Anything Under the Sun
Our festivals have religious origins - 1
Some local writers opine that our religious festivals in Panay - Dinagyang of Iloilo, Ati-atihan of Kalibo, Halaran of Capiz and Binirayan of Antique, had no religious origin but merely pagan ones.
On the surface, they may appear so. But an in-depth study will reveal that these festivals have actually shadows and colors of Christian religion.
The ancient Malays of Panay who came from Borneo believed in one Supreme Being, the creator of the universe called Hino-o a variation of Gino-o. It is equivalent to the English God derived from the German or Teutonic Got, the Spanish Dios derived from Latin Dei, to the Hebrew Yahweh which means I am Who am and to the Muslim Allah who is the God of Abraham - also our God.
All these are simply different names of God in different languages.
How do we know that our Hino-o or Gino-o is also the Supreme God? Just look at the Ilonggo translation of Our Father which states in its last portion. "Hinono-o luason mo kami sa mga panulay kag bawi-on mo kami sa kala-ut. Amen". Who is this Hino-o? Certainly, it is our father - the Christian Supreme God.
On the Dinagyang - after the barter of Panay between the ten Bornean datus and the aboriginal Atis, the two tribes celebrated the affair with dances and thanksgiving rituals thanking the Hino-o for their good fortunes. These rituals called pagpasalamat were officiated by Bangot Banwa - the Malay pagan priest (padi or pari).
These rituals were now converted into the Thanksgiving Mass of the Catholics. The pagan offerings (daga) to Hino-o were replaced by the offering of the Lamb of God (Jesus). This pagan offerings were similar to the ancient Hebrew lamb offerings of Abraham and during the Passover in ancient Egypt. The Malay pari is now the Cahtolic priest who is still often called pari.
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SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: The first set of five booklets (Books 1-5) of West Visayas Beautiful and Wonderful, authored by this writer is now available for P500 at his office address at No. 4 Sta. Ana St., Molo, Iloilo City, 5000. We are starting the second set (Books 6 to 10) this January.