Padul-ong Festival Awaits

Photo: Borongan Digital Photography Forum ( Photo taken by: Alren Jerome Beronio)

The Padul-ong festival in Borongan, Eastern Samar, Philippines depicts the legend of how the image of the blessed Virgin Mary was mysteriously transported to the town from Portugal and how the enigmatic Lady in White who supposedly frequents the Hamorawan Spring located at the heart of the city gave the water its miraculous healing powers.

Every September 7th, people of Eastern Samar commemorate the Lady of Nativity as the patroness of Borongan. The procession of the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary (a small statue) starts at 5:00AM in Punta Maria. From there, it is transported across the bay by banca to Rawis, parading the image through the town to the Borongan Cathedral. There are then re-enactments of the transporting of the Blessed Virgin Mary at the City plaza.

The story goes that a Portuguese woman requested the captain of a ship bound for the Philippines that she may travel there with them. The Captain, denied her request as he felt it improper to take one single woman on board a vessel with a crew of all men. For a time the vessel remained in the Port of Portugal since it could not sail due to bad weather. The captain slept a while in his cabin. When he awoke he opened a window to check the weather outside and was surprised to see the woman still sitting on her baggage on the docks, soaking wet and trembling with cold. The captain gave in and took pity on her and helped her aboard. He locked her safely in a cabin for fear that some of his crew members might take advantage of her.

Suddenly the weather turned clear and the sea calmed, and they were able to set sail to the Philippines. The journey was fast and smooth but it still took a month to reach the shores of the Philippines. Approaching the shore, the captain realised that he had forgotten to serve his guest a single meal in the entire trip. He ran in haste to the woman’s cabin but his visitor was dead. The captain then noticed the woman’s baggage — a rectangular wooden box that bore some letters which he believed to be the woman’s address.

Stormy weather took them off course and they had to dock at at Punta Maria on the island of Samar. When the captain asked a local what the name of the place was on the box, the native answered, “Borongan.” The natives of the area were all eagerly anticipating the contents of the rectangular box. When the box was opened there appeared to be a beautiful image of the Virgin inside. The natives were very happy to have received such a beautiful and rare gift. The news spread to the entire community and the image was placed in the church of Punta Maria for all to see. Soon after rumors started in the parish that a beautiful lady frequents the Hamorawon Spring some evenings, taking a bath and leaving behind a waft of heavenly scent, and those that saw her and bathed in the waters themselves were miraculously cured if their ails.

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The retrieval of the Balangiga bells

Photo by Alren Jerome Beronio, the second photo published on facebook.

The US Embassy Manila and the Diocese of Borongan are working for the retrieval of the Balangiga bells and hoping that it will follow the footstep of the San Pedro bell.

SHORT HISTORY

On September 28, 1901 during the Philippine-American War, Filipino guerrillas in Balangiga ambushed American troops, killing 48 members of the US 9th Infantry. The incident triggered the infamous American retaliation against the Samar populace and guerrillas.

ABOUT THE BALANGIGA MASSACRE

An incident in 1901 in the town of the same name during the Philippine–American War. It initially referred to the killing of about 48 members of the US 9th Infantry by the townspeople allegedly augmented by guerrillas in the town of Balangiga on Samar Island during an attack on September 28 of that year. In the 1960s Filipino nationalists applied it to the retaliatory measures taken on the island. This incident was described as the United States Army's worst defeat since the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876 Filipinos regard the attack as one of their bravest acts in the war.

There has been much heated discussion regarding the number of Filipino casualties, for which there are no reliable documentary records. Gen. Jacob H. Smith, who ordered the killing of every male over ten years old during the retaliatory campaign, was subject to court-martial for "conduct to the prejudice of good order and military discipline". Reprimanded but not formally punished, Smith was forced into retirement from the service because of his conduct.

The attack and the subsequent retaliation remains one of the longest-running and most controversial issues between the Philippines and the United States. Conflicting records from American and Filipino historians have confused the issue. Demands for the return of the bells of the church at Balangiga, taken by the Americans as war booty and collectively known as the Balangiga bells, remain an outstanding issue of contention related to the war. One church bell remains in the possession of the 9th Infantry Regiment at their base in Camp Red Cloud, South Korea, while two others are on a former base of the 11th Infantry Regiment at F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

According to some nationalist Filipino historians, the true "Balangiga massacre" was the subsequent American retaliation against the Samar population and guerrillas. Interpretations and retelling of the Balangiga incidents, the Samar pacification campaign and the Philippine–American War have been heavily influenced by the writings of Filipino left-wing polemicist RenatoConstantino and also Filipino Marxist historian Teodoro Agoncillo, both strongly anti-American.

From (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balangiga_massacre)

Supplemental news from Alren Jerome Beronio/ Sinirangannewsinfo.blogspot.com

The best of Eastern Samar

Photo by: Alren Jerome P. Beronio

Eastern Samar is a province in the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas region. Its capital is the city of Borongan. Eastern Samar occupies the eastern portion of the island of Samar. Bordering the province to the north is the province of Northern Samar and to the west is Samar province. To the east lies thePhilippine Sea, part of the vast Pacific Ocean, while to the south lies the Leyte Gulf.

History;Colonial period:

During his circumnavigation of the globe, Ferdinand Magellan had set foot on the tiny island of Homonhon in the southern part of the province. On March 16, 1521, the area of what is now Eastern Samar is said to be the first Philippine landmass spotted by Magellan and his crew.

On September 28, 1901 during the Philippine-American War, Filipino guerrillas in Balangiga ambushed American troops, killing 48 members of the US 9th Infantry. The incident triggered the infamous American retaliation against the Samar populace and guerrillas.

Further information: Balangiga massacre

During the Second World War in 1944, Americans involved in the liberation of the Philippines from Japan built in the town ofGuiuan the largest military base in the Pacific. In the same town in 1949, approximately 5,000 Russian refugees escaping from communist China temporarily settled on Tubabao Island until 1951, when they were transferred to Australia and the United States.

Independent province

Eastern Samar, as a province, was created from Samar province through Republic Act No. 4221 on June 19, 1965.Congressmen Eladio T. Balite (1st Dist. Samar), Fernando R. Veloso (2nd Dist. Samar), and Felipe J. Abrigo (3rd Dist. Samar), authored Republic Act 4221 which was approved by Congress in 1963. The law, ratified in a plebiscite on June 19, 1965, divided Samar into three: Northern Samar, Eastern Samar and (Western) Samar.

Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda), one of the strongest typhoons ever recorded, made its first landfall in the coastal town of Guiuan on November of 2013.

Geography

Eastern Samar covers a total area of 4,660.47 square kilometres (1,799.42 sq mi)    occupying the eastern section of Samar island in the Eastern Visayas region. The province is bordered to the north byNorthern Samar and to the west by Samar. To the east lies the Philippine Sea, part of the vast Pacific Ocean, while to the south lies the Leyte Gulf.

Because it faces the Philippine Sea of the Pacific Ocean, Eastern Samar suffers heavily from powerfultyphoons.

Administrative divisions

Eastern Samar comprises 22 municipalities and one city, all encompassed by a single legislative district.

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Samar)

Pintados- Kasadyaan Festival

Photo by: Alren Jerome Beronio

The Pintados Festival is a cultural-religious celebration in Tacloban based on the body-painting traditions of the ancient tattooed "pintados" warriors.

 In 1986 the Pintados Foundation, Inc. was formed by the people of Tacloban to organize this festival in honor of Sr. Santo Niño.

Years later, it was merged with the Kasadyaan Festival which is always held on June 29.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sangyaw)