BICOL PASTORES

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.  

Pastores entrad, entrad zagales también. Vamos a ver al recién nacido,
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/

CECILIA RODRIGUEZ

Cecilia Rodriguez (born June 21, 1938) is a multi-awarded Filipina actress. She appeared in more than 130 movies and television shows. She won four FAMAS Awards in the films Kulay Dugo ang Gabi, The Passionate Strangers, Lilet and Magnifico. She also received an award for Best Supporting Actress in the Metro Manila Film Festival for the movie Bulaklak sa City Jail.

Ilan sa comment sa FB Page ng LAKBAY TUKLAS BICOL

 

Rodriguez was born on June 21, 1938 in Irosin, Sorsogon, Commonwealth of the Philippines.

100-MILLION-YEAR-OLD FOSSIL FOUND IN BICOL

A joint team of Filipino and Japanese scientists has discovered on this island in Bicol ammonite fossils said to be 100 million years old, the Catanduanes Tribune said in its March 24 issue.

 

Ammonite Discovered at the Silungan ng Higante (Giant’s Haven) deep in the forest of Dugui Wala, barangay San Vicente in this capital town in Bicol region in the south of Luzon, Dr. Yasanuri Shigeta of the National Museum for Nature and Science (NMNS) in Tokyo, Japan, said last week that they found the fossils of nine ammonite species in the area, the first of its kind found in Southeast Asia.

 

Classified among prehistoric animals, the Nationalgeographic.com said ammonites first appeared about 240 million years ago, though they descended from straight-shelled cephalopods called bacrites that date back to the Devonian, about 415 million years ago.

 

Ammonites were predatory, squid-like creatures that lived inside coil-shaped shells. They were prolific breeders, lived in schools and are among the most abundant fossils found today. They went extinct with the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. Scientists use the various shapes and sizes of ammonite shells that appeared and disappeared through the ages to date other fossils.

 

The most important among the species found by the team, Shigeta said in the Tribune article, is the Mortoniceras, the first found in Southeast Asia.

 

Although the species is believed to be widely distributed in North America, Japan and India, Shigeta said, none had been found in those areas.

 

“Mortoniceras is an index ammonite, meaning its presence would indicate the age of the rock it is embedded in as about 100 million years old or in the Cretaceous period,” the Japanese scientist said in Catanduanes Tribune, noting that his team would be the first to study it.

 

He added that the ammonites recently found in Mansalay, Mindoro, are about 160 million years old (Jurassic period) while those found in Comagaycay, San Andres, Catanduanes, is 110 million years old.

Joining the team which undertook the exploration from March 15 to 18 was NMNS curator-in-chief Dr. Tomoki Kase. Also with them were Dr. Yolanda Aguilar, Wenceslao Mago and Emolyn Azurin of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) of the Philippines’ Department of Environment and Natural Resources, MGB geology division chief Roberto de Ocampo and curator Priscila Ong of the Philippine National Museum.

 

The undertaking was in connection with a joint research project on “Collection Building and Natural History Studies in the Philippines: Tracing the Origin of High Marine Biodiversity in the Indo-Pacific through Fossil Studies.”

 

Virac personnel officer Oseas Alberto joined the team. Alberto first discovered the ammonite site by accident in 2007 while on a trek to get samples of small endemic fishes in mountain streams and rivers for possible breeding purposes.

 

The Catanduanes Tribune published the Alberto story on the find that year which caught the attention of the National Museum, and sent a team to the site in April 2009, the news report said.

 

The team also found part of a fossil of a belemnite, an extinct group of marine cephalopods very similar to the squid and closely related to the cuttlefish, the news report said.

 

The belemnites possessed an ink sac, but unlike the squid, they had 10 arms and no tentacles. The part that remained of the belemnite, which could be as long as three meters or 10 feet, is the back part of the shell and it looks like a slender bullet, the Tribune said.

 

The Japanese experts said in the news report that the Dugui ammonites could be found in a one-meter layer of sandstone at the bottom of the Silungan ng Higante rock outcrop, with the belemnite finds in the 20-centimeter thick muddy sandstone just below it.

 

While the Comagaycay site is older than the Dugui site, Aguilar said in Tribune that the Silungan site is far more biologically diverse because it has seashells, gastropods, sea urchins, squids, annelids or segmented worms and rudists, which are bivalves of a strange shape.

 

The team also went three kilometers up the Comagaycay River to look for ammonite samples but found only a small one embedded in a rocky bank.

 

The site was discovered by a geologist, a certain Sendon from the MGB regional office for Bicol based in Legazpi City in 1984 while the agency and Japanese expert Dr. Wataro Hashimoto found protozoan microscopic fossils belonging to the Cretaceous period at Bunag-bunag point in the same town, the news report said.

 

While the team did not find any fossil of a marine reptile, the possibility that there could be remnants of marine dinosaurs in the Silungan site remains, the Tribune said.

 

Alberto said he is still looking for a huge bone that was said to have been stored by an old man in one of the recesses of a labyrinthine cavern at the top of a rock outcrop.

 

The study’s objectives are to date the enclosing rock of the fossil and study the life habits of the strange marine animals that existed long before they became extinct, Dr. Shigeta told the Tribune.

 

Source: https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2010/04/100-million-year-old-fossil-found-in.html?fbclid=IwAR3v19DUWrEWRLM39GEiPcyquDu36AGwbos7Be4N-xXbDw9fL5CSJyU-BVc#.UBpr3qPjqgA

 

THE LEGEND OF MAMPAK A GIANT MAN EATING BIRD OF SORSOGON

Garu po imposibleng paniwalaan a arog kaining ALAMAT mga kalakbay, pero kung babasihan ta ang time of existence kan kadagaan nin BICOLANDIA base sa fossil na natagpuan sa SILUNGAN NG HIGANTE sa Comagaycay, San Andres, Catanduanes ay may edad na 110 million years ago, na kung babalikan natin sakop ito ng CRETACIOUS PERIOD kung saan nabubuhay pa ang mga Dinosaur at that period igwa pong pig aapod na PTERODACTYL, bako po kayang a MAMPAK ay remain o natada kan panahon nin Dinosaur na iyong pig aapod na higanteng ibon na nakakan nin tawo.

And base sa sarong kaibanan nin research team sa Catanduanes pighahanap nya din duman sa area a sarong dakulang tul'ang na nakua nin sarong risedente duman, bako po kayang tul' ang man ito nin dinosaur?

Ang Masakit lang mga kalakbay a mga archeological findings sa Bicol sa ibang lugar pigdidisplay bako sa custody ta, baken? Mayo gayod nag aasikaso na maggibo nin Bicol Museum. A baybayin stone o monreal stone na nakua man sa Masbate mayo din sato, a LUKDO NIN LIBMANAN na patunay kan time ni Handiong sa Bicol.

Kung magkakaigwa po kita nin sadiring MUSEUM for exhibit mas mabibisto a lugar ta, at makakaakit nin mga turista, mayaman po a BICOL sa mga historical at archeological treasures.

 

SNOOKY SERNA

 Snooky Serna (born Maria Milagros Sumayao Serna on April 4, 1966) is a Filipina film and television actress.

Being the daughter of actors Von Serna and Mila Ocampo, she started acting early in life via her 1970 landmark debut Wanted: Perfect Mother, where she immediately captured the hearts of Filipino audience as a cute, sweet and smart-talking four-year-old. That same year she earned her first acting nomination from FAMAS Awards as Best Child Performer for the film My Little Angel.

Trained by acclaimed director and National Artist, Lino Brocka, Snooky showed promise as dramatic actress and later proved to be a fine one. In 1972, she won her first FAMAS Award as Best Child Actress for the film Sana Mahalin Mo Ako.

ROX LEE

 Roque Federizon Lee, a.k.a. ROXLEE, is a Filipino animator, filmmaker, cartoonist, painter, rock star, and many considered as the God Father of the Filipino young filmmakers. The man who created “Cesar Asar” together with his brother Mon Lee. Apart from this Lee brothers is their nephew Topel Lee, a film, TV and music director of GMA Networks.

He started out as a cartoonist—first contributing cartoons to Jingle Magazine, and then doing the comic strip Cesar Asar for Manila Bulletin (one of the most popular broadsheet in the Philippines) in collaboration with his brother Monlee from 1980 to 2000. Roxlee is one of the founding members of Animagination now evolved into Animahenasyon and Sinekalye, a group of filmmakers taking the films and music into the street. He is a pioneer of independent film animation in the Philippines. Working outside the "factory" system, usually with only one or two collaborators, he’s a magician who can instantly conjure up an original piece working only with the barest of materials, usually with just pen and paper and ink. Spontaneity and irreverent situational ideas are paramount for him over fanciful techniques and linear storytelling. His edgy approach is surreal sense of humor . What is incalculable is his originality as an animator and filmmaker, which can be considered as an attempt to create a modern Filipino style and philosophy of filmmaking. His early works were done in super-8 film—divided between hand-drawn scratchy works like "The Great Smoke", and pixilated live action pieces like "Juan Gapang". Both are now considered classics of the independent film movement of the 1980s. In the 2000s, he reinvented himself as a digital filmmaker. His "12 commandments of filmmaking" has turned him into some kind of guru, an inspiration to filmmakers young and old. Although he never worked in the animation industry, Roxlee’s independent approach to filmmaking has influenced a whole generation of younger animators, many of whom first took up courses at the Mowelfund Film Institute in the 80s and 90s. Some of these animators are now stalwarts in the industry. Roxlee also has a modest but keen international following, mostly in Western Europe, Japan and Singapore. Maybe computers and 3D animation software may have made Roxlee’s animation antiquated and old school, but he has proven that anyone can be an animator, as long as he has pen, paper, ink, interesting ideas, and the will to get it done. Roxlee is also onto oil painting and currently finished book entitled “Cesar Asar in the Planet of the Noses,” a collection of his cartoons and short stories.

RICKY LEE

 

Si Ricardo "Ricky" Lee (kamundagan Marso 19, 1948) sarong Bikolanong parasurat-iskritura nin mga pelikula. Nagkapira sa mga naisurat niya iyo an Brutal (1980), Relasyon (1982), Haplos (1982), Kamal (1983), Baby China (1984), asin iba pa.

Sa 24 taon pagsurat niya sa industriya nin pelikula, si Lee nakahaman nin sobra sa 120 screenplay asin nakasikwit nin mga 50 gawad. Siya mayong pormal na adal sa pagguhit nin pelikula kaya sarong penomeno an pag'asenso niya sa siring na paghingowa mala ta saro nang gayo siyang icon sa industriyang ini.

Si Ricardo Lee midbid pa man sa sinibotan niyang trabaho sa pelikulang Andrea, Paano ba ang maging isang ina? (1990), Ang totoong buhay ni Pacita M. (1991) asin sa Nasaan ka man (2005).

Mga Screenplay;
Pagonggahan (1979)
Jaguar (1979)
Miss X (1980)
Brutal (1980)
Playgirl (1981)
Carnival Queen (1981)
Salome (1981)
Karma (1981)
PX (1982)
Ito Ba ang Ating Mga Anak? (1982)
Relasyon (1982)
Cain at Abel (1982)
Moral (1982)
Himala (1982)
Haplos (1982)
Gabi Kung Sumikat ang Araw (1983)
Karnal (1983)
Sinner or Saint (1984)
Baby Tsina (1984)
Bukas... May Pangarap (1984)
Silip: Daughters of Eve (1985)
White Slavery (1985)
Private Show (1985)
Bomba Arienda (1985)
Flesh Avenue (1986)
Nasaan Ka Nang Kailangan Kita? (1986)
Paano Kung Wala Ka Na? (1987)
The Untold Story of Melanie Marquez (1987)
Olongapo... The Great American Dream (1987)
Kumander Dante (1988)
Macho Dancer (1988)
Birds of Prey (1988)
Sandakot na Bala (1988)
Babaeng Hampaslupa (1988)
Hot Summer (1989)
Sa Kuko ng Agila (1989)
Virginia P. (1989)
Ang Bukas ay Akin Langit ang Uusig (1989)
Dyesebel (1990)
Nagsimula sa Puso (1990)
Gumapang Ka sa Lusak (1990)
Mundo Man ay Magunaw (1990)
Beautiful Girl (1990)
Hindi Laruan ang Puso (1990)
Hahamakin Lahat (1990)
Andrea, Paano ba ang Maging Isang Ina? (1990)
Pakasalan mo Ako (1991)
I Want to Live (1991)
Class of '91 (1991)
Hinukay Ko Na ang Libingan Mo! (1991)
Juan Tamad at Mr. Shooli: Mongolian Barbecue (1991)
Ang Totoong Buhay ni Pacita M. (1991)
Secrets of Pura (1991)
Sa Aking Puso: The Marcos 'Bong' Manalang Story (1992)
Kamay ni Cain (1992)
Apoy sa Puso (1992)
Ako ang Katarungan (Lt. Napoleon M. Guevarra) (1992)
Narito ang Puso Ko (1992)
Ayoko na Sanang Magmahal (1993)
Because I Love You (1993)
Inay (1993)
Kung Kailangan mo Ako (1993)
Pangako ng Kahapon (1994)
Mayor Cesar Climaco (1994)
Bawal na Gamot (1994)
Loretta (1994)
Midnight Dancers (1994)
Separada (1994)
Saan Ako Nagkamali? (1995)
Minsan May Pangarap: The Guce Family Story (1995)
Bawal na Gamot 2 (1995)
The Flor Contemplacion Story (1995)
Redeem Her Honor (1995)
Mangarap Ka (1995)
Muling Umawit ang Puso (1995)
Patayin sa Sindak si Barbara (1995)
Asero (1995)
May Nagmamahal sa Iyo (1996)
Sa Aking mga Kamay (1996)
Utol (1996)
Madrasta (1996)
Lahar (1996)
Hangga't May Hininga (1996)
Nights of Serafina (1996)
Kadre (1997)
Sanggano (1997)
Wala Ka Nang Puwang sa Mundo (1997)
Ipaglaban mo II: The Movie (1997)
Hanggang Kailan Kita Mamahalin? (1997)
Calvento Files: The Movie (1997)
Mapusok (1998)
Pusong Mamon (1998)
Curacha: Ang Babaeng Walang Pahinga (1998)
Miguel/Michelle (1998)
Labs Kita... Okey Ka Lang? (1998)
Magandang Hatinggabi (1998)
José Rizal (1998)
Sidhi (1999)
Burlesk King (1999)
'Di Puwedeng Hindi Puwede! (1999)
Hey Babe! (1999)
Muro-Ami (1999)
Bulaklak ng Maynila (1999)
Minsan, Minahal Kita (2000)
Anak (2000)
Lagarista (2000)
Deathrow (2000)
ID (2001)
Hostage (2001)
Ooops, Teka Lang... Diskarte ko 'to! (2001)
Luv Text (2001)
Mila (2001)
Huwag Kang Kikibo... (2001)
Angels (2001)
Tatarin (2001)
Bagong Buwan (2001)
May Pag-ibig Pa Kaya? (2002)
Kung Ikaw ay Isang Panaginip (2002)
Then and Now (2003)
I Will Survive (2004)
Sabel (2004)
Liberated 2 (2004)
So... Happy Together (2004)
Aishite Imasu 1941: Mahal Kita (2004)
Dubai (2005)
Twilight Dancers (2006)
Wag Kang Lilingon (2006)
Fuchsia (2009)
Kamoteng Kahoy (2009)
Bente (2009)
Mamarazzi (2010)
Sa 'yo Lamang (2010)
Shake, Rattle and Roll Fourteen: The Invasion (Segment: "Panama"; 2012)
Burgos (2013)
Lauriana (2013)
Lihis (2013)
Justice (2014)
The Trial (2014)
Ringgo: The Dog Shooter (2016)
Iadya mo Kami (2016)

STONE-AGE ARTIFACTS FOUND IN BICOL Cavemen lived here 3,000 years ago

 

SORSOGON, Sorsogon (ANFI) – From a nearby rain forest, a man in hairy animal clothing emerges carrying a wild boar on his shoulder while a woman, apparently his wife, builds a fire in the yard. She keeps an eye on her two naked frolicking small boys.

 

Their cogon house, almost similar in shape to the snow house of the Eskimos has only one opening, a door showing the damp, dark interior of the dwelling. The house has no windows.

 

This was what people saw in their minds when reports came out that artifacts about 3,000 years old, were discovered in a limestone cave in barrio Bato Bacon, Sorsogon, sometime ago.

 

They surmised that the first cave man walked in Bacon thousands of years ago.

 

The artifacts which consisted of burial jars with human bones intact, stone implements and drinking cups and used by the early cave dwellers were found by a team of archeologists headed by Dr. Robert Fox in 1956.

 

The description of the first cavemen in Europe: farmers cultivating green crops and using pottery and other stone implements is not much different from the description of the first ancient man in Bicol.

The oldest relics of man were found in 1977 by Mrs. Mary Leakey, a British lady archeologist, beneath the volcanic ashes at Latolil in Tanzania, Africa. The relics consisted of some teeth and jawbone of an adult, about 3,700 years ago.

 

Absalon Empleo, an investigator of the Commission on Human Rights in Sorsogon, Sorsogon, who is making a research on the history of the town said that another ancient burial site which yielded 2,000-years-old artifacts was discovered in San Juan, Bacon, Sorsogon.

 

The artifacts now at the National Museum in Manila will be sent back to Bacon when the town has finished building a museum for cultural treasures.

 

 

(Asian News & Features)

BICOLANO BLADE

 

One bladed weapon unique to Bicol and often identified with the Cimarrones is the “minasbad.” Like the bolo of the Tagalog region, the minasbad has a dual purpose of being a weapon and a farm tool. The main features that distinguish the minasbad from other Philippine blades are its handle with an ornate animal figurehead often made of carabao horn and its wooden scabbard with exquisite engravings.

A graceful curve and a flat to rounded tip characterize the minasbad blade. The latter is an indication that the blade was also used for agricultural chores. Other minute attributes of the minasbad are the serrations near the base of its blade and an attachment of a tassel of hair on its sheath (presumably meant to wipe off the blood from the blade).

One important observation I made on the minasbad is that some of its variations have a hand guard similar to that of a western saber, an uncommon element on a Filipino blade. Again, remembering Newton’s comment on the possibility of the Cimarrones being “fugitives from Spanish control,” it is easy to postulate that this element was borrowed from the Spaniards.

The craft of forging minasbads is still preserved in the Bicol region today.

 

Source: http://fmapulse.com/fma-corner/fma-corner-cimarrones-bicol/

AYA MEDEL

 

Aya Medel from Albay, sarong filipina sexy actress na pigbansagang PAPAYA QUEEN ay saro ng chef ngunyan at nagmamay adi kan ISHIAYA'S GARDEN BISTRO sa Tabaco sagkod ISHIAYA DE LEGAZPI sa Legazpi City.

JASON FERNANDEZ

JASON FERNANDEZ from Purok lll, Manguisoc, Mercedes,Camarines Norte, dating vocalista nin bandang RIVERMAYA ngunyan ay solo singer na, ang inot nyang narelease na album ay may title na PANIMULA.

MEG IMPERIAL

Birth Name: Mary Grace Baydal Imperial

Place of Birth: Taytay, Rizal, Philippines

Date of Birth: January 20, 1993

Ethnicity: Filipino (Bicolana)

Meg Imperial is a Filipina actress. Her father, Lester Hernandez Imperial, was born in Legazpi City, Albay. Her mother, Rosita Portuguez Baydal, was born in Magarao, Camarines Sur.

 

Some sources state that Meg has Spanish ancestry. However, it is unclear if this is accurate.

Meg’s paternal grandparents are Jose Luis Imperial, Jr. (the son of Jose Luis Imperial, Sr.) and Hilda Hernandez.