Ati-Atihan in Kalibo

A huge traffic had formed at the bridge. We were cramped in a tricycle which in turn was cramped on the bridge along with hundreds of other trikes and vehicles. Traffic was no longer moving. The sounds from the vehicles were drowned by the beats of the drums. The major streets remain blocked for the main event. Ati-atihan was on its final and major day.

 

 

We walked half of the length of the Kalibo Bridge. Just like every body else, Paul, Apo and I crossed the big Aklan river and reached the town of Kalibo. We walked towards sound of the drums at the town square. We were drawn towards the beat of Ati-atihan. Several bands played their own rhythm; they played and marched to the convergence point of the festival.

 

Kalibo or Calivo, is the capital of the province of Aklan. Its name may have been derived from the phrase ”sangka libo” (one thousand) probably because about 1000 Ati people attended the first Catholic mass in that area.

People swarmed the main street of Kalibo. Ati-atihan was celebrated on the street through dance and drumbeats, with several groups clad in fancy and themed costumes, the party was a like a crude merry-making scene.

Ati-atihan itself started as a pagan activity. The Ati people being the early settlers in this part of the island were generally dark-skinned. When the Malays from Borneo came to their shores in the 13th century, the Ati offered the migrants some lands. The Malays in turn, celebrated this gesture by painting themselves with black so that they look like the Ati people.

The gesture to “look like the Ati” is called Ati-Atihan. This festive activity carried on but had since transformed into a Catholic event when the Spanish missionaries infused religious meaning to the Ati-atihan to honor the Holy Child Jesus.

   

Thus the current Ati-atihan had become a unique blend of pagan and Catholic elements celebrated through rhythmic music, chants, prayers, outlandish costumes, beer and alcohol and of course street dance.

 

Unlike other well-organized festivals in honor of the Santo Niño, Ati-atihan was more of an interactive affair. People were not limited to stand and watch the parade at the sides. Everyone was in fact encouraged to join and dance to the beat along with the costumed participants.

 

It was a mix of animist display and catholic expression of faith. People dressed in tribal costumes made of indigenous materials danced in unison to the beat. The dancing groups usually formed 3 lines to cover the width of the streets. People were drawn and pulled to fill the spaces in between and to dance to the sounds of the bands.

Also in the group were the devout men and women with images of Sto Niño in their hands. The culminating parade was actually a long religious procession of different images of the Holy Child placed in various carozas or carts adorned with flowers and lights.

Each caroza had its own playing band and or a performing contingent clad in colorful costumed and covered in soot or black. There were no chants of prayers. Only the hypnotizing rhythms pulled everyone to join in the fun.

Finally, I have witnessed the mother of all Philippine festivals: the Ati-atihan

HALA BIRA! HALA BIRA!