The Kasadya Streetdancing and Merry-making Festival 2012 "success" after Today's Activities

I have personally watched the Kasadya Streetdancing today after not watching last year's. As what I have seen, people have crowded the streets from the city port of Iligan down to the main streets of the city up to the main venue at the Anahaw Amphitheater at Buhanginan Hills, Palao. The colorful costumes, the vibrant music were  the main attractions that the crowd were able to witness in today's festivities. At the Anahaw Amphitheater, there was even more people who flocked the seating capacity of at most 3,000-5,000 minus the others who stood at the upper end of the amphitheater and the others who also witnessed just by the side of the venue.

Brgy. Bunawan contingent at Quezon Ave.
(photo courtesy of  Nestor Voltaire Actub)

There were four contingents who joined the contest namely the Municipality of Balabagan in Lanao del Sur, the Municipality of Jasaan in Misamis Oriental, the Municipality of Bacolod in Lanao del Norte and the Barangay Bunawan performers from our very own Iligan City. A tartanilla decorating and painting contest organized by our very own Councilor Michelle Sweet was witnessed in today's festivities where 21 tartanillas or horse-drawn carriages, the mode of transportation of the olden times that is still operating here in Iligan City, were colorfully painted by some members of the artist groups here in our city.

The spectacle created a good draw of the crowd despite of only four (4) contingents that entered the main contest of the Invitational/Open Category. This category demands of a lesser strict mode of dance interpretation that may either culturally relevant or mixed with neo-ethnic dance as a concept. However, the main depiction of San Miguel, his winning battle against Lucifer, shouldn't be left unnoticed as it is one of the main provisions that the organizing committee, the JCI of Iligan, warranted that must be included in the contingent's presentation since the first time they conceived of this cultural extravaganza in the 1980s.

 At 12:30 in the afternoon, the winners were announced where Barangay Bunawan of Iligan City won 1st place with a prize of Php 200,000.00 and a trophy; Municipality of Balabagan coming in 2nd with a prize of Php 150,000.00 (and a trophy); and the 3rd placer winner, Municipality of Jasaan in Misamis Oriental with a prize of Php 100,000.00 pesos (and a trophy); while the Municipality of Bacolod, Lanao del Norte, not to be left with nothing to bring, were presented with a consolation prize of Php 20,000.00.

The organizers were able to give the audience the sad reality of only being able to come up with only four (4) contingents during the awarding ceremonies after having five (5) contingents in the previous that's why they wished on the dancing contingents who were present on the main dancing area to come and join again next year. They vehemently hoped with a slight of a joke that next there wouldn't be three (3) entrees of contingents who may wish to join as seen in the succession of Kasadya streetdancing in the previous years from 2010 to the present where the trend showed there is "one less" contingent coming in to join the contest in comparison to the previous year.

And then, the speaker of the ceremonies mentioned of another festival "who may be" holding the same event in their city in Tangub which also celebrates the feast of St. Michael in the province of Misamis Occidental which is about 80-120 kms away to the southeast of Iligan. Furtherly, the the same speaker announced that somewhat the festival of our neighboring city have a cash prize of Php 500,000.00 pesos for the first prize.

To me it doesn't sound fair to come up with a reason that another festival is holding the same event and a higher prize at stake that "stemmed" this seemingly lack of participants in our very own Kasadya Streetdancing 2012. To be honest, I have joined joined myself the same contest in 1998-2002 and the very same group to which I previously belong have joined Tangub City's Dalit festival from 2002-2011. They told me before that the Tangub's "Dalit Festival" falls on the 29th of September and the festival does not really give Iligan a run for their money in terms of holding each other's festival as Dalit Festival only gives at most Php 100,000.00 pesos during the previous years from 2007-2011. Before Dalit came to the 100,000 level of prizes for the first prize, they were at the Php 50,000.00 level for the first prize alone when my colleagues joined the contest in 2003.

The only matter of difference to note is that Tangub's streetdancing spectacle caters to a "top 5" winning contingents in comparison to Iligan's "top 3" which to the side of the contingents, provides them a very chance of "owning a recognition" for at least wounding up a 4th runner up with a trophy at their helm.Because at the hands of an organizing choreographer is a recognition that makes him fit for being "hired again" if ever his troupe wins in a festivity like this one we have. Although, not at all times a dancing contingent may win a contest, at least, there is a good provision in a festival that any contingent stands a "good possiblity of landing" a place in the group of winners.

Just like Tangub's Dalit, Cebu's Sinulog Festival also caters to "top 5 winners" as the latter was observed to have organized a "top 5 winner places" instead of the usual "top three". The same also goes to Davao's Kadayawan Festival, Tacloban Leyte's Kasadyaan Pintados Festival, as well as Surigao's Bonok-Bonok Festival.

I have noted some members of the JCI after the event who were assigned as food committee where my cousin, Mr. JR Rosero, is one of the assigned members and I personally echoed to them this idea. A festival may give prizes to contingents as a reason to join but however, the "possibility" of being called as one of the winners, the more probability of earning a place, may also become one of the prevailing conditions for a contingent to join a streetdancing spectacle.

Overall, today's event was a successful one despite the lesser contingents. Kudos to the JCI of Iligan for providing the people with a glimpse of awe and admiration after seeing today's event. I hope next year, a more applauding event will be witnessed and more number of contingents will be enthralled to join the Kasadya Streetdancing competition and hopefully, "more winning places" than just "top three" to lure more contingents to come again in Iligan.

Enrile versus Trillanes: Who's the faggot?

The recent headline in the senate is another petty debacle of the witties: Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and Senator Antonio Trillanes IV. While the senate president pointed out that Trillanes did a backdoor job with an alleged negotiation with the Chinese, the latter also accused the senate president of trying to meddle with the division of Camarines Sur into two provinces with a 'shabby decision' and that the presiding senator was a 'bully'. To me, maybe it is normal for senators to point out at each other and try to mitigate into some sort of check and balance among each other, but is it rather healthy for a senate to have two arguing individuals against each other? Well, it is nothing new. We have had enough of this senator 1 and senator 2 against each other before and the only major thing about this new one is that it is against a presiding officer which is the senate president. Let me see a little backgrounder of the two: 

Enrile was a former Marcos ally who was bypassed during the later years of the martial law years. Connected with Philippine Constabuary leader Fidel V. Ramos and Gringo Honasan and so, together with the People Power, they were able to oust the former dictator from position. As far his personal background are concerned, this senator has lots of badges on his chest.

Trillanes is one of the Oakwood Mutiny rogue first class soldiers who ransacked a hotel and intimidated the former administration in front of the world. Although not as heavy as the former, this senator is firm and upfront of telling everybody about who's who in the political arena whoever they maybe.

I only have just one issue to contend with the statement one against the other. If Enrile states who Trillanes was and tries to remind people about the negative side of latter, I say maybe Enrile is right. But, what about the fighting merits of Trillanes and the rest of the Oakwood Mutiny group called Magdalo did was actually in favor of the people, in favor of the Philippines as a whole although what they did was against the rule of law and against the protocol of 'a soldier thingy', as to who they were against and how dirty the government that was run for the previous years was, to me, a very exacting predicament against those who led the Philippine government that time. Arroyo administration? Come on. Don't be silly mister senate president! You did nothing and had nothing positive in terms of exploring the best positive option to counteract against the previous administration.

As for Trillanes IV, yes, he may have had a rogue against the previous administration and the government. Well, maybe for some instance, this guy, as young as he is, may still have to eat a lot of rice in order to grow. But Senator Trillanes must, at all cost, try to explore the best possible options should show the entire Philippines of his best ability to act against anybody without jeopardizing himself along the way. Well, he jeopardized his image when he fell against the trap of 'some unknown individuals' who fetched him from his hearing at a court where he is under oath and walked out against the rule of law from the hearing. He may have a fighting heart to curb out the corrupt and the erring members of the armed forces, his tactics should change because the image that he is trying to portray is already becoming a demise of his own actions.

Now, who's the faggot among the two? With the sad state of the senate nowadays particular the post-Sotto scandal and all those bruhahas? I could not point who among the two but there is no exception among the roster of senators we have at the upper chamber. Maybe Santiago deserves the upper hand among all of them-a lot lesser faggot, to say the least! LOL

I Bleed Heavily on Shakespeare: A Tambacanon-Iliganon's Poem about the Summers and His Past

I admit, I don't write good poems nor short stories. Worse--I dont write short stories either! Apart from the passing mark I got from my literary class or creative writing about Philippine Literary Works such as poetry or short story, I could never say I have the edge in writing. As Professor Jaime An Lim used to say to us, "..it is not enough that you write about a real experience that makes your writing good, there are other things that makes a creative writer's work stand out.." And so there goes my creative writing--down the bin! 

However, sometimes in my own personal being, there are strange experiences that keep on coming back to my mind: my childhood and the summers in it. In the past years, after I graduated in college, there were moments that led me to write experiences during my childhood and I wrote them on short poems. I tell you guys, these poems are not Shakespeare in nature! I'm not good at Shakespeare nor do I really excel even against the locals we have in Iligan as far as creative writing is concerned!

Anyhow, I have to publish these poems that I personally made. I hope you guys like what I wrote in the previous years. I will provide you some points of each of them.

First stop, this poem:

“One afternoon, 1989”

The tingling of utensils being washed at the kitchen,
With brushings of ‘lubi ‘and some plant leaves
As the minute sea breeze passes—
All of them make that particular afternoon delight.

The shadows of trees and leaves paint the dry soil of the front yard,
With quiet surroundings under the sun—
Everyone must be sleeping or taking a nap.

As the suns rays gaze through the tiny holes of the ‘nipa’ roof,
Lola Maria is lying on the wooden floor reading
With a number of Pinoy komiks spread just by her.
I lying down the same,
Feeling the air as if it were lasting.
School is at 1 pm, and I would still have time to sleep;
Then, I thought, “Maybe I can be absent this afternoon from school.”

And then, a peculiar afternoon music pipes in,
A distant murmur from a neighbor’s transistor radio that says:
 “Handumanan … sa usa ka awit”, (memory of a song)

I would then feel the ho-hum of the noon break,
And so I go to sleep.

------

"One Afternoon, 1989" is almost as literal as it is: you don't see figures of speech nor the other expressions that you will find in western or Philippine poetry. However, the mood and the feeling tries to make one remember of an experience that's truly Filipino: the mood of seemingly summer-ish afternoon sun (just past noon) with the very detail of a particular setting rural and at the same time, relaxed feeling. For me, I personally create a "picturesque" detail of one of those afternoons I had with my grandmother when I was young.

Pinoy word meaning/s:
lubi - coconut tree/fruit
nipa - leaves used for roofs in Philippine bahay kubo


Next one is

“On A Typical Afternoon By The Beach”

 Sitting by the beach, I hear the distant waves breaking,
Up afar, the water is silvering
Wind is strong as sands keep hitting my legs and feet.

From where I am,
I can see ‘Nong Diego at the shore using his ‘sudsud’
With the market  visible at the background.

 ‘Twas past noon,
A normal time for him to catch some fish at the shore
As long as he has his delight as a ‘baon’:
a bottle of ‘lapad’ in his pocket.

This afternoon was typical and nothing special,
No boats to see, no kids playing at the beach.

But the day after the next was shocking:
I heard that ‘Nong Diego got enclosed by his own ‘sudsud’
And died on a typical afternoon—by the beach.

--------

Again, not your typical western poetry and still trying to picturesquely capture a particular image, setting and mood of a particular experience during the afternoons of almost summer days. This time, the beach with the use of a particular character in the name of 'Nong Diego. The character is real and at the same time the history embedded in the poem is also real. What is so special with this for the writer? Well, the experience of being at the beach and having to see a particular day with no kids playing around or no boats to see on the shore. However, a particular day may hit every one of us in a normal day without us taking notice. And then, no one notices that one of those particular days anyone dies with anyone hardly noticing who, when or how.

Pinoy word meaning/s:

lapad - Tanduay Rhum
baon - snack or any food item to eat

The third poem is

“Under Ma’am Villanueva’s House, 1994”

School hasn’t finished and summer is clear.
Anong  and his playmates tossed and spiked here yesterday.
This time no one is here:
No ball is around,
No ‘bog!’ as a sound;
Only the breeze to hug me,
and only the ocean to greet me.

Lalang and her sister are not around
And so I thought, maybe they are at school.
I like it here because their house makes a good shade for me:
no one would see me,
no one to notice I didn’t go to school.

My delight is here because of this shade
As a sight entertains me from afar:
A kite flown by a small kid by the sands;
And a music piping in from a distant house: "Handuman sa usa ka awit.."

I like to hear it over and over again
Because lola is at the house sleeping.
Or maybe lolo is at our other house on his ‘lumba-lumba’.

I hope this time never ends,
Because reality is always at helm of everything:
It never ceases to evade us,
As we are deeply entertained in a siesta like this
Or a sleep that’s as calm as peace.

This siesta only ends when the sun moves further to the west:
A time to tell when we need to go home to find peace and rest.

---------

This poem is as identical with the first two poems that I posted earlier. This time the mood is okay but with a bit more of reality check. Sometimes, when we people try to relax on life--we may laugh, party or just have a pretty siesta; we still go back to the realities were we truly belong. And life in particular has a lot of that in the world we live in. In this poem, the reality check is there: everything is temporary  such as the siesta the first person is trying to experience in the poem. It is particularly described in the poem but the deeper meaning is seen in the last stanza of the poem. Again, the character named in the poem is real which is particular to the writer because the person/s were also present when that particular experience happened in those years of experience.

Pinoy word meaning/s:
lumba-lumba  - rocking chair


Overall, I really don't find something good at the poems that I made. They are just as simple as a high school made poem that everyone makes during their teeny years. But I do hope with the ones that I made, other kids may also be encouraged to do some of their own even once in their lifetime. 

Chronological History: The People Who Became Barangay Captain of Tambacan, Iligan City from 1966 to Present

A few days ago, I have read in a group page that I personally found which is the Tambacan, Iligan City - NEW GENERATION, a certain "published" article regarding the "Brief History of Barangay Tambacan" which was posted on the internet by way of a scanned photo with the following link: (https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/20855_106230032761538_2921577_n.jpg). The said scanned photo was a school paper of Iligan City National High School-Tambacan Annex called the "Sibol". The posted photo depicted a short history of the barangay and at the same time also provided a short list of history of barangay captains that were able to lead the place. Upon reading the article I was surprised to have not found the name of my late grandfather, William Bill Wright Jr. among the list of people who became barangay captain of our barangay because I have known together with most of the constituents of the barangay that William Bill Wright Jr. was one of those who became the barangay captain of our place. And so with that reason I have to query Mr. Raul Pialago Lluisma of this personal knowledge. He answered this query that it was without his personal knowledge of how "complete" such article was with regard to the photo he posted is on conveying the information it provided in the article. It is to my dismay that there are still loopholes in some educational institutions we have in this barangay that journalism activities such as this school paper are not properly aligned to the basic principles of responsible journalism, conveying factual evidence, and the ability to inquire to be able to get a good grasp of any information they wish to use as a part of an article or opinionated section that they wish to write about in their paper.

- Barrio Tambacan: before 1966 -

With the help of my mother, Josephine Wright-Jariol,  I was able to get a good grasp of basic information regarding the background history of the list of barangay captains we have in the past up to the present. On September 17 - 20, my mother was able to ask and verify few personalities that would be able to provide at least a more accurate information as to who became barangay captains in our barangay. First, mom was able to ask Mr. Chokong Viajante, a bona fide resident of the barangay who was able to personally experience the leadership of these very people who became barangay captains of Tambacan. As narrated to me by my mom with the aid of a list, Mr. Viajante told her that before barangay Tambacan was founded as a barangay on September 5, 1966 by virtue of Resolution No. 202 which became City Ordinance 280, the previous leaders of the barangay, which may be called " barangay chairman" in some areas of the country, are called "tinyente del barrio", which is Spanish term for "lieutenant of the barrio"; also by how it is meant, connoted a person as a leader of a local barrio who were non-elected officals of the time as Tambacan did not yet have the capacity to choose a leader that it may legally called a voted leader. And so these leaders who became "tinyente del barrio" were appointed individuals which is close to how we choose our very "purok" leaders or presidents we have today. According to the list provided by my mother from Mr. Viajante, the "tinyente del barrios" of Barangay Tambacan were Vidal Orellana, Mr. Teofilo Madolin Demetrio Cabante, Felicidad Ybañez, and, the husband of Felicidad Ybañez, Mr. Deogracia Ybañez.

- Barangay Tambacan: 1966 Onwards -

Consequently, my mother told as narrated to her by Mr. Viajante that when Tambacan was founded as a barangay of Iligan City in 1966 by virute of C.O. 280; William "Bill" Wright Jr. became the first person to be elected as barangay captain of Tambacan. This was also supported by Mr. Angelito "Tidong" Gaboy who also by chance met my mother this afternoon on the way home that William "Bill" Wright Jr. served as barangay captain from 1966 to 1978 which comprised of 12 years of service to the people of Tambacan if not only for his untimely death. After Mr. Wright, the next successor was the first councilor during his last term who was Danilo Navalta. But then, Mr. Navalta also met his untimely death, the next successor who was the second councilor during William Wright's term, Minda Actub, filled in the position as barangay captain of Tambacan until Marcos' regime ended in 1986.

- 1986 to Present -

Mr. Viajante stated that when Corazon Aquino became president after the EDSA People Power revolution, Mr. Candelario Lluisma became the chairman to lead Barangay Tambacan by virtue of becoming the winner among top 10 voted candidates for the council of Tambacan. The chairmanship served as the transitional position because of the reorganization that took place during that time as there was also the re-drafting of the Philippine constitution which promulgated the 1987 New Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines the following year. After Mr. Lluisma, it was Mr. Abutanmo's turn to take the lead in the barangay sometime in 1990. After Mr. Abutanmo's turn, again, Mr. Candelario Lluisma became the captain until 1998. From 1998 to present, it was Mr. Celso Ponce who led the council of barangay Tambacan.

So, I have gathered the following lists with regard to the above historical narration that was given to the writer by Mr. Viajante:

-Tinyentes del Barrio (before C.O. 280, prior to September 5, 1966)-

• Vidal Orellana

• Mr. Teofilo Madolin

• Demetrio Cabante

• Felicidad Ybañez

• Mr. Deogracia Ybañez

-Barangay Captain (after C.O. 280, after September 5, 1966) -

• William "Bill" Wright Jr. (first barangay captain, 1966-1978)

• Danilo Navalta (successor of Wright as first councilor)

• Minda Actub (successor of Navalta as second councilor)

• Candelario Lluisma (1986-1990,1994-1998)

• Mr. Abutanmo (1990 -1994)

• Celso Ponce (1998 -present)

By far, the list of provided by Mr. Chokong Viajante provided me a glimpse of the past leaders of this barangay which also cleared the unclear information that was posted at an article of the Iligan City National High School - Tambacan Annex' school paper, Sibol. Thanks to the help of my mother, the omission, accidental or not of William "Bill" Wright Jr.'s name from the list of former barangay captains of Tambacan will finally be given justice as of this point in time--at least, in answer to that article in Sibol. To the anonymous writer of that article, I hope we have learned a valuable lesson today that in journalism there is no such thing as a "stone left unturned". Every information must be given justice and that anything written from the point of the pen is mightier than point of the sword.