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By Joy Festin, Special to The Manila Times
More than just a fiesta, Pahiyas is a riot of
colors and an agricultural fertility celebration with roots that may
go well before the advent of Christianity in the Philippines.
“Pahiyas festival is staged in honor of San Isidro as a form of
thanksgiving,” explains Vice Mayor Mando Abutal. But even this
veneer of Christianity has magical roots.
As told from the legend, San Isidro was
considered one of the best farmers of his town because of his
exceptional harvests. One day, when the saint was on his way to his
fields, some envious townsmen followed him to unveil his secret. The
townsmen were surprised to see that the saint was not solo in his
job; instead an army of angels helped him doing the planting.
From the Tagalog term payas meaning decoration,
the fiesta is held every May 15 in Lucban. This year’s
celebration, despite the ongoing rice crisis, was every bit as
festive despite unseasonal rains.
Houses in every street were dressed to impress.
Lampposts and phone cables disappeared underneath a mesmerizing
techni-colored mantle.
With smiling townsfolk, foods of different sizes
and colors were offered to every tourist and native that made the
festival warmer for everybody. Fruits and vegetables were stringed
together and the famous leaf-shaped wafers of rice or kiping were
out for the festivity’s stardom that made the houses mouthwatering
enough to be eaten up.
Making Pahiyas
Jeffrey Placino, a 30-year-old native of Lucban,
shared the secrets of Pahiyas-making. The man had painstakingly
festooned his home with rice grains.
Besides a combination of malagkit (glutinous)
and the typical kind of rice, Placino used cardboards of cheapest
price and the usual white glue for his house. He said that his idea
of a rice house was actualized in no more than a week, giving
credits to his friends who took usual visits to help him.
“I thought of cheap but definitely native
materials,” said Placino adding, “This is just to show respect
and gratefulness for the good harvest.”
According to Placino, his total expenses for his
rice house amounted only P5,000 or less because he said that the
rice materials could be recycled anyway through thorough washing.
“With all the blessings that I received, what
harm would it do if I spend a little for a thanksgiving?” said
Placino.
Rice price hike
“We don’t have rice shortage here,”
claimed Lucban Mayor Moises Villaseñor and added jokingly that the
issue of rice shortage was existent only in newspapers.
However, Villaseñor said that they could not
extend whatever supply they have to neighboring regions because
their rice stocks were just enough for each Lucbanon family.
“Lucbanon farmers own small areas of land
which produces enough harvests for their own families,” he said in
Filipino.
The mayor also defended the multi-colored and
much-celebrated festival against its critics regarding the rice
shortage saying that “Pahiyas is not just all about rice. It’s
about the agriculture as a whole industry.”
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