June 24 marks the observance of the feast day of Saint John the Baptist. This is the day when dousing water on unwary people is an excuse to engage in revelry.However, in Barangay Bibiclat, Aliaga, Nueva Ecija, hundreds of devotees of the village's patron saint, John the Baptist, transform themselves into "mud people" or literally "taong putik."
These devotees wake-up early in the morning and wear dried banana and other leaves and cover themselves in mud. Then they walk the streets of Bibiclat, going from houses to houses to ask for candles or money to buy candles. Then at 6 in the morning, they converge in the Church Plaza to offer the candles to Saint John the Baptist and attend the mass.
Here are some pictures taken on the Festival of June 24, 2008:
From the Nueva Ecija Journal, I gather that nobody really knows exactly when the Taong Putik Festival in Aliaga started. One legend says the image of the patron saint which was brought to Bibiclat by early Ilocano settlers, helped in driving away poisonous snakes from the village. The name "Bibiclat" came from the Ilocano word "biclat" meaning snake.Another legend says that when Japanese soldiers during World War II were about to execute all the men in the village in retaliation for the death of 13 fellow soldiers, it rained so hard that the male villagers had to be herded into the church to seek shelter. After a while, the Japanese soldiers had a change of mind and set their captives free. The residents attributed this to a miracle of Saint John the Baptist, and vowed to pay homage to him on his feast day by wearing costumes patterned after his attire - this time, using native materials.
The Taong Putik Festival - a unique and indigenous ritual in honor of Saint John the Baptist by the people of Bibiclat.
Ang Scary nu bata
ReplyDeleteNapanood mo ba ang Sukob ni Kris Aquino? sa Nueva Ecija ba and setting nun?
ReplyDeletesame comment with aethen... medyo creepy sila tingnan gawa nung sukob.
ReplyDeleteunique din ito. hindi pa kasi ako masyadong familiar sa nueva ecija and vizcaya area.
ReplyDeleteito ba yung ginamit sa movie ng sukob?
maraming maraming salamat sa pagpromote sa amin nina insulare. laki na ng utang namin sayo.
Very interesting piece of info - I've never heard of this before !!
ReplyDeleteNice pics :)
kakaibang pag celebrate ng San Juan(tawag dito sa amin) Pero may origin pala.
ReplyDelete@ aline - kakatuwa pictyuran bata. natakot yata sakin eh kasi sabi ko smile sya ayaw ako tingnan lols.
ReplyDelete@ aethan - di ka napanood yun eh. hayaan mo itatanong ko dito. ill get back to you on this one.
ReplyDelete@ islander - oo nga. biruin mo kung makakasalubong sila sa daan ng ordinary days tapos bukang liwayway pa, matatakot ka talaga.
ReplyDelete@ the dong - wala masyado attraction sa nueva ecija kundi mga rice fields lang. sa nueva vizcaya alam ko maganda rin mga rock formations doon eh.
ReplyDeletedi ko sure yung sa sukob.
dont mention the promotion pare basta maganda blog mo at deserev na iboto. ;)
@ BW - when i was there, meron mga media doon like GMA and Daily Inquirer. Di pa sya ganun kasikat pero its getting some media attention now.
ReplyDelete@ redlan - yeah, usually kasi pag San Juan Feast puro basaan ng tubig eh. Itong sa Aliaga medyo kakaiba talaga.
ReplyDeleteei bro... i watched Sukob (Kris Aquino/Claudine Barreto) last year where one scene was shot along with this festival. i was thinking that that particular event was a mere fiction but now, having you posted it, makes it indeed real and. but honestly, i find it scary. hehehe. lalo na cguro sa gabi at nakasalubong mp mga taong putik. ahhhhhhh.... goosebumps tlga! hehehe. nice shots you got here lawstude. salamat at may naituro na naman bagong travel lesson itong post mo na to. ayo-ayo (ingatz in bisaya).
ReplyDeleteI agree. Usually pag pista ni San Juan basaan ng tubig nangyayari. Yung iba nga nakakapikon kasi mabaho yung sinasaboy. Kakaiba nga ang festival na to.
ReplyDeleteeto yung mga tao sa sukob! hehe..
ReplyDeletei didn't know that we have this kind of a festival until you posted it. anyway, i recall reading about a similar one in papaua new guinea
ReplyDeleteThis is unique!
ReplyDeletegreat post kuya! this info is something new to me.
ReplyDeletejan pala yung sukob na scene sabi nga nila sa taas.=]
dami talagang festivals sa pinas...
ReplyDeleteanyway Mr. Lawstude, parang non stop yata paglilibot mo ah?
nice though
Very interesting, excellent post.
ReplyDeletein fairness, nakkatakot nga. biglang kakatok sa bahay gnon chura baka tumambling ako hehehhee. nasobrahan sa foundation. haha.
ReplyDeletemasaya ang fiesta nila. sobrang pinaghahandaan.
ReplyDeletenag-vote na ako.
Thanks sa dalaw. click mo lang ako kung may ikampanya ka.
meron palang ganyang fiesta...
ReplyDeletengayon lang ako nakakita ng "mud people" native na native ang dating.:D
@ olan - this is the 4th comment about sukob. honestly, i never thought that this event was already featured in a film. hanapin ko nga ynag movie na yan para mapanood. lols.
ReplyDeletesalamat bro.
@ vinzent - nakakaawa nga yung iba lalo na yung papasok sa school or work. sana naman wag foul-smelling yung tubig.
ReplyDelete@ rio - now i must see the movie...
ReplyDelete@ madbong - the trabition is really somewhat primitive kasi dahon at putik ang ginagamit nila, although yung iba nakita ko naka-gel pa ng buhok lols.
ReplyDelete@ quinttarantino - like they say... only in the Pilipins.
ReplyDelete@ ced - salamat doc. medyo di pa ganun kasikat yung festival pero its getting some media mileage recently.
ReplyDelete@ kris jasper van dyke - believe it or not KJ weekends lang talaga ako nakapaglilibot at di rin ako masyado nakagala this past few weeks because of the typhoon. buti na lang meron pa ko pwede i-post about my past travels.
ReplyDelete@ daniel j santos - thank you sir.
ReplyDelete@ tentay - oo nga ano. pero yung mga tiga bibiclat sanay na sila and it only happens every june 24.
ReplyDeletenow kung sa inyong lugar may kumatok na ganyan tapos dis-oras ng gabi. waaaaah. kakatakot nga.
@ belen - totoo po yon. di ko na nga inabutan yung street dancing kasi may pasok pa ko nun eh.
ReplyDeletesalamat sa votes.
@ arnie - doon lang sa bibiclat meron nyan kaya pinuntahan ko agad.
ReplyDeleteinformative post kuya.
ReplyDeletenaalala ko yong SUKOB which i watched years ago. di ko nga alam na may ganitong festival nun. hehe. at di ko rin alam kung san ginaganap to until i read this post...
unique nga 'to..ngayon ko lang nalaman na meron palang festival na ganito...
ReplyDeletegitgitan sa laban ang poll. grabe sa marketing ang promotion si tiklaton. ayaw magpa overtake. hehe.
ReplyDeletemapanalo ko lang tong effort mo attorney ok na sakin. si dong naman ipopromote ko. im not after of the hall of fame na.
Very unique and interesting.
ReplyDeleteParang mga Mulawin naman to!
ReplyDeleteParang mga Mulawin naman to!
ReplyDeleteHey guys, since I have been getting lots of comments about the movie "Sukob". Here is what I gather:
ReplyDeleteIndeed, there was a scene in Sukob showing the Taong Putik Festival but that scene was not shot in Bibiclat because apparently, the people of Bibiclat lead by the Barangay Captain did not want to compromise the sanctity of the event.
I gather that the scene was shot somewhere in Bulacan and NOT in Bibiclat.
Hope this clear some things.
@ beero - the event was real but apparantly they have to shoot it elsewhere and not in Bibiclat.
ReplyDelete@ dakilang islander - yeah its real. i experienced it first hand. nag-iwan pa nga ng marka kasi nadulas ako sa steps ng simbahan because of the rain.
ReplyDelete@ islander - thats nice to hear. sige support natin dong next time.
ReplyDelete@ andrea - thank you. its interesting indeed.
ReplyDelete@ anino - para din silang taong dahon ng saging kasi yung iba konti lang putik pero maraming tuyong dahon ng saging.
ReplyDeletekakasira nga naman ng image ang sukob. ginawang pang-scare ang festival na to. when in fact this is celebrated with sanctity ika nga.
ReplyDeleteoh cool! cool! how i wish i can dress dirty like this and join in all the fun. :)
ReplyDeleteI saw this festival once pero bata pako :) not so long ago...
ReplyDeleteNice one... But tell me what's that actually? Is there any trend like this?
ReplyDeleteFascinating! I hope this won't be the future of fashion (haha). On second thought, this is a great "go green" fashion statement!:D
ReplyDelete@ islander - that's true, panata kasi ito ng mga taga bibiclat kaya siguro di nila pinayagan na magshooting doon si kris.
ReplyDelete@ acey - pwede nga hano? its like throwing all vanities in the wind and just have fun.
ReplyDelete@ kegler - buti di ka natakot? pero actually kahit mga bata naka putik din eh kaya di naman talaga nakakatakot yung festival.
ReplyDelete@ ash - it really is.
ReplyDelete@ selerines - huh? trend? its a festival to honor their patron saint.
ReplyDelete@ luna miranda - go brown and gray is more like it lols.
ReplyDeleteinfernes, scary sila.
ReplyDeletesuch a unique festival...one that's not widely known by filipinos. (so that's where they got the concept from in that horror film!) they should teach regional festivals in elementary to promote culture awareness.
ReplyDeleteoo nga nu natakot naman ako don!! pero sana mkapunta naman ako jan. kasi hinahanap ko na dream boy ko, pero sana hindi ganyan ichura nya pag nakita ko sya ha? hahahha. baka talaga tumambling ako plus split. lol... tignan mo un requirements ko sa blog, baka may kakilala ka... =/ hahahahhah!!
ReplyDeleteI never heard of this festival.... Incedible pictures. Keep writing.
ReplyDeleteEto ba yung nasa Sukob? totoo pala to, kala ko ginawa lang nila un for the movie, hehehe...
ReplyDeleteI think I've seen this from Estan as well if I'm not mistaken. It's not a common festival but interesting though. I would liek to find out why they wore dried leaves. Ingat lang siguro coz it's highly combustible.
ReplyDelete@ pensucks - sa madilim siguro medyo nakakatakot sila pero once you get acquanted with them di ka naman na matatakot eh.
ReplyDelete@ fortuitous faery - i agree with you that festivals like this should be taught to elementary kids so that they will be aware of our culture. thanks for passing by.
ReplyDelete@ tentay - bigla ko tuloy inimagine yung tambling at split lols. teka check ko blog mo.
ReplyDelete@ keith - thanx keith.
ReplyDelete@ ely - apparently ginaya ito sa film na sukob. although hindi sa bibiclat ginawa yun but somwehere in bulacan.
ReplyDelete@ ferdz - no one really knows why but the best explanation i got was its a native product of bibiclat and it easily matches the mud that they put all over their body.
ReplyDeleteThis is a different festival. I am not sure if I want to go there. Is it scary?
ReplyDeleteHi Norman! Another excellent post: wonderful pictures, interesting text!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment on Blogtrotter, now on its last post on Santiago de Compostela! Wish you a wonderful weekend!
weird!parang shooting..
ReplyDeletepara yatang taong dahon sila, hehe..ang cute ng bata..
sa sukob nga hehe
ReplyDeleteMalayo ba puntahan yan? Mukhang interesting puntahan kasi kakaiba.
ReplyDeletelast year i visited this place to scout, around 4 days before the event but due to distance and time, i never returned.
ReplyDelete@ vanessa - it's not that scary, its really solemn because of tha mass that they attend to.
ReplyDelete@ gmg - hey sir, thanks for appreciating the pics. i bet you had a wonderful time at Santiago de Compostela.
ReplyDeleteNaku, ito yata yung literally maputik na festival, hehehe.
ReplyDelete