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| A dancing tribe performs in front of the Capiz Provincial Capitol during a previous Sinadya sa Halaran celebration in 2012. JOHN S. HEREDIA/PN |
ROXAS City — This city and Capiz province will celebrate the 18th Sinadya sa Halaran this coming Dec. 5 to 8.
A feast in honor of Mother Mary’s Immaculate Conception, Sinadya sa Halaran upholds the values of giving and sharing. Festivities center on the Christian spirit of joy, love and thanksgiving.
This year’s edition will also be a celebration of the Capisnons’ resilience, since the entire province has yet to fully recover from the impact of super typhoon “Yolanda,” the strongest typhoon to ever make landfall.
Sinadya sa Halaran, formerly two separate celebrations, has gone a long way in showing the rich and colorful Capisnon cultural and religious traditions.
Halaran started on June 22 to 24, 1975, during the time of then Gov. Cornelio Villareal Jr., who conceptualized it with Melquiades Pugne, Ofelia Rendon, Angel Rendon, and Sammy Villagracia.
Josefa Argos, then principal of Capiz National High School, suggested calling the festivity “halaran” to connote giving and sharing.
Highlighting the celebration was a five-hour parade — considered the longest parade ever held in Capiz — from the public plaza here to Baybay beach.
It showcased the different Ati and Malay tribes in colorful native costumes and choreographed dancing that jibed with the beat of drums and native bamboos called tultugan.
Capisnons eagerly awaited the reenactment of the coming of the datus in their balangays and the Barter of Panay Island.
In 1980, Halaran was moved to May 23 to 25. The following year, it was again moved to July 3 to 5, with additional activities, including “Maragtas sang Kapis” that featured ethnic, Filipiniana, Malayan, Spanish, American, and Japanese costumes.
The Halaran on Oct. 5, 1989 turned out to be the biggest and most colorful in its history. For the first time, it gained national and international exposure through the Department of Tourism and the Philippine Convention and Visitors Corp.
On Dec. 6, 1988 emerged a huge and colorful fiesta in this capital city: Sinadya, a celebration of joy and thanksgiving and the birthday of the Our Lady of Immaculate Conception.
Halaran was held in sync with Sinadya on Dec. 1 to 8, 1992, leading to a whole new celebration: Sinadya sa Halaran, or “joy in sharing and thanksgiving.” Then Rep. Gerardo Roxas Jr. and mother Judy initiated the festival’s birth.
Sinadya sa Halaran is being celebrated every year since 1992, with a four-year interval from 1993 to 1997. Last year’s festival was postponed, too, in the aftermath of “Yolanda.” (With reports from Ramon Atinon, Capiz Provincial Press Bureau/PN)
