ALIAGA, Nueva Ecija – In 1999, Mary
Domingo, then 63, felt a numbing sensation on the right side of her face.
With
the pain refusing to go away, she sought the help of many doctors but they all
failed to determine the cause of the pain. She next went to herbolarios (quack doctors) but they also
could not unmask her mysterious ailment.
Desperate,
Domingo turned to this town’s patron saint John the Baptist and went to grace
this town’s annual “Taong Putik” Festival. Now 78, she has never missed a
single festival since.
Domingo was one of some 7,000 mud people
and St. John devotees who turned up for yesterday’s annual event in Barangay
Bibiclat here, witnessed by Manila-based newsmen from various media outfits and
wire agencies.
Chief Inspector Roberto Sena, Aliaga police station commander, said this
year’s event, themed “Ang Pamamanata,” drew devotees from all walks of life,
with the youngest a four-year-old girl Janaya dela Cruz, a first-timer who came
over because of her mom.
Another participant Rodel Capalad said
he has been gracing the event the past eight years as his way of thanksgiving
for the fulfillment of a wish : to pursue his studies. “For as long as I can, I
will attend the festival every year,” he vowed.
Sena said by their own estimates, the
crowd was easily at least 5,000, including 2,000 mud people.
Every 24th of June, Bibiclat, a rustic
town some 30 kilometers from Cabanatuan City, welcomes hundreds of tourists and
devotees of St. John. They were welcomed by a uniquely-dressed group of
devotees whose faces and bodies were smeared with mud and covered with dried
banana leaves, a form of religious ritual of humility, penance and vow.
Father Carlos Padilla, parish priest of
the St. John the Baptist Church – a declared diocesan shrine - officiated the
morning Mass here which was attended by third district Rep. Czarina Umali and
Mayor Elizabeth Vargas.
Padilla said the tradition originated in
1944 when a group of Japanese soldiers were ambushed by guerrilla rebels. In
retaliation, the Japanese officers ordered all the men of the community
arrested and brought to the chapel grounds.
The Filipinos were about
to be shot at noon when their relatives went to the church and prayed hard for
their safety.
Suddenly, it rained hard
and the Japanese officers, interpreting this as a sign
of disapproval from heaven, ordered
the execution stopped and set the men free.
The people then danced in jubilation and
played in the mud. They attributed the miracle to St. John the Baptist.
Village elders said people who attend
the unique celebration also fulfill a "panata" (vow) for a family
member's good health. One of them was Eugenio Alamon, 62, who suffered three
strokes and couldn’t walk.
As in the past, the ritual starts before
the crack of dawn at 4 am when participants wake up and go to the nearest rice
paddies to smear mud on their bodies and wear the grass or dried leaves.
Then they walked around the community
and begged for candles or money to buy candles, which they lit for before praying.
Afterwards, they proceed to the chapel for a Mass.
The saint's statue is then paraded around
the community, with the devotees carrying lit candles and roses.
By turning themselves into mud people,
participants emulate St. John the Baptist, who appears in most biblical tales
dressed like a beggar.
From the village’s rice field, groups of taong putik roam the
village and ask for alms. House owners give them money or candles, believing
that this gesture would be paid back with blessings.
After the ritual, participants gather at the church yard to hear
Mass. They light candles and offer prayers before they wash themselves and join
their families for the fiesta celebration later in the day.
Vice Mayor Alfredo Domingo and his wife Leny also go to Church in
the morning shortly after the Mass was heard.
The vice mayor said the event not only enhanced the town’s image
as a pilgrimage site but also its tourism potentials.
Devotees are also
known as "San Juan or nag-sa-San Juan" by the townsfolk because they
imitate John the Baptist who hid his role as the chosen one to baptize Jesus
Christ by wearing animal skin to deceive those who were after his head.
Edwin Dizon, 47, said
yesterday’s event was a bit subdued because there was no rain, unlike the
previous years.”It was merrier when it rains,” he said.
