More than the noise of drums, the festival has a laudable origin. It dates back when Kabankalan was just a barangay of Ilog, the once capital of Negros Island and Siquijor. Since Ilog was navigable, it was the center of commerce and had been very progressive, to the envy of Muslim pirates who were about to conquer the place but with people gathering in Church and praying, a small Child with the shining sword atop the Church’s roof drove the pirates away. People believed that it was Sto. Niño, and to honor him, dances were offered first by the sacadas but because it was attractive to tourists, it has later become a festival.
Sinulog derived its name from "Sulog" a Hiligaynon word for current, as Ilog is a river. Actually, the festival for me had been paganized before, as you can see women in two-piece suit carrying Sto. Nino, leads the tribe while dancing and drunk men raise their bottles of beer shouting, Viva, Senor Sto. Nino. Thanks to Father Henry Pineda's valiant homilies. He also used to tell the difference between 'pang-fiesta and merry-making'. When you go to the place and attended the fiesta, you are with the community in thanksgiving to their patron. But if you just went there for fun, that's merry-making and not pang-fiesta. (I read somewhere that Sto. Nino cannot be a patron because he is the Second Person of the Trinity, that is why Cebu's patron saint is Our Lady of Guadalupe).
Never did I enjoy the merriment at the plaza, probably because of my introverted personality. I often stayed at home to accommodate guests, if there was any. I sometimes question how the celebration had been commercialized and how people had been pre-occupied by the menial tasks thus losing the real meaning of the celebration, that is, Jesus, was born amongst us and had been a child such that, we must have that childlike dependence on God, yet doing our best in every endeavor.
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1 comment:
Re your posting, Kabankalan Sinulog, please refer to the December 2008 issue of ang Kabankalanon.
Sinulog sa Kabankalan was started in 1975. The story about the raids of Moro pirates is true. The notion about the "child with a shining sword" scaring the pirates away is simply that: a notion. As we say in Hiligaynon, diin tabo man! No such thing ever happened. This hype, which came about in the early 1990s, was most probably the product of the very fertile minds of people who would like to promote the Sinulog sa Kabankalan.
Sinulog is a Visayan word for the war dance, usually shown in zarzuelas, between a Bisaya and a Moro pirate. It is called Sinulog because the two warriors act like two sulog (roosters) circling and fighting each other.
The people who started the Sinulog sa Kabankalan did not do it to commemorate the scaring away of he Moro pirates by a "child with a shining sword." The first time the Kabankalanons danced and chanted in the streets of Kabankalan was in January 1975 when, following the lead of the late Mayor Pablo Sola, they joined the sacadas from the neighboring haciendas in their annual celebration of the feast of the Sto. Nino. Everybody got so much fun and enjoyment that they decided to do it again the next year. From then on, Sinulog sa Kabankalan became an annual event.
I hope this puts to rest this "child with a shining sword."
All the best,
Elmer Rex G. Cordero
ang Kabankalanon
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