It's That Time of the Year in Ilocos

The Laoag City Scandal

Click this post from my other blog

Aramid

Splash in Ilocos

Many days ago in Manila, Candon City decided to hold a presscon for their "Tobacco Festival" and one of the sponsors is Splash which makes all these astringents and cosmetics. I almost fell from my chair when their PR said, "We're here to promote the whitening of Ilocos!"

Scenes from the Festive Vigan Beating

Binatbatan is the traditional cotton ginning or beating the cotton to remove the seeds using bamboo sticks. The binatbatan dance is the replication of the binatbatan except that they just beat the road with the sticks and make a pas de deux, do the hyphenated square dance, paso doble or even cheerleading acrobatics along the streets of Vigan in tropical heat wearing inabel or the shiny Ilocano cotton cloth. You perform every 20 meters for four kilometers and you must smile as often as you can. Andy's photos were taken at the start. I will give you photos after four kilometers later.

Kibaan

KIBAAN (Iloko)
* Physical Description - fair-skinned; mouth gleams with gold teeth; heels point forward and toes behind; long hair reaches feet; small as a two year-old child
* Domicile - bangar tree; bushes and small trees frequented by fireflies at night
* Activities - is kept off yard of a mortal by frustration
* Intellectual and Spiritual Endowments - keeps ground under tree-home well swept; has kitchen in trees from which spicy odor emanates after sunset; sings in small groups on vines in groves; strums tiny guitars; steals yams from fire; is fooled by stones roasted in place of tubers
* Magical Character - gives mortal friends a magic pot, purse, hat, net chain, goat, whip and/or drum

Santiago

I was in Santiago, Ilocos Sur waiting for a northward gus. A minibus stopped in front and the konduktor shouted, Vegan. In the American pronounciation of Vey-gan. He meant, Vigan (of course). My friend said, "Pork-eating" and we let it pass.
This BTW is the 8th most emailed photo in Yahoo. You saw the joke in an earlier blog.

Lovely

When your name is Lovely, you can not help but be one. Yes, she won the Miss Ilocandia Chuvaness. Yes, I have her cellphone number. No.

The Explanation

It was supposed to be a relay race but I was the only one waiting for them. They all lost their batons. And a few meters would be the nude beach zone. So that was the dilemma. I had to help these three girls who strayed from the path

Why I Hit the Beach

The UP Madrigal Singers in Vigan

Nothing could be more enchanting during the Holidays that being serenaded by the Philippine Madrigal Singer on the cobble-stoned Calle Crisologo.

"The mayor is very romantic, that's why," was what former mayor (and now husband of Mayor Eva Medina) Ferdinand Medina said.

But not only lovers but evens nuns and priests led by Monsignor Abaya converged at the crossroads of Crisologo and Gen. Luna Streets to listen to the most awarded choral group probably in the world.

This would be second Christmas performance in Vigan in a row.

So it was a pleasant surprise that the Madz sang not only sacred but profane tunes.

The concert began with the singing of the doxology and national anthem sang by the Vigan's Children Choir.

The Madz started properly with their wonderful arrangement of the "Ama Namin" and followed by the Ilocano romantic classic, "Ti Ayat ti Maysa a Ubing."

Then they followed with a selection of folk tunes.like "Sitsiritsit Alibangbang" and "Pakitong-kitong." Then they sang "Ambango ng Bulaklak." The vocal gymnastics and bebop arrangement were so engaging that the double entendres were ignored.

These were followed by "Seaside Rendezvous" by the Queen and turned it into bebop with them turning into jazz instruments. They finished off the first part with the karaoke favorite "Bituing Walang Ningning."

The second part of the show was a serenade of Christmas songs like "Pasko Na Naman," "Deck the Halls", "Have Yourself a Merry Christmas."

It was the most ribald Filipino versions of "Christmas Tree" and "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer." The first is about a student making a tall Christmas tree in 1983 and climbed by a female classmate who was stuck on the branches without her underwear. A female professor tried to rescue her but she, too, was stuck. The Madz's version of Rudolph had him with a red nose and reddened balls chased by naughty girls.

We kept glancing guiltily at the nuns beside us but they were laughing like the rest of the audience.

Two encores of Christmas songs were given by the Madz before greeting Mayor Medina with a traditional birthday song.

The Madz later made up for their naughty songs by performing during the start of Simbang Gabi at the St. Paul Cathedral.

Hey, They Used to Love Me in Vigan

Republic of the Philippines
Province of Ilocos Sur
MUNICIPALITY OF VIGAN
OFFICE OF THE SANGGUNIANG BAYAN
Resolution No. 16
Series of 1998
RESOLUTION DENOUNCING THE ARTICLE ENTITLED “REMEMBER, AND
SAVE, CIUDAD FERNANDINA” WRITTEN BY FRANK CIMATU PUBLISHED
IN THE PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER ON JUNE 28, 1998, FOR ITS BLATANT
DISREGARD, DISTORTION AND MUTATION OF FACTS BESMIRCHING THE
REPUTATION AND HONOR OF PUBLIC OFFICIALS OF VIGAN
PARTICULAR AND INSULTING THE PEOPLE OF VIGAN IN GENERAL; AND
DEMANDING AN APOLOGY AND RECTIFICATION OF FACTS BY MR.
CIMATU WITH EQUAL SPACE AND TREATMENT IN THE SAME
PUBLICATION.
WHEREAS, an article “Remember, and Save, Ciudad Fernandina” was
published in the June 28, 1998 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer particularly
under the Travel section written by Mr. Frank Cimatu;
WHEREAS, Mr. Frank Cimatu, writer of said article, never consulted or
interviewed any official of the Municipality of Vigan at least in an effort to verify
the veracity of facts he had gathered from one person; in the spirit of balanced or
impartial journalism;
WHEREAS, Mr. Frank Cimatu, obviously was misled by a single person with a
personal interest to gain recognition at the expense of the people of Vigan;
WHEREAS, the article “Remember, and Save, Ciudad Fernandina” describes the
history of our beloved town – Vigan, as well as plans for its preservation and
development as a major tourist destination in the world, particularly in our
application for inclusion in the World heritage List;
WHEREAS, the concluding paragraphs that follow the beautiful description and
plans for Vigan, particularly states “BUT VIGAN POLITICIANS HAVE OTHER
IDEAS”, thereby implying that Vigan politicians are irresponsible, unreliable,
unpatriotic and their ideas are contrary to the plans for Vigan’s greatness;
WHEREAS, plans and visions for Vigan is not for the credit of “ … one of the
handful Bigueños” as the article fondly describes its “heroine”; rather plans and
visions for Vigan is for the credit of each and every Bigueño who cooperates in
every efforts of the Municipal Government of Vigan and the Provincial
Government of Ilocos Sur;
WHEREAS, a member of the Sangguniang Bayan of Vigan, Councilor Steve
Javier has been portrayed as unpatriotic and a destroyer where he “….
Demolished the remnants of one of the first churches of the Iglesia
Independiente in the process”;
WHEREAS, Councilor Steve Javier never demolished the structure which Mr.
Cimatu refers to, rather such building was restored, and conserved through the
use of materials approved by the National Historical Institute and described as
reversible by experts from the National Historical Institute, the same national
agency that issued the permit for Councilor Steve Javier on his Supermarket
project;
WHEREAS, the article stated that other politicians, bought or owned houses
within the area and are “planning to go on with their own development”, which
further mentions our Honorable Governor Luis “Chavit” Singson with an “open
secret” in owning many of the houses in Vigan, exacerbates Mr. Cimatu’s
allusion that politicians in Vigan are irresponsible and unpatriotic and could go on
with ‘their own development” plans;
WHEREAS, our Honorable Governor Luis “Chavit” Singson is from Vigan and
belonged to the affluent Singson clan. Hence, there is no “open secret” implying
a personal interest or purpose as pictured in the article, for our Honorable
Governor to own houses in Vigan;
WHEREAS, our Honorable Governor Luis “Chavit” Singson is very supportive in
all efforts and programs of the Municipal Government of Ilocos Sur on
conservation and restoration of Vigan;
WHEREAS, the Provincial Government of Ilocos Sur and the Municipal
Government of Vigan with the cooperation of all concerned have been doing all
efforts to realize the dream to make Vigan a global tourist destination as part of
the North Western Luzon Growth Quadrangle Program;
WHEREAS, the article of Mr. Cimatu is an insult to the people of Vigan who
elected Vigan Politicians;
WHEREAS, the article of Mr. Frank Cimatu besmirched the reputation of elected
officials of Vigan and shall caused embarrassment and shame to the Municipality
of Vigan and to all Bigueños before our national and international community;
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED AS IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED, to
denounce the article entitled “Remember, and Save, Ciudad Fernandina” written
by Mr. Frank Cimatu published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer on June 28, 1998,
for its blatant disregard, distortion and mutation of facts besmirching the
reputation and honor of public officials of Vigan in particular and insulting the
people of Vigan in general; and demand an apology and rectification of facts by
Mr. Frank Cimatu with equal space and treatment in the same publication.
Approved on August 3, 1998.
(Sgd.) LIBORIO F. ARCA
Vice Mayor and Presiding Officer
(Sgd.) FRANCISCO P. RANCHES, JR.
(Sgd.) LOURDES G. BAQUIRAN
(Sgd.) DANILO ESTEBAN C. JAVIER
ALFREDO A. FIGUERRES, JR.
(Sgd.) CONSTANTE V. BENZON
(Sgd.) NICOMEDES R. RAMIREZ
(Sgd.) RANDOLF V. SINGSON
GEORGE J. VILLANUEVA
(Sgd.) BENEDICTO JOSE P.
VERZOSA
(Sgd.) ARISTOTLE F. ARDE
Attested:
(Sgd.) RAMIL A. ARCE
Secretary to the Sangguniang Bayan
Approved:
(Sgd.) EVA MARIE S. MEDINA
Mayor

Kanthoughts

Fellow Baguio blogger Nashman (ngem adda London) is starting a campaign to include the famous Filipino word "kanthought" in the OED. Not as dirty as you think, it comes from Immanuel Kant and thought. It was the great Kant who thought that we process perceptions otherwise all the things we sense just flow past us like water. Now, I'm lost in my Kantian thoughts because there was this woman who passed by. Hmm nice. What was I saying? Kant thoughts. Hmmm. Sex. Kant is a very unsexy person (he thinks that masturbation is worse that suicide) but it was him who thought that the test of morality for any form of conduct is whether it could be universalized. We seem to philosophize about our thoughts of sex all the time. That's universal. So kanthoughts should be in the OED.

Bitch Blanket Bingo

In Ilocos, this comes out doubly funny because "baltic" is also "crazy" or maybe it's the same all over the Philippines, what with that comic strip in Bulletin -- Baltic and Co.