Uncovering Tubungan through Tubong-Tubong Festival

Text and photos by: Bombette G. Marin

TUBUNGAN, Iloilo is celebrating the 18th Tubong-Tubong Festival on April 26 to May 1, 2019.

This years festival celebration is themed TubongTubungan, Ipadayon ang Kauswagan with the main objective of promoting municipal socio-cultural integration through arts and culture.

Tubong-Tubong provides the town a platform to showcase its local culture. The festival is held on an annual basis and is expected to bring its municipal barangays together.

Derived from the Hiligaynon word tubong or to contribute or chip-in, Tubong-Tubong is based on the local tradition of Filipinos called Bayanihan.

Tubungan became an independent town on May 1, 1938 via Executive Order No. 143 issued by President Manuel L. Quezon after residents from neighboring towns of Guimbal, Leon, Igbaras and Tigbauan settled peacefully in the area. The word “tubong” was in reference to these communities that settled permanently.

This years celebration will have special events daily to showcase the rich cultural heritage of the Tubunganons.

April 26 (Friday) Pintawo at 1 p.m., Civic Parade at 4:30 p.m., Opening Program at 5 p.m. alongside the Opening of Agri-Trade Fair Food Kiosk and, LGU and GBI-TBBG (Guinobatan Chapter) presents Banda sa Plaza featuring Binhi Band at 7 p.m.; April 27 (Saturday) LIGA Day Celebration at 8 a.m., LGU and LIGA Night: Gabi ng Parangal Awarding of Top Performing Barangays and Search for Mutya ng Liga 2019 at 7 p.m.;

April 28 (Sunday) Diskubre Igtuble, Mountain Bike Trek Race and Fun Ride at 6 a.m., Tubungan Amateur Boxing Match at 1 p.m., Search for Miss Tubong-Tubong Festival 2019 at 6 p.m.; April 29 (Monday) ZumkaBataan at 6 a.m., Amazing Race Level Up at 9 a.m., Mess and Messterious at 6 p.m.; April 30 (Tuesday) 5th Tubong-Tubong Football Festival at 7 a.m., TNHS Pasidungog Night at 6 p.m.;

May 1 (Wednesday) Diana at 4:30 a.m., Thanksgiving Mass at 7 a.m., Tubong Dance-Drama Special Presentation and Inter-Agency Stylized Dance Presentation at 8 a.m., Street Dancing Competition at 6 p.m. and Awards Night and Fireworks Display at 9 p.m.

The centerpiece of the festival is the tribal dance presentation that normally depicts the spirit of cooperation infused with local stories that feature pagan rituals performed by local Babaylans.

A remote agricultural town, Tubungan has mountainous locations that offer visitors a taste of pre-tourist-boom life. Situated in the southwestern portion of the province, it offers captivating landscapes dominated by luxuriant mountains where locals and visitors can spend the day wandering on elevated trails.

Situated 41.1 kilometers or an hours drive southwest of Iloilo City, Tubungan is politically subdivided into 48 barangays over a land area of 3, 460 hectares.

The town and is bounded in the north by the municipality of Leon; in the south by the municipality of Guimbal; in the east by the municipality of Tigbauan, and; in the west by the municipality of Igbaras.

Visitors can take a jeepney at the Don Benito Q. Acap Sr. Southern Iloilo Perimeter Boundary in Barangay Mohon, Oton or when in the city, at the market situated at the back of Robinsons Place Iloilo.

For more information, please contact Municipal Tourism Officer Marlyn Tagudar at 09152893395 or at 3960754.