I promised to share with you through my Blog and Vlog life here in Palawan. I wrote several blogs about Christmas and a few weeks back the Philippine flags started appearing everywhere. Luckily Chester's June Calendar had reminded me that 12 June was Independence day and a Public Holiday!
As I drove past the Capital building ( near my house) I noticed stalls being put up and bright coloured bamboo poles at the entrances ( at first I thought it was to celebrate Pride month!) . I wondered what they were preparing for and how they would celebrate Independence day. Then I saw the picture at the top of the Blog and the description below:
"1ST BARAGATAN TRIBAL VILLAGE, FEATURED AT BARAGATAN FESTIVAL 2023
Watch out, support and patronize this coming Baragatan in Palawan Festival 2023 the first 'Baragatan Tribal Village' that will be featured by the Provincial Government under the leadership of Gov. V. Dennis M. Socrates by Baragatan Executive Committee Chairman Ceasar Sammy A. Magbanua is the partner of Provincial Indigenous Peoples Mandatory Representative (IPMR) Purita J. Security to give a chance to the indigenous people specifically the four (4) selected communities including Palaw'an, Tagbanua Sentral, Molbog and Batak to participate in the annual celebration of Baragatan Festival.
One of the few stalls open on time!
Its aim is to introduce visitors and youth of Palaweño to the different indigenous communities in the province, to take pride in the rich culture, tradition and arts that Palawan considers as a wealth, to introduce their indigenous products to the public and most of all to make them feel that they are part of the development of Palawan.
The Tribal Village will be located in the Capitol Compound and will be formally open to the public this coming June 09 to June 25 from 9:00 am to 11:00 pm. ( Philippine time!)
Work in progress!
We got there at 10 am and they were still building the stalls and nine of the ones on the street were open!
This is from the concept of a happy and peaceful indigenous community where there will be a similar indigenous village in the province featuring their actual residence (tribal houses) and their daily lives.
One of the stalls in the tribal market
It involves two aspects; first is the indigenous cultural display (Tribal Exhibit) where they display indigenous costumes; fishing, hunting and farming equipment; musical instruments; home appliances; indigenous culture, beliefs, traditions, etc while the second is the indigenous cultural market (Tribal Market) where you can buy different kinds of indigenous products like root crops, handicrafts and others."
As I had just paid my scholars their allowance for July to December and decided I had no money left to go on vacation or celebrate Christmas this year, I thought it would be good to have a staycation, celebrate the Independence day and meet up with my Pinoy friends here.
First I took Jhoanna as she was going back home to Barutaan for a few days. We parked the car on the road to the Capital and left Chester at home as it was very hot ( 31 degrees) and walked the rest of the way. The place was in chaos with about 75% of the stalls still being built but we wandered around to see what was on offer.
They were still building some stalls and unpacking the merchandise for others
The good news is that some stalls were open and the people on the stalls were very welcoming. We saw some large heavy Pestle and Mortar which I will go back and buy and some cute hand made planner booklets, which the guy was happy to show me and explain what they were. Jhoanna bought some Pasalubong for her family back home.
The cute planner books and notebooks- all hand made
Eventually we found a stall selling food- my favourite Ching's Bukko Pie. Having been all the way around to find seats ( none) and to check there was no more food available , we came back and bought a Bukko Pie- which was fresh, cold and delicious.
My favourite photo of the day taken by Jhoanna when we finally found a seat at the exit to eat our pie
As we sat and ate we discovered that this was the first time either of us had been inside the Capital grounds and she has been at PSU for 4 years and I have lived down the road for a year. We decided to get some photos of the magnificent old building, the statues and fountains outside before heading back home.
The statue and fountain in front of the Capital Building
The Capital building and one of the many flags to celebrate Philippine Independence day
By the time we walked back to the car the road was even more congested and still none of the food stalls on the street had opened. I predicated that by night time the road would be closed and Frythy confirmed this when he tried to visit me in the afternoon!
Last year they issued diversion notices well in advance on the social media as thousands of people use this road daily to get to Manalo street, Bagon Sikat, PNS etc . The organisers still have much to learn in terms of advertising the event, signage, road diversions and ensuring the stall holders are ready on time, but , in their defence this is the first event of its kind and as my friend Ran said they should be congratulated for promoting the tribes of Palawan at the Capital and as part of the Independence day celebrations. The event is on until 25 June so I will be back with more friends to make a vlog once they get more organised.
On Friday evening they posted the timetable for Friday on Facebook!
By then it was raining so I did not bother going back, same on Saturday- the road was open going out at 7 am but still closed coming towards Bagon Sikat so local residents will need to find a detour until 25 June!
Here is the schedule for the rest of the month:
Enjoy and support the Indigenous tribes
Hello, I am The British Kabayan! Feel free to read my stories.
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