MORIONES FESTIVAL 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Moriones
The Moriones is an annual festival held on Holy Week on the island of Marinduque, Philippines. The "Moriones" are men and women in costumes and masks replicating the garb of biblical Roman soldiers as interpreted by local folks. The Moriones or Moryonan tradition has inspired the creation of other festivals in the Philippines where cultural practices or folk history is turned into street festivals
The Moriones is an annual festival held on Holy Week on the island of Marinduque, Philippines. The "Moriones" are men and women in costumes and masks replicating the garb of biblical Roman soldiers as interpreted by local folks. The Moriones or Moryonan tradition has inspired the creation of other festivals in the Philippines where cultural practices or folk history is turned into street festivals.
Background
The term "Moriones" was concocted by the media in the 60s, but local inhabitants have kept the original term, "Moryonan". Many practitioners are farmers and fishermen who engage in this age-old tradition as a vow of penance or thanksgiving. Legend has it that Longinus pierced the side of the crucified Christ. The blood that spurted forth touched his blind eye and fully restored his sight. This miracle converted Longinus to Christianity and earned the ire of his fellow centurions. The re-enactment reaches its climax when Longinus is caught and beheaded.
History
The name Moriones is derived from the Spanish word 'Morion' meaning mask or helmet. The Spanish conquistadores were wearing Moriones. The origin of the festival is traced to Mogpog and the year 1807 when the parish priest of said town, Fr. Dionisio Santiago, organized it for the first time.
For Detailed Schedule of activities: click this link Moriones09
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galing talaga ng marinduquenoz..............
bangun baya............
go go ..........
our family had a good time at marinduque. we stayed at club marinduque in pinggan, bgy dawis, gasan. it is a clean, quiet and decent place with a small swimming pool inside and rocky beach just outside the gate. the staff are friendly and accommodating. it is about 7.5 km from guingona park, gasan.we enjoyed watching the traditional putong (though a bit long, maybe because it was Bayani Fernando and company that they are welcoming), the native folk songs and dances as performed by their students and the famous pugutan play (the dancing of the king's "entertainers" was very looong and boring). we also enjoyed watching the street parade, will all the participants from different barangays. too bad we arrived holy thursday afternoon so we missed some of the activities. we loved gaspar island, one of the tres reyes islands and we swam in its cool and clean (C2?)waters even during the forbidden hours (1000H - 1500H)when the sun is bombarding us with UV rays. poctoy white beach in torrijos is just ok but don't expect it to be anything like boracay, as they claim. trek to bathala caves is fun, the pythons were shy or irritated when we visited python cave. we were not able to visit elephant island though and marcopper mining ('coz it's closed already)
for those on food trip, you may be disappointed. walang native food or delicacy at bihira ang magandang resto/bar, we were so happy to find jollibee on wheels in boac.
ok na sana bakasyon namin sa marinduque, hassle lang ang pag-uwi, nakakadala talaga.subukan nyong umuwi ng peak season, he-he. ang hirap maghintay maghapon magdamag for a vessel that does not show up on scheduled time. dagdag pa dyan ang pagsingit ng sasakyan ng mga guests daw ng gov't officials kaya nabu-bump off ibang vehicles.
u can try the new subuquin port in san juan, batangas (very near laiya) via starhorse shipping lines although not recommended during peak season as the ferry is smaller than montenegro's and they have only 2 ships, I think. the restrooms at the ports are very dirty and unfit for use, according to the employees it is because the terminal fee is not collected from passengers anymore. the security guard at the port collected parking fee of P28 (where do they expect the vehicles to wait?) but gave us invalid "terminal fee" tickets (no date/signature)as receipt.
i hope the local goverment of marinduque and DTI can get their acts together to make this place attactive to local and foreign tourists. sayang ang potential.
yun laang. kaya hinihiling natin sa mga kababayan natin, tumulong sa pagpapaunlad ng marinduque. huwag lang tayong magantay at tumunganga. Malaki ang potential ng ating probinsya, kung makikiisa lang tayo sa mga namumuno.