Paoay keeps All Saints’ Day tradition alive

PAOAY, Ilocos Norte — Unknown to many, this agricultural and fishing town made famous by the St. Agustine Church — a UNESCO world heritage site — also keeps a very rare All Saints’ Day tradition that could never be seen in any other town in the Philippines.

This tradition is called the tumba-tumba and reflects Paoayenos reverence for the dead, sentimentalism, Catholicism, their view of reality and sense of humor.

On Nov. 1, villagers here compete against each other in making tumba-tumba or catafalque built on indigenous materials like bamboo, coconut leaves and woven cloth to immitate a wake.

Each village’s catafalque is unique and designed to scare visitors, although it is only for show.

It can be as eerie as a makeshift "graveyard" constructed in front of the Paoay Central Elementary School, just a stone’s throw away from the St. Agustine Church or as elaborate as the catafalque of the Aglipayan Church last year, which also carried a political message — the death of democracy.

In the early ’70s and ’80s, villagers went to the extent of placing actual coffins in their catafalques with real people inside.

Each tumba-tumba is meant to scare though villagers and some tourists are often amused by the displays.

In between the long walks from one village to another, one can also see lighted candles under the trees, which is meant to heighten the "atmosphere." Paoayenos explain that the lighte candles help the trees to bear more fruits.

Each tumba-tumba is unique and this is how Paoayenos remember All Saints’ and All Souls’ Day.

No one could say when the tumba-tumba traiditon started but old folks have affirmed that this is indeed a very old tradition.

And the only recorded material at the library of the Paoay town hall about the tradition only says that this unique Paoayeno tradition is not practiced anywhere else.