Cebuano treasures: Estelita Diola, heritage icon

CEBU, Philippines - She is one of the most beautiful true-blue Cebuanos one could ever meet. Inside and out.

The community has accorded Estelita "Nang Titang" Diola, 88, the recognition of being an intangible heritage icon in Cebu.

At seven years old, she started learning the Sinug prayer-dance from her father Turang (Buenaventura), with the beat from Macario "Iklot" Bontilao. By the way, in all her sheepishness and discomfort with the media, she was able to underscore that she wants the term "sinug" over "sinulog" fortified in our articles about her.

She became a reliable resource on the basics of the Sinug steps when Cebuano socio-civic leader David Odilao asked Cebu Physical Education Association led by Dolly Suzara of USC and Myhc Gonzales of Southwestern University to conceptualize the dance when the Sinulog festival was started in 1980.

Nang Titang suffered from a bathroom fall that fractured her hip in 2010. But she was still able to perform years after, albeit in a very frail manner. Her last appearance for her dance troupe's performance in January of 2013 saw a delicate Nang Titang seated on her wheelchair, but tapping to the beat of her goatskin drum now passed on to grandchild, 41-year-old Rommel.

Then news broke out that the "keeper of the Sinug beat" succumbed to pneumonia and the complications of diabetes.

Though Nang Titang never married, she had a grand niece named Carolina, the mother of Rommel, who took care of her till she drew her last breath. Carol, 52, shared that she was only 10 when Nang Titang passed on to her the Sinug traditional dance-prayer. And as it is a house tradition of Casa Gorordo, it is expected that the Monday after the Sinulog festivity, Nang Titang will live on through the Mabolo dance troupe she helped form in her neighborhood. In fact, the act manifested its relevance in the name of that neighborhood: Sitio Sinulog.

The dance steps Nang Titang had taught distinguish the Mabolo dance troupe's Sinug from that two-step-forward, one-step-backward routine made popular by street dancers in the grand parade. This is because she taught the kinampilan steps. The Sinug is a war dance; therefore, done with very swift movements. Once you see it for yourself at Casa Gorordo, you will understand that this is more of a mime of war between Christians and the Muslims, rather than the gentle feminine swaying of the candle vendors at the Basilica.

In my annual coverage at the Casa, the information was invigorated by local historians who shared that Sinug was associated with tribal wars and that such were mimicked by the dance. The Spaniards simply substituted themselves for one side of the war and introduced the Sto. Niño to reconcile the warring groups.

In that last encounter I had with Nang Titang, I recorded the Alabasyon. This is a prayer in the form of a poem that's sung before the Holy Child on an altar, who is not to be held by the hands and shaken like a rattle or being raised like a placard, so as to make proper our veneration. To her, Sinug is less of a dance, and more of a prayer:

The Alabasyon

Matam-is nga Bathala//Bathala nga pinalangga//maanindot, ambungan nga bata//makabibihag sa hunahuna//bililhon nga gabii sa mutya//among dungog ug himaya//kalipay ning among yuta, kalipay nga dili mapala.

Ang imong mahal nga larawan//among ginahalaran//maoy nahimong tuburan sa among mga kapalaran//kadaut ug katalagman iiway mo ning kapupud-an//ikaw among gilauman sa among mga gikinahanglan//busa walay sukod ang paglaum//ning imong mga ulipon sa gihapon.

(Sweet God//beloved God//beautiful, handsome child//enchanting to our thoughts//treasured eve of gem//it is our honor and bliss//joy of our land//happiness everlasting.

Your beloved portrait//we adore//source of our fate//harm and tragedy do spare the archipelago//we turn to You for our needs//so our hope is without measure//among these Your ever-constant servants.) (FREEMAN)