Minalabac, Camarines Sur
Minalabac, officially the Municipality of Minalabac, is a 3rd class municipality in
the province of Camarines Sur, Philippines. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of
52,390 people.
It is known for the so-called "Tumatarok ni San Felipe-Santiago" dance festival where young boys
aged 10 to 12 years old performed the dance ritual.
Barangays
Minalabac is politically subdivided into 25 barangays.
Antipolo
Bagolatao
Bagongbong
Baliuag Nuevo
Baliuag Viejo…
Catanusan
Del Carmen-Del Rosario (Poblacion)
Del Socorro
Hamoraon
Hobo
Irayang Solong
Magadap
Malitbog
Manapao
Mataoroc
Sagrada (Sagrada Familia)
Salingogon
San Antonio
San Felipe-Santiago (Poblacion)
San Francisco (Poblacion)
San Jose
San Juan-San Lorenzo (Poblacion)
Taban
Tariric
Timbang
Tumatarok Festival
Considered as one of the most colorful and interesting fiestas in the Bikol region, the Tumatarok
Festival is celebrated every 11 May which is done in honor of their two patron saints, Sts. Philip and
James. Main highlights of the festive occasion include the evening tide fluvial procession where
colorful floating pagodas crowd along the banks of the Bikol River ; the religious dancing of little
boys who are called here as the Tumatarok ni San Felipe-San Tiago or the Rice Planters of Sts.
Philip and James. These little boys, ages 8 to 11, sing the traditional Bikol hymn to the two saints.
Likewise, after the celebration of the mass the next morning, the ten tumatarok once again
performed another ritual, this time a sacred dance, in the sanctuary of the Church. It was said that
their dance was a prayer to God, thanking Him for blessing upon the coming rice planting season
which then and even now is the main source of income to many Minalabacueños.
The dance component of Bicol religious ritual was retained in colonial times. On the feast of San
Felipe and Santiago in May, in Minalabac, Camarines Sur, men carry the saint's images and
estandartes of bamboo towers, while the children in costumes that change annually, dance the
tuatarok (literally, "rice planters"), clicking their castanets and singing verses of praise to the twin
patron saints and imploring their help for the officials and members of the community. Among the
secular dances, the engano, a graceful sway, and the waltz step are of Spanish origin. Boys and
girls dance Albay's inkoy-inkoy to three-part music, sagurang being its oldest Bicol version. The jota
Bicolana is lively as the Spanish jotas
The town is not just famous for the dance festival but is likewise considered as the refuge of many
distinguished political figures with their families during the outbreak of the World War II.val
Considered as one of the most colorful and interesting fiestas in the Bikol region, the Tumatarok
Festival is celebrated every 11 May which is done in honor of their two patron saints, Sts. Philip and
James. Main highlights of the festive occasion include the evening tide fluvial procession where
colorful floating pagodas crowd along the banks of the Bikol River ; the religious dancing of little
boys who are called here as the Tumatarok ni San Felipe-San Tiago or the Rice Planters of Sts.
Philip and James. These little boys, ages 8 to 11, sing the traditional Bikol hymn to the two saints.
Likewise, after the celebration of the mass the next morning, the ten tumatarok once again
performed another ritual, this time a sacred dance, in the sanctuary of the Church. It was said that
their dance was a prayer to God, thanking Him for blessing upon the coming rice planting season
which then and even now is the main source of income to many Minalabacueños.
The dance component of Bicol religious ritual was retained in colonial times. On the feast of San
Felipe and Santiago in May, in Minalabac, Camarines Sur, men carry the saint's images and
estandartes of bamboo towers, while the children in costumes that change annually, dance the
tuatarok (literally, "rice planters"), clicking their castanets and singing verses of praise to the twin
patron saints and imploring their help for the officials and members of the community. Among the
secular dances, the engano, a graceful sway, and the waltz step are of Spanish origin. Boys and
girls dance Albay's inkoy-inkoy to three-part music, sagurang being its oldest Bicol version. The jota
Bicolana is lively as the Spanish jotas
The town is not just famous for the dance festival but is likewise considered as the refuge of many
distinguished political figures with their families during the outbreak of the World War II.
Tourism
Two main summer beach destinations include the pebble beach in Bagolatao and sand beach in Hamoraon. The
growing number of resorts offers amenities such as cottages, videoke, rest house, etc.
Etymology
The word bagolatao is a combination of two Bicol terms bagol (coconut shell) and latao, also written as lataw (float).
It refers to the huge coral reef along the coast that looks like a floating coconut shell during high tide.
BICOL SHELL MUSEUM WHITE PEBBLES BEACH RESORT TUMATAROK FESTIVAL
Earth is a beautiful living planet in the Universe and the common habitat of more than 7 billion human
population and millions of species of biodiversity. Our Earth provides us with food, shelter and most
of our requirements.Despite unavoidable free services provided by the earth to humans, we are not
able to pay off her kindness to us. Rather we humans are being cruel to our Earth with our selfish
activities. Mahatma Gandhi said, “Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s needs, but not every
man’s greed.”Every day we produce tons of degradable and non-degradable waste, and throw it
anywhere recklessly. Smoke and harmful gases from our homes, vehicles and industries are
suffocating her. We are disposing of dirty sewage, drainage and even chemicals recklessly, although
we know that more than 7 billion humans, along with all plants and animals in this world, rely on water
for their lives. If we aren’t concentrating on saving those water resources, then in near future water
may be as expensive as PETROL or one-day people may die due to thirst. Despite huge noise by our
jumbo population itself, we use loudspeakers for our entertainment & industries, airplanes or other
noisy vehicles for our luxury. We destroy forests for agriculture & settlement. We build huge buildings,
roads & factories beyond her carrying capacity. The establishment of nuclear reactors vastly affects
the environment & human lives.Harmful gases emitted by ACs, refrigerators, industries & vehicles are
depleting ozone layer & increasing our exposure to very harmful UV rays of sun leading us towards
various skin diseases, eye cataract & even cancer. Wastes like plastics & other non-degradable
wastes like insecticides, pesticides, chemical fertilizers etc. highly degrade soil quality & decrease
agricultural products & kills soil microorganisms & decomposers. Water pollution increases the risk
of water-borne diseases like cholera, dysentery etc. and lead & arsenic highly degrade our mental
ability & causes the extinction of many aquatic animals. Air pollution causes airborne diseases like
asthma in humans & animals and disturbs whole metabolism process in plants. Noise pollution
causes insomnia & heart diseases in humans. Deforestation is leading to natural calamities like
floods, soil erosion etc, temperature increase and changed rainfall distribution, drought, loss of
valuable biodiversity, decreased oxygen density etc. The burning issues in the world at present are
“Climate Change & Greenhouse Effect”.Solutions to environmental problems are not impossible for
superior creatures like humans, if they are committed. As a youth & global citizen, I too have the
responsibilities to my mother earth. My first role in nature is to reduce my own carbon footprint via
eco-friendly activities. Then, I can form a GREEN ORGANIZATION along with some other energetic
youths to raise awareness in my peer circle, neighbourhood & the community about environment
sanitation by changing degradable wastes into compost manure & by 3R principle (reduce, reuse &
recycle) of non-degradable wastes. I can create workshops with local people that air pollution can be
controlled by replacing household energy sources like coal, firewood etc. by biogas, electricity or solar
energy & we can negotiate with factory owners & vehicle owners to use dust & smoke purification
systems in industries & vehicles & we can encourage them to use solar-energy based industries &
vehicles.We can organize environment sanitation programs & afforestation programs in barren lands.
We youths can appeal the government to bring eco-friendly development policies & proper planning of
cities. We can organize orientation programs about climate change, its causes, and effects &
mitigation measures in schools & colleges to induce other youths towards conservation of nature.
Youths can initiate the concept of “Payment of Ecosystem services (PES)” in society & emphasize
homestay tourism in the villages. As a student of the forestry sector, I have the responsibility to aware
local people about the importance of forests & effects of deforestation along with the new concept of
carbon trade via REDD++ programs.Thus, for the sustainability of our planet, I promise to fulfil my
responsibilities towards Mother Nature as a global citizen so as to protect my living planet from
deterioration & to handover clean & green planet to our future generations. Maybe our single efforts
may seem small but if thousands of youths can unite together towards nature conservation then one
day our efforts will be a drastic step to protect our motherland Earth from destruction.
