Taguig’s Pagodahan pushes through despite rains

Heavy rains were welcomed as “blessing” from the skies as gleeful Taguigeños pushed through with their traditional Pagodahan or fluvial parade in observance of this year’s Taguig River Festival.

City Mayor Lani Cayetano led the event last July 26 as hundreds of residents, both young and old, sneaked out of their homes to get a glimpse of the colorful pagodas amid the pouring rain.

“This celebration is done in honor of Barangay Sta. Ana’s patron saint, St. Anne. At the same time, the Taguig River Festival is the most important and historic festival for us here in Taguig,” said the 29-year-old mayor.

From a special wharf behind St. Anne Church, the Pagoda goes up all the way to the mouth (wawa) of Laguna de Bay and returns down to Ususan.

The Pagodahan serves as an enduring symbol of unity among Taguigeños as it features the exchange of traditional food between the boat riders representing the different communities in the city.

The exchange of food items between boat riders and spectators is known locally as the “pasubo.”

During pasubo, revelers at the riverbank toss or throw to each other gifts of fruits and food like boiled eggs, balut, itlog na maalat, and various kinds of native delicacies. Because of the nature of the celebration, it is best to be always on the lookout for “airborne projectiles.”

Mayor Cayetano bared that her administration has also worked hard to preserve Taguig River—the festival’s showpiece—under a gradual, sustainable and extensive rehabilitation program.

Lawyer Darwin Icay, the mayor’s spokesperson, said that a clean-up drive is in progress in Taguig’s major river channel, which plays an important role in the preservation of the city’s rich history, tradition and culture.

“We believe that one of the ways to preserve this tradition is to love and care for the Taguig River. Thus, people must act to stop the indiscriminate throwing or dumping of trash in the tributary,” Icay said.

Hundreds of informal settlers, not to mention illegal encroachers, presently live along the banks of the river, adding to the water pollution.

The new clean-up program would ensure that all wastes – biodegradable and non-biodegradable – would be properly segregated, composted or recycled.

FILIPINO VERSION:

Sa kabila ng malakas na pag-ulan ay itinuloy sa Taguig sa pangunguna ni Mayor Lani Cayetano ang tradisyunal na Pagodahan na bahagi ng Taguig River Festival.

Hindi alintana ang masungit na panahon nuong Hulyo 26, naglabasan mula sa mga bahay ang daan-daang Taguigueno, matanda at bata para panoorin ang makulay na Pagoda.

“Ang pagdiriwang ay bilang pagdakila kay Santa Ana, na siyang patron ng Brgy. Sta. Ana. Ito rin ang pinakamahalaga at makasaysayang pista  sa Taguig,” pahayag ng 29-anyos na alkalde.

Nag-umpisa ang Pagoda sa likod ng simbahan ng Sta. Ana. Binaybay nito ang ilog hanggang sa Wawa ng Laguna De Bay hanggang sa Ususan.

Ipinapakita sa Pagodahan ang pagkakaisa ng mga Taguigueno. Sumisimbolo sa pagkakaisa ang “pasubo”, ang pagpapalitan ng mga pagkain ng mga bangkero at ng mga nanonood. Kasiyahan ang dulot ng pasubo dahil ang ito ay ginagawa sa pamamagitan nang paghahagis sa mga pagkain tulad ng nilagang itlog, balut, itlog na maalat, at iba pang native delicacy.

Sinabi ni Mayor Cayetano na ang kanyang administrasyon ay nagsusumikap na mapanatiling buhay ang Taguig River sa pamamagitan ng pagsasa-ilalim dito sa  rehabilitasyon.

Ayon naman kay Atty. Darwin Icay, tagapagsalita ni Mayor Cayetano, patuloy na nililinis ang Taguig River dahil mahalaga ang ginagampanan nitong papel upang mapanatiling buhay ang mayamang kasaysayan, tradisyon at kultura ng lungsod.

”Naniniwala kami na ang isa sa mga paraan para mapreserba ang tradisyong ito ay ang pagmamalasakit sa ilog. Kaugnay nito, kailangang mahinto ang iresponsable at walang habas na pagtatapon ng basura sa mga daluyan ng tubig,” giit ni Atty. Icay.

Kabilang sa mga lumalason sa ilog ng Taguig ay ang maraming informal settler na naninirahan sa pampang ng ilog.

Ang bagong clean-up program naman ang titiyak na maipatutupad ang pagbu-bukod-bukod, pagku-compost at pagre-resiklo ng basura.