Story & photos By Bernard L. Supetran
LONG before street dancing became a fad to mark a festival, the province of Pangasinan has been celebrating the bounty of the sea with the Pistay Dayat, a summertime tradition held at the Lingayen Gulf, one of the country’s biggest and richest bodies of water.
Middle-age folks recall that on May 1, a national holiday, residents of beach-side towns would troop the historic gulf to frolic in its vast stretch of grainy beaches, which is as far as your eyes can see.
Unlike the frenzied street parades that dominate the countryside fiesta landscape, observances were low-key and spontaneous, but captures the community spirit of the coastal way of life.
Literally meaning “feast of the sea”, this decades-old tradition is very much alive in this day and age, when it was given a new twist a couple of years back to make it more colorful, exciting and engaging.
The highlight of the celebration is the Banca Parada fluvial parade at the Agno River, which features gaily decorated boats showcasing the municipalities, government offices and establishments within Pangasinan. The river parade also showcases Agno as one of country’s cleanest river systems after undergoing rehabilitation in the previous provincial administration, which he is pursuing.
Pistay Dayat also stresses the need to protect the natural resources, marine, coastal, river and mountain ecosystems for the next generation. A major producer of freshwater fish, the river was cleared of fish pens and other obstructions to allow free flow of water. Millions of freshwater fingerlings were released to allow spawning and bring back its once- abundant aquatic life.
The 206-kilometer Agno, which originates in the Cordillera mountain ranges, is the country’s largest river in terms of water discharge, draining around 6.6 cubic kilometers of freshwater into the Lingayen Gulf. A certain portion of the river is called Lim Ah Hong Channel, where the fabled 16th Chinese pirate made his escape when pursued by Spanish authorities.
Spicing up the Pistay Dayat festivities are fringe events, such as paramotor, paragaliding and sky-diving exhibitions, sandcastle-building, shootfests, musical and entertainment shows, beach volleyball, air soft competitions, tourism and trade expo, art exhibits and various sporting events.
Meanwhile, the Limgas na Pangasinan beauty pageant selected the ambassadresses of tourism and goodwill of the province.
Rocking the night away were the Kapuso Night, featuring stars from the Kapuso Artist Center, and the San Miguel National Band Concert, which pitted the country’s best up-and-coming rock bands.
The monthlong festivity drew to a close with a coastal cleanup at the Lingayen Gulf, as part of the continuing effort to protect its fragile ecosystem.
Organizers fron the provincial government envision that future editions of Pistay Dayat would involve more sporting events and water-related activities that will draw people with active lifestyles.
The festival is also an opportunity to showcase the rich cultural heritage of the province, evident in the edifices dotting Lingayen, most foremost of which is the spic- and-span Provincial Capitol Complex, one of the country’s cleanest centers of government.
The sprawling complex takes pride in its centerpiece, the pre-war Capitol, a series of Graeco-Roman buildings, and the Veterans Park, which memorializes the historic massive landing of the Allied Forces in the Lingayen Gulf in 1945 to start the liberation of Luzon from Japanese troops.
Also within the bustling town are the ancestral homes of its eminent sons—former President Fidel V. Ramos and former Rep. Jose Bengzon, as well as the neoclassical Church of the Epiphany, which houses massive Spanish-era bells.
For Pangasinenses, Pistay Dayat will continue to be a festivity they can identify themselves with, in the same manner they can associate with the Lingayen Gulf and everything it embraces.
Image credits: Bernard L. Supetran