By Joey Pavia | Correspondent / Photos by Leo Villacarlos
APALIT, Pampanga—The Pampanga River, host to the 171-year-old annual religious tradition honoring this town’s patron saint, is regarded as a provider of bountiful harvests during the Spanish period, Mayor Oscar “Jun” Tetangco said at the start of the three-day festival on June 28.
Tetangco, who was joined by Sen. Cynthia Villar and Pampanga Gov. Lilia Pineda at the fluvial procession last Sunday afternoon to honor Saint Peter, or Apung Iru, said the people of Apalit during the mid-1800s had decided to hold the parade along the third-largest river in the country, because it “gives bountiful blessings” to farmers and fishermen. His statements were based on the researches of Councilor Fortunato “Atoy” Castro and former Councilor Kenneth Nunag.
Nunag said that, during the period, the Spanish and Portuguese sailors and merchants docked at the portion of the river in Apalit. They were joined on their ships and boats by local residents.
“That’s why many people from Apalit know how to cook well, inspired by the dishes in Spain and Portugal. Our ancestors learned the style of cooking at the ships of the foreign visitors,” Nunag said.
Tetangco said the annual tradition at the river, also known as “Great River of Pampanga,” was consistently graced by Villar and Pineda. He said former Senate President Manny Villar, husband of the first-term senator, once joined the fluvial festival.
“The devotees of Apung Iru based in other countries come home yearly to join the celebrations,” said Tetangco, who started the giving of fruits in 2008 to the devotees of Saint Peter during the fluvial parade.
Pineda said, “The safety of the people, especially those living near the river, is the content of my prayer to Apung Iru.”
“Governor Pineda and I join the feast for Apung Iru annually as our vow of faith,” Villar said. “We must preserve and treasure cultural and religious traditions.”
‘Libad’
THE tradition dates back to 1844, reports said. It’s locally known as libad.
The holy image of Apung Iru is taken from the Saint Peter’s Shrine in Capalangan using colorful and fully decorated boats. Then for three days, Apung Iru would be in Barangay San Juan, where thousands are expected to visit the image.
On June 30, members of the Knights of Saint Peter will bring back the image of Apung Iru to its home in Capalangan.
Tetangco said devotees carry back the image by pulling it while swimming along the river, unlike when it was brought to San Juan. It was on a barge when it was transferred during the first day of the three-day festival. The three-term mayor joined the “return trip” of the centuries-old holy image by walking along the banks of the river, Castro said.
A directive by Vice Mayor Peter Nucom recently started the clamp-down on the throwing of hard objects, such as bottles and cans, “to keep people and their visitors safe.”
Saint Peter’s knights
JOLLY Banag Dupaya of Barangay San Juan, vice president of the Knights of Saint Peter, said they have at least 5,000 members, including the old ones. He said their members come from Apalit, other towns in Pampanga and Bulacan.
“I joined the Knights in 1995 because I wanted to ask Apung Iru to help and cure some members of our family who were very ill then,” Dupaya said in the dialect. He said the sick ones are healthy until today.
Dupaya said at least 1,000 members of their group will swim and pull the image of Apung Iru using ropes along the Pampanga River on the image’s return trip from San Juan to Capalangan.
“Aside from devotion to and love for our patron saint, our members should know how to swim well,” said Dupaya, adding that they swim for about five hours in order to complete the mission of returning the holy image to its permanent home.
“The Knights of Saint Peter, swimming in the river’s murky water, pull the barge with a thick abaca rope to make sure it doesn’t tilt and also to guide it toward the riverbanks, where clusters of devotees wave and splash in the water. Somewhere in Barangay Tabuyoc, where the pagoda has been assembled earlier, two sets of knights perform a push-and-pull ritual with the pagoda, so that the image stays longer in the vicinity,” said Robby Tantingco of the Holy Angel University Center for Kapampangan Studies in his web-site report.
“In Barangay Sulipan the image is taken from the barge and borne on the shoulders of another set of the knights, for a procession to bring it back to its chapel in Capalangan, where it will stay until the next fiesta. Thousands of devotees, many of them dancing the kuraldal, follow Apung in this last leg of the procession, many of them shouting ‘Viva, Apung Iru!” he added.
Nunag, who researched about their patron saint, said the yellow-and-white dress of Apung Iru is “meticulously done” and costs about P50,000. He said Tetangco recently volunteered to shoulder the cost to make the dress.
“Even if you have the money, you just can’t pay the funds for the dress of Apung Iru when you want. You have to fall in line, so to speak. There is also a council that approves your request,” Nunag said.
The two former homes of Apung Iru were burned, forcing the caretakers of the ivory-faced image to look for its permanent home and found it in Capalangan.
Devotees of Apung Iru said there were previous attempts to bring out the holy image from the Saint Peter Shrine-Capalangan for the purpose of repairing it in Metro Manila. They added that it was vehemently opposed and stopped by the members of the Knights of Saint Peter and other local residents.
“That’s how we dearly love and safeguard Apung Iru. It only goes out once a year, and it’s only from June 28 to 30,” they added.
Image credits: Leo Villacarlos