ati-atihan
During the Ati-Atihan Festival in Aklan, black Santo Niùos are paraded to match devotees’ soot-black face and body paint. Unlike the Sinulog where spectators just watch the parade from the sidelines, the Ati-Atihan invites everyone to join in the dancing. What began as a celebration of cultural unity between Bornean datus and the dark-skinned Ati of Aklan, the festival has since incorporated the arrival of Spanish missionaries, broadening the spectrum of Aklanon cultural unity. Tribal, Balik-Ati, and Individual Ati-Atihan Contest on January 15.
At a time when mountain crops were swept away by rainfall, the Atis descended the mountains and asked the Bornean lowlanders for food through song and dance. Every year since, the Atis would entertain in exchange for food from fair-skinned Maraynons (as the Borneans came to be known as) who, proud of their newly formed friendship, began slathering soot on their faces and dancing with their dark-skinned neighbors.
Photos by George Tapan
PAL flies between Manila and Kalibo three times daily. For more information, call PAL reservations office (+632 855 8888) or log on to www. philippineairlines.com. 56 M A B U H A Y
January 2008
re Longakit
Photo by Shem Tor