Difference between revisions of "Marinduque Province, Philippines"

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Marinduque Province, Philippines (view source)

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 ==[[Marinduque News]]==
-'''Unveiling other treasures of Marinduque'''
+'''MARINDUQUE MORYONS'''
-*Source: http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=797277&publicationSubCategoryId=200
+*Source: http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/357123/marinduque-moryons
-* April 15, 2012 02:46 PM
+*April 16, 2012, 1:56am
-:by   Jun Pasaylo
+:by FLORO L. MERCENE
-MARINDUQUE, Philippines – As the dusts of the annual Moriones event settled in, life here slowly returned to normal as thousands of local and foreign tourists joined the exodus of moving out from this Lenten capital of the country.
+PROPERLY anesthetized, with a little help from a bottle or two of gin or gallons of the local tuba (coconut toddy), the penitents allow themselves to be scarred by the tip of a very sharp knife. The now swollen muscle erupts in crimson blood, flowing down his backs and legs. Soon, by the end of the procession and before the various carosas bearing the image of saints and the Santo Sepulcro, the dead body of Christ, enter the church doors, the moryons leave for home, while the antipos flee to the nearby sea and immersed themselves in the warm, salty water, washing off the caked blood and thereby symbolically washing themselves of sin.
-For decades, the Moriones tradition brought this island-province to fame, being home to one of the oldest religious practices in Philippine history.
+ The climax of the Moryon Festival comes on Easter Sunday, when the masked men give chase to Longino, who is easily identifiable by his one-eyed mask.
-But Marinduque has a lot to offer other than the Moriones.
+Longino is a Roman centurion, who, according to Biblical tradition, thrusts a spear on the crucified Christ, to see if He was truly dead.
-Its local tourism office was gearing up of showcasing the potential of the province as a premiere tourist destination.
+The spurting blood hit his blind eye and his eyesight was restored.
-Some unique features
+Longino is said to have been the first Roman convert to Christianity, proselytizing to all who would listen before he incurred the wrath of Pilate and was executed.
-Other than the Morions, the masked and costumed penitents that drew their inspiration from the Roman soldiers that tortured Jesus Christ before his crucifixion, Marinduque is also home to a musical instrument called "Kalutang".
+The local moryons, barely recalling this Biblical accounts (remember, they are farmers and fishermen) and following local traditions, run after Longino. They chase him across muddy fields, beneath coconut and banana plantations, through the sun splashed meadows, under nipa houses. Twice he will be caught and escaped.
-It was made from two pieces of wood that produce different note ranges depending on its size. A band of 10 to 12 can create music with this instrument.
+The wily Longino, usually fueled by alcohol, would flee barefoot, the cape behind him fluttering in the warm breeze, and choose the most difficult path in the barangay to dodge the pursuing troopers.
-Marinduque also hosts a 1.4-kilometer underground river, popularly known by the local as the Bagumbayan Caves in Sta. Cruz town.
+The chase provokes uproars of chickens cackling, dogs barking, and the uncontrolled mirth and laughter of the locals, amused no end by the display of braggadocio and unalloyed fun.
-The white and fine sand of its Mariwaya and Tres Reyes Islands matched those of the world famous Boracay Island.
+ Longino is eventually captured.The moryons tie him up and parade him in town.
-Its six towns – Mogpog, Santa Cruz, Torrijos, Buenavista, Gasan and Boac – offered a variety of rock and sand beaches, falls, caves, sulfur springs, heritage sites, century-old churches and ancient houses, among others.
+ At noon, Longino is placed on a raised platform of makeshift bamboo bed, while around him, the moryons, now in a frenzy of shouting in falsetto voices, call for Longino’s head.
-Its community-based tourism projects also offered mountaineering programs to the towering Mt. Malinding, and eco-tourism activities to Carmen mangrove sites.
+ With a flourish, an assigned moryon will raise his wooden sword, bring it down on Longino’s neck and raise the severed one-eyed mask for the town folks to marvel at.
-It is also home to one of the branches of the National Museum of the Philippines that housed the countless artifacts that define the rich history of Marinduque.
+The Roces group calls the masked men “moriones” (plural for morion), which describes a metal breastplate or armor and accompanying headgear of a Roman centurion.
+The original moryon, as the Mogpog folks would tell you, is a wooden mask carved from dapdap. The headdress is not the plumed Roman soldier copied from the Ten Commandment movie, comic books, and literature. It is a later improvement.
-The province also strengthen its claim as being the heart of the Philippines, on top of being a heart-shape island, with the discovery of historical marker Luzon Datum.
+The moryon masks in Gasan and Buenavista, copied from Mogpog, are fashioned by the wearer. The cape is usually borrowed from the wife’s curtain. The headgear is fashioned from  a slender bamboo stick, about a meter long, wrapped in colored paper and topped with petals in various colors.
-Luzon Datum, a marker with a hole of 1.5 centimeter in diameter and 6.0 centimeter deep, traced to the surveying and mapping activities in the Philippines of the then United States Coast and Geodetic Survey (USCGS).
+The locals are not in any mood to argue whether moryones should be spelled “Moryon” with a “y” or moriones, with an “i” noting that while Moriones in Tondo has been named since Spanish times’, not a single masked man can be seen in that congested part of the Manila during the Lenten season.
-In her speech during the unveiling of the historical marker, Governor Carmencita Reyes noted of the rarest opportunity to play host to Luzon Datum, the Point Number One for all Philippine mapmakers.
-"It stands there on its high perch as the authoritative reference guide and a constant reminder that will steer and lead us to further seek natural and man-made heritage together with intangible legacies that Marinduque continually bequeaths upon us, waiting to be discovered," she said.
-On top of unadulterated environment treasures of Marinduque are its people.
-Along the streets of this fourth class province, one can feel the tranquility brought about by the spirit of its peace-loving people.
-Its laid back life perfectly matches the aura of its cultural heritage that decoded the wonders of the people and places in this island-province in Tayabas Bay.
-One can walk around free from the threats of criminality. After all, Marinduque is the second safest province of the Philippines, next to the Batanes group of islands.
 ==[[:Category:Marinduque, Philippines Photo Gallery|Marinduque, Philippines Photo Gallery]]==