Liliw’s Tsinelas Festival: A Boost to Laguna’s Local Tourism and Footwear Industry

In April 2002,, the first "Liliw Gat Tayaw Tsinelas Festival" named in honor of Gat Tayaw, the founder of Liliw, was celebrated with no less than President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo as the guest of honor.

Since the holding of the first Tsinelas Festival, Liliw has been flocked by more buyers, tourist, and businessmen.Somehow, the festival has improved the Liliweños way of life.The past years,they noticed that the demand for their products has increased.

Their limited manpower hardly meets the demand for supply.Today, Biñan and Marikina footwear workers saturate Liliw.Most of their workers coming from the said places find their opportunities in LIliw.

According to Vic Camello, president of Liliw Tourism Council, Who was among those who initiated the Tsinelas Festival together with some members of the local development council and sectors of the municipality, each year, the number of tourist who come to Liliw for the festival has increased.

Liliw formally became the "footwear capital of Laguna" through Resolutions No. 38-S-2003 of the Sangguniang Bayan of Liliw and approved by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Laguna through Resolution No. 405-S-2003 dated August 4, 2003.

Founded in 1571 by Gat Tayaw, the small, peaceful, and picturesque town of Liliw is nested at the foot of Mt. Banahaw, 17 kilometers away from Sta. Cruz, Laguna’s capital.

According to a story, Liliw got its name from a bird. It was said that Gat Tayaw and his followers decided to erect a bamboo pole within four days. A crow, however, was the first bird to alight Tayaw and his men moved south and erected another bamboo pole. With constant vigil, a beautiful bird alighted on the pole and sang, “Liw, liw, liw.” Thus, the town became Liliw.

Throughout the Spanish regime, the name Liliw was used. When the Americans came, however, on June 11, 1965, the municipal council passed Resolution No. 38-S-65, which declared Liliw as the official name and spelling of the town. It became Lilio since the Americans found it easier to pronounce it than Liliw.

The goal to develop and unite Liliweños did not stop at being mere intentions. Liliweños made sure their dream for their town could be accomplished through good works in order to develop and promote their footwear industry as a viable economic activity that spurred not only the social but entrepreneurial growth of its citizens.

Aside from the footwear products, the town of Liliw boasts of other products like the tasty uraro biscuits and lambanog coconut wine.
One of the highlights of the festival was the street dancing event.

It was participated in by spirited elementary and high school students, local government employees, and footwear manufacturers dressed in colorful costumes displaying miniatures of multicolored slippers either as earrings, necklace, headdresses or knick-knacks.

The town folks, young and old, went of their abodes and lined up along both sides of the narrow downtown roads to witness the participants. Each participant showed the traditional dances of Liliweños depicting historical tales of their ancestors.

Another event was the Musikahan, which displayed the fabulous songs and the musicality of the Liliweños. Meanwhile, the Search for Mutya ng Liliw was a night to remember for the young ladies of Liliw.

And Liliw, one of its own distinctions from the rest of the towns of Laguna abounds with the blessings of nature and a rich culture and artistic heritage. Traditional arts and crafts thrive in every towns is fast making its own distinction from the rest of the towns of Laguna through its footwear industry.

Annie Buenavente, May 30, 2004Philippine Panorama Manila Bulletin

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Balsa Festival A Floating Cultural Showcase Like No Other

A Balsa (raft) is a flatform float made of timber or other buoyant materials like bamboo or banana trunk commonly used by people living in coastal areas or riverbanks in the olden times.

It is propelled by using a long bamboo pole that reaches down to the sandy sea floor or muddy river bottom. Since boats are faster and easier to navigate, rafts were soon relegated to the country’s backwaters.

In Matabungkay, a picturesque coastal village in the town of Lian located at the west coast of Batangas, fisherman used the bamboo balsa was used by fisherman since time immemorial to ferry them to their fishing boats moored out in the bay, and back to the shore due to its shallow coastal waters.

Now, excursionist back in business to serve as a floating mini hut rents the balsa. Designed like a small floating bahay kubo with thatched roof, it has a changing room, a table, and a bamboo lounge chairs for those who just want to relax and get away from the madding crowd.

Chinese traders who founded Lian in 1768 could have chosen to land in what is now Matabungkay due to its wide, arching two-kilometer long coastline. If they had arrived in the flowery month of May, the coast was ablaze with bright red-orange blossoms of countless caballero trees (also known as arbol de fuego or “tree of fire”) that carpeted this coastal area during that period.

Matabungkay, one of Lian’s 19 barangays, has a fabled beach, which was the most popular weekend destination among city folks during the 1970’s. Out-of-towner litterbugs, however, soon tarnished its beautiful beige beach. As a result, the more discrimination tourist shied away from the place in the late 1980’s.Then came the coup de grace in the form of the economic meltdown in the region in mid 1997.

Instead of being a bane, it became a boon to Matabungkay’s dying backyard tourism industry. To some degree, the regional economic crisis adversely affected the free spending lifestyle of weekenders with disposable income. With learner pocketbooks, they soon decided to find out if matabungkay, which has since been cleared up, was worth revisiting.

Aside from its affordability, going to Matabungkay, which is 112 kilometers south of Manila, is just as fun and as exciting as flying (or cruising) to the more expensive resort towns outside Luzon.
Tourism has always been regarded as a major contributor to Batangas’ economy with its many pristine beaches and world class resort hotels like the 24-year old Matabungkay Beach Resort & Hotel (MBRH).

“Matabungkay had been out for some time and (it needed) exposure to bring back on its feet again when we conceptualized the first Balsa Festival in mid-May 2002,” explains Charlie Leviste, MBRH vice president for operations. “We thought of having this unique fluvial festival not only to honor the balsa that was a vital component in the local fishing industry in the olden days, but also to attract visitors and put Matabungkay on the tourism map again.”

This year, the Matabungkay Beach Resort & Hotel will host again, as it did before, the third Balsa Festival on May 7 to 8, 2004. This year’s celebration will be bigger, more colorful and have lots of fun-filled activities.

A motorcade of music and dance will signal the start of the celebration on May 7. A one-of-its kind balsa race, balsa décor competition, and a colorful cultural dance competition will be the highlights of the two-day fair.

“Through the balsa festival we aim to help the community by bringing back the town’s popularity,” reiterates Charley. “With the continued support of the Department of Tourism (DOT), this annual event will surely be a means for both local and foreign tourist to come here and experience a different kind of celebration.”

To further liven up the event, a concert and dance party featuring Manila-based bands will be held on both the eve and the night of the festival. Adding color to the fiesta are millions of blazing caballero blooms that serve as natural buntings hemming in the narrow asphalt road leading to the famed resort village.

“We hope that the balsa festival will continue to serve as a catalyst in attracting more visitors to Matabungkay just like in the good old days,” says the youthful hotel executive. “This is especially true now, since Western Batangas has one of the most beautifully preserved marine environments in the country,” concludes Charley. “You can even see sea horses in its shallow waters, and manta rays near Fortune Island some 10 kilometers away.”

A Scandinavian hotel executive, who used to live in the area once told Lian’s former mayor, “You have an uncut diamond in your midst. All you have to do is cut and polish it to make it sparkle.” Now, Matabungkay is beginning to glimmer once more.

Randy V. Urlanda, May 2,2004, Philippine Panarama Manila Bulletin

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19th Kadayawan sa Davaw Festival of Festivals

The Philippine Eagle and Bagobo tribe’s headgear is a fitting symbol of what Davao City has become – a vibrant and cosmopolitan city that is able to look to its past while charting its course as the premier metropolis in Mindanao.

Davao City’s inhabitants consider themselves as descendants of the Bagobo tribe- noble race that is best known for being the most friendly and adaptive to change of all the Mindanao tribes and also having the fiercest warriors.

The contradiction of being the friendliest and fiercest of the tribes has given rise to the Bagobo’s pivotal role in the history of Davao City, particularly in how it has assimilated some aspects of foreign culture without losing its Filipino and Bagobo identity.

The Bagobo’s friendly nature allowed the Spanish conquistadores to make their presence felt when they landed in Mindanao in 1800s. Tribal elders say that their ancestors, base on oral history passed from generation to generation, ha given careful thought to the arrival of the foreigners to their land.

The nobility allowed the Bagobo to rise above themselves and take in the foreigners as guests. The strength of their character assured they would remain true their roots but take in the best the foreigners had to offer.

And so they did, embracing the culture and religion of Christianity, modifying it to suit their individuality as a tribe but never really straying far from what they truly were.

The Spaniards came and assimilated themselves because they had been allowed to into the culture but never really conquered the Bagobo. Over the next decades, it was to be same for the Americans and the Japanese who came to explore Mindanao and see the riches that it has to offer.

As the Bagobos are deeply rooted in Davao history, their presence in the city is greatly felt. Their force form part of the indigenous people who are widely recognized by the local government and the people in general for their contribution to what the city is now.
Davao City is not the only home to the Bagobo, it is home to the Philippine Eagle, more precisely the Philippine Eagle Foundation which was set up because this magnificent bird on the verge of extinction.

Now, with several pairs and their offspring at their conservatory, the Philippine Eagle Foundation has come a long way from its beginning in 1987, when the staff even had to forego their salaries for one year so the feeding of the eagles would continue.

With a two-meter wingspan at its full growth, the magnificence of the Philippine Eagle is beyond question and the foundation has used the conservation program for the Philippine Eagle as a springboard to enlighten communities about the importance of conserving not only the species but also its habitat to ensure its survival.

As host of the foundation and its conservatory, Davao City pays tribute to this magnificent raptor, the only blue eyed raptor in the world, by adopting it as the symbol of the Kadayawan sa Davaw, its annual week-long festival starting August 16-22. Kadayawan is a celebration of life, a thanksgiving for the gifts of nature, the wealth of culture, the bounties of harvest, and serenity of living.

Dubbed as the “festival of festivals,” the Kadayawan sa Dabaw features very exciting and colorful multy-sensory events such as the:
1. Pasasalamat (August 16)- The formal opening rituals of the festival with an ecumenical ceremony.

2. Indigay sa Lumadnong Dula (Aug.16&17)- An array of indigenous and traditional community sports.

3. Hiyas sa Kadayawan (Aug.18)- The gender-free search for the symbol with Mindanawon.

4. Urog Etnika (Aug.18)- Conjunctive to the Hiyas sa Kadayawan search.

5. Davao River Festival (Aug.19)- A celebration performed along the historic Davao River.

6. Agongan ug Kulintangan (Aug.19)- A competition of musical skills and dexterity in the playing of agong, kulintang, gabang, and other indigenous musical instrument.

7. Mindanao Indigenous Dance Festival (Aug.20)- Theatrical tribal suites of dances and music depicting Mindanao Indigenous epics, folklores and traditions rendered by Davao and Mindanao’s many arts and culture groups.

8. Indak-indak sa Kadalanan (Aug.21)- A people’s celebration through street dancing and merriment to the beat of tribal music along the major streets of Davao City.

9. Yanog ug Yugyugan sa kadalanan (Aug.21)- Disco dancing on the streets with reverberating sounds of live bands and the best FM stations in town.

10. Floral Float Parade (Aug.22) A parade of florally dressed floats of various shapes and sizes showcasing the abundant vegetation of the Davao.

11. 9th Philippine Floriculture Congress – The annual gathering of floral and ornamental growers, enthusiasts, and marketers from all parts of the country.

12. Kadayawan Agro-Industrial Trade Fair – Showcasing the best in floriculture and ornamental plants, fruits, vegetables, handicraft.

August 15, 2004,Philippine Panorama Manila Bulletin

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