Bridging the Gap
Early Ilonggo-Bisaya traits (3)
Since early times, the Ilonggo-Bisaya have been noted to be pre-occupied with merry-making and in eating festive foods. They celebrated practically every family and community occasion. Every celebration was an excuse for gathering, feasting, singing and drinking.
Early Ilonggo food consisted of rice, boiled bananas and tubers, roasted meat and fish, and vegetables usually mixed with grated coconut. Popular meat consisted of pork and chicken which were also used as ceremonial foods. Seafood was also very popular. Turtle meat and turtle egg were considered delicacies. Wild game, on the other hand, was considered to be typical masculine food. All meat was forbidden of pregnant women. Honey was considered an important food and was offered only during special occasions. Local delicacies, with glutinous rice, coconut and brown sugar as main ingredients, were always prepared in any occasion.
The Ilonggo festivity always involved a lot of singing and they have been noted to be very fond of music. They engaged in singing and dancing most of the time. There was singing in practically every occasion, as observed by both the Spanish and the American colonizers. In early times, love songs were accompanied by musical instruments like the "kudyapi" or the "korlong", which were stringed instruments. In the 19th century and onwards toward the contemporary times, the Ilonggos have been noted for their "composo" or ballads accompanied by the "gitara" and the "banjo".
The Spaniards referred to to Ilonggo-Bisaya social occasions as "bacanales" (drinkfest). The native drinks were of at least four kinds: "tuba" which is the sap of coconut palm; "kabarawan", honey fermented with a kind of boiled bark, "intus" or "kiling", sugar cane wine; and, "pangasi" or rice wine (Scott 1995). Both men and women engaged in merry drinking sessions.
With the coming of the Spaniards and the subsequent colonization, the Ilonggo-Bisaya added to their list of celebrations those associated with Catholicism and Western culture. Two that really became part of every Ilonggo and the rest of the Christianized Filipinos have been the Christmas season and the fiesta in honor of a particular Catholic saint. But other religious celebrations have become popular also, such as the Flores de Mayo and the Santacruzan. Of course, the Ilonggos have continued to make every occasion as an excuse for feasting and merry-making. They celebrate important milestones in the life cycle such as baptisms and weddings, birthdays, death anniversaries, successful board and bar examinations, and family reunions. Then, there are the historical and cultural festivals that have been institutionalized in the towns and cities that, in the latest count, have already reached thirty-seven in number in Iloilo Province alone. These celebrations and festivals are occasions and opportunities for the Ilonggos to show opulence and in becoming festive which, certainly, are linked to their being "may bugal" (proud) and "maporma" (conscious of appearance and reputation).
Because of their fondness for merry-making and feasting, the Ilonggos are given to capricious indulgences and, sometimes, spend beyond their financial capacity. Being festive, they are naturally fond of good food. The Ilonggos are singled out for their culinary delights, particularly in pastries and native delicacies... some of these, like the La Paz batchoy, biscocho, pancit Molo, "piyaya" and "baye-baye" have even invaded other parts of the Philippines, prompting a writer to talk about Ilonggo-Bisaya culinary colonization of the country. Indicative of the inclination of the Ilonggos for good food is that most of the clicked businesses in Iloilo and the rest of Western Visayas are fast food centers and restaurants.