It seemed eons ago when I attended the Sagada Town Fiesta. The last I remember was the Sagada Town Fiesta before I left home for my schooling in the city. I was so overwhelmed with excitement and the excitement was so intense that I never was able to sleep the night before the Grand Parade. Tossing and turning on my makeshift bed of unsheeted mattress set upon the wooden floor of our leased house, I kept reminiscing on the events that have happened during my last Sagada fiesta experience. A smile crept on my face as I remembered faces I have seen, games I have watched, and activities I have participated in. All those years ago have been to me a flood of memories coming back to haunt me.
The extremely cold temperature in Sagada these days has not stopped the community from pushing through with the Sagada Town Fiesta encompassing the widely dubbed Sagada Etag Festival. With the theme “Nurturing our Common Origin amidst Converging Cultures”, the festivities started on the 28th with the PNP Band Concert by the Camp Dangwa, La Trinidad police officers. The painful sting of the wind and the intense cold was nothing to the many viewers from the different barangays of Sagada who've come to witness such genuine talents. The audience endured the stinging wind and even the rain showers just to witness these talented policemen play in tune with their cool voices. The light of the night was when Sagada vice-mayor, Richard A. Yodong took the center stage and with one of the PNP officers, sang a popular song in the ‘60s (which title I fail to recall), as the PNP band played along. The night was already coming to a close and yet the band kept playing as the willing audience felt the warmth of their voices move stealthily into the soul. Their voices and the great accompaniment was enough to keep us warm and contented all through the night. Their voices were so warm and comforting that even the wintry wind blowing amidst our faces immediately warmed up to them. I wasn't able to finish the concert since my mom and I rushed home. They had to have their beauty rest so as to look fresh for the parade the next morning.
I was still wide awake when I heard my mother’s strident footsteps going down the stairs. Ugh! I covered my ears with my acini-secreted-fluid-colored pillow of billowy soft puffs until those thunderous footsteps faded out. It was not long when then I witnessed a streak of light through a crack of my supposed to be drawn floor-length tapestry (as if! curtains lang kadi.), of which adds a bit of grandeur to my place of refuge. Ugh! It was that great dense ball of plasma, and here those so-called genius astronomers with the likes of Copernicus, Kepler and Galileo call it a yellow DWARF. Serves them right being condemned by the Catholic Church, burned at the stake, and being called fools.
Anyway, since the fairy of the night ignored my plea for shuteye, I took an icy early morning bath (at that time, I thought it maybe my last bath in Sagada), and got ready to watch the parade for my mom and brother have already left. I perched myself atop the chinked cement edge of the near-dilapidated waiting shed, unwary of the jeers and friendly bantering of familiar faces telling me to step off the ledge. It was the best place to watch. Find your seats. First come, first served. Haha! Sutil!
The parade started. And there I was, with a smile plastered on my zit-pervaded face, satisfactorily dangling my similarly Wuchureria bancrofti-infected legs off the ledge as the PNP band played beneath, commencing the civic parade. Sagada town officials and visitors from La Trinidad LGU and other municipalities followed. Amidst those officials and visitors, I caught a glimpse of Ma’am Rosalia Padayao and company bearing the banner of the ECW, singing ‘ginga, pising ya etag…’.
The Sagada Central School drum and bugle corps was my own pride and honor. I missed the rhythm of the drums and the wonderful sound of the lyres, also the graceful swing of flags of the majorettes. Of course, the SCS pupils were amusing to watch for I remembered how small we were then, innocently proud, waving and smiling at spectators. The Sagada National High School students gave me a sense of pride as I for one have traversed those streets with head held high just as they have done. Much to my delight, who was I to espy but the living souls who have made us who we are today, our teachers: Sir Joseph Caligtan (current teacher in-charge of Sagada High), who has the lowest eyebrows ever but of which has made him more handsome and knowledgeable; Sir Innocencio Estangki, who’s a fighter at heart with his arnis-savvy and other martial arts combat dexterity, having that proud i-Besao smile pasted on his suave, admirable face; Ma’am Angeline Sumedca, who still reigns as the faculty muse; Ma’am Cheryl Tauli, who's growth seems to have stunted but added to her cute, perky and youthful countenance; Ma’am Cherr Umaming, who has the most approachable of faces but is as austere as a caring and protecting mother; Ma’am Lucinda Baniaga, who has the softest of voices but the loudest when it comes to the heart; and some new faces, Ma’am Genevieve Dao-as, an English teacher who never fails to have me near her since she claims to be slender when I’m around; Ma’am Cerilo who teaches TLE to the freshmen and sophomores; Sir Elvis Biag, who of course still remains as handsome and cool as ever and teaches MAPEH; and a female practice teacher who’s name I failed to ask. I think Sir Daniel Thalkar was among them, also an English teacher helping out Ma’am Genevieve. Shin Kyoung-Kwan or whom we call Mika who had been part of Sagada National High, was with his fellow Koreans (kayang mag-tagalog ni Mika, pramis!). He was one of the fifth batches of the Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) volunteers who were deployed to the Philippines. Mika was sent to Sagada to render school and community services for two years. According to him, the agency assigned him the job to create a webpage for the school, to teach computer basic skills to the teachers and students, and provide community services as part of being acquainted with the culture and traditions of the community. During the parade, he was in taekwondo uniform together with one other Korean. The ladies wore their traditional Hanbok for the occasion. The community was so glad to have the Koreans join the parade as shown by the loud applause when they pass by.
I have never been more entertained as I saw students from Ankileng National High School-Balugan extension. It brought laughter and amusement to the i-Sagada and visitors as the males wore very short skirts like those renowned Scottish kilts (Hehehe… Baga-bagay da met iman ah.) while the ladies wore pants. A giggle broke out of my more than entertained self as I saw some of the gentlemen holding their skirts between their legs (Maskaw da. Ay egay da et iman nairuwam ya. Hehe…).
The parade was really grand and fascinating as people in traditional Igorot costumes danced and played the gongs along the street. The proud INAGWABs caught my immediate attention as their gongs played a different kind of music. The IBOGANGs were also proud of their tomato-laden Minola or Baguio oil cans and their eggplant-lettered banner as they paraded the streets carrying these. The central barangays were also great, never letting the other barangays get the better of them when it comes to street dancing. The Northern barangays also stuck to my mind since my ogre-like uncle who dressed in a yellow t-shirt (and was that a green pair of pants? aw, come on. *me hiding face with cap*) was one to hold the banner, parading that big, lousy smile of his of which always makes me laugh.
So there. My day was half completed as I saw these people march on to maybe what they could call a victory dance since they had a contended battle ahead of them: the ground demonstration. Of course, Sagada National High School emerged victorious after scuffling the other contenders with their ‘arnis’. Sagada Central School placed 2nd for their graceful swinging of the flags to the tune of the SCS band’s ‘mi-fa-sol-sol…’. In line with this, the Koreans participated through their fan dance or buchaechum, their own cultural dance. The Korean gentlemen showed their skills in taekwondo as well, which is well-known as their national sport.
And so the Sagada Town Fiesta started… Huh? But where’s the etag? Tsk, tsk… There it was hidden amongst the less crowded of people, a stall… a small stall… Even smaller than the nearby proud IBOGANG's stall. So there was where the etag was. And so the Etag Festival started…
The last day of the festival was just as exciting as the first since we had a chance to watch the tug-of-war between barangays and visitors. I was really hoping you guys were there to watch it. It was fun. One of my top three exciting moments in Sagada. The Literary-musical concert culminated the activities of the day. The 'darling of the crowd' if I may be permitted to say so was the contestant of Bangaan National High School for the solo category for he obviously caught the crowd's attention by the simplicity and innocence of his words. Let me share with you some of his words as he 'day-enged' (if there is no such word, I have made my own...) away...
'ukatem nan matam
ta sak-en di iiiilam...
...men utu is etag sak an-anusan
subil mo'y malalalalaneban...'
(basta it was something like that)
And thus the Sagada Etag festival and Town Fiesta ended.
Program of Activities
Sagada Etag Festival
Sagada, Mountain Province
Jan 29-Feb2, 2011
‘Nurturing our common origin
amidst converging cultures’
January 28
7:00 PM PNP Band concert
January 29
7:00 AM Opening Ceremonies
8:00 Civic Parade
Street Dancing
1:00 PM Ground demonstrations per school
Cultural presentations per zone
4:00 Dog walk
6 :3O Ethnic music concert of song writer-students
with Pangkat Pinat, Kordilyera Jam, and local musicians
January 30
8:00 AM Holy Eucharist
9:00 Etag making
Coffee cupping
Kimchi making
Ball Games
7:00 Search for Miss Teen Sagada 2011
January 31
8:00 AM Games
7:00 PM Ballroom dancing & Benefit dance
February 1
8:00 AM Quiz Bee
Essay Writing
Wushu
Games
1:00 PM Indigenous games
February 2 (Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary)
8:00 AM Candle procession
8:30 Mass service
10:30 Games
5:00 PM Literary and Musical contest
Source: Sagada Etag Festival Program Committee