Malinao Celebrates Ati-Atihan 2003
Malinao Joins Kalibo Ati-atihan 2003 banner
The month of January is the Ati-atihan month for the province of Aklan. On this month several towns of Aklan celebrate the Ati-atihan festival. At the start of the New Year drums and glockenspiels are taken out of hiding and are put to use. Everyday in the Ati-atihan towns groups of young people go around town to stretch their muscles, pound the drums and make music from the glockenspiels, in preparation for the celebration proper.
Makato, Malinao, Altavas, Ibajay and of course Kalibo come alive in the January with the cries of Hala Bira.
Each of these towns long prepare for their respective celebrations. Makato has January 15 as their fiesta day, whatever day this date falls. Kalibo's Ati-ati falls on the third week of January. Malinao's on the third Friday of the month which is January 17th for this year. Ibajay and Altavas celebrate theirs on the last week of January.
An Ati-atihan Sto. Nino
How and why Ati-atihan is celebrated in the month of January, we could only speculate. Since the Ati-atihan later became
associated with the Sto. Nino perhaps January is the logical month of the celebration because Jesus is supposeed to be born in December so
He would be a little boy by January of the year after next. Besides there are other saints and religious figures/characters for the other months.
Anyway,
January is as good as any to celebrate anything that needs celebrating.
Setting aside history and how the Ati-atihan came about, January is a festive month for Aklanons. Malinaonons in particular prepare for the
Ati-atihan as they celebrate it in Malinao and they also participate in the Kalibo festival as well. For many years now Malinao's LGU
(or Local Government Unit, the preferred term for municipal government among government personnel) has sent a sizable delegation
to the Higante Contest in Kalibo. This is usually done on the Wednesday of the Kalibo Ati-atihan week. Then on the Friday of that same week, Malinao
holds its own Ati-atihan.
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| Traditional Ati-atis: soot smeared Ati-ati (left) and Ati-atis wearing costumes made out of river vines (right) similar
to the Ati-atis of the 50's and the 60's. |
The Ati-atihan in Malinao has been celebrated for as long as I can remember. In the 50s and the 60s, the celebrants had only soot
from pots and pans to blacken their bodies. Or they would use almagre, a reddish dye smeared on the body. The pots and pans were then used to
make sounds - clang, clang , clang. No drums or glockenspiels. For costumes, the ati-atis would use eamay, the dried mature banana leaves, wrapped around their bodies. The celebrants roam around town, in small groups or individually, usually with a bottle of spirit on hand or a kawit of tuba, and the spectators would try to guess ther identities.
The other towns of Aklan that celebrate Ati-atihan had the same character of celebration. Purely native celebration. Shouting VIVA KAY SENOR STO. NINO!! Clang, clang, clang.
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| Spectacular costumes of contemporary Ati-atis of the Kalibo Ati-atihan Festival |
In the 70s there was a conscious shift to the commercial aspect of the Ati-atihan festivals. Fueled by the promotion of tourism as a development
strategy of the Martial Law regime during the dictatorship of Marcos, the Kalibo Ati-atihan, because of its accessibility and potential, was the
primary festival to be promoted as a tourist destination. Advertised as a Mardi Gras of sorts, the Kalibo festival evolved into a grand festival
that incorporates the religious elements of the Sto. Nino, the pagan revelry of the Atis (Aetas) , the colorful dress of fictional tribes and the
spirit of San Miguel, Ginebra, Tanduay, Red Horse, lambanog, tuba and Fundador, Red Label, Black Label, Chivas, Johnny Walker for the well-off.
Country-wide it spawned the Sinulog of Cebu, Dinagyang of Iloilo, Halaran of Capiz, Masscara of Bacolod and Binirayan of Antique. Even some
districts in Manila, particularly Tondo and Pandacan where large communities of Aklanons reside, copy the Ati-atihan.
The different towns were not immune from the changes that happened in Kalibo. Since the Kalibo model became a success, the other towns followed suit.
In Malinao only a few groups ro ga dimos it buling. The original rationale for celebration had been blurred. Nonetheless, the people find it
as a good excuse to celebrate. . . And so . .
Maniwantiwang, the Ati Princess, Malinao's entry to the Higante Festival in Kalibo
On January 15, 2003, a Wednesday, employees and municipal officials paraded in Kalibo with their Higante, Maniwangtiwang atop a multicab. She was
the same Maniwangtiwang paraded last year, only she was dressed differently. Again just like last year, Maniwangtiwang did not win any prize.
January 19, Friday was Ati-atihan day for Malinao. In the morning there was a contest for groups that do dancing which is categorized here in Malinao as
"choreographic presentation". The winners were: 1st - Tribu Artisano, 2nd - Los Dorados, 3rd - Tribu ni San Jose, 4th - Tribu Kiti-kiti and 5th - SJA
Merrymakers. All participating groups won - because there were only 5 groups and there were also five prizes. All groups were from the three
schools of the Poblacion, Saint Joseph's Academy, Malinao Elementary School and Malinao School for Philippine Craftsmen. Lucky schools.
A Malinao Tribu getting ready for the parade, Jan 19, 2003
The highlight of the day's activities was the parade of the revelers around town. There were 38 groups that participated. Ang daming participants.
Sapoe eon ro oeo it parada, ra ikog hay ga-umpisa pa eang. There were also contests in different categories and the winners are posted in another page.
In the evening there was the traditional masquerade ball and again there was a contest for different categories - yung mga most,
pero walang demostboling.
Saturday and Sunday, Malinaonons trooped to Kalibo. Some to just observe the event, others to participate actively in their own groups. For this year,
five groups that participated in the Malinao Ati-atihan also participated in Kalibo as official entries in their contest. The Lilo-anong Ati ag si
Datu Bangkaya won first place in the Balik Ati category and Tribu ni San Jose won first place in the Small Tribal Group category. With this result
many from Malinao will again participate in Kalibo next year.
For now the drums and glockenspiels are kept again in their proper hiding places, surely to be taken out again next year for Ati-atihan 2004.
Ati-atihan Pictures are now in the Photo Album!!!
Mayor's Corner