When the idea of having an OTS in Tacloban City was announced, there was this inescapable apprehension: has the city recovered from the ravages of Yolanda that we could be licensed to disturb its peace? The apprehension was unfounded however as we learned, even before flying in, that Tacloban was in a celebratory mood and that it had rolled out its red carpet for guests, inviting them to partake in various festive activities, and witness how it has risen from catastrophe.
I thought we were there to shoot the Pintados festival. Then our guide – a cross between General Bato, Wikipedia and the Tacloban civil registry – told us that we had just missed it; it had been held a few days before. But not to worry, you could always shoot “Sangyaw,” he said. After he told us how it was spelled, we tried googling the word “Sangyaw” and were surprised to learn that it was different from Pintados, but our Manila ears were hearing about it for the first time. It is a festival of lights, our guide tried to explain, seeing our glassy-eyed expression.
The more one thought about it, the more one understood that it was not just that Pintados and Sangyaw were two totally different festivals; there was an undercurrent of rivalry between them. Pintados is held by the provincial government of Leyte, under the patronage of the Petilla clan, while Sangyaw is celebrated by the local government of Tacloban City, the capital of Leyte, under the auspices of the Romualdez clan, and the two clans have been at odds with each other for the longest time. Perhaps someday the two festivals could be celebrated side by side.
When the day of Sangyaw came, we were ready with our long lenses for that classic fiesta shot: a bokeh background, a little bit of the bright blue sky, and a colorful participant with personality, preferably caught in mid-smile, and then that would have been it, we’d call it a day. Sangyaw though was by no means your ordinary festival. First of all it was set late in the day. When the sun went down, our long lenses were rendered pretty useless. It was then that the Sangyaw engine began to hum, then thump in time. Within minutes, they came in droves: dancing spectacles of children, women and men clad in garbs of red, blue, yellow, and all the colors in between, sporting wearable, portable LED lights held with their hands, sewn into their headgears, or stitched into their clothing. And once we got our bearings, we found ourselves in the middle of an authentic festival of lights, a light painter’s delight.
The mathematics of the exercise had to be figured in a jiffy. How powerful should the flash be to hold a prancing figure sharp and in place? Full power? Half power? How long should the shutter be open to keep the moving light moving? A second? Half a second? Should the aperture be open in full, or do we compromise with f5.6? One could not discount the technical aspect of all of it as the play of lights was begging to be shot properly. OTS King Manny Gaite vowed to return next year to shoot the festival again.
The next day, there was a fluvial procession participated in by about a hundred boats. Simultaneously, the generous Taclobanons opened their homes and treated guests to a fiesta of lechon and local delicacies.
The Tacloban OTS of the Camera Club did not disappoint. Past President Philip Yu and his generous wife, Ang Yong, hosted two dinners for the club, one at Royal Kitchen Restaurant and the other one at Ocho, famed for its baked scallops. The Mayor of Tacloban, the Honorable Kring Kring Gonzales-Romualdez, dropped by at the dinner in Royal Kitchen. That Sunday, past President Fred Yuson treated the remaining members to the Pay-Per-View fight of Manny Pacquio at the Oriental where most of the members stayed for the OTS.
Tacloban may have been struck by a disaster that was unforeseen and devastating, but it has gotten back on its feet with no less than a deliberate effort of its resilient people, in spite of intrigues and infighting. They need all the help they can get. In fact, Sangyaw is not getting the media mileage it deserves. Perhaps the photos of the Club exhibited online would be a step in the right direction. Let us begin the work in earnest.
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