Blogs from Marinduque, Philippines, Asia - page 2

Linggo ng Palaspas, Palm Sunday, celebrates Jesus Christ's entry to Jerusalem for the Jewish festival of Passover, with crowds of people waving palm branches to welcome him. The raising of Lazarus from the dead performed by Jesus gained him popularity in Jerusalem where he was to fulfill the words in the Scriptures on His final days. Decorated palaspas, palm fronds, or smaller ones bought from early-morning vendors are brought to the church by parishioners to be blessed by the priest. The procession that follows sees the waving of these fresh palaspas, in memory of the Christ's triumphal entry to Jerusalem. These are then brought home and kept in altars, or behind doors and windows to drive the evil spirits away for a year. Then their potency would have waned by then so that they would be ... read more

Gasang Gasang Festival. This is an Easter Sunday Festival held in Gasan town where the only commercial airport in Marinduque is located. This blogger was invited by the town's lady mayor in 2002 to help conceptualize a new daytime Easter festival for Gasan as it competed with the other towns in terms of attracting visitors during the Holy Week celebration. The Marinduque towns of Mogpog, Boac and Gasan draw the most tourists because of the unique Lenten rituals and practices observed here. Gasan prides itself as the cultural nerve-center of Marinduque with good reason. It was in Gasan where the moriones tradition was discovered by local journalists in the 1960s. Prior to this there was no other account of any Philipine festival that is charaterized by the use of masks. Menfolk of the towns of Mogpog ... read more

A valuable key to an understanding of the Philippines' pre-colonial history lies on the island of Marinduque. I have previously posted here a video I created, "My Ancient Marinduque", that briefly provides an account of the explorations conducted in 1881 on this island by the Frenchman, Alfred Marche. Archaeological artifacts that have been found in numerous caves here over the years have found their way into the Musee l'Homme in Paris and the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. Curiously, this heart-shaped island is also smack-center of the Philippine Archipelago. A 1911 American-built marker, known as Luzon Datum of 1911, would later confirm that within Marinduque lies the geodetic center of the Philippines. In view of this, Marinduque island prides itself as the center of the Philippines. The dialect spoken in Marinduque has been described as the ... read more

Everytime I'd go out of my door now that faces west, and where every morning I'd say hello to the sun sea and sky, I'd look at it now with a totally different view. The new knowledge I've come across last weekend, that as far as I my eye could see, am really looking at the blue waters of the center of the center of the center of the world's marine biodiversity, did it. I've lived in Amoingon Beach in Boac, Marinduque for the last 18 years, where to the left facing the sea I see on a clear day the islands of Romblon, right across in the far distance is the big island of Mindoro, and to the right is Batangas and Quezon where the mystical Mt. Banahaw dominates the view. I know that not ... read more

In the towns of Boac, Gasan and Buenavista the community theater group Teatro Balangaw has mounted original productions based on folk beliefs in the island-province of Marinduque. "Mara Unduk", "Bulong", "Moryonan" and "Sukat Ipag-alab ng Damdamin" are some such productions presented in dance-drama form. There are no auditoriums nor theaters in Marinduque, so such performances are staged in open spaces or covered courts.... read more