biyahero

FLORES DE MARIA 2006

PICTURES for you!

FLORES DE MARIA 2006

Pagdiriwang at Parangal sa BIRHEN DE LAS FLORES

The Flowers of May festival is another month-long celebration, distinctly separate from Santakrusan. In this celebration, the Blessed Virgin - not Santa Elena - is the focus of devotion. Every afternoon in May, young people go to church to pray the rosary and offer flowers and songs to the Blessed Mother. The flower-offering song goes like this:

Tuhog na bulaklak, sadyang salit-salit,
Sa mahal mong noo'y aming ikakapit,
Lubos ang pag-asa nami't pananalig,
Na tatanggapin mo, handog na pag-ibig,
Lubos ang pag-asa nami't pananalig,
Na tatanggapin mo, handog na pag-ibig!

In the Tagalog region, this custom and celebration started after the proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception in 1854 and after the publication circa 1867 of Mariano Sevilla's translation of the devotional Flores de Maria or Mariquit na Bulaclac na sa Pagninilaynilay sa Buong Buan nang Mayo ay Inihahandog nang manga Devoto cay Maria Santisima.

MARDIO NIÑO NADERA (Hermanitos 2006) - DON-DON ARLON NADERA (Hermanitos 2007)

MAYOHAN SA TAYABAS FESTIVAL 2006

MUKHA - A Tayabas Beauty Pageant

MUKHA is an acronym for mukha, utak, katawan, halina and alindog (face, brain, body, charm and beauty). This is a project of Susi ng Tayabas that symbolizes unity and cooperation of the arts for the development of Tayabas. It was established by Orlando R. Nadres in 1987. Nadres, noted scriptwriter, passed away years ago but his works, like the stage play, Hanggang Dito Na Lamang At Maraming Salamat still lives.

MUKHA was part of the eight-day affair dubbed Mayohan Sa Tayabas (May 10-16) at the Silungang Bayan. This year pageant theme: Celebration of Life, Love and Peace.

MARIANNE OBENA - Ms. MUKHA 2006, Best in Talent, Best in Swimsuit .DIAN JALBUENA - 1st Runner-up, Ms. Photogenic, Best in Long Gown. The queenly winner, a combination of beauty and brain was beaming as she waved to the crowd. Her smile was so contagious. I matched it with my own.

THE WHEEL CLUB OF TAYABAS - 52nd Anniversary and Ball

"GULONG NG PALAD - BALIK-TANAW SA LUMIPAS"

Taong 1954 ng matatag ang samahang "GULONG NG PALAD". Ito ay binuo ng ilang Tayabasin na nag-aaral sa Maynila. Pinamunuan ito nina Judge Benedicto Mortos, Palma brothers na sina Conrado, Cesar at Rosauro; Atty. Rosalino Pandy ;Dr. Samson Lapuente, Fiscal Ricardo Ebron, Col Lis Araya Jr., Ex-Vice Mayor Antonio Talavera at marami pa.

Palibhasa'y marami sa amin ang anak-dakila; bagama't mayroon ding pangilan-ngilan na galing sa pamilyang may-kaya kung kaya't ang naisipan naming ipangalan sa grup ay " Gulong ng Palad" o "The Wheel of Fortune Club of Tayabas, Quezon" na habang patuloy ang pag-ikot ng gulong ng kapalaran ay paminsan-minsan ang bahagi ng bagwis mo ay pumuapaimbabaw, pumapagitna at kapag minamalas-malas ay pumapailalim. Kaya, magsikap ka, magpunyagi at magpakasakit upang ang bagwis mo sa gulong ng palad ay mamalaging namamayagpag sa kaibabawan.

SAN ISIDRO - HAGISAN NG SUMAN

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 athered 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.

SAN ISIDRO PAHIYAS FESTIVAL

PICTURES for you!

THE KALEIDOSCOPE COLORS OF SAN ISIDRO PAHIYAS 2006

ANYO AT KULAY NG PAHIYAS 2005 

PAHIYAS FESTIVAL 2003                                                       

The fiesta color of summer come alive again as Lucban celebrates the SAN ISIDRO PAHIYAS FESTIVAL - referred to by many as a fiesta to end all fiestas.

Every year, thousands of tourist and holiday makers flock to this historic town commended as one of the cleanest and most peaceful community in the country. Its cool, fresh and invigorating climate earns her the singular distinction of being called the Summer Capital of Quezon Province. The town's natural scenic spots and colorful lifestyles add to the charm that entices both foreign and local tourists to visit the place. The San Isidro Pahiyas Festival held every May 15 has become one of the country's tourist attractions prompting the Department of Tourism to list down Lucban as a tourist town and a cultural heritage site.

During the San Isidro Pahiyas Festival, each household tries to outdo each other in friendly competition as they vie for honor of recognizing their creativity. As incentives to their effort, prizes were given to the winning pahiyas based on a given criteria. This accounts for some of the most curious décor that the unstoppable spirit of the festival tends to show. Decking the hall or decorating the wall with "Kiping" and agricultural harvest is what "PAYAS" or "PAHIYAS" literally means.

Farmers show their bountiful produce such as chayote, radish, pepper and grains of rice. There are miniatures locally known as "ANOK", fruits, vegetables and longganisa (local sausage) strung together in the most original fashion. Residents engaging in other forms of livelihood display their products too in thanksgiving. The handicraft manufacturer has his house decked with colorful buri/buntal hats, bags, placemats and others while the butcher has a head of roasted suckling pig (lechon) peeking from the window.

The most traditional and certainly the most attractive décor comes of course in the form of "KIPING" which are adorn and strung together to form all sorts of shapes, from chandelier called "ARANGYA" to huge flowers. Kiping is made from ground rice flour, shaped using "cabal" leaves or other leaf forms and colored in radiant red, fuschia, yellow, green and other bright shades. When kiping catches the light of the sun it turns into a veritable cascades of color.

The celebration is a form of thanksgiving for a bountiful harvest and in honor of the patron saint of farmers, San Isidro de Labrador. A procession of the image of San Isidro is planned long before the festival and it is said that houses along the route of the procession passes will be especially favored and blessed in the coming year. It is from this belief that the lavish decoration of the home began. After all, one must welcome the saint's blessings with rapture and gratitude.

Since the tradition started, Lucban benefits from this event through the TIYANGGE SA LUCBAN, an agro-industrial fair showcasing Lucban's products. This fair features foods native to the town like the delicious Lucban longganisa, puto seko, broas, tikoy and other delicacies; ornamental plants like dapo and cutflowers; handricrafts such as buri/buntal hats, bags and a number of other cottage industry products.

AGAWAN FESTIVAL 2006 - Sariaya, Quezon

PICTURES for you!

The Agawan Festival is an annual agricultural festival held in Sariaya, Quezon, Philippines every 15th May.

The festival name, Agawan, is of recent development. It was the idea of Rev. Fr. Raul Enriquez, now the town's parish priest, president of its tourism council and the proponent of the town's quadricentennial celebration in 1999.

The name describes the main feature of the fiesta procession. As the parade winds its way through the streets, people snatch the goodies and other produce hanging on the houses they pass by or on a pabitin, specially made for the parade. At the same time, people in the houses throw food, fruits and money into the parade.

Before the parade, nearby residents decorate the outside of their homes. Colorful buntal hats are festooned all over the façade of houses. String beans are draped on windows to make curtains and banana trees are used to adorn fences. The primary, and most traditional, element in the decoration was the bagakay, or young bamboo branches from which junk food, fruits, candies and money were hung for people to snatch as they pass by.

People say no matter how high the bagakays are, they would bow when the image of San Isidro Labrador passes by, allowing people to grab the goodies.

GRAND SANTACRUZAN - Mayohan sa Tayabas 2006

PICTURES for you!

In many places in the Philippines, during the month of May, many processions are held in honor of the Virgin Mary. Sometimes, one is reminded only that it is the month of May when one meets such a procession downtown or in a sidestreet of the city. That is the Santa Cruz de Mayo. Many versions of the procession have evolved through the years. And this makes it interesting to find out what it was really like inthe time of our grandfathers.

The Santacruzan was a novena procession commemorating St. Helena's mythical finding of the cross. St. Helena was the mother of Constantine the Great. According to legends, 300 years after the death of Christ, at the age of 75, she went to Calvary to conduct a search for the Cross. After some archeological diggings at the site of the Crucifixion, she unearthed three crosses. She tested each one by making a sick servant lie on all three. The cross where the servant recovered was identified as Christ's. St. Helena's feast day falls on August 8 but the anniversary of the finding of the Cross is on May 3rd, in the Philippines, this celebration took the form of the Mexican Santa Cruz de Mayo.

Today, the Santacruzan is a cross between a beauty pageant and a religious procession. Now the highest tribute that could be paid to a woman's beauty is to be selected as Reina Elena. Gone are the days when people, candle in hand, crowded the streets to pay homage to a Catholic myth and throw Sampaguitas at the passing beauties. Gone are the days when or could enjoy the dazzling splendor amid; the flowers of May and the smell of burning native candles. The Santacruzan played an important role in the spiritu, and religious life of our forefathers. It was a bayanihan endeavor and a community show. The current Santacruzan is just a remnant of what was once a grandise tradition. But it still lives. And come May, for whatever reason, girls line up th streets in procession, invoking that which is holy, searching for the true Christial spirit.

Krus na mahal,
Krus na mapalad,
Darakilang armas,
Bandera ni Hesus
Pagsakop sa lahat!

(Holy Cross, blessed Cross, Noble weapon, Jesus' standard in saving mankind!)

GRAND SANTACRUZAN - Mayohan sa Tayabas Festival 2006

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biyahero/

PARADISE ISLAND PARK & BEACH RESORT

PICTURES for you!

Old world ambience, as the name itself implies, Paradise. Nestled at the Island Garden City of Samal, Davao del Norte, Philippines. A vast expanse of fine white sand and glistening crystal blue waters awaits the most fervent beach lover.

Showcasing Filipino ingenuity, the resort offers air-conditioned cottages, with native thatched roof, amakan walls and private veranda, either in caba?a style or in row cottages.

Dine al fresco with the panoramic view of Davao City as backdrop and savor a variety of delectable seafood.

Go kayaking, aqua cycling, balance on a paddleboard, jet skiing and scuba diving. Or play badminton, billiard, ping-pong, and volleyball.

Samal Island. With a total land area of 30,130 hectares and a continuous coastline of about 116 kms., the island offers excellent sites for scuba diving, snorkeling, spelunking, mountain climbing, whale watching and other eco-fun filled activities.

Tara na, pasyal tayo!