Every Pinoys out there
have heard stories about “aswang”; a blood thirsty man-eating creature of the
night. Some Pinoys would even claim that
they saw at one point in time some of these creatures like “kapre”,
“manananggal,” and “ulong pugot.” Capiz,
a province in the Visayas which has Roxas City as its capital, is reputed to be
a haven for these horrific creatures. Stories
abound depicting how “aswangs” capture and devour their human preys in different
places of this province. Thus, in 2004,
some leading figures in Roxas City decided to hold a festival dedicated to the
“aswangs.”
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The first edition of this
festival was held October 29-30, 2004, as a prelude to Halloween. Unfortunately, the festival was not embraced
by church leaders and condemned those who implemented the festival as promoting
witchcraft and idolizing the devil. Catholic
leaders even read Pastoral Letters condemning the event. Organizers were quick to retaliate and point
out that the real intent of the festival was to promote Roxas City as tourism
destination by capitalizing on local folklore. Thus, they were actually
transforming the negative image of Roxas City brought by “aswang” stories into
positive ones. The same sentiments were
shown by the Catholic hierarchy each time the event was celebrated until the
festival was stopped in 2007 by Mayor Bermejo, the city mayor at that
time.
While the parade of the
“aswangs” was the highlight of the festival, there were other engaging activities
during the festival such as:
· Trade exhibits where local and small
business men showed and peddled their wares for tourists to buy and appreciate.
· Culinary competitions to show just how
rich and bountiful the harvest from the sea Roxas City has. The city is known as the “Sea Food Capital of
The Philippines.”
· Aswang Symposium is the educational
aspect of the festival where “aswang” concepts are dissected from different
perspectives; cultural, historical, and paranormal. The symposium was geared towards removing the negative stigma of “aswang.”
This is similar to what Romania did with regard to “Dracula” stigma by
making vampire stories as the center of several festivities in Romania.
Indeed, the festival was a
unique way to invite local and foreign tourist and discover Roxas City as it
has lots to offer when it comes to food, fine sandy beaches, and of course
historical and cultural significance; one of the largest bell towers in Asia is
just less than an hour drive from Roxas City.
The question is, should this one be revived or not? Do raise your voice!
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