Thursday, July 9, 2009

Sangyaw and Pintados, the Battle...

A glance at the title would suggest that the words do not deserve to be in one sentence, at least from this blogger's point of view. This is for a number of reasons foremost of which is that both the Sangyaw and Pintados are celebration of a distinctly religious event, the feast of the Senyor Sto. Nino. Discord has marked this year's festivities and provided a damper in what should have been a unifying occasion for all Waraynons in the region.

A court case has been filed and a TRO (Temporary restraining order) has been issued by a local judge. A visibly irate local chief executive has threatened to hold those responsible for the TRO accountable and from the grapevine, I've heard that certain properties in the city are to be reverted back to the province.

As a backgrounder, the Pintados Kasadyaan is an annual parade in Tacloban held every 27th of June that began sometime in the late 80's and is meant to coincide with the city's annual fiesta. It is spearheeaded by the Pintados Foundation and the province of Leyte and showcases presentations from different towns and cities in region interpreting the pagans' deliverance by the Sto. Nino in the form of dance. When incumbent Mayor Alfred Romualdez became the city's chief, he reintroduced the Sangyaw, to be the main and focal point of the celebration of the city fiesta, the feast of the Senyor Sto. Nino. From that point on, a struggle seems to have emerged as to which of the two parades, the Sangyaw and Pintados Kasadyaan has the rightful claim as to to being the festival that truly represents the city's fiesta.

But 'nuf said, since I was not able to watch both parades I've included a link here where you can watch slide shows from the event. You may also click here for well-taken pictures of both events.

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