Note: this series is based on the findings of a study made possible by a grant from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) conducted by Dr. Ramon Felipe A. Sarmiento (this writer) and Dr. Jose Z. Tria, both professors at the Catanduanes State University.
Christmas in Catanduanes is a one-of-a-kind experience because of two traditional practices, namely, the kagharong and the misa de gallo that features the singing of the gozos, which makes it particularly unique. But while the misa de gallo is a purely religious event that takes place inside the church, the kagharong has a strong extra-religious character. It is performed not within the confines of the church but in secular spaces all over the community. It is also mostly the initiative of lay people, although with the supervision of church authorities. The kagharong is more a theatrical performance than a ritual that involves much avenue for creative expression. While it is a form of popular religiosity, it is also, and quite importantly, a matter of people’s art.
We write of the kagharong in this occasional section of Sisay kita? because it is a significant aspect of Catandunganon cultural heritage. What is truly remarkable about the kagharong is that as a very old tradition, instead of fading away into obsolescence, it had become more robust and dynamic through time. It is a success story of a tradition that had not become “fossilized” or obliterated by modernity. It is a living heritage that had continued to bear relevance on the faith-life of the people.
The kagharong is a dramatic re-enactment of Mary and Joseph’s search for a room in Bethlehem where Mary could deliver her baby. Their search, however, was in vain; they were routinely refused by the rich and mighty house-owners, all oblivious to their urgent need. So Jesus was eventually born in an animal shed and laid on a manger. It is staged through the streets of the town where a select number of homes serve as casas (houses or inns) sought by the holy couple for hospitality. It uses stylized conventions of staging with dialogues rendered in music. There are two sets of players: Mary and Joseph as protagonists on the one hand, and caseros (home-owners or inn-keepers) as antagonists on the other hand. It is typically performed on Christmas Eve.
History
Like most other traditional aspects of Filipino Catholicism, the kagharong was brought over by the Spaniards to the islands from Mexico where a similar practice existed called Las Posadas. The kagharong is the Bikol version of the same observance that can be found in other areas in the Philippines. In the Tagalog region, it is variously known as panunuluyan, pananapatan or pananawagan, while in Pampanga it is called layunan. In Catanduanes, it can be assumed that the kagharong originated from Bikol mainland during the Spanish regime, although we do not know exactly when. The current versions being used now may have evolved through time by the turn-over of various generations of practitioners. In Virac, for example, there is no way to attribute the music to a composer the current version in use. The farthest that can be established is that way back in the pre-war years (1930s onwards), the kagharong was under the management of a certain Gregorio “Tang Goryong Todo” Gianan. A local musician, he may have done some rearranging or revision of the music. He was followed by Maestro Teodulo Publico who asserted authorship of the current notations being used, especially the accompaniments.
I remember my father, born in 1925, telling me that the kagharong being observed in Virac poblacion since he can recall, although in 1944, due to the heightening engagement between the Japanese by the guerrillas, the staging it was moved to Palnab in the outskirts of town. In the early 1970s, however, in the wake of the implementation of the mandates of Vatican II, the kagharong and similar practices (the Osana and Aleluya) were stopped for the reason that they are already incompatible with a modernizing Church. The folk did not appreciate the change and made their resentment felt. After two or three years, the practices were back.
It used to be that the kagharong was observed only in parish centers, meaning the poblacion of the towns. However, big barangays started to hold their own stagings. In Buyo, Virac, for example, people remember that there was kagharong in their barangay since the early 1950s. At present, the kagharong is witnessed in most of the rural areas all over Catanduanes. Apparently, there had been a great proliferation of the kagharong from the centers to the peripheries. There happened a big push for its popularization. Two factors are mainly responsible for this. One is the increase in the number of parishes and mission churches. When the Diocese of Virac separated from the mother Diocese of Legaspi in 1974, there were only some 14 parishes in Catanduanes. After 50 years, this number has almost quadrupled to 48, thanks to the efforts of the bishops, particularly Msgr. Manolo delos Santos during whose watch many new pastoral units were established. When a new parish or mission church is created, among the initiatives of the pastor in charge is to establish its own kagharong observance. The other factor that contributed to the spread of the kagharong is the invention of the so-called “baray-baray” modality.
“Special” vs. the “ordinary” kagharong
For the NCCA-funded study, the researchers made a survey of the kagharong practice in entire province, covering a total of 46 parishes and mission churches in eleven towns. Of these pastoral units, 44 observe the kagharong. To qualify the real extent of the proliferation of kagharong, it was found out that 246 (78.1%) of the 315 barangays of Catanduanes are able to witness kagharong in their respective communities during Christmas. It does not, however, mean that each of these barangays do their own stagings. The putting together of kagharong is the initiative of the parish or mission church pastoral councils. What happens is that a kagharong performance team is dispatched to barangays and sitios in order to do what Fr. Joey Tendenilla has termed “baray-baray” or house-to-house kagharong.
As such, there are two types of staging. First is the “special” kagharong which takes place in the parish/mission church centro, performed only on the night of Christmas Eve and involved much lavish preparations and elaborate degree of polish and spectacle, Being so, only a choice of households are engaged as casas. In contrast, there is the “baray-baray” modality which involves very modest level of polish and elaboration in production values. It is performed for several days before December 24 starting as early as the first week of the month. Typically, a core team of performers, composed of the roles of Joseph and Mary and a handful of casa singers, is dispatched to the barangays and sitios and would cover as many households as they can. In some cases, it can reach up to several hundreds.
The split between an “elitist” and “pang-masa” kagharong seemed to have started in the 1970s. Before that, it was only performed in some 16 areas (parish centers and big barangays) on the night of December 24. However, it happened that certain parishes brought the kagharong to the more remote communities mainly for the purpose of fund-raising. Among the pioneers of this practice was the parish of Palta, Virac. To be sure, it had long been standard practice that sponsoring homes gave token amounts of money as donations, but mainly to cover expenses of the staging. This practice offered possibilities for raising revenues as additional resources for the upkeep of parishes. In no time, the “baray-baray” practice aimed to cover as many house-sponsors as possible became widespread.
It is not fair to regard the “baray-baray” practice only as money making scheme. According to a priest interviewed, it is about having more people gain access to the premiums of this religious-cultural practice, both its religious and cultural values. More importantly, they get to have that sense of inclusion within the church. They feel that they belonged and are given ample attention. Indeed, many folk we have encountered in the study expressed appreciation that the church takes effort to reach them. Previously, they needed to travel to the poblacion to witness the kagharong. With the “baray-baray” the ordinary folk are able to participate, making the kagharong a truly people’s tradition. Previously, only the well-off in the community can sponsor as casa as it entailed considerable expense. In the “baray-baray” the humblest of homes can take part as host with only a small amount of donation and without having to do elaborate preparations.
Kagharong versions
The kagharong as a theatre performance pack is defined by its lyrics and music. In the course of the province-wide survey, it was revealed that there are a number of versions in currency that each spawned a respective variant. The overall picture of Catandunganon kagharong practice could be established by a mapping of the versions and variants being used in various geographic locations. However, to do that is a tall order that was not permitted by the study’s scope of time and resources. What was determined in the survey was whether a parish or mission church is using the Virac version or not. This reference to the Virac version as comparative basis is not a way of saying that it is the “standard.” It is merely for convenience. Being Viracnons, it is this version that the researchers were familiar with at the start of the conduct of the study.
It was found out that only one in three (36.4 %) of the pastoral units covered use the Viracnon kagharong version. The rest or two thirds (63. 6 %) use another version. The Viracnon is used mainly in adjacent towns of Virac, San Andres and Bato, although sparingly in Baras and Viga. There is no way of saying that a town uniformly uses a particular version. In Virac, for example, the parishes of Buyo and Palta perform the kagharong in a manner different from the Virac mainstream.
The geographic distribution of versions and variants apparently is due to two factors. First is the creativity of originators, mainly composers who set the lyrics to music. At this point, there is no saying that the versions used in Catanduanes are purely the creations of locals; it may have been brought over from Bikol mainland. But only a comparative study with versions from across the Maqueda Channel can establish that. But surely, local Catandunganon composers/arrangers have contributed their due to the process of creation or recreation. Second factor is the process of transfer of a version from origin to another location, a process of influence and adaptation, what anthropologists call “cultural diffusion.” Crucial to this is the role of priests. When they transfer from one assignment to another, they would bring their preferred kagharong version to their new station of work. This is exemplified by the case of Palta in Virac. It uses a version brought over by Fr. Bea from Viga when he was assigned in the parish of Palta. Palta therefore is like an island of a different kagharong sound surrounded by places where the tunes of Viracnon version prevail.
But the priest does not hold sway all the time in this aspect. Buyo had been using its own version for decades. However, a Viracnon pastor was assigned there when it was converted into a mission church. Among the changes he tried to effect was to have them use the Virac kagharong version. A team from the St. Cecilia’s choir was sent in to train them to the Viracnon music. The Buyo folk conceded for a couple of years but eventually they reverted back to their own way. This shows that tradition dies hard by the resolve of the people.
While kagharong varies across the provincial cultural landscape in terms of the music, what unifies the practice throughout the island is the use of an identical script. Rendered in Bikol Naga, the practitioners shared the same kagharong script and made very little alterations on the text, perhaps on the assumption of the inviolability of the written word. Seemed too that music is an aspect that is quite given to much improvisations. While they based the performance from a written copy of the lyrics, the music is learned by ear or “oido” as there are no inscribed notations with the exception of the Virac version.
Having determined that the essential unity of kagharong practice in Catanduanes lies in the uniformity of the text, it is opportune occasion to debunk here a popular myth: purportedly, kagharong in the northern towns is called “kagbaray” and that Mary and Joseph start their pleading by singing “Oh, kagbaray. . ..!” Going around the province during the survey, I was a bit disappointed to discover that this piece of notion is not so. Being Viracnon, I have long subscribed to this myth, which in fact is a Viracnon slur against the taga-norte. The north-south dynamics is as old as the planet – it manifests in politics, in the distribution of ayuda, in kagharong. On hindsight now, I am relieved to have been freed of a myth. In the next part, we will delve into the details of the kagharong cultural practice and get at the truths as we get rid of myths. It is proven once again that the truth is more awesome than myths.