A frequent
visitor of Binondo exclaimed that he had never seen Ongpin Street, the main
artery of Manila Chinatown from the Plaza Sta. Cruz entry point to Plaza
Lorenzo Ruiz in front of the historic Binondo Church , heavily clogged with
Pinoy, Chinoy and Chinese celebrators the whole day of January 31, first day of
the Year of the Wood Horse.
One could not
have cantered astride a horse through that thick crowd. At best, one could have held the equine
tightly by the reins while walking in cadence with the flow of human traffic.
The horse-drawn wagons or kalesas of
Intramuros had all been commissioned for the celebration, but they were all
parked around Plaza Lorenzo Ruiz, and the only time they traversed part of
Ongpin was during the parade.
It was a special
non-working holiday, the first time the Philippine government declared a joint
celebration of the Spring Festival or Chinese New Year to manifest solidarity
with “our Chinese-Filipino brethren who have been part of our lives in many
respects as a country and as a people,” as Proclamation No, 655 of President
Benigno Aquino put it. It began a long
weekend for the large holiday crowd that invaded Chinatown for entertainment in
a different cultural environment.
The merry-makers
were almost all in “selfie” mode as they took pictures of themselves with
ceremonial lions of various colors--yellow, red, green, orange, violet, or with
other festival markers along the way. There
were also scenes to watch or shoot: lions
making the rounds of stores; and dragons slithering around breathing fire,
represented by a prancing colorful ball in front of its head. The longest dragon was 300 meters long, all
in red, the color of prosperity. The joint
lion and dragon dances, accompanied by the loud rhythmic beating of drums and
clashing of cymbals, were capped by the popping of a long string of firecrackers,
all these sounds to drop evil spirits away.
The lions and
dragons are believed to invoke blessings for the house and store owners. But before they can dance in public, they
must first go through an eye-dotting ceremony called Kai Guang. By chance, I
witnessed this ritual during the opening program at Lucky Chinatown Mall the
day before the New Year. The eyes of the
lion and dragon were symbolically opened to the light with a painted dot.
Souvenir hunters
and feng shui believers flocked to stores and sidewalk stalls selling good-luck
charms to be worn (bracelets), stuck on doors or placed on tables (chimes,
sheaves of rice, pineapples ringed by citrus fruits, and, of course, horse
figurines).
There were long
queues too at famous Eng Bee Tin bakery for the tikoy,
the round glutinous rice cake now in a variety of flavors, a must to be
served during the new year feasts or given away as gifts to friends. People also lined up for the Shanghai fried
siopao at another favorite Ongpin store even if one senior Chinese vendor said,
if there’s anything that must be on the new year’s dining table, it’s the
prosperity cake. Mooncakes, I learned,
are not for new year but for another festival in August.
This year’s
celebration was billed as the First
Dragon and Lion Festival, highlighted by an afternoon parade led by City
Mayor Joseph “Erap” Estrada and his vice-mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno”
Domagoso. 2013 Miss International Bea
Rose Santiago joined them in the lead float in tossing candies to the
spectators along the parade route.
This first
festival consolidated all the separate celebrations and parades organized by various
groups in the past years. This is part of the city government project to
rehabilitate Binondo, which dates back to 1594, making it the oldest Chinatown
in the world outside of China. The plan
calls for its general facelift as a business district, highlighting its
historical significance and its Chinese character as a tourist destination.
Historical
landmarks are found around the Binondo Church, where Supremo Andres Bonifacio
married his Lakambini Gregoria de Jesus.
Plaza Binondo was renamed Plaza Lorenzo Ruiz, and his statue was built
here, to honor the martyr saint who was born in this district. A few meters away is the monument to Tomas
Pinpin, the “prince of Filipino printers,” who printed the first Tagalog
dictionary in 1613. Between the Ruiz and
Pinpin monuments is the memorial to Chinese-Filipino soldiers who served and
died during the second world war in defense of the country against the Japanese. At the corner of Quintin Paredes and Ongpin
streets near the church bell tower of the church is the monument to nationalist and
patriot Roman Ongpin who supplied Filipino revolutionaries with arms and other
needs, and was imprisoned by the Americans.
It was in his honor that Sacristia St. was renamed after him in
1915. Ruiz, Pinpin and Ongpin were of
Chinese vintage.
This leads us to
remember the time in our history when the Chinese were not allowed to
celebrate their new year even if, through the years, there came about leagues of
Chinese mestizos in the archipelago who elected their own gobernadorcillos separate from those of the Filipinos.
In his testimony before the Philippine Commission in July
1899, the merchant Carlos Palanca (Chan
Quiensien, Cheuy Long) narrated that during the Spanish times there were about
10 to 12 thousand Chinese who came here each year; and around 7 to 8 thousand
would go home but would generally return to work here. “They come back again to Manila in the
Chinese eighth moon of the third after spending the feast of the seventh moon
of the Chinese new year,” he explained.
Thus, in the
early years of the American regime, the immigration division of the Philippines
customs service would be deluged with applications for return certificates from
the Chinese workers who intend to come back.
Times have indeed changed. More than a century after
Palanca's testimony, the Filipino is an overseas worker in mainland China, among
other destinations. During these past 11 years, the mayors of our town are
pure-blooded Chinese born in the Philippines. President Aquino's genealogy on his father's side can be traced to an Eng Son (Henson today), and his mother Cory's maiden surname certainly is Chinese. Many descendants of the imported Chinese laborers
have truly settled as Filipinos. Some have become financial and business
tycoons. We ride their planes, shop at their malls, keep a savings account in their
banks, eat at a Chinese restaurant, and our writers in English and Pilipino
dream of receiving an award given out annually in memory of Carlos Palanca.
Kung hei fat choy! May the Year of the Wood Horse bring prosperity for all!
Kung hei fat choy! May the Year of the Wood Horse bring prosperity for all!
