayabas? Who is Tayabas?

The municipality of Tayabas was established in 1578 by Franciscan missionaries named Fray Juan de Placencia and Fray Diego de Oropesa. From 1779 to 1910, Tayabas was the cabecera of the province that was also called Tayabas. Later, the province was named Quezon. Tayabas, as the cabecera then could be regarded as the mother of the provincial community. Tayabas was the navel, the womb, the center.

Being the mother, Tayabas was the spirit life of the entire province. She gave birth to beginnings. Her milk was the fountainhead of life, growth and strength. Tayabas nurtured the social processes of learning and change toward the whole province’s maturity.

Lucena, formerly a village of Tayabas, is now the capital of Quezon province. Tayabas was Lucena’s mother. Lucena has earned its freedom and self-reliance. Tayabas, just like a true mother, has learned to let go of the child. Lucena today is a fast growing city. The umbilical cord binding the child to the mother has already been severed, as what should happen for the offspring to fully develop. But the original navel still breathes. Tayabas remains the beginning and the mother. And her inner ties with all her children continue to flourish.

Mayohan is a time for giving tribute to the mother. It is a season for remembering the mother’s sacrifice. There is blood in birthing as affirmed by history. Tayabas was the womb desecrated by the Spaniards when they executed here 203 women and men who were members of the Cofradia de San Jose. Before the execution, the Cofradia members were asked, Why do you rebel? They answered, To pray. In his book Pasyon and Revolution, historian Reynaldo Clemeña Ileto said that they died serenely and showed unusual greatness of spirit.

Those 203 daughters and sons of Tayabas marked the Golgotha of religious freedom among the natives of the entire Luzon island. Among the 203 killed was Apolinario de la Cruz, the Lucban-born son of Tayabas province who founded the Cofradia de San Jose. The legendary De la Cruz, better known as Hermano Puli, was but 26.

Mayohan calls for every Tayabense to reach deep to the heart of his relationship with the Mother Spirit of Tayabas. After Golgotha comes resurrection. Being in-touch with the mother womb allows the Tayabas rebirth. Thus, Mayohan beckons: Behold the mother as embodiment of our essence and worthy of our reverence and devotion.

The Cabecera Spirit

Tayabas has the wealth of experience as provincial capital for 131 years. The Spaniards must have chosen it as the cabecera because of its natural splendor. Of all the towns around Mount Banahaw, Tayabas has the best panoramic view of this vulcan de agua now regarded as the mystical mountain of the Philippines—host to at least half a million pilgrims during Holy Week.

"Jose Rizal himself must have visited the cabecera," said the late Dr. Juan Rosales, a Tayabense philanthropist and history enthusiast. This affirms the fact that Elias, the revolutionary character of Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere, was from Tayabas.

Art, comedia, theater, dance, music and poetry flourished here. Don Juan Alvarez y Guerra wrote De Manila a Tayabas in 1878 where he said: "Tayabas, como toda la provincia a que da nombre, es el centro de la pureza de la raza india y la buena diccion del tagalo…(Tayabas is the wellspring of purity of Tagalog race; the center of pristine, elegant native language)."

But despite its rich history and cultural heritage, most Tayabas folks have forgotten their glorious past. Necias Chaves Pataunia, a writer and sociologist who has been the Municipal Planning and Development Coordinator for seven years, laments: "The Tayabasin have had many years of sleeping. For quite a time hardly anyone knew our history. We have had our own dark ages."

The 42-year-old MPDC attributes this forgetfulness to the Second World War when the Americans heavily bombarded Tayabas: "According to our elders, the ancestral homes here in Tayabas were as beautiful as the ones in Vigan. The war ruined not just the Tayabasin economy but also its heart and soul." Pataunia is keenly aware that knowing history means learning to own power and responsibility over one’s destiny. Thus, he believes in the revival of the cabecera spirit as the roots of Tayabasin leadership.

Celebrating the center

Mayohan sa Tayabas is one program of the municipal government that aims to facilitate the conscious recollection process among community members. Through a 10-day celebration, which happens on May 6-15, the Tayabanse is guided to honor the glory as well as bless the wounds and sacrifices of the past.

Mayohan is a season for the Tayabenses to converge at the mother navel of Quezon province. It is an opportunity to relish the gaiety of summer when the earth is breathing out splendor in Tayabas; when the plants and trees fully spread out into the sunlight, pregnant with flowers and fruits; when Banahaw mountain springs and rivers are teeming with dalag and shrimps.

Mayohan opens on May 6 with a parade of baliskog and tao-tao. Baliskog is the Tayabas arch of welcome while tao-tao is the scarecrow that is commonly found in rice fields. This time, however, tao-tao is dressed up as a figure of history: a Spanish friar, a Katipunero, a Japanese soldier, a fighter of the New People’s Army, a Tayabasin kumadrona or healer, and many others.

All 66 barangays together with various organizations of government and civil society showcase their baliskog and tao-tao brightly decorated with Tayabas indigenous materials such as buli, rattan, dried flowers, kiping, and tistis.

Kalinangan—creative economics

Farmers, entrepreneurs, crafts people and artists come together in Kalinangan sa Mayohan to experience the true meaning of center. A defined festival zone becomes the physical center of Mayohan. Here, the mother navel acts as the organizing strength. She summons producers to exchange inspiration and discoveries in the development and marketing of their work pieces and services.

Shoppers and sellers alike delight in the abundant farm produce such as bundles of palay, giant upo, and kalabasa hanging in Kalinangan booths. The exotic display is mixed with old images of San Isidro and other Tayabas artifacts, all of which stimulate lively conversation. Whether these items are for sale or strictly for exhibit, stories about them are repeatedly told.

Potential investors are toured around Kalinangan sa Mayohan, with the hope that they appreciate vibrant cultural life as indispensable in genuine development. They are invited as partners in facilitating the metamorphosis of one-sided industry and commerce into the ideal Tayabasin economic life as accompanied by historical and cultural integration.

At night, the Mayohan festival zone is transformed into a gregarious world that wells forth with lambanog. Barangay residents and members of participating organizations converge in their own Kalinangan booths for the old customary ritual of tagayan. They enchant visitors into their intimate circles and take turn drinking the locally brewed coconut vodka from only one glass.

Ponsyunan rituals

True to being a cabecera, Tayabas is replete with traditions that are not merely echoes of the past. Through Ponsyunan, Mayohan inspires Tayabenses to reconnect with diverse practices such as awitan, hagbungan, pamamanhikan, kasalan, and awit sa krus.

Ponsyunan comes from the words funcion and posicion. This tradition refers to the invitation of the land steward who calls for bayanihan in rice planting and harvesting.

Ponsyunan has three features:

• pa-tao which means people are invited;

• partaking of abundant food and lambanog, the locally brewed coconut vodka;

• joyful celebration, hence, a funeral wake is not a Ponsyunan although the other two elements are also present.

The cycles of life are remembered in Ponsyunan. Rituals are enacted along with authentic Tayabasin songs, dances and prayers. Old costumes, furniture, ornaments, cooking utensils and other ancestral treasures are unearthed and exhibited. Superb delicacies from age-old recipes become the centerpiece of Mayohan fiesta tables.

Traditions are recapitulated with the conscious intention to evolve them further. As they are mounted anew in the open air of Mayohan, both performers and guests interact in the never-ending drama of Tayabasin life.

Hagisan Ng suman

The farmer is a being of faith who knows that to harvest the fruits of his labor, physical prowess is not enough. Hence, he seeks guidance from the spirit of bounty symbolized by San Isidro de Labrador.

On May 15, Mayohan gives tribute to San Isidro with a procession reminiscent of the yearly Quiapo devotion to Jesus Nazareno. From many towns of Quezon, multitudes of peasants and workers—predominantly male—flock to Tayabas.

They clamor for suman and other pabitin as their sweat, strength, and rivalry pervade in the air. Impelled by their yearly panata or sacrificial devotion to San Isidro, they participate in Hagisan ng Suman, believing that the bounty gathered in their sacks heralds economic upliftment. It portends the amount of their next harvest or income for the year.

Suman is the ritual gift of Hagisan. It is cooked with great enthusiasm by Tayabenses because Hagisan is an opportunity to share their prosperity. Bundles of suman are gaily tied in the pabitin, which is made out of a special kind of bamboo called bagakay. Pabitin is actually an installation art that is not simply exhibited. As soon as the image of San Isidro passes by, pabitin must be emptied of its colorful array of abundance, which aside from suman, includes banana, mango, buko, pineapple, and other summer fruits.

Unstoppable is the outpouring of voices during the Hagisan ng Suman. Full of primeval joy for both the giver and the receiver, it has two inseparable gestures: letting-go for those who freely give; openness for those who wish to receive. One is nourished by the other, and the experience graces both with deep gratitude for a life of plenty.

Incarnating a vision

Mayohan began in 1988 with the nationally acclaimed writer and film director Orlando "Dandy" R. Nadres receiving its spark of inspiration while then Mayor Faustino "Dondi" A. Silang perceiving the signals and needs of the time. In partnership, Nadres and Silang constructed the Mayohan vision as a social and cultural renewal for Tayabas. The sublime spirit of the Mother was given flesh.

To ensure that such initiative would meet its destiny, the Tayabas municipal government institutionalized Mayohan. Thus the vision incarnated, allowing roots to gradually permeate the depths of Tayabas ground.

When Atty. Walfredo "Boy" Sumilang, the present-day town mayor, assumed his post in 1998, he integrated new features in Mayohan. First, he infused the spirit of novenario by extending the number of days from five to 10, turning Mayohan into a celebration with a nine-day novena leading to the Feast of San Isidro on the 10th day.

Second, the former tiangge was elevated to its next essential stage, allowing the progressive development of Mayohan to take its course. He enlisted the full involvement of all the 66 barangays which now found their niche in the festival zone. They installed their own booths, showcased their agricultural produce and crafts, and highlighted creative economics from the linang or countryside. Tiangge was thus renamed Kalinangan sa Mayohan.

Third, Ponsyunan was enlarged and made a regular program of the summer festival. It was first launched in 1997 during the inaugural program of the restored Casa de Comunidad, originally built in 1831 as guesthouse for visiting Spanish dignitaries.

Now on its 12th year, Mayohan has, indeed, created the center of Tayabas whose soul is now fully emerging.

Meeting the challenges

Although Tayabas has a rich cultural heritage and committed leaders who possess a vision, it has a cause for grave concern. Similar to the fate of many towns of the country, it is not excluded from the encroachment of materialist globalization.

In the realm of culture, this is manifested, for example, in household television screens filled for 24 hours by HBO movies and other canned foreign shows that are brazenly opposed to the warm, gentle and beautiful Tayabasin sensibility.

A subliminal assault to Tayabasin consciousness is the proliferation of dance revolution and computer games that initiate children and youth into a culture of automation and violence. What is more alarming is that they are seen by the younger generation as "educational" and "highly entertaining". Alluring as they are, the advance of these symptoms has come about in a town whose psyche is predisposed to reclaim its true identity.

The cultural seduction of Tayabas is but one impact of modernization, the bearer of which is Lucena City that was originally a barangay of Tayabas. Responding to this challenge, MPDC Pataunia shares his insights: "The eventual urbanization of Tayabas cannot be avoided. But there must be a balance. We have individual and communal values that we must not lose amid technological progress. They are our hope, hence, we enliven them in Mayohan sa Tayabas."

He wants to take this opportunity to work for a healthy and mature relationship between Tayabas and Lucena City—the mother and the son.

Pataunia elaborates, "The unavoidable spill of Lucena’s fast urbanization to Tayabas is increasing. But if we could mutually handle this with a sense of who we really are and where we must really go, then we could, as a family, move forward with nurturing support for each other, while respecting our uniqueness and contrasting preferences."

The MPDC office is vested with the responsibility of pursuing the goals of Mayohan. On the plane of history, it means that ancestral memory and revelations must be passed on to the present generation. In the area of social development, it means building a community that will embody the spirit of the Mother.

Two doors are therefore open before the Tayabasin. One looks to the past, another to the future. He stands between them, illuminated by a guiding light that is no less than the cabecera spirit. Having chosen to resurrect it, Tayabas has found its high purpose. Blessed by the power of its sacred culture, it paves the way to a new future.

A dance with destiny

As Mayohan Festival reaches its end in the evening of May 15, the Tayabenses dance in Baylehan. Leaps of celebration make all their senses listen faithfully to the melody of the Mother Spirit. Hers is the same song that enkindled devotion and sacrifice among the sons and daughters of Tayabas history. The true significance of that music is now restored and brought home to the navel and from this center now moves the graceful limbs of Tayabas exuberance.

The Tayabasin body has grown full with the music of light and life, with the rhythms of day and night. As the sun and stars come together for a summer embrace, the Tayabasin commitment to the world unfolds. And so the dancing soars—with the hand of heaven and earth both swaying in Tayabas land.

*The author is a free-lance writer and artist who conducts research in Filipino spirituality and culture.¨

[ from the May 05, 2000 issue of the Manila Times By Maria Lourdes B. Abulencia ]