SCENE IV: THE BORONGAN WATER FESTIVAL AND ITS BEGINNINGS |
Venue: Rm. 1517 Mt. Agawan Hotel, Sohotan Old Town, Borongan City Date: 2030 September 8 |
A MIRACULOUS SPRING The early settlers believed that benevolent spirits were keeping the unique spring for the benefit of the people. When the Spaniards came they built their church and town plaza a very short distance from the spring. Stories abound about a beautiful lady in long robes and with long hair fetching water from the spring during the wee hours of the night when almost everyone was asleep and always disappearing before the closed "purtamayor" (main door) of the church as if she lived there, her clothes resemblking those worn by the Virgin Mary at the altar. The same mysterious lady was likewise seen on the roof of the bell tower of the church catching with her skirt the cannon balls fired from the sea by the Moro pirates who used to raid the coastal towns of Samar Island during those times, thus preventing the pirates from conquering the town of Borongan: a blessed place with a miraculous spring protected by the Virgin Mary, its Patron Saint. |
For more than two decades now the Borongan Water Festival has been attracting tourists and pilgrims to the Borongan fiesta every September. Promoted by the Borongan City government with the supports of the Department of Tourism and the provincial government of Eastern Samar as a principal tourist come-on, this event has become a major tourist attraction in the Philippines eclipsing the Ati-Atihan of Kalibo and the Penafrancia Festival of Naga. Held on the same month as the Penafrancia event, the Borongan Water Festival now draws more tourists and devotees nationwide except among the Bicolanos. The Borongan Festival is a celebration of water, which is the life of the city. It gives Borongan a defining identity and unique character. This coincides with the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Patroness of Borongan. |
Legend has it that during the early days, long before the Spaniards arrived, what is now Poblacion (Sawang) in the old town was still forested and the major settlement of native hunters-farmers-gatherers was at Sabang near the mouth of the Borongan River. These early settlers got all their water needs from the river, and nowhere else. It must have been so, that during the rainy months, when tons upon tons of rain water pours day in and day out, the water at the river turns brown from the mud carried by the raging floods from the eroded banks, mountain sides and the plains. During these months the only sourse of drinking water was the rain, the river bieng useless dur toe the mud. Since plastic containers were then not available and since earthen jars were scarce, the poor settlers went thristy amidst all the floods. This was the situation year in and year out, for centuries. |
TOBIG, THE HAMORAWON SPRING The men folks of the village would go out in all directions from the village in search of game; upstream to the mountains, northward to the hills and narrow plains and southward, up to the Loom rover. It must be during these hunting excursions to the wide and forested plains of the south sandwiched between the twin rivers Borongan and Loom that they discovered the existence of a unique spring in a depression in the ground hidden under the cool shade of a giant hamorawon trees. Wild deer, wild pigs and other game came to this watering hole during the dry months to quench their thirst where the hunters wait in ambush. The hunters from Sabang (Borongan) liked the water and the place so they stayed. Since then were all "Boronganuns," having come from the Borongan river, they also called the new settlement Borongan after the fog or "borong" that blanketed the wide plain between the Loom River and the Borongan River every morning. The spring they simply called "tobig." Its water was abundant even during the dry months, and during the rainy months it did not become brown even when the Loom and the Borongan were already raging and swollen brown from the floods upstream. |
The water from the spring was so cold and delicious having gone thru years of natural filtration underground from the roots of the trees in the rain forest, free of imputies but rich in herbal juice unlike the exposed waters of the twin rivers. The spring later acquired the name Hamorawon Spring, after the giant hamorawon trees around it giving it the cool shade and the mesh of underground roots that filtered its water. |
There were no roads then. The Pilgrims from the other towns came to Borongan on foot or by "velos," a small sailboat, a journey of several days in some cases, to participate in the nine-day novena for the town fiesta and in the solemn mass on fiesta day itself. Before returning home after the fiesta, it was a must for them to take a dip in the cool pool of the Hamorawon Spring. And they always filled a bottle or two of water from the spring to take home for they believed it could cure diseases. During those days the Borongan fiesta was the biggest event of the year in the eastern part of Samar island, after Christmas and Holy Week. It still is until now. The People of Borongan are the more friendly and hospitable people among the naturally fun loving Warays. These culture traits must have been reinforced during those long centuries of novenas and fiestas when the people of Borongan played host yearly to an exodus of complete strangers whom they welcomed into their homes in open arms and gladly gave them free board and lodging during hte fiesta period, and even longer. During fiestas, a complete stranger is welcome to any house for him to have his fill of food and drinks. Feeding and comforting travelers, specially pilgrims, is a favor and not a burden. |
FROM THE SPRING TO THE LAGOON The water festival is a revival of old tradition, part legend, part history, part religion, with modifications certainly. And full of fun. It is a 3-day festival held on September 6, 7, and 8, yearly coinciding with the city fiesta. The main activities of the festival proper are: a "mass of the masses" at the open air Hamorawon Amphitheater, site of the famous spring; a mass baptism of infants and newly converted adults with immersion at the spring, or sprinkling of spring water as the godparents may decide; a dancing parade with musical band and costumed participants on floats and on foot, from the Hamorawon Spring, center of the Old Town to the Molave Lagoon, center of the New Town and the whole city; a ceremonial purificaton of the waters of the Molave Lagoon with water taken from the Hamorawon Spring carried by muses in the procession riding their floats; an ecumenical service performed by ministers of different faiths; a mass wedding blessed by different faiths; a splash in the Molave Lagoon when all the participants of the procession wet themselves in the "newly purified" waters; and public picnic-parties and dances where entertainment, food and drinks are served free and last until midnight, and beyond. |
There are at least six major floats in the parade depicting different motifs, namely: The Hunters and Early Native Settlers, The Miraculous Lady with the Water Jar, Pilgrims on their Velos and on Foot, Moro Pirates on their Lantaka-mounted Vinta, Spanish Soldiers and Defenders of the Town on the Baluarte, and Miss Molave and the Water Muses. It's a very colorful parade which is always featured in national newspapers every year. |
As part of the Water Festival, contests in water sports are held such as swimming, diving, canoeing, skiing and other water sports. These are events organized by the Fiesta Committee and are not related to the ESSAS competitions. Participants in the water sports are teams or individual athletes representing their respective barangays and or local associations. |
