A Wedding in Sugnod
May 22, 2002
I am constantly being asked to be ninong in weddings. Sometimes it is not only me but Amie as well. So it is good practice to have gifts ready kept in the house. When I go to Iloilo I usually buy many things that could be used as gifts. Eventually these things would end up as wedding gifts because there are many instances that invitations for weddings pop up at short notice.
Today I have two barong tagalogs. And I think that both are already tired (ga-oy), time for a change of wardrobe. If I have time I will choose another set of barong in Kalibo.
Last week, a Wednesday, Amie and I were ask to be ninong and ninang of a couple from Bulabud and Sugnod. The groom is from Bulabud while the bride is from Sugnod. So the reception was held in Sugnod. The wedding ceremony was in Rosario as this is their parish church.
In a sense this is a typical wedding in the barrio. The difference here is that the bride is working in Dubai and the groom has a brother in Saudi Arabia. So the wedding was on a grander scale than the ordinary barrio weddings. Also the families of both partners are the elite in their respective barrios.
From the poblacion there were several ninongs and ninangs aside from us. At 8:45 a.m. all of us started our trip to Rosario in three vehicles. The ninongs were Boy Ildesa, a municipal councilor, Atty. Ariel Igoy, another municipal councilor and me. The ninangs were Vice Mayor Rosie Iguban, Nurse Tita Imperial and Amie Ilio.
Surprisingly, the mass for the wedding started on time. The priest did not give weight to the absence of the mayor, vice mayor and the councilors. At 9:00 a.m. the wedding started without us. But during his sermon he acknowledged the presence of the mayor, the vice and the councilors. There was professional video coverage. Perhaps for the bride to bring the ceremonies to her friends back in Dubai.
Sugnod conjures far-away places of mountains and people with talibongs and Aklanon with strange accents. It is a place of patuyaw, sili and kagang. This perception is the Sugnod of yesterday. From 1970s to the present there was much change in the over-all character of Sugnod and also much of Malinao. The Sugnod of widely distanced houses where one had to yodle to get the attention of a neighbor is past. Tente Ponciano and Tente Homo are long past gone. (Clan patriarchs who had datuish attributes, complete with several wives and legends of their amazing exploits.)
The imposition of Marial Law in the country in 1972 carried with it the start of the resurgence of the communist movement in Panay. Young people, mostly students fled to the mountains to establish bases and plan an insurgent movement patterned after the Mao Tse Tung's people's war. The entry of the young revolutionaries into the society of Tente Ponciano had fundamental repercussions. New ideas were introduced often in contradiction to the feudal practices of the status quo. A stark result of this was the breakdown of the power of the clan. As some clan members joined the New People's Army (NPA), a new power structure emerged in the mountain societies. It was inevitable then that the Philippine military entered the picture. The result of which was the classical Vietnamese experience of hamletting.
The whole barrio of Capataga came down from the mountains and settled in a swath of land in sitio Aguantia, Bulabud. Barrio Capataga exists administratively in sitio Aguantia but the land of Capataga has no inhabitants today.
Barrio Sugnod is a bit luckier than barrio Capataga. The people were able to concentrate in a place which is located within their barrio.
I first came to Sugnod in l992 during the first campaign of Rosie Iguban as mayor. The people had just settled in their barrio center for a few years. So there was an air of temporariness, with houses just being built and the surrounding land being newly cultivated. In 1992 the people here seemed to adjust to living in a closely knitted community, them being used to living in quarters that were often separated by far distances as living in the mountains go.
Sugnod is like a BLISS (Bagong Lipunan Sites and Services of Martial Law vintage) site. Maybe there are about fifty families living in an area planned just like the BLISS. (Even the number of families in BLISS counts fifty.) The people were able to concentrate in such an area because this land is owned by one person who is kind-hearted enough (or financially astute enough) to parcel the land into residential lots with roads and provisions for institutional use for free. The owner is Pedro Icamina, an attorney who later became a judge and who is a son of the largest land-owner in this part of the town. Ciriaco Icamina, the father of Pedro, has lands in Rosario, Bulabud, Sipac, Capataga and Sugnod. His family donated the land where the national high school stands (Ciriaco Icamina National High School), the land where the multi-purpose pavement lies (pavement mostly used as a basketball court, then used as a solar dryer for palay, then a venue for programs and dances), the land where the barangay hall stands. All these in Bulabud. Of course in Sugnod all the public buildings stand on donated Icamina lands, the barangay hall, the school and the pavement.
The parceled lots were sold at a give-away price of Php 5 per sq. m. Very cheap given that these are residential lots. And payment is by installment. Still only very few are able to complete payment. I've talked to Judge Icamina and he didn't seem to care anymore if the residents in Sugnod paid him or not twenty years after he parceled his land. Technically the land remains with the Icaminas but with the developmnent and improvements there, it would surely and ultimately be owned by the present residents.
From the church of Rosario I calculate that it is about 4 km to Sugnod. One has to pass Bulabud whose boundary with Sugnod extends up to the edge of the Sugnod built-up areas.
Rosario is a fairly progressive barrio. It is almost a town. There is a church, a high school, a bank and a big plaza (but without the Rizal monument). The physical lay-out of the barangay is like that of a town. The land-owning families of the southern part of Malinao are based here, like the Icaminas. One might say that like the Poblacion, Rosario is the center of influence in that part of town.
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And so the ceremonies for the wedding of the couple from Sugnod and Bulabud was held in Rosario church. By 10:30 a.m. the mass was finished, so with the video and picture taking. A big bus, which normally ply the Bulabud-Kalibo route, was rented to ferry the guests and participants. Others rode their own jeeps and motorcycles. I rode the municipal mini-jeep called multi-cab while Vice Mayor Iguban rode the jeep of her son-in-law Erwin Iquina. Erwin's jeep has a MAD MAX letters painted in front.
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The road from Rosario to Bulabud Proper is fairly good. This is the same road that is used by vehicles going to the town of Madalag. As a provincial road it is maintained by the Provincial Engineer's Office so that it is always passable. Up to the juncture going to Fatima Hills (location of the Penitent /Ermitanyo) the road is good. But after the first river crossing the road is not maintained anymore. Not only it is narrow but rutted in many places as well. Just a hundred meters from the river crossing is a dam for irrigating the rice fields of Bulabud. This place which has a concentration of houses is called what else, but Dam Site. From here to Sugnod there are few houses along the road. The road is carved out of the side of the mountain where the potable water supply of Bulabud comes from. Two concrete water tanks with excess water coming out and draining on the road could be observed.
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Just before entering Sugnod, on an open space before descending to the second river crossing is a spectacular view of the mountains around the Sugnod valley. From here one could see the forest to the west and south and the cultivated areas in the north and east. Two more river crossings and the community of Sugnod is reached. Actually there is only one river, but it is crossed three times. I call it a river because in Aklanon it is called suba. But I think it is more of a stream because the volume of water is not so large. Except when there is heavy rain, the river could be crossed by a jeep.
I have been to Sugnod many times so it was normal travel for me but for my companions from the poblacion who only came here the first time, it was sort of wonder to find a vibrant community in this far place. It is a complete barrio with a barrio hall, primary school, water system and multi-purpose pavement. It is a nice valley surrounded by mountains on three sides and a river on the edge.
By barrio standards the wedding preparations was excessive. The high ground beside the bride's house was cleared of plants and grass. A sort of stage was place with tables for the bride and groom and important guests. The whole place was tented with plastic strawlace. Food was placed on the tables. A whole lechon was prominent with four roasted pigs' head as added decoration. For the less important guests, food was served inside the chapel which is beside the stage. Nevertheless, food was not on ordinary plates but in stainless steel food warmers which is out of ordinary in barrios like this.
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We arrived early and had to wait for others to arrive for the proceedings to start. We were wondering why the ceremonies for the luncheon did not start when all the guests seem to be around. We learned that the hosts were waiting for the priest. Someone commented that maybe the priest had other duties to attend so the eating started without the priest. After sometime the priest arrived and the mother of the groom had to apologize profusely for the breach of tradition that the priest should lead in the prayer and also the eating.
Anyway the ceremony proceeded in its sequence with the cutting of the cake, drinking of the wine, throwing of the bouquet, etc. Speeches were delivered. I was asked for advice for the new couple. My advice, which I always advice for these occasion, was for them to recognize the reality of conflict in relations and to create conflict when there is none because reconciliation is sweeter after a quarrel. Which was sort of unexpected advice.
When all this was finished we bade goodbye to the bride and groom. More importantly, we made our goodbyes to all the important personalities in the barrio. As we were boarding the multi-cab a plastic bag full of food was given to us.
The trip back from Sugnod to the Poblacion would be tiring. The food in the plastic bag would come in
handy.