ILOILO City – All is set for the Filipino-Chinese community’s New Year celebration in this city.
Poised as “the grandest ever”, the celebration anchors on the theme “Harmony in Blossom: 20 Years of Cultivating Filipino-Chinese Unity”.
Peter Chan, chairperson of the Chinese New Year 2024 taskforce, said the celebration would mark the long-running friendship between the Chinese and Filipino communities in Iloilo City.
During the celebration’s press launch recently, Chan acknowledged the success born out of the relationship which helped create a better living environment for the public.
“Everyone [should] go deeper in the essence of the celebration. The mutual respect and understanding, the active participation of all the agencies and institutions involved. At the end of the show, the thousands of participants would have realized the essence of unity, the true meaning of the Chinese New Year,” he emphasized.
The Chinese New Year festivity in this city, according to Chan, is considered the biggest celebration being held outside Metro Manila.
The metropolis is home to some 13,000 strong Chinese Filipinos, as of 2021 data.
There are a lot of active Chinese Filipino organizations in Iloilo. Among these are the Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce of Iloilo, Inc., the Federation of Filipino Chinese Chamber of Commerce of Panay, Inc., and the Philippine-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Panay Chapter.
Ryan Allan Tan, the president of the Iloilo Festival Foundation Inc. (IFFI), said the Chinese New Year in Iloilo City speaks of the “time to honor the tradition that bridges both Filipino and Chinese cultures that brought communities together in the spirit of unity and prosperity.”
“We gather, not only to celebrate the year of the dragon but also to recognize the significance of this cultural celebration to us, Ilonggos. As we embark on this joyous occasion, we reflect on the rich history of customs and beliefs that have shaped Ilonggo and Tsinoy identities,” Tan added.
Meanwhile, one of the highlights of this year’s celebration is the showing of the Quanzhou string puppetry on Feb. 10 to 11. They will perform five stories in eight shows at the West Visayas State University Cultural Center.
“These are not small puppets but are life-size puppets. It’s very exciting because it is the first time for Iloilo to host, and this is for free, sponsored by our counterpart in China through our sister city,” Tan said in a media interview, noting that the group already visited over 50 countries and performed during the opening of the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics.
Other events prepared during the entire celebration of the Chinese New Year include the photo exhibit on Feb. 6 at SM City Iloilo, the grand parade from Iloilo Provincial Capitol to Iloilo Chinatown on Feb. 9, and the Chinese New Year Mall Show by Iloilo Scholastic Academy, Hua Siong College of Iloilo, and Sun Yat Sen High School Iloilo at SM City Iloilo.
There will also be a grand cultural show, food festival, and fireworks display on Feb. 9 at the Filipino-Chinese Friendship Arc at the Plazoleta Gay on Iznart Street.
On Feb. 11, there will be a Chinse New Year Thanksgiving Mass at Sta. Maria Chinese-Filipino Parish at 8 a.m. and Chinese New Year closing ceremony at Park Square, Festive Walk Parade, in front of ILOMOCA at 5 a.m.
Origins
When the Spaniards arrived in the Philippines, there was already a significant population of migrants from China due to the relationship between the barangays of the island of Luzon and the Ming dynasty.
In Manila, Chinese immigrants were herded to stay in the Chinese trading center called “Parian.”
After the Sangley Revolt of 1603 in Manila when the Chinese rebelled against Spanish authorities – but were crushed – Spanish authorities became wary.
For fear of a similar Chinese uprising elsewhere, the Spanish authorities implementing the royal decree of Governor General Juan de Vargas dated July 17, 1679, rounded up the Chinese in other parts of the country.
In Iloilo, the Chinese were hamletted in its own version of the Parian (now Avanceña Street in Molo district).
Included in these hamletted Chinese were the progenitors of the Lacson, Sayson, Ditching, Layson, Ganzon, Sanson, and other families who fled Southern China during the reign of the despotic Qing dynasty (1644–1912) in the 18th century.
From Maynilad where they initially settled, they decided to sail farther south and landed at the port of Batiano River to settle permanently in Parian which was also near La Villa Rica de Arevalo.
Upon the encouragement of Spanish authorities, they married local “indio” women and became Catholics. Those who converted got baptized and their names Hispanized. There were incentives for conversion. Chinese Catholic mestizos were free to travel and live where they pleased. Starting as traders, they branched out into land leasing, moneylending, and later, landholding. Many prospered.
As Chinese residency and trade restrictions were loosened, these immigrants began to compete with and displace the mestizo elite of Molo who previously controlled imports and exports from Panay Island. (With a report from the Philippine Information Agency-Iloilo)/PN
