Manto: A Bicol’s Musical Play
Manto: A Bicol's Musical Play
Manto is a Bicol Sarswela written and directed by 2011 Carlos Palanca Memorial and 2017 NCCA Writer’s Prize Awardee Bernardo Miguel “Buboy” O. Aguay Jr for the commemoration of INA’s 300th Year in the Bicol Region. This is one of the activities to celebrate the lengthy, strong, and sincere devotion to the our Lady of Penafrancia, not just as a patroness but as a Mother of Bicolandia who loves her own people last September 4, 2010. The celebration was organized by The Peñafrancia Tri-Centennial Inc led by Archbishop Leonardo Z. Legaspi, O.P. from the Archdiocese of Nueva Caceres .
The bikol term, “Manto” refers to Mantle. 2008 Philippine National Book, Premio Tomas Arejola, and 2009 Madrigal-Gonzales Best First Book Awardee Victor Dennis T. Nierva wrote, “In the annual processions of Our Lady of Peñafrancia, whom the region fondly calls Ina, nothings is more ardent than the devotees’ desire for Ina’s manto (mantle) to remain covering her until the end. Despite prayers, the voyadores, who were supposed to enthrall Ina as their Queen and Mother, would always strip her of her manto year after year. To resolve this matter, a recast of the image of Our Lady of Peñafrancia was made, now in fibre glass, including her manto. Then they will no longer triumph, the voyadores—all inebriated because they would drink before the procession to endure the acrid stink of the mixture of sweat and musk emanating from an ocean of male bodies. In this way, the Ina of the Bikol people will remain magayón—the beautiful” .The Bikol phrase “Istorya nin Devocion” can be translated to “Story of Devotion.”
The three- act musical play “Manto” presented in Bikol dialect the “history of the image of Penafrancia” and its early establishment in Ciudad de Nueva Caceres (now Naga City). The play presented two characters representing the contemporary and spanish times. The contemporary character of Miguel shared a story of faith about losing a wife and son Popoy during the accident occured on the fluvial procession. The tragic accident changed him from being a man of virtue to becoming a man who indulged greatly in alcoholism. He regained his faith upon the discovery of his son being alive and adopted by a woman.The indigenous character of Absalon from a mountain people called Remontado during the spanish times refused to listen to her mother Silay who continually rejected the devotion to the Our Lady of Peñafrancia until the time he was converted to the faith after being healed by the Manto, the Virgin’s cape.
The inspiring Bicol Sarswela was under the musical direction of Amelita P. Zaens. The first launched was brilliantly performed by the University of the Nueva Caceres Glee club and priests-actors: Fr. Mario Gaite, Fr. Francis Tordilla, and Fr. Jay Jacinto.The play was first staged at the Unibersidad de Sta Isabel last September 15,2010 but had its Manila premiere last August 27, 2010 held at the University of Sto Tomas(UST) College of Medicine Auditorium.
In Bicol, devotees of the our lady of Penafrancia believe that the Manto is a source of healing and redemption, similarly, to the belief on the cross of the people in Cutud, Pampanga. Most probably, this veneration on Virgin’s cape was deeply embedded in pre-colonial religious practices of the pre-Filipino natives. Tiatco wrote, “Annotators and chronicles of the Inquisiiton reported that the precolonial Filipinos had a deep reverence towards their sacred figures.” Despite Bicol devotee’s ambivalence towards the Catholic teaching, their “Panata” (religious bow) is incomplete without the Manto, the Virgin’s cape. The official catholic teaching in the Catechism for the Filipino Catholics (CFC) stated,
“The church is equally insistent on the proper use of such images, avoiding any and all appearances of making the images into idols or treating them as endowed with some magical powers (cf CCC 2132).”
References:
1. TomasinoWeb. 2010. “Bicolano Zarzuela ‘Manto’ Staged in UST.” TomasinoWeb. August 31, 2010. https://tomasinoweb.org/reports/news/bicolano-zarzuela-manto-staged-in-ust/.
2. Vicnierva. 2018. “Bansay: in Search of the Filipino ‘Virtue’.” Vic Nierva. December 7, 2018. https://vicnierva.wordpress.com/2018/09/27/bansay/.
3. Santos, Tomas U. 2011. “Mother of the Bicolanos Visits Birthplace.” The Varsitarian. February 19, 2011. https://varsitarian.net/news/20100917/mother_of_the_bicolanos_visits_birthplace.
4. Tiatco, Sir Anril Pineda. 2016. Performing Catholicism: Faith and Theater in a Philippine Province. Diliman, Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press.
5. Catechism of the Filipino Catholics
Photos Courtesy of Vic Nierva
(The author is dedicating this article to his UP, PNU, and Ateneo Professors: Carlos Palanca Awardee Dr Sir Anril Tiatco,Dr Lars Ubaldo, Mam Portia Soriano and Dr Danilo Gerona, Filipino Historian )
About the Author
Peter Dadis Breboneria II (Formerly Peter Reganit Breboneria II) is the founder of the International Center for Youth Development (ICYD) and the program author/ developer of the Philippines first internet-based Alternative Learning System and Utak Henyo Program of the Department of Education featured by GMA News & Public Affairs and ABS-CBN and MOA signed by Department of Education, Voice of the Youth Network, Junior Chamber International (JCI), and the Philippine Music and the Arts. You may visit his website at www.peterbreboneria.com
