Difference between revisions of "Marinduque Province, Philippines"

Jump to navigation Jump to search
→ → Go back HOME to Zamboanga: the Portal to the Philippines.

Marinduque Province, Philippines (view source)

Revision as of 13:57, 21 January 2012

1,316 bytes removed ,  13:57, 21 January 2012
→‎Mirinduque News
Line 185: Line 185:


==[[Mirinduque News]]==
==[[Mirinduque News]]==
'''More children devotees join Marinduque’s Ati-Atihan'''
'''100 policemen deployed to Basilan'''
*Source: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/130493/more-children-devotees-join-marinduque%E2%80%99s-ati-atihan
*Source: http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/348799/100-policemen-deployed-basilan
*1:10 am | Thursday, January 19th, 2012
*January 21, 2012, 5:13pm
:by Gerald Gene R. Querubin
:by   AARON B. RECUENCO
Inquirer Southern Luzon




Santa Cruz town saw more children devotees in its own version of the feast of the Sto. Niño on Jan. 15 compared to previous years.
MANILA, Philippines — Additional 100 policemen will be deployed to Basilan to assist police and military forces in hunting down suspected members of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) and other criminal syndicates operating in the island province.
Hundreds of children participated in the Ati-Atihan street dancing parade while hundreds more converged at the town plaza to watch the group performances. The children, ages 4 to 12, consisted of 13 groups with 30-50 children per group.
 
“The annual event has evolved from a purely adult-dominated festivity when it started in 1963 to one in which the children hogged the limelight,” says Diana.
Chief Supt. Artermio Hicban, director of the MIMAROPA (Mindoro provinces, Marinduque, Palawan, and Romblon) regional police, said most of the policemen are first-timers in the operation against the notorious bandit groups.
Accompanied by their parents and guardians, the children came dressed in colorful tribal costumes made from indigenous or recycled materials.
 
Swaying and dancing to the beat of drums and bamboo percussion instruments while shouting “Hala Bira” the children pranced around with make-believe spears and swords.
He, however, said that their contingents, all from the MIMAROPA Regional Public Safety Battalion, were subjected to rigid trainings and simulated jungle operations.
Althea Brianne, 8, and in her second time to join the festivities, says she joined to ask for God’s blessings. Her mother Aizelle says her child’s interest in joining helped her get to know the Sto. Niño more and made her more aware of the Ati-Atihan tradition.
 
Ayesa Wayne Chan, 11, who was in her third year as a participant, says dancing for the Child Jesus made her happy.
“They will augment the local police units in Mindanao, particularly in the Basilan province where spate of kidnappings and other lawlessness committed by Abu Sayyaff Group and other threat groups are prevalent,” said Hicban.
Ronnie Diana, founder and organizer of the Ati-Atihan festival in Santa Cruz, wishes that local residents be drawn more to the occasion’s religious value than the call of commercialism.
 
This is his response to criticisms that the Sto. Niño festival would never be a tourism showcase as it is a mere copy of the original.
The troops will be headed by Chief Inspector Noli Asuncion.
“We did not intend to copy the original. What we did then and what we are doing now is simply to encourage residents to become devotees of the child Jesus and to embrace its essence,” says Diana.
 
Diana, who hails from Aklan, helped organize the first Ati-Atihan celebration in the town in 1963.
Hicban said the deployment of their personnel in Mindanao is part of the order issued by the Philippine National Police (PNP) leadership for all regions to assist in the maintenance of peace and order in conflict areas.
He recounts that at that time 12 fellow Aklan natives stained themselves with charcoal and pranced around the town proper with an image of the Sto. Niño.
 
He remembers that his friends were jailed because local officials and residents were not aware of the Ati-Atihan tradition. “It was through the intervention of a priest that we were freed.”
In most cases, policemen are sent to communist rebel-infested areas in the eastern part of Mindanao and the Moro rebel and extremist groups-infested areas in the western side.
Copycat
 
Critics say the town’s version of the Ati-Atihan would never be at par with the glitz and fanfare of the Sinulog of Cebu, the Dinagyang of Iloilo and the Ati-Atihan of Kalibo that have attracted millions of tourists through the years.
Even most members of the police Special Action Force are now deployed to various areas in Mindanao.
“Our version has been around since the 1960s but look at how far we are left behind by the much younger Dinagyang and Sinulog festivals,” says an elderly who refused to be named.
 
He wonders why organizers in the province could not emulate the groups behind the different Sto. Niño fests in the Visayas who are supported by big companies financially.
During the deployment ceremony at the MIMAROPA headquarters in Calapan City, Hicban said policemen should neither be intimidated or scared of the very idea of prevalence of violent activities in Mindanao.
Diana says that sans any financial help from the big firms, Marinduque’s version of the festival has survived through the years.
 
He attributes this to the efforts of the elder devotees who wanted to preserve and enhance their devotion to the child Jesus.
“Courage is being afraid, but going on anyhow. Fear of the unknown and uncertainty is but natural,” said Hicban in his speech.
“Ours is a religious tradition and not a tourism showcase. We are happy with what we have,” he says.
 
Even as politicians promised to include the festival in their tourism agenda Diana says they have not given in to their request, at least for now.
“But remember that it is in the most adverse situations that great opportunities come. Be proud that you were chosen for this mission so that when you return, you may tell great stories about your assignment in Mindanao”, he added.
He says his group fears politics could overwhelm the real essence of their devotion.
 
Basilan is a known stronghold of the ASG led by Furuji Indama. The bandit has been tagged as responsible for a series of kidnap-for-ransom activities in the past years.


==[[:Category:Marinduque, Philippines Photo Gallery|Marinduque, Philippines Photo Gallery]]==
==[[:Category:Marinduque, Philippines Photo Gallery|Marinduque, Philippines Photo Gallery]]==
Retrieved from "http://zamboanga.com/z/index.php?title=Special:MobileDiff/262586"

Navigation menu