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PASCUNG PANARA by Lino L. Dizon It is a historical reality that no material culture will ever hold out against the whims of time; it will always be subject to, as a government property custodian would presently classify, "wear and tear" and thus most likely be an item for condemnation, depending on a conniving contractor's profitable judgment. This year, in Concepcion, Tarlac, a Kapampangan town on the border of Tarlac and the matriz (mother-province) of Pampanga, there is a relevant application of this "wear and tear" phenomenon right at its very heart, the patio or the municipal plaza.
Cosepsyun, or as its old-timers would love to pronounce their town dedicated to the beloved Pintacasi, Apung Lapusima Concepcion (Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception), is experiencing a lobotomy at its core, or, more appropriately, a heart transplant. Due to the sordid condition of the age-worn concrete balustrade that guarded the patio's perimeter since the 1930s, the concerned crop of officials from the municipio decided to have them 'condemned' and instead are replacing them with modern replicas. And, truly, in the Bayung Banwang daratang, or the New Year (2003), Concepcion, like its matrons frequenting its beauty shops and facial centers, will have a "new look." Verily, as they say, damulag la ring tutwa (Only the carabaos grow old.). It seems, however, that this "wear and tear" phenomenon does not apply only to material culture; it can even seep through the non-material or the acaugalian da na ring mangatua (old practices). Undergoing these lobotomies will also be celebrations, like the Christmas season in Concepcion. A Kapampangan visitor during the Christmas of 1928, at such a time when the officials from the municipio could have approved the putting up of classy balustrade for the patio, made this observation:
He was actually comparing the Maitines (or lubenas) procession in Concepcion, a truly colorful Kapampangan Yuletide tradition, with some prominent towns of Pampanga, its erstwhile siblings before the creation of Tarlac Province in 1873. The Maitines is celebrated on the Christmas Eve, with a solemn procession of young men and women from different barrios, each holding a farol (lantern) to escort their Pintacasi to the town's main church. In the early times, prior to the advent of neon technology, the faroles were simply of cut-work paper (papel de japon), usually immaculate white, patterned after stars and other geometric figures. These were held up in the air by small bamboo poles. Fireworks fizzled around the poblacion as the Maitines progressed, with bands playing religious carols, like the Villancico ("Atana pastores qñg Belen, atana dumalo qñg virgen..."). At every window where the procession passed, there were lighted candles with people kneeling in reverence for their Patron. This was the Maitines observance in some towns of Pampanga in that Christmas of 1928:
Kapampangan tableaux of the Nativity. Sta. Rita, Pampanga, 1924 (A.Castro Collection)
Another point of comparison from that observer in 1928 was the preponderance of panara party among the Kapampangan towns, including Concepcion. The half-moon shaped panara is a delicacy that used to augur a distinct Kapampangan Christmas season. It could have been adopted from the Spanish panada, though R. Galang, a Kapampangan ethnographer during the American period, affiliated it with the American 'turnover", or a small pie or tart made by covering half of a circular crust with fruit, jelly, or the like, and taking the other half over the top. The pabalat (cover) of a panara is made of ground rice (lacatan) in a liquid state, mixed with egg and anis wine, and spread over a cloth on a biche (winnower) containing ashes to absorb the water. It is then divided into bits, mashed and flattened into thin pieces with a wooden roller. A filling of opu (white squash), shrimps and crabs [though the panara-makers of Concepcion usually made use of peppered papaya and chicken strips] - to uplift the Kapampangan native palate, is placed in this pabalat. It is then fried with pork lard (tabang babi), at least during the pre-cholesterol 'peacetime'. No simbang gañingaldo (novena dawn masses) landscape would be complete in a Kapampangan town without the panara frying at the pisamban's facade, amidst the more silent putong lasun, the suman, and the tamales. A priest's final blessing would be the signal for the faithful to throng the panara seller and go home bearing pieces of it in fat-saturated pouches. It is not uncommon for the cura to reprimand his devotees against the simbang panara syndrome, or for his parishioners' real intention in attending the novena masses for Christmas.
To cap the Christmas season and to begin a New Year, the married people of Concepcion put up the Masibucan Club in the 1930s to enhance camaraderie among them. Probably adopted from sibukan, or 'time-tested', the pioneering organizers could have been inspired by the strong and beautiful balusters that promenaded their elegant patio. Usually held at that time on the last day of the year in the municipio grounds fronting the patio, the Masibucan was also the occasion for the elected municipal officials to take their oath, or perhaps to renew it, at 1 a.m., the following day; intermittent with the singing of the Auld Lang Syne, or the dancing of the cotilion, and other heightened merry-making. Yet, as stated, nothing is supposed to be permanent; even the once-imposing balustrade of the patio which have lingered in the minds of the taga-Concepcion for many decades must give way to the impact of modernization and proper zoning. And as a relentless icon for honorable public service? By present standards, it is already too corny for our municipal officials to take or renew their oath at 1 a.m. of the New Year, as their predecessors did. Forget the hopeful adage during the 1920s-30s: "Bayung Banua, Bayung Bie (New Year, New Life)." And the panara? With doctor's prescription on hypertension, or due to rising cost of ingredients, or due to the preference for branded and cosmopolitan savor and quality, the panara-makers are now dwindling in number, even in Concepcion. With a panara-less Christmas soon in the offing, one should be practical and not be anymore sentimental about it, unlike the early people of Concepcion, our very roots. The author could be reached at lino_diz@hotmail.com We would like to remind those who will be using the information above, especially for publication, to properly cite the author and the Kapampangan Homepage. |
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