Inopacan Fiesta 2011

May 15 - Pista sa Inopacan.

DALI KAMO! DUAW KAMO!

Some scenes of 2009 Inong-Pak-an Festival.

All photos by Edgie Polistico
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
(Click image to enlarge picture)

For more photographs, click here:



Watch a video of Inong Pak-an Festival

Unfortunately, the next showdown may not be for this year. There must be some good reasons why not this year.

Festival showcase like this would surely draw tourists to come in our town. It would help put our town in the map of tourist destinations. Job opportunities comes along in tourism. Opportunities that would help improve lives of Inopacnons and bring progress to Inopacan.

But several nights of dancing and night shows are lined up to enliven the fiesta celebration.- like the old time - beginning on May 11. May these nocturnal entertainment will not make people tired to go to church for early morning Ecclesiastical Mass.


Some of the festival activities this May 2011 include the following:

May 09 - Hiphop contest
May 10 - ____________
May 11 - SK night
May 12 - Mega Night Disco
May 13 - Live band show
May 14 - Coronation night for Miss Inopacan
May 15 - Concelebrated Mass - Misa sa lungsod alas 10:00 sa buntag. Ayaw kalimot pagtambong sa pinakamahinungdanon nga bahin sa kasaulogan sa pangilin ning atong lungsod.

An early morning Ecclesiastical Mass held in the Inopacan Parish Church during the town fiesta.

May 16 - Liwas na! Daghan mag-picnic sa dagat. Kita-kita sa Badoy beach, Reclamation (Pasil), Baysahas, Da Art, Balintong beach, Villa Editha, Digyo island....bisan asa basta may dagat. Picnic by the seaside is the popular Inopacnon post festival habit. Mao ni gitawag og "panghugas sa salin sa pista" kay ang mga bawon salin-salin na man lang sa pista. Unya hugasan og tagay yuna hugasan ang imong "kuan" diha sa dagat. LOL!

This coming May 14 and 15 is on Saturday and Sunday.

What a chance...grab it!

DALI KAMO! DUAW KAMO!

Click here to find out who are those coming to town.

MABUHI ANG INOPACAN! MABUHI ANG INOPACNON!

OMG! The kids were allowed to bet and play gambling in town.

I arrived in Inopacan on the eve of the town fiesta (May 14, 2010). My folks at home warmly welcomed me and ushered me to my room. After having dinner, I went to the town proper supposedly to watch the search for Mr. and Mrs. Inopacan 2010, but was disappointed when I found out that the organizers did not pay much attention to organizing the affair as well as to their preparations. 

It was around 10:00 PM, and I saw nobody (not a single guest) on any of the chairs arranged in clusters along the side of the open-field tennis court. The venue of the supposed beauty pageant night was empty.

About four ladies were posing as gatekeepers. When asked why the place is empty, it was an excuse for them that the organizers and committee members of the fiesta celebration were busy attending to and supporting the campaign sorties of their local candidates - the May 10 national and local elections were their priorities that almost coincided with the fiesta celebration (the same reason why there was also no follow-up presentation for the Inong Pak-an festival this year). 

The supposed candidates for the search for Mr. and Mrs Inopacan did not come on time; some begged off because for them it was not after all a competition, as the supposed winners were handpicked and pre-selected already. Besides, the coronation ceremony they set on that night was uninviting. 

After a long wait, the pseudo-beauty contest went through late that night (or was it already past midnight) while I was somewhere spending my time watching games at the "peryahan" (carnival) instead.

The amusement games were held at the reclamation area (formerly called Pasil), side by side with the ukay-ukay (used clothing sale) and night sale. It was hard for me to enjoy the peryahan when the place was swarmed by young kids.

To my estimation, 80% of the people at the peryahan were children. Not simply because they were children. What bothered me a lot was the fact that everywhere there were young kids betting on their games, errr...what I mean exactly is that they were into gambling. 

I saw no law enforcers around the place or any committee member of the amusement games organizer to oversee the temporary amusement park they installed. 

There were young and older mothers betting on the games while nursing their babies. 

 

I even saw hantak (the game of cara y cruz, where 3 coins are tossed on a slab of stone and bets are placed on which side of the coins would face up - head or tail) played in open sight, with a father coaching his son on what side of the coin to bet for. 

The pictures here would tell you more.
 

If you were me, would you not bother to criticize? 

Is this the kind of amusement that we should offer to our innocent kids in town? 

Should we excuse the kids because it was only during fiestas? 

Can we tolerate these values?

On the other hand, why was nobody policing the activities? 

Were the officers and leaders too tired to sleep away the night after losing the election?

OMG! If the statue of Jose Rizal (that remains standing a hundred meters away from the peryahan) could only speak and walk down the pedestal, it could have already scolded and preached to us that "the youth is the hope of our nation" and we should not corrupt their minds with vices and other immoralities.

Inopacan Fiesta 2010 marred by 2 incidents of killing - leaving 3 dead in town

The people of Inopacan were shocked last night upon learning that 3 people died in two separate incidents while most of Inopacnons and their guests were celebrating the feast of St. Isidore. Lito Morata allegedly stabbed to death two of their guests, one of whom was the former lover of his younger sister. While Totoy Balina was hacked to death by the brother of Aracelli (a.k.a. Black Jack) in BLISS housing.

In his Sunday morning first mass today, Msgr. Sabondo, the parish priest, shared in his homily that last night he saw people milling around the dead body of a male person lying on the ground along the San Vicente street in Brgy. Tinago. Fr. Sabundo who was then wandering around with his motorbike, stopped and checked it out, saw the dead body, and learned that the lifeless victim was stabbed to death over an old grudge.

From another source, it is learned that the suspect, Lito Morata, allegedly was harboring anger against the victim who allegedly was a former lover of the suspect's younger sister. It was gathered that the victim, along with four of his companions, dropped by at the house of the suspect to visit and join their fiesta celebration. Displeased by the presence of their guests, the suspect who was armed with a knife confronted the victim and his companion. Thus the start of the commotion and the victim was eventually knifed in the belly. The wounded victim managed to escape but the suspect chased him down the street until the victim fell on the ground, leaving behind a trail of blood from the house. Allegedly, one of the victim's companions was also stabbed to death when he attempted to meddle in the incident.

In BLISS housing, a separate hacking incident took place in the house of Aracelli, alyas Black Jack. People from BLISS were startled upon learning that Black Jack's alleged lover, Totoy Baliña, was hacked in the neck and head. It was learned later that the lone suspect was Black Jack's brother, who harbored ill feeling against the victim. The suspect allegedly was irked upon learning that his sister Black Jack was manhandled by Totoy Baliña over an issue of jealousy that night. When the suspect saw his sister having a bruise on her temple, he attacked and shouted at the victim “Romansaha na, ayaw ug kulataha!” (Make love with her, don't maul her!) while in the process of hacking the victim at the neck then at the head. The victim who was then treating the bruise on Black Jack’s temple was caught off guard by the sudden turn of events. One of Black Jack’s fingers was also amputated when the suspect gave that fatal hacking blow on the victim. Unsatisfied, the suspect allegedly even lunged the bolo several times into the side of the victim before leaving the scene of the crime.

Those who responded to rescue saw the injured Black Jack and the lifeless Totoy in a state of holding hands together, satirically described by Msgr. Sabondo as "till death do us part."

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NO INONG PAK-AN FESTIVAL in 2010

We missed the Inong Pak-an Festival this year.

The 2008 and 2009 organizers of Inong Pak-an Festival failed to continue this year (2010) the festive showdown of commemorating the legendary origin of our town's name. Blamed it on the 2010 National and Local Election that culminated on May 10, or five days before the May 15 ecclesiastical town fiesta in honor to our patron saint, San Isidro Labrador. Everybody in town and in member barangays were too busy attending to the campaign sorties of their candidates.

I suppose, the newly elected council of Inopacan should establish the creation of a cultural and social committee to preserve and promote our cultural treasure and historical identity.

I even suggest the installation of a municipal museum and public library where all the literary works, relics, memorabilia of olden times and history about Inopacan and about us Inopacnons would be stored and preserved for perpetuity.

Or else, rust, termites, and loss of memory and references will vanish these treasures to oblivion.

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INOPACAN PARISH CHURCH

Inopacan Parish Church (San Isidro Labrador Parish Church) – [San Roque Street, Poblacion, Inopacan, Leyte ] - Before the establishment of the municipality of Inopacan on December 06, 1892, a Catholic church was already built in this place, but no priest was assigned to stay here. Later on, after founding the township of Inopacan, a Cura Párroco was assigned and the church was further developed.

But the church and its convent were destroyed by the invading Japanese forces in World War II (1945). The church was rebuilt after the war. Until now, its second bell tower remains unfinished, as manifested by the steel bars that are still protruding upward. The finished tower on the other side of the church has a bell that produces a dull clang due to the big crack on its lip.

The patron saint of Inopacan is San Isidro Labrador (St. Isidore the Laborer, a.k.a. St. Isidore the Farmer) because the town's livelihood comes largely from farming. A feast is celebrated every May 15 in honor of this Patron Saint. 

A legend told by the Spanish missionaries says that in Madrid, Spain, there was a man named Isidro who was a tenant of Señor Vargas, a rich landlord. Every morning, instead of going directly to his farm like the other tenants were doing, Isidro would hear Mass first and offer his morning prayers to the Lord. In the afternoon, he would go home before six o’clock so that he could pray the Angelus together with his family. The neighbors began calling Isidro lazy. They told the landlord that Isidro always came late to the field and that only a small portion of his farm had been cultivated. Angered, Señor Vargas confronted the saintly farmer one day and shouted, “Isidro, you are lazy, deceitful man! You have never rendered a day’s work in the farm! You go there when the sun is already up and you go home when the sun is still up!” Isidro remained silent, not even a word of excuse or defense. Then, he bowed his head meekly and promised that he would plow the field and finish it in time for planting. Señor Vargas did not take Isidro’s promise seriously. 

One day, Señor Vargas went to Isidro’s farm to see if the farmer indeed kept his promise. To his great astonishment, Señor Vargas saw the field almost finished! He was filled with an immeasurable amazement upon seeing the four angels plowing the field! Then on another occasion, the master saw angels plowing along on both sides of Isidro that made Isidro’s work equal to that of three of his fellow laborers. Awed and humbled, Señor Vargas knelt before the saint and begged for forgiveness.

Historians wrote that Isidro was born sometime in 1070 near Madrid. He got married to Maria Torribia (who also became a canonized saint and was venerated in Spain as Maria dela Cabeza, from the fact that her cabeza (head) is often carried in procession in times of drought). It was told that their son fell into a deep well and at the prayers of Isidro and his wife Maria, the water in the well miraculously rose up to the ground’s surface level, which brought the boy up alive, and he was easily taken out. Afterwards, Isidro and his wife made a vow of continence and obliged themselves to live in separate houses. 

Their son, however, died in his youth. Isidro died on May 15, 1130, in his place of birth. Forty years after his death, Isidro’s remains was transferred from the cemetery to the church of Saint Andrew. It was said that his apparition was seen by Alfonso of Castile (Spain), wherein the saint showed the hidden path that surprised the Moors. Because of Isidore’s guidance, Alfonso won the war of Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212. 

It was King Philip III of Spain who replaced the old reliquary (the case containing the relics) with one that is made of precious silver. It was the king’s way of showing his gratitude that after he touched the relics, he was cured from a dreadful disease.

Isidro’s sainthood was canonized by Gregory XV on March 12, 1622 along with other saints: Ignacious, Francis Xavier, Teresa, and Philip Neri. The cities of Madrid, Leon, Zaragoza, and Seville, all in Spain, honor San Isidro (Saint Isidore) as their patron saint.

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- edgie polistico -

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