Asing Biniray?—The Fabicon-Fadrilan dialogue (1)

I should have written about this a long time ago—Ismael Fabicon’s and Rinzi Fadrilan’s dialogue on Biniray which took place, of all places, in the navigable highway of the Internet.

Biniray is ancient, the Internet is recent. The former is a religious tradition, while the latter is a communications technology innovation.

In this context and in many ways, the dialogue was a convergence and one can notice the similarities between the actors and the parallelism of the object of their exchange.

Both Fabicon and Fadrilan are Asi, from Banton. Fabicon lives in the United States, Fadrilan in the Philippines. Both are writers and consumed with undying love for the Asi culture and identity.

Biniray, a potent brew of superstition and religious faith, has reached its apogee in the eastern hemisphere, but its symbol—the Cross, which was the twin of the Sword—the weapon of monarchial Spain when it was rampaging to pursue its dreams of empire, is western.

Thus, in a sense, the dialogue was a case of the East meeting the West. And whether you are a devout believer or an agnostic, you cannot escape the significance of the long-distance dialogue, much less the life-long obsession about Biniray in a digital age characterized by many Catholics now going to a virtual confessional rather than visiting a real church.

Readers who can read and understand our language—the dialogue was in Asi—can surely plumb the depths of Fabicon’s passion about the Bisayans’ religiosity demonstrated by the Biniray. In the same breath, they will also appreciate Fadrilan’s knowledgeable, but detached, narrative of the genesis of some words which has come to be part of the Asi lexicon.

The dialogue started with Fabicon asking the question, “Asing Biniray?” after he had seen some photos of the 2008 Biniray in Tanza, Cavite.

By introduction, the Banton Biniray is a religious feast, held in September of every year in honor of the island’s patron saint—St. Nicholas de Tolentino.

A decade ago, Bantoanons who cannot come home to Banton in September of every year decided to hold a tamer version of the Biniray in Luzon. Corregidor in Bataan, according to Fadrilan, was the situ of the Biniray for the first few years. Then, it was transferred to Tanza in Cavite. Bantoanons in many places in Luzon came to Tanza to join the celebration, the number increasing every year and the activities associated with the celebration, improving and—what can one say?—veering farther and farther away from the essence of Biniray.

I said this aware that some Bantoanons will contradict me. I can assure them, however, that this observation is not meant to disparage the Biniray, but only to point out that like most religious festivals anywhere else in the Philippines, the Biniray has been diluted by the amenities of modernity—sports, raffle, songs, dances, and food and drink parties—so much so that its religious aspect is dimmed, lost, among the younger generation of Bantoanons who may not have a sense of the Biniray’s rich and colorful history.

This is so because the Biniray in Luzon, because it is held outside the original site—in Banton—has lost the quality of authenticity of place. “Kawang” is how I express this quality in Asi. St. Nicholas de Tolentino, if he were alive, would have known that the fluvial parade held in his honor is in alien water, sea, or ocean. But would he care? Would he care when the Biniray in Luzon, though tamer, imbues the Bantoanon religious with the same electric solemnity and devotion as the original Banton Biniray?

It is in this context that I place the Fabicon-Fadrilan exchange. Here is the dialogue, with my sparse parenthetical comments.

Ish Fabicon: “Ak nagtarok rutong mga ging paranang mga retrato ni Philip. Kag ragipon sa tema nak pagpahupot, pagparuyot, pagpalangga,, pagya-um, ag pagsalig sa "tradisyong pang relihiyon" sa mga deboto ni Sr. San Nikolas sa Tanza, Cavite, kung silinggon, ay usa ra gihapong pag-adungkar it ato mga naghihingayo-ey ag nasasambit yangey nak aspetong pang kultural.

Maaring kaling bulay-bulayon ay nakahayhay nak mga tradisyong pangrelihiyon, lalo-ey sa mg deboto, nak kung baga’y matikasog ka inra pag-ampo sa Makaako ag pagkibir sa inra kinabuhing espiritwal.Asing Biniray? Bag-o mag-abot kag mga Kastila, kag mga Bisaya, sa inra sariling rila it kinabuhi, ay ging pasam-ing ka mga kinahangyang pang adlaw-adlaw sa baroto, ramyog, ag sasakyang mas rako, o Biray.

Kinang Biray nak de-katig gihapon ay imaw ninra't panglaban sa makusog nak bayor it habagat ag amihan para magbayduhan (barter—NFF) sa iba't ibang isla it mga utanon, tangkon, isra, banig, baro ag iba pang-komersyal nak hiwaton.

Masisiling gihapon nak raha sa baroto, ramyog ag biray gi buskar ka pahilas, patikyar, pataktak it subok, konsepto it pangupong, sanrokan, binuligan, pag-ampo, ragipon, haklahan, sumsuman, ru-aw, pakibat—ag iba pang tradisyong indi-ey nato masambit.”

(I will add to this enumeration of Asi traditions the katipon and ayadon—still being practiced, but rarely, now in Sibale—NFF).

Ish Fabicon: “Kag mga prayleng Rekoletos ay ayam kina. Inra ging pabad-an kinang mga katutubong hiwas agor inot-inot ag mahumok ka inra pagtuy-og it Krisityanismo. Sa karurugayon, nagyuyutaw pa gihapon kinang mga tradisyon nak kina. Ka Biniray ay pangtubi/pangragat. Ka istorya ay nagbusri sa Cebu it kag napasimayatan it mga sundalo ni Legazpi katong muslag nak santos (icon) ni Santo Nino. Buko matilong pagbanrog ka nahinabo ruto sa Cebu. Kag nasaduran ni Legazpi nak kato yaking santos nak Santo Nino ay naging "Ginoong Uyan" (Rain God) it mga Cebuano, ging butang nida sa altar it paghigugma ag katong mga natipon nak mga estoryang pag-ampo ay napalapnag sa kaislahan it bug-os nak Bisaya.

Maaring kung buko uyanon (kuaresma) ag kada Mayo sa Cebu, nahalar sinra it mga palma nak buyak agor ka Santo Nino ay taw-an sinra it rugos nak uyan agor masasabligan ka inra mga katunlan ag paninanom.Ayam nato nak waya gi ruyog si Legazpi sa Cebu dahil nak gusto pa ninrang sohuton kag iba pang isla it Pilipinas.

Kag Santo Nino ay napagka-usahan nak dar-on ruto sa Maynila. Pitong beses nak ging sakay kag Santo Nino sa barko papagto, pero pitong beses ra gihapon nak nakabalik kag Santo Nino sa Cebu.

Rakong katingaya it mga Cebuano—aber pa kuno inapuros sa pitong kahon nak bay-utan ka karagko, imaw gihapon nak sa masunor nak adlaw, si Santo Nino ay nayutaw sa Cebu! Inggwa pa ngani it usang beses kuno nak kung hagto'y si Santo Nino sa simbahan it San Agustin sa Manila, inutoy it mga Prayle kag napaki ni Santo Nino agor indi makabaktas sa rayan—maparagat o mapaduta—pa Cebu!Sa karurugayon, kag metologo (myth) it Santo Nino it Cebu, ay nagbayahak ag nagyapita sa buha it mga Bisaya—mga estoryang ging hinghing ninra ag pinaruyot sa kapwa Bisaya—riin mang liwit-liwit; sa inra pagga-or, liyo-liyo, ag bugsay it baroto, ramyog, ag biray.

Kada ngani, sa islang Romblon, inggwa gihapon it Biniray, yabot yang ka estorya, ugaling pareho yang ka yaguntar it hinabo. Sa mga Romblomanon, kag Santo Nino kuno it kato ay apaliwason sa simbahan ag itap-ok sa ibang lugar. Pitong beses ka biyahe it galyon, pitong beses ka subasko, pitong beses rang inabalik si Santo Nino rutong ida nahihimtangan sa yumang simbahan it Romblon!

Sa pueblo it Banton, pitong beses nak dar-on si Senyor San Nicolas sa pueblo it Mainit, pitong beses ka subasko, pitong beses nak nakabalik si Senyor sa yumang simbahan it Poblacion!"
(To be continued.)