Sprawling along the graceful slopes of the Zambales mountain ranges at 120 feet above sea level & situated just 15 minutes from Olongapo City, Alta Vista by GP Homes offers magnificent panoramic views of nearby Subic Bay...Ati-atihan Festival
Sources: wowphilippines.com.ph, elgu.ncc.gov.ph
The Ati-Atihan Festival commemorates the 13th century land deal between 10 migrating Bornean chieftains and the aboriginal Ati King Marikudo. It also honors the town patron, the infant Sto. Niño.
The ceaseless, rhythmic pounding of drums get to you, and before you know it you are on the street, shuffling your feet, shaking your head, waving your hands - and joining thousands of soot-blacked, gaily-costumed revelers in an ancient ritual of mindless merriment. A familiar battle cry reaches your ears, and amidst all this confusion you remember where you are: Kalibo, Aklan. "Viva, Sto. Niño!"
The Ati-Atihan celebration is echoed in many parts of the country.
History
The "mother" of all street festival - the Kalibo Ati-Atihan Festival - is still in the top tourist destination. Copied and duplicated but never equaled in terms of sights and sounds, it's over all aura of celebration and its captivating attraction. Good spirits sweeping the feet of its audience to join the street "dancing and madness". The guests who came as spectators suddenly become as alive participants or devotee of its patron the Holy Child Sto. Niño. Alike King David, the audience is transformed to dance in tempo of the drumbeats, cymbals and all sorts of noise and sound making instruments with only moral values to limits their euphoria.
Ati-Atihan is making one's self like the Ati or Aeta or pretending to be one. Kalibo's "frenzied and raucous" historical and religious festivity observed every second week and culminating on the 3 rd Sunday of January came from that intent. Citizens, tourist, and pilgrims in this town make themselves up with soot or any blackening material to look like an Aeta, queer, but true.
Historically, Ati-Atihan started in year 1212 when Borneans led by the ten Datus in several boats or " baeangays " (Barangays or Binirays) crossed the seas to escape the unpopular regime of Sultan Makatunaw and landed in Panay Island to establish the first community of the brown race in this country and the first union of states in Southeast Asia - the Confederation of Madyaas.
Few have knowledge that the first Ati-Atihan was celebrated to seal a peace pact that united two races and people - the Aetas and the Malays with totally different cultures spiritual creeds - embraced each other and gave way to an enduring legacy of reconciliation that gave birth to the Philippine Nation. The commemoration of the Ati-Atihan festival has in its essence become significant at this point in time when the entire nation is being swept by social, economic and political divisiveness.
The saga of its great migration told and related for generations started in the court of Brunei under the regime of Sultan Makatunaw whose insecurity and greed for power transformed him into a tyrant after the collapse of the Sri-Visayan Empire and the remnants of its vast territory were at the mercy of the conquering hordes of Madjapahit warriors. The widespread discontent under Makatunaw's rule reached the point of a popular uprising and Datu Puti, his chief minister, together with his followers decided to leave and seek for peace and new land.
One night, the rebels under the leadership of Datu Puti, stealthily boarded their " baeangays " and fared the seas for a distant unknown destiny. Guided by the stars and favored by tropical winds, they reached the islands of Sugbu(Cebu), Parawan (Palawan) and Buglas (Negros). But the topography and the nearness of these islands to the land where they came from discouraged their settling down. They were already bound for the islands of Romre (Romblon) when they were attracted by a silhouette of a mountain summit shaped like a "salakot" (Mt Mangkusaruk) in the horizon. The group that was already plagued by disease, hunger and thirst in the high seas and whose most valued treasure in their possession they brought in their escape was " salakot " or "sarok nga bueawan" (native headgear made of gold), interpreted the sighting of the mountain as a good omen. They changed course and they headed towards the beacon of the mountain and landed at sunrise of the first Tigeuak in the 1212 A.D. in the island of Panay then called Aninipay - (named after the plant that abounds in the place and whose fine unwashable bristle cause skin eruption and irritation which could not be easily cured). They named the island Madyaas or "paradise" in contrast to the land they left behind.
With the party of Datu Puti and wife Pinangpangan were Datus Sumakwel with wife Kapingan, Dumangsil, Lubay, Balkasua, Bangkaya with wife Katurung, Paiburong, Dumangsul, Dumaluglug and Paduhinog with wife Ribungsapaw and their loyal subjects.
After the landing, they caused to see Ati Chieftain Marikudo and offered to buy the entire island. And after several weeks of negotiations, the plains of Panay was offered for the peaceful settling of the Malayans in exchange for a golden " salakot ", brass basins, bales of cloth along with a trinket for Maningwangtiwang (wife of Marikudo) the link of which reached to her feet and a harvest for one summer of the produce of sea, while the hinterlands remained for the Aetas.
A glorious celebration to seal the negotiation followed. The unending flow of native wine (tuba) and the sumptuous meal motivated the start of merry-making. The Malays in their effort to further befriend their hosts smeared themselves with soot form their cooking utensils to take like Aetas to erase the insecurity of the natives. The uninhibited spontaneous dancing of the two races lasted till the wee hours of the morning to the beat and music of the native songs, bagtoes and drums of the Aetas and the Malays.
This was the first Ati-Atihan celebration.
In the entire Panay Island, (festivals like Dinagyang, Binirayan, Sinadya etc. was only installed as a tourism affair in the 70's) only Kalibo, however, has commemorated the historical event because of its forebear Datu Bangakya - the intellectual among the ten Datus and chief advisor of Datu Puti. Bangkaya, who along with the other Datus founded their own settlements, carved the town of Madyanos (little Paradise) in the west bank of Aklan Rivert and observed the anniversary of the purchase - the settlement being the center of social, cultural, educational and economic pursuits and becoming the national capital of the pre-Hispanic Philippines in the year 1215 and again in 1226. Madyanos later transferred its center to the east bank of the Aklan River to what is now the proud town of Kalibo.
In fact, according to the old folks of Kalibo, the town got its present name because in the whole of Panay, Madyaas was the center of intellectual pursuit as the word Kalibo means intellect or intelligence. According to them, the name Kalibo was derived from the Aklanon Word " kalibu " which means "aeam " or intelligence. During those days, the settlers were advised to go the "minuro It may mga kalibu" or place where the intellectual live, whenever they have problems to be enlightened, committed a crime, or has come transactions.
The word Kalibo stuck as its name. Kalibo being known for its intelegensia was the reason, they said, that Bangkaya and his "sakup" were the only ones in the confederation that every year, seven weeks after the harvest (the harvest time is on November and the seven weeks count falls in third week of January and later moved over the second week to coincide with the feast of the Holy Child) commemorates the celebration of the Ati-Atihan.
On how the Ati-Atihan became a religious feast, Aklanon historian Beato dela Cruz recounts: "In 1750, one, Fray Andres de Aguirre, a Basque companion priest of Fray Andres Urdaneta and explorer Miguel Lopez de Legaspi came to Madyanos - a thriving community, west of the Aklan River. Here, Andres de Aguirre baptized in one - day 1,000 inhabitants of the town and the surrounding settlements in that place. To celebrate the eventful day, the drums of Aklan were sounded once more for this beneficial event. Thus, the present Ati-Atihan is tinged with religious fervor and is now associated with miracles. Devotees nowadays participate in the street dancing, novena masses or fall in line inside the century-old Kalibo Cathedral just to let their bodies be massaged or rubbed with the image of Sto. Niño.
The young however, has set aside the old culture and religious significance in their street revelry and has adopted the modern stance of the computer age. They no longer smear their faces and bodies with soot but instead wear grotesque make-ups (or none at all) and outlandish costumes of their age. Others prefer mere T-shirts or poncho rather than the tribal garments of the 12 th and the 13 th centuries.
But the religious belief, the warmth, fun and gaiety, the pomp and funfare, historically and culturally identified with the Ati-Atihan - an expression of proud customs and traditions and enduring legacy of peace and reconciliation - have remained untarnished through the passing of time from the celebration of the purchase of Panay in the year 1212 from Chief Punuan, Datu Bangkaya to Aklan Encomiendero Antonio Flores from Cabeza Juan Matangga to Mayor Raymar A. Rebaldo. For culturally, only Kalibonhons though every Kalibonhons soul and soaring spirit, "has the gift of rhythm and passion for music".
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