DESPITE serious constraints and challenges, preparations for the Kalibo Ati-Atihan 2019 are proceeding satisfactorily well.
Sto. Niño Ati-Atihan Foundation, Inc. (KASAFI) chairman Albert Menez said notwithstanding the hotel and housing accommodation difficulties for guests and transportation constraints generated by the recent closure and rehabilitation of Boracay, the novel and unique Ati-Atihan program features they have initiated are now nearly complete.
Transportation is particularly difficult. From some 40 daily airplane flights to Kalibo, PAL now has only one while Air Asia and Cebu Pacific have two each, for a total of five. Boracay has been reopened but the number of flights has yet to be restored.
Acclaimed as the “Mother of all Festivals in the Philippines,” the Kalibo Ati-Atihan, held third week of January every year, draws thousands of foreign and local tourists, including balikbayans, from all over the world.
Historically, the folkloric Kalibo Ati-Atihan traces its origin from the legendary story of the Barter of Panay where some 10 Bornean datus or chieftains and their families and tribes who escaped from their cruel and despotic ruler during the 13th century found refuge. This was long before the Spaniards arrived.
The Bornean datus and their families found Panay Island a viable place where to settle down. Panay was then inhabited by well-organized tribes called “Atis” or Aetas. To avoid conflict and promote amity with the natives, the Borneans bartered their goods with the Atis which led to peaceful and amicable co-existence among them. The Borneans even painted their bodies with soot to look like the Atis.
The Spaniards came in the 15th century and Christianized the natives. The presence of the Sto. Niño, the child Jesus Christ, amidst bodily painted people wearing colorful traditional costumes thus presents a confluence and integration of the ethnic and religious cultures in the Ati-Atihan festival. The festival’s contemporary version, moreover, features novel, unique, and colorful dimensions which somehow depict the now world-famous Rio de Janeiro and New Orleans Festivals.
KASAFI, in cooperation with the Kalibo municipal government, under Mayor William Lachica, and Congressman Lito Marquez and Aklan Gov. Florencio Miraflores deserve kudos for their untiring efforts to ensure the success of this year’s Kalibo Ati-Atihan.
Sadly, however, some politicians and commercial establishments have been noted over time for unduly exploiting the religious and cultural observance of our Ati-Atihan celebrations for their selfish interests.
