WITH the onset of the Advent Season, signalling the start of Christmas in the Catholic Church’s liturgical calendar, local governments will be busy lighting up Christmas trees and Belen tableaus to observe the birth of the Christ Child.
In the Bicol region folks are doing more than the ceremonial lighting as they relive an age-old tradition depicting the first Christmas night.
Known as “Pastores” (Shepherds), the tradition was introduced by Spanish priests in the late-1800s, and spread across the region and become part of the Yuletide celebration in Bicolandia. It depicts the shepherds’ jubilation on the birth of Jesus, and features musical groups interpreting “Pastores a Belen” (“Shepherds to Bethlehem”), a traditional Spanish song whose composer is largely unknown.
While there were accounts the lyrics were written by national hero
Dr. Jose Rizal, the most he could have done was edit them and come up
with a rebooted version as Pastores was already widely practiced then.
Doña Metring Reniva of Oas town, one of the very first organizers of the Bicol Pastores, made some revisions to the hymn during the post-Spanish era.
The lyrics go this way:
Pastores a Belén, vamos con alegría
a ver a nuestro bien, al Hijo de Maria.
Allí, allí, nos espera Jesús.
vamos a ver al Niño Emmanuel.
(Shepherds to Bethlehem We are going with happiness, to see, to our good, the Son of Mary. There, Jesus waits for us.
Shepherds enter, lads also. Let us go to see the newborn, Let us go to see the Boy, God with us)
The traditional dramatic representation of the shepherds’ adoration—singing and dancing from one house to another—is usually part of the ritual. The actors playing the shepherds are usually children or youth, wearing colorful costumes.
Most of them are female and wear full skirts, round-necked blouses with puffed sleeves and wide-brimmed hats. The males wear long-sleeved shirts, breast and waist bands and decorated hats. The dancers bring their elaborately designed arko (arch of flowers) and sing carols from house to house, accompanied by string and percussion musicians. Just like the usual carolers, they are given money by homeowners as a token for their musical rendition.
There are variations in the Bicol Pastores across the region because of diverse cultural influences, indigenous traditions and ethnolinguistic differences. In some versions, carols sung in the vernacular are integrated, thus providing a fusion of Spanish and Bicol motifs.
But somewhere along the way, the tradition lost its luster because of modern living and the lack of interest by the locals due to the intricacies in performing it.
In the 1970s Legazpi City-based radio station People’s Broadcasting Network revived a dying tradition by launching a contest among students and the youth. Its role was pivotal as it saturated the airwaves with the Christmas melody, and it became common to see dancers doing the Pastores serenade in households and business establishments.
The late National Artist for Dance Ramon Obusan, founder of the award-winning Ramon Obusan Folkloric Group and a native of Camarines Norte, created choreography for the song that is suited to the Bicolanos’ jovial nature.
Later on the Department of Tourism in Region 5, the Albay provincial government and the Legazpi City government joined efforts to preserve the tradition through the conduct of the Bicol Pastores annual musical competition.
Contingents from far-flung villages in Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Sorsogon, Catanduanes and Masbate troop to the Peñaranda Park in Legazpi City every year to vie for cash prizes and the honor of being adjudged the year’s best.
Source: https://businessmirror.com.ph/2017/12/03/bicol-pastores-reliving-the-song-of-the-shepherds/




























