BALOGO ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

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Literature of   LAPA Y B ANT

ANTII G UE  
Lapay Bantigue Dance Festival. It is celebrated annually during the City Anniversary on 30th day
of September. This event highlights the traditional folk dance created by "Lola Felisa" many years ago,
when she imitated the graceful movement of the seagull (locally known as Lapay). The dance has
evolved and is now recognized by the Cultural
the  Cultural Center of the Philippines as one of the official folk dances
of the country. This dance was also recognized during the Spanish Colonization

LAPAY-BANTIGUE DANCE

The hovering of birds more commonly known as seagulls or the LAPAY, is one of the most typical
and beautiful scenes in Barangay Bantigue, Masbate. The boats laden with abundant fish caught by
small-scale fisher folks eagerly awaited by fish buyers and the LAPAYS makes an engaging portrait of the
people"s everyday simple way of life.

This marvelous scenery has inspired old folks to come up with a local folk dance very much
rightfully originated from the graceful movements of the Lapay and the harmonious relationship it has
created to the lives of the fisher folks. Surely, the seashores of Barangay Bantigue can never be more
cherished without the Lapay.

MASBATE CITY - Living beside the Masbate Bay all his life, 45-year-old Amerigo Barcelonia has
been dancing the –
the – lapay,
 lapay, since learning it from his mother, who like him and the rest of the villagers of
Bantigue in Masbate City have been captivated by the graceful movements of the lapay bird.

The dance imitates the behavior of the lapay, a heron that feeds on Bantigue’s
Bantigue’ s waterfront. For
many years, flocks of herons flying above the village have been a common sight, and women waiting for
their fishing husbands have had the chance to observe the birds and imitate them.

Barcelonia’s
Barcelonia’ s mother, Felisa Tupas, who is now in her 70s, was among the first women in the
village who turned the movements of the birds into the steps of the lapay. She was eventually honored
and recognized as a living treasure for the performing art.

BANTIGUE 

 Another dance came to be known as –

as  – bantigue
 bantigue - after the village from where it was first
performed.

Roberto Guhilde, 56, former chair of Ba

ntigue, said the performance was in honor of the patroness, Saint Philomena, a martyr who, according to
devotees, had a gift of healing.

There was this story of a mother who promised to dance for Saint Philomena if her son, who was
afflicted by a mysterious disease, would be healed,- Guhilde said. The son recovered, especially after an
image of the saint touched his body, he added.

Word of the supposed miracle spread, and since then, people hoping to be cured of their
sicknesses have flocked to the village at the mouth of the bay to dance for the patroness.  

DANCE STEPS 

The bantigue is danced to a tune similar to that of - Magtanim ay Di Biro, a Tagalog folk song
translated as Planting Rice in English a plea for good ha
harvest
rvest and healing from Saint Philomena and
and an

expression of gratitude to the patroness for bountiful fishing.

Dancers sway their arms, bend to the ground, and look upwa rd to the sky, wearing the baro’t
baro’t saya
and camisa de chino.
 

 
National Artist Ramon A. Obusan noticed the uniqueness and ingenuity of the lapay and the
bantigue while researching native dances in the country, according to Ezperanza Danao-Carullo,
designated city tourism officer.

She said it was Obusan who combined the movements of the two dances into the lapay-bantigue.

That blend was formally introduced as one of the original folk dances in the country during the
National Folk Dance Workshop at the Cultural Center of the Philippines and Folk Arts Theater in 1997. It
was launched during the first Lapay-Bantigue Festival on the second anniversary of the cityhood of
Masbate in September 2000.

STATUS SYMBOL 

To be one of the performers of the lapay-bantigue in regional and national competitions has become
a status symbol for the people of Masbate City,- he said, adding that parents were very eager to let their
children join auditions.

Masbate City is losing many of its cultural landmarks, good thing we have the lapay-bantigue. That
is why the city government has been promoting the dance,- he added.

Danao-Carullo said the dancers had either won top prizes or received citations in their first years of
 joining street dancing competitions, including
incl uding those of the Ga
Gayon
yon Bikol and the Sinulog Festival in Cebu
City.

Lapay birds still fly over and feed in the waterfront of Bantigue. And the villagers still perform the
dance as a form of offering to Saint Philomena.

MASBATE FEASTS AND FESTIVALSRODEO FILIPINO (MASBATE; MARCH 18)

Cattle raising is the trademark of the province as well as the major source of livelihood. The
Rodeo highlights the Masbate Livestock Week and features various sports activities such as grand rodeo
parade, agro-livestock fair, individual and group competitions in bull riding, steer wristling, carabao race,
and other traditional Filipino games.

CORN FESTIVAL 

 A harvest festival among Moncadistas in San Ramon,

R amon, Uson. Famous for the people dancing on
glowing embers. The celebration is a ritual for thanksgiving after the plentiful corn harvest.

BANTIGUE FESTIVAL 

 A festival among the Bantigue folk,

f olk, right across the Masbate town proper.
pr oper. The barangay is
famous for its deeply preserved traditional folk dance called the “Batigue Dance.” Batigue is famous for its
boatmakers.

Pr epared
epared by:

AINEE JANE D. VALLESPIN

T I / Coach

Performers/Dancers:

CHRISELDA A. CATUBAY UNO PAULO DELA RITA

JULIE ANN SILVANO ROMMEL P. CARVAJAL

DDAISY JANE VALLESPIN RICO P. CARVAJAL