Daily Diary Day 12

Written by Esther Ho and Emily Choong
Photographs by Cultural Center of the Philippines Website, Openbuildings.com, Melissa Chia and Emily Choong

Sun, Sea, Sand and Scenes 

   Today, after enjoying a good night’s rest, we travelers woke up to a splendid surprise - complimentary breakfast at Rosa’s Garden Hotel’s restaurant! On offer were the classic big American breakfast (Toast, bacon, eggs, coffee and juice); Filipino Favorite (Longanisa, corned beef, egg, rice) and Mercedes breakfast (pancakes, butter, maple syrup, fresh fruit). Feeling indulgent, most of us opted for the big American breakfast and some of us learnt that while the restaurant prided themselves in being able to do eggs any style, poached eggs was just out of their reach. 

     Alas, breakfasts on study trips are never a fine dining experience. We were hurried out of the hotel in straggling groups on foot towards the Cultural Center of the Philippines via Manila Bay. Those who were too late would take a taxi.

Operation STOM: Moonraker Dinagyang Field Report

Written by Helen Sneha and Esther Ho

Photographs by Melissa Chia

*Names in this article have been changed to protect their identities.

     During days eight and nine of the In Search of Iloilo City study trip, the six-person Team Moonraker was assigned to the Capitol area of town. Having arrived there and discovered that good seats were hard to come by, we decided that it would be more productive to split into two separate groups. While Team Moon obtained a birds-eye view of the proceedings for a while (see ‘We Storm the Capitol’), Team Raker remained on the ground to sift through the crowds and speak to people. The following are some of the people we spoke to, and what they had to say about this year’s Dinagyang, its crowds, and its performances.

The Fluvial Procession-ish

Written by Esther Ho

Photographs by Sarah Choong

So close, but no cigar. 

     The guards stopped us just as it came our turn to board the last of the 150 boats that will join the fluvial procession welcoming Santo Niño. What a pity, we thought as we watched the rest of the boats sail away to spirited drumbeats and salutary fire crackers. Maybe we should have come in suits, like Hermana and Hermano Mayor. Or maybe in costume, since several boats featured Ati tribe dancers, an entourage in Spanish getup and even beauty queens in their elaborate gowns and sparkling platform stilettos. Or maybe we should have come hours earlier instead of arriving punctually, and saved ourselves some of the wild jostling of people with Santo Niño figurines across the narrow pier hacked rough and ruined by daily port traffic. No matter, it was worth the try, and our guide Peter told us that we could simply catch up with the procession on land.

Boats heading out to the Fluvial Procession

Beauty queens preparing to board the boat

The Wedding

Written by Esther Ho

Photographs by Melissa Chia

   A coronation of a boy and a wedding of two pageant winners meets a Mass. A trip down to San Jose Church in downtown Iloilo reveals an evening of liveliness and sanctity that reflects a lot more than one extraordinary sunset Mass.

San Jose church

Session 3: Catholicism and Social Action

Written by Esther Ho

Photographs by Melissa Chia and Sarah Chong

     We spent the afternoon with Monsignor Oso discussing the role his parish plays in impacting the Filipino laypeople.

Monsignor Meliton Oso

     In Iloilo, the Archdiocese of Jaro is pioneering numerous efforts to better the lives of 27 million Filipinos living in poverty. Monsignor Meliton Oso, a priest for 27 years and Associate Director of the Archdiocese for 20 years, presented the nation’s problems and his five-fold project to address them. Monsignor Oso began with an overview of Christian Monsod’s critical presentation entitled “The National Situationer”. Monsod’s presentation was presented at the Catholic Bishop’s Conference of the Philippines (CBCP-NASSA) in 2011.