Every June, Filipinos in Leyte celebrate the feast of the Santo Niño, whose image, according to legend, was lost at sea in 1888 and then found again on June 30, 1889.
In 1986, local businessmen and government officials formed the Pintados Foundation, which set out to organize the Pintados-Kasadyaan Festival in honor of Santo Niño. As Alejandro Roces wrote, “The oldest Christian cult in the Philippines is the Santo Niño” (1980: p. 240), and the Visayans hold numerous festivals in honor of him, such as the Sinulog in Cebu and the Ati-atihan in Kalibo, Aklan.
Organizers promote the Pintados-Kasadyaan Festival as showcasing the rich cultural heritage, indigenous music, and dances of the people of Leyte and Samar, whose ancestors were first seen by the Spaniards in 1668. The Spaniards called the Visayans “Pintados” because they were “painted,” or tattooed. Tattoos were signs of male valor; they were applied on brave warriors and increased in number with additional feats.
William Henry Scott (1997, 20) describes the painful process of tattooing:
“Tattoo work was done by a skillful artist who was well paid for his services. He began by tracing the designs on the body with an ink made from pitch soot, then pricked them into the skin with a small tool set with a number of short needles like the teeth of a comb, and then rub soot into the fresh wounds. … The operation was not performed all in one sitting but in installments, but even so, often caused a high fever and occasionally infection and death.”
References:
Cabrera, C. K. 1977. “Tattoo Art.” In Filipino heritage: The making of a nation, vol. 1. Manila: Lahing Pilipino Publishing, Inc.
Roces, Alejandro. 1980. Fiesta. Manila: Vera-Reyes Publishing, Inc.
Scott, W. H. 1997. Barangay: Sixteenth-century Philippine culture and society. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press.
Balik-Leyte Pintados Festival Souvenir Program. 1988.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
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