On being Jareño and the continued relevance of the Jaro-Agro Industrial Fair
I have always considered myself a Salognon, a Jareño through and through, if only for the fact that I can still find my family tree among the slabs of Jaro Cathedral. Our family continues to live and earn a living in Jaro. Pursuit of higher learning, career and marriage had drawn me out of Jaro, but like the "homing pigeon" I go home to Jaro several times during the year on special occasions. The fiesta of Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria is therefore a time I make it home whenever possible, to meet up with family and friends, but foremost, like all Jareños-in-exile, to pay homage to the Virgin and secure the year's supply of blessed candles.
Growing up in Jaro in the fifties and the sixties meant that every child's playground was Jaro Plaza. One can chase after playmates on the grass, learned to to ride the bicycle on its wide pavements and flew kites that eventually trap themselves into electrical wires. The lagoon pond had fish and tadpoles and its white calachuchis neverseemed to run out of flowers despite the countless "halads" it provided for Flores de Mayo. There was always flowing drinking water from the spring by the "munisipyo". How children went up and down the stairs of the gloriettaand providedgood shelter when unforeseen rain suddenly come up.Any little girl couldbe Queen of Jaro on the grandstand spot where they crown the fairest every year on Feb. 2.
The "Karnabal" traditionally opened a few weeks before the fiesta with a grand parade that included drum and bugle bands of the different schools in Iloilo, flower decked floats and the youth dressed and constumed to the nines. It was the first introduction of the Queen and her court including those of the Children's Fancy and Dress Ball. After the parade, everyone rushed to the ticket booths to see what is inside -- the rides, thebizarre attractions, games and the latest in food production in the agro-industrial exhibits of the different towns of Iloilo and the provinces of Panay. It was a trade fair we know today, a showcase of products and know-how of Iloilo and its neighboring provinces.
As early then there were talksamong the Jaro elders to restore Jaro Plaza to what it once was. Potential private donorshowever had reservations that the holding of the annual Agro-Industrial Fair will destroy whatever improvements made thereon once the next fair was set up. Likewise, income generated by the Jaro Agro-IndustrialFair was used for a worthy cause - to finance the operations of the Jaro Puericulture Center, where babiesof poor parents were delivered free of charge.
This year for nostalgic reasons, I bought a P10.00 admission ticket with an open mind despite hearing earlier that there is nothinginside and knowing that my favorite "roast pork" sandwich was nowhere and the margarined yellow waffle did not quite taste the same.
Woe and behold!!! It was a giant UKAY-UKAY galore from one end of the plaza to another. There was dirty cloth covering the pathways that gave a suffocating feeling. It was Divisoria and Baclaran all in one and not a delight at all to any of the senses. The plants were a welcome respite though except that it could be better lighted in the nightfall.
I grieve for the fact that Iloilo seems bereft and unable to offer anything anymore to its own people. In Iloilo and Panay I know that there are many small and medium sized enterprises that need exposure and market introduction. Iloilo and Panay are neither in short supply of artists, craftsmen and talentcreatingand producing innovative wares and visuals. Is an "imported Queen of Jaro" a telltale sign?
If the Jaro Agro-Industrial Fair remains as such - a huge "ukay-ukay" emporium, then it has ceased to be an agro-industrial fair. Even its beneficiary has ceased to be Jaro's indigents. The Fair's beneficiaries today may have their own worthy causes that I am not aware of, but why is it that only Jaro Plaza has to bear the brunt of being trampled upon year in and year out?Iloilo City has more than enough venue for a fair if needed.
Jaro Plaza not producing a First Lady to finance its restoration is no excuse for its continued desecration. It is high time that Jaro Plaza be restored for its own people and perhaps tourism in the long term. If it should be private sector initiated, I am confident Jareños far and wide will live up to the occasion.
Jaro Plaza and the houses around it are architectural gems that have decayed with the changing fortunes of those who have occupied it.If one looks closely, Jaro Plaza and its environs still has the structures that illustrate the different developments of Antillian architecture in the Philippines in their original form. I sincerely wish that there will be no more "balay ni Paa" torn down to the ground and more of the Gregorio Montinola-Salud Escarilla ancestral home restored by its descendants. Jaro could be the "Vigan" of Iloilo and Jaro Plaza could be our own version of "New York Central Park". It is something we could offer the tourist in Iloilo beyond Dinagyang all year round fair or foul weather. Despite globalization, nations and countries preserve and restore what they have, even recreating from scratch what has been destroyed. There is so much in Jaro that needs to be preserved, restored and cherished as part of our Jareño/Ilonggo soul and heritage. Our legacy to the generations that will come after us.
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