History. Tribu Kahilwayan
is a fledgling tribe composed of students from Santa Barbara
National Comprehensive High School and Cadagmayan National High
School. The tribe itself springs from the groups that
competed in the Kahilwayan Festival of the Cry of Santa Barbara
celebration, the debut presentation of which was last November
17, 2001.
During the Dinagayang 2002
Festival, Tribu Kahilwayan participated for the first time in
the Kasadyahan competition and to the surprise of almost
everyone, it was declared the grand champion. It also earn three
special awards -- best in choreography, performance and
costumes.
The Cry of Santa Barbara,
The Cry of Kahilwayan
Synopsis of Performance.
After 300 hundred years of injustice, exploitation and slavery,
the Filipino was finally raving mad to be free in the land of
his birth. The Trece Martires of Cavite, the gruesome
execution by garrote of the Gomburza priests, Rizal’s martyrdom
at Bagumbayan finally led to the shout, Tama Na, Sobra Na.
The whole archipelago was shaking with the cry Vive
Independencia! Spain already lost Luzon and the seat of
its power was transferred from Manila to the Visayas.
One night in the month of October
1898, in a remote barrio of Jilicuon, the silence of three
centuries was finally broken by the defiant and defeaning cry of
Viva Independencia. That night Captain Martin Delgado,
with his pro-Spain voluntaries, declared themselves
revolucionarios by tearing to pieces their cedulas. The
raging fire of the revolution has engulfed the Visayas.
The revolucionarios occupied Santa Barbara and the neighboring
towns.
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Champion trophy
in the Kasadyahan
competition of the
Dinagyang 2002 |
The news that the Philippine flag
has finally taken shape and raised in Cavite stormed the islands
and Iloilo reeled in its wake. Martin Delgado, now the
Jefe General of the Ejercito Libertador, needed this
symbol of freedom and independence for the struggle in the
Visayas. He had to have a Philippine Flag, even if he had
to outsmart the guardia civil.
One ordinary day, so we are told,
an elderly couple was bringing farm products to the town in
their carrosa. The guardia civil at the checkpoint halted
them but was annoyed by the scandalous verbal assault on each
other while riding their carrosa. The guardia civil
thought it wise to watch for revolucionarios instead of
being bothered by uncivilized elderly indios. He let them
pass. Unknown to the guardia civil, the Philippine flag
was tucked in the
patadyong of the old woman.
In November 17, 1898, after the Te
Deum Mass at the Santa Barbara Church, the Philippine flag was
hoisted by General Martin Delgado on a bamboo pole at the town
plaza in the presence of the officials of the revolutionary
government, the revolucionarios, a big crowd, and the elderly
couple who outwitted the guardia civil. The flag
gloriously flew to
the tune of the Marcha Libertador composed by his brother
Posidio. When the flag reached the top of the pole, the town
shook with the shout, Viva Filipinas! Fuera España! Viva
Independencia! Nationalism, Liberty, Brotherhood, Equality,
Independence finally found their faces in the ecstatic crowd.
A fierce independent spirit… a
distinct cultural heritage of Santa Barbara and the Ilonggos,
for the Cry in Santa Barbara was the Cry of
Kahilwayan.
The awards that Tribu Kahilwayan
garnered during the Dinagyang 2002 include:
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Champion, Kasadyahan |
Best in Choreography |
Best in Performance |
Best in Costume |
We call on every Santa
Barbaranhon anywhere in the world to help Tribu Kahilwayan
win
the championship crown in the Aliwan Fiesta 2005
of the Department of Tourism
by sending your financial
contributions to the municipal government of Santa Barbara
to
help fund the rehearsals of the group and to purchase materials
for their
costumes.
Thank you very much! |