SAN FERNANDO CITY, La Union – Dressed in various native attires and carrying improvised traditional musical instruments, residents from most of the upland towns of La Union belonging to different tribes, staged their own street dancing on Friday afternoon as part of the province’s 158th foundation anniversary.
Young and adults alike, some were barefooted, others were in sleepers and shoes joined the festival. Participants danced through the main thoroughfare of this city with a stretch of more than a kilometer going to the Ortega Cultural and Sports Center in Barangay Catbangen where they showcased their talents in native dancing.
They danced to the tune of the sounds of bamboo flutes, ganza (steel drums), and bangs of improvised instruments.
“It’s exciting, it’s my first time to see this kind of parade,” a foreigner said who was taking pictures of the event.
Not to be outdone, an elderly man from the Bago Tribe in Bagulin town caught the crowds’ attention while dancing wearing G-string (bahag), not bare-footed, but clad in cowboy boots.
Thousands watched the event which is intended to honor indigenous peoples living in La Union. The affair was spearheaded by the provincial government headed by Gov. Manuel Ortega.
Activities for the province’s foundation anniversary will end today, with the coronation of Miss La Union at the plaza here and the expected guest of honor and speaker is Senator Francis Escudero, an adopted son of La Union.
La Union was created as a province in March 2, 1850 during the Spanish era.
It’s the unification or union of three contiguous geographical territories of the provinces of Benguet, Pangasinan and Ilocos Sur, according to the book, “La Union: The Making of a Province” – authored by Iglesia Ni Cristo Minister, Bro. Adriel Obar Meimban.
Meimban cited in the book that in its early years, La Union became the common ground and melting pot of three ethnic groups in northern Luzon, or Ilocandia and Cordillera regions, the Ilokanos, Pangasinenses and Igorrots from1850 onwards.
La Union’s founder is Don Toribio Ruiz dela Escalera. – Jun Elias