Cebu's Sinulog festival & Parade

An annual event that takes place on the THIRD SUNDAY of JANUARY to climax the week-long observance of Pasundayag sa Sinulog is Cebu City's Sinulog festival parade.

At noon, a great and nearly hour-long parade begins as gaily decorated floats -- covered in flowers and orchids -- and throngs of colorfully-costumed people, marching, dancing, and singing, make their way through the streets of Cebu City. The participants all dance down the street using a unique "Sinulog step," chanting & singing, accompanied by a shrill, rhythmic whistle blast accompaniment while shouting "Pit Senyor," meaning "viva el Senor" or "long live Santo Nino" -- the Christ Child.

This great Filipino celebration event would be comparable to the annual Mardi Gras parade held in the American city of New Orleans or Rio de Janeiro's Carnival in Brazil, but without the sexual overtones.

Cebu's Sinulog festival is a much more conservative & religious event drawing thousands of spectators and tourits from around the world as well as being an annual home-coming reunion event for many Filipinos.

Procession of the Black Nazarene

Every year on January 9, the Procession of the Black Nazarene through the streets of the Quiapo district of Manila draws World-Wide attention.

A life-size image of Christ kneeling on a platform and bearing a huge cross on his shoulder is pulled in a huge frenzied all-male procession to lead a massive throng of barefoot devotees down the backstreets of the district in the north part of Manila toward Plaza Miranda in front of the Quiapo Church.

The statute is believed to have been originally brought to Manila by the Spanish during the 17th century after having been hand-crafted by an Aztec of Mexico. Simply to touch any part of the statue, its palanquin, or even the huge ropes used to pull it, is considered to bring absolution of all sins or to bring a miracle to those who need it. As a result, the procession becomes highly charged as thousands jostle through the huge mass of people and struggle forward to reach and touch some portion of the statute. From start to finish, the statue's progress is extremely slow as the massive surging throng make it nearly impossible to move forward as many others throw cloths to those already on the palanquin hoping they will touch the image with it and throw the cloth back to them.

NEW YEAR'S IN THE PHILIPPINES!

New Year's Eve in the Philippines can sometimes be very dangerous. Many Filipinos celebrate by shooting off fireworks and guns into the air. Unlike in America, there is no limit to the size or power of the fireworks. I have seen some firecrackers, 2-foot tall & 9-inches wide. In the Philippines they believe the New Year should begin with a lot of Noise to help scare-away Evil and to drive away any Mis-fortune. As a result, dispite Government and press warnings to use caution regarding fireworks & guns, every year thousands of Filipinos are killed or maimed by the celebrating explosions and spent falling bullets -- not to mention the Terrific fires that sometimes result! Such coverage dominates our T.V. news from several days before New Year's to several days after. We even have a number of relatives who make their own fireworks -- sometimes more like bombs than firecrackers --to sell throughout the neighborhood and give out to other family members.

Additional New Year's Eve Good-Luck customs in the Philippines include sharing the 13 round lucky fruit and the traditional media noche, or mid-night meal. The round fruit symbolize coins and properity in the new year. The women gather the fruit in the days leading up to New Year's Eve and as the family gathers to ring in the New Year, the fruit plate or basket is passed around among family members to share in the eating to help bring us all a properous year ahead. At the stroke of Midnight everyone in the family cheer and hug each other and march around the house, entering every room downstairs and upstairs, banging pots & pans and shaking tin-cans full of coins making a loud racket to frighten away any evil spirits or bad luck in the house created during the past year in the hopes of beginning the new year with a "clean slate." Meanwhile, many of our neighbors run their motorcycles up and down the street with a lot of cans dragging behind to make a lot of loud noise outside while at the same time, fireworks are constantly going off -- punctuated by an occasional really loud explosion & various ariel displays -- to create a type of war-zone atmosphere!

Once we have made several laps through the house making noise, the family sits down to a fine meal consisting of pansit -- or spaghetti, if that can be afforded -- to promote long-life, plenty of rice to insure that the family will not go hungry & will have plenty throughout the year, any kind of a beef dish to insure that everyone in the family will be hard-working throughout the year like the carabao -- absoutely NO chicken dishes so no one in the family will be "scratching out" a living in the new year and NO pork dishes to insure that no one in the family will become lazy or lay around like the pig -- and any kind of a shrimp dish and plenty of fish to insure an "active" prosperous year, the rest of the fruit to also symbolize good health and wealth in the New Year, and a big dish of biko, the sweet brown-sugar rice-cake desert, to promote closeness -- or stickiness -- and sweetness among the family members throughout the year.

Another popular Philippine custom for New Year's Eve and and New Year's day, is for many of the girls and women to wear dresses, skirts or blouses having a Polka-dot pattern, many making their own in the days leading up to Christmas and New Years. Polka-dot clothing, too, is a symbol for good luck and properity for the family in the new year. The numerous "dots" are supposed to symbolize coin-money.

The Weather of the Philippines

The climate in the Philippines is typically tropical -- hot and humid year round but the months of March, April and May are the hottest months. According to my wife, "it'll bake your head," meaning it's best that all Anglo-boys wear a hat or else the extreme heat of the sun will burn their head and bake their brain inside the skull!

All tourists -- especially Anglos -- are advised: "NEVER, EVER underestimate the power of the Philippine sun, even on cloudy days!" I know from experience, only a couple hours on the beach during the morning and by evening, after you get home, you'll be as red as a cooked lobster!

Although the nation's weather pattern is fairly complex, it can be roughly divided into the "dry season," January through June and the "wet season," July through December. In the Cebu area, January is usually the coolest month while May is the hottest. Regarding those months of July through December, Although referred to as the "wet" season, don't think as I did, that it rains constantly during that period -- normally it rains a lot but not every day and not constantly. Sort of like spring-time in the USA -- showers two or three times a week or perhaps every afternoon for extended periods.

Temperatures here average between 35C to 40C [around a humid 85-90F] during the day and at night it seldom drops below 27C [about 80F].

Typhoons in the Philippines

Monsoons, tradewinds and "westerlies" are quite common in the Philippines but "wild winds" or " twisters" sometimes come in from the east or northwest. Called Typhoons in this part of the world, their main difference to Americans is that their high winds rotate in the opposite direction than the hurricanes we are more familiar with --But I really doubt it makes much difference when you're caught out in one.

On average, the Pilippines vacinity experience about 20 typhoons a year, nine hitting the island nation directly. Most hit the provinces facing the open-area of the Pacific Ocean or the northern provinces opposite Tiawan. Fortunately, the area of Cebu and Mactan Island -- where our family lives -- are inner islands, protected on all sides by a number of much larger isles. Generally, a direct Typhoon hit here is a rare event, but it does sometimes happen.The Typhoon season in the Pilipinas runs from June through December with most typhoons ocurring in July, August, and September but they can actually occur in any month when a cool front enters the area.

Geography & Facts of the Pilipinas

The Pilipinas nation is comprised of 7,107 islands that extend 1,143 miles from north to south in the Pacific, 621 miles southeast of the China coast and 7,330 west of mainland USA. Only about 2,000 of those islands are inhabited while only 500 are larger than one square kilometer. Basically, the country is divided into 3 main island groups: Luzon in the north third, the Visayas in the middle, and Mindanao in the southern third. According to the latest census (2000) The total population of the nation is 76.5-million with over half that number living in the Luzon island group and 12 Million living in the city of Manila, alone.Further, the country is divided into 72 provinces, 61 chartered cities, and thousands of small towns and communities called barengays. Throughout the island nation there are some 111 linguistic, cultural and racial groups. Although the national language is Filipino based on Tagalog -- the dialect of the Tagalog people of the Manila and South Luzon region -- there are another 70 languages and dialects belonging to the Malayo-Polynesian family of tongues spoken throughout the country. But English is the language of education and commerce and is taught from grade school through high school and college.

Our family lives in the Visayas region in the south-central [central Visayas] part of the country -- mostly a resort area renowned for its snorkeling & diving -- and our relatives all speak Visaysan among themselves. We will be moving to this same general area a year from this January.

In its history, the Philippines have been ruled-over and influenced by the Spanish for over 300 years and by the Americans for 48 years. There is also evidence of early Malay and Chinese influence. As a result of its varied history, Philippine people, cuisine, language, culture and customs are all a mixture of Malay, Chinese, Spanish, and American and it is often joked that Filipinos are Malay in Family matters, Spanish in Love, Chinese in Business, and American in Ambition -- or that their culture is a result of over 300 years living in a convent and nearly 50 years of living in Hollywood!

The monetary unit of the Philippines is the piso, [peso] divided into 100 centavos. Foreign currency can be exchanged at any hotel, most large department stores and all malls, banks, and authorized money changing shops accredited by the Central Bank of the Philippines throughout most communities. International credit cards such as Visa, Diners Club, Bank Master Cards, and American Express are all accepted in most major establishments. Currently, one US dollar [USD] can be exchanged for about 46 Philippine piso [PHP].

Volcanos of the Philippines

There are over 200 identified ancient volcanic peaks in the Philippines, 37 of these are still considered potentially important which includes 21 determined to be active and the other 16 believed inactive. However, when Mount Pinatubo erupted on June 15, 1991, it had been dormant for over 500 years and was thought to be a "dead" volcano of little importance.

The following are the known active volcanic mountains of the Islands:

Mount Mayon Volcano: 2,462m. high, in Albay Province, is currently blowing steam & ash periodically as late as November, 2009 with lava flows the following December. Most recent lethal eruption was in Feb. 1993 killing 70. Its worst eruption was in Feb. 1814 killing 1,200 and caused a mud-flow that completely buried a barrio. A historic symbol of the Philippines, Mt. Myon is famous for having the world's most symmetrically perfect volcano cone.

Taal Volcano: S/E of Manila in Batangas Province, elevation of 600m, last erupted Sept. 28, 1965 but worst eruption was on Jan. 30, 1911 when it took the lives of 1,300. Taal is believed to be one of the most active volcanos in the world as well as the smallest in the world.

Mount Canlaon [or Kanlaon] Volcano: 2,435m. high, on the border of Negros Occidental & Negros Oriental Provinces. erupts often with numerous displays of steam & ash; Large ash eruption in July 1993; another on Aug. 12, 1966 killed 3 hikers and stranded about 40 others.
[This volcano is probably the closest to our family at 310 kms or about 193 miles to their southwest]

Mount Pinatubo: was 1,745m high, [now only 1,400m high] N/W of Manila in Zambales Province, erupted into one of the biggest volcanic eruptions of the 20th century, killing 350.

Mount Ragang: [Sometimes called Mount Piapayungan or Blue Mountain] 2,815m high in Cotabato province, Mindanao. Last erupted July 1916.

Mount Bulusan: in Sorsogon province. 1,559m high. Flanked by 8-10 ancient volcanic peaks of various heights and a number of hot springs and hot springs resorts. Erupted on Jan. 16, 1916 ejecting mud & ash for 5 days and again in Oct. 1918 ejecting dust clouds & outpourings of lava. Last erupted on June 28, 1978 ejecting ash-laden steam clouds.

Mount Smith [or Mt. Babuyan]: Babuyan Island. Elevation of 688m, surrounded by 5 ancient volcanic peaks. Last major eruption was in 1924 but had a steam release in Feb. 2004.

Mount Hibok-Hibok: Camiguin Island, Camiguin province. 1,320m high surrounded by 6 other volcano peaks; last erupted on Dec. 5, 1951 without warning killing 2,000.

Mount Didicas: Babuyan Island Group. At an elevation of 228m today, it was a submarine volcano that first emerged from the sea in 1952 and last erupted on Jan 6-9, 1990.

Mount Babuyan Claro: Babuyan Island. Has an elevation of 843m, surrounded by 4 other ancient peaks. Last erupted in 1917.

Mount Camiguin de Babuyances: Babuyan Island Group. 712m high. Last major eruption came in 1857 with a phreatic ash & steam eruption but last activity occurred in 1991 with a sulfer cloud emission.

Mount Cagua: Cagayan province. 1,133m high. Last erupted in 1860 with a phreatic eruption but a sulferic cloud was emitted in 1907.

Mount Banahaw: Borders Quezon & Laguna provinces with an elevation of 2,158m. Banahaw is a mountain of legends & various occult sects. It is also a command center for the Communist New People's Army [NPA]. It is surrounded by 4 ancient volcanic peaks and 5 themal springs.

Mount Calayo [or Mt. Musuan de Calayo]: Valencia, Bukidnon province. at 646m last erupted on Nov. 13-16, 1976 after a series of earthquakes during the previous August.

Mount Iraya: Batanes province. With an elevation of 1,009m, its most recent volcanic activity was in 1998.

Mount Iriga [or Mt. Asog]: Camarines Sur province. Elevation of 1,196, no 18, 19 or 20th century eruptions.

Mount Biliran: Biliran province. Surrounded by 4 smaller active, dormant & extinct volcanos and 12 thermal hot springs & water falls but no major eruptions in this area during modern times. Then, on Sept. 26, 1939 seismic ativity on Mt. Biliran spewed forth an ashfall that caused a debris avalanche. No activity since.

Mount Bud Dajo: Jolo Island, Sulu province. elevation is 620m [2100 feet]. Last eruption was a 1897 phreatic blast.

Mount Matutum: Cotabato province. 2,293 high. Reportedly a volcanic eruption in 1911.

Mount Kalatungan [ or Mt. Catatungan]: Bukidnon province. 2,824m [9,265 feet] high. last eruption is unknown but volcano is classified as "potentially" active.

Mount Makaturing: Lanao del Sur province. 1,940m [6,365 feet] high. Last eruption was on March 18, 1882.