TACLOBAN
CITY, LEYTE
Pintados Festival
The Visayas islands adore and worship the Santo Nino or Child Jesus and miracles attributed to its holy image has made it easy for the Spaniards to convert the natives to Christianity. During January the Christmas celebration is extended with a fiesta atmosphere as cities and town pay homage to the Sto. Nino. The town of Kalibo in Panay started the merry tradition of streetdancing with their Ati-atihan, followed by the Dinagyang festival in Iloilo City, and the Sinulog in Cebu City and Mandaue City. A common feature of these festivals is the reenactment of the arrival of the Spaniards to the islands bearing the image of the Child Jesus, depicted in elaborate dance drama presentations to the beat of drums.
Not
to be outdone, the Warays in Leyte organized their own Pintados festival.
It is held in June, instead of January because of an old story that the ship
bearing the holy image sank on its way to Leyte. The festival in June 30 commemorates
the celebration that ensued when fishermen found its image on this date. It
festival is a modern day celebration inspired by historical accounts that
the Spaniards found the natives of the islands loved to adorn their bodies
with tattoos. "Pintados" is the Spanish and local term for "painted."
I find this festival truer to the essence of traditional fiesta celebration. The rowdy, rustic, free-wheeling, good-natured kind of merry-making. There are hardly any tourists, all the participants and spectators are locals who think this is a fun way of marking a special occasion -- with a parade of floats, beauty queens, and contingents of drummers and dancers sponsored by schools and companies. Now and then a van of a sponsoring company would throw free candies, biscuits, chips and shampoos at the delighted bystanders. In the side streets vendors ply their wares selling local handicrafts, fruits, beverages including beer, souvenir t-shirts, and snacks.
Participants and revelers observe the festival by smearing themselves with paint. It is clearly a big party for kids and teenagers who descend on the streets with paint streaks from the hair down to the laces of their rubber shoes. Occasionally, their playfulness get out of hand and they would smear unsuspecting strangers with paint. The police are extremely tolerant and nobody gets hurt or jailed. But like everywhere else, traffic is a headache after the parade.