Ang kaBOAyan sa Nabua (The life in Nabua)
Jash Kimberly R. Famentera
Institute of Arts and Science, Far Eastern University, Manila
Art Appreciation
March 23, 2022
Nabua
“Banwāan ka Nabua” or “Bayan ng Nabua” is located in Camarines Sur, Bicol Region.
It is known as the mother town of Iriga City, Buhi, Bato, Balatan, Bula and Baao, also
located in the same province (Municipality of Nabua, n.d.). In 1578, a big cross was
placed on a newly built church put up by a group of Franciscan missionaries led by Fray
Pablo de Jesus and Fray Bartolome. Because of the missionaries, the villages of Lupa,
Antacodos, Sabang, and Binoyoan were brought together and merged into one place.
And on July 25, 1569, Nabua was finally established as a municipality (Municipality of
Nabua, n.d.).
“Boa” – origin of the word “Nabua”
According to Municipality of Nabua (n.d.), The Spanish colonization widely influenced
the Bicol region including the different names of its provinces, cities, and barrios. Nabua
is one of these Spanish-influenced municipality and is believed to be tagged by an
Augustinian Friar named Fray Alonzo Gimenez in 1571. It was believed that Gimenez
discovered a rancherias (a small Indian settlement) that was named “lupa” and was
under Datu Panga’s name back then. Inside the rancherias, Gimenez found people
cutting coconuts inside and was then offered to eat the coconuts with the natives which
they called “boa”.
Right away, he labeled the place with a new name, now popularly known as “Nabua”.
But there were some people who believed otherwise and are claiming that in another
version, the name originated from the story that because the original location of the
town is in the shape of a young coconut embryo (surrounded by five rancherias
formerly known as Lupa, Antacodos, Sabang, Caobnan, and Binoyoan), it was named
“Nabua”. This was claimed by a historian named Fray Felix Huerta. There were also
people that argued that the place was located in the center/middle of the five rancherias
and resembled a coconut or “boa”, which explained its present name. Regardless of the
different beliefs of Nabua’s name origin, the town was called “Nabobowa” for a certain
period of time but was shortly named to what it is now popularly known as.
Language: Rinconanda Bikol
According to Cano-Beringuela (2015), because of the migrations and isolations of
certain areas, diverse dialects were formed in the Bicol Region. In result, the language
used in Rinconanda towns which includes Nabua is called Riconanda Bikol. The dialects
in Bicol region have their own differences, nonetheless, Bicolanos are still able to
communicate with one another using the “Bicol Proper” or standard bicol that is based
on the dialect of Naga City and the lower Bicol valley (Adiova, 2014). In addition, some
of these dialects are from the Spanish influence but has faded over time and no longer
follow their linguistics frequently.
Religion
Due to the long history of Spanish colonialization, Christianity remained to be the most
influential legacy left by the colonizers. According to Adiova (2014), the Bicol region had
the highest number of Roman Catholics compared to other regions wherein every
municipality has its own patron saint. In fact, during the Spanish colonial period,
communities can only become a municipality once they have an independent parish
dedicated to a Catholic saint (Adiova, 2014). Adiova’s study also showed that religion
and culture would unite in terms of cultural practices and religious beliefs such as
celebrating the feast days of Catholic saints or the Virgin Mary.
Customs, practices, traditions, etc.
Although Nabueñ os still exercise tagalog practices, the following are what remains
special to the heart of Nabueñ os. Also, due to the majority of Nabua’s population being
Catholic, their practices are mostly relevant to their religious beliefs.
Dotoc
Introduced by the Spanish colonizers, the dotoc is a religious devotion to the Holy Cross
in Bicol and are practiced by Catholic Nabueñ os or Bicolanos. According to Llana
(2019), pilgrimage is performed and women cantors journey to the Holy land to visit
the holy cross. It is a belief and practice that represents their faith and the cutting off of
the colonial experience in the imagination of the present as the actors represent
freedom and hope in their performance (Llana, 2019).
Ton-ton and Balo-balo
Ton-ton is an Eastern Sunday ritual that is practiced in different parts of the Philippines.
According to Docot (1970), in Nabua, Christ’s resurrection is first celebrated before the
ton-ton ritual to emphasize and represent the unification of Christ and his grieving
mother after his resurrection. It is called “salubong” in tagalog.
Balo-balo, on the other hand, is a rehearsal for the ton-ton ritual. It is also known as the
“rehearsal of the descent”. It is held on the evening of a Black Saturday in Nabua and is
practiced with much enthusiasm even if it is just a rehearsal. In this practice, Easter
parents who entered into a tipan or covenant with the Inang Katipanan (Our Lady of the
Covenant) should fulfill the testament in acts of devotion to the Inang Katipanan. And as
an act of fulfillment, the easter angel participates in the practice. The balo-balo aims to
portray a practice of faith in commitment to maintaining honor, familial solidarity, and
other elements related to the ritual (Docot, 2016).
Alinsangan Bowa-Bowaan Festival
Local cultural celebrations are common in the Philippines, and Nabua is no exception of
the municipalities that celebrate it with joy. As part of a region’s identity and
uniqueness, festivals play a big role in highlighting the important events or history of
the communities through a vivid performance.
The Bowa-bowaan festival is celebrated every May 1 to May 3. According to Adiova
(2014), the traditional reenactment of the “Boa Feast” is the highlight of the festival
where chains of coconut embryos or boa are offered like how it was done in the
thirteenth century, this act is believed to make their lives more prosperous. In Adiova’s
experience during the festival, she observed that the instruments used were made of
hollow bamboo trunks and were struck with wooden sticks that had handles that are
either vertically or horizontally made fit to the performers’ chest so they could perform
comfortably. As part of an important event in Nabua’s history, dancers would also
portray the introduction of Christianity to the audiences.
Tourist attractions
Church of Nabua / Holy cross parish church
The Church of Nabua, also known as Holy Cross Parish church and Vicariate of the Holy
Cross, is one of the oldest churches in Nabua and is said to be about 400 years old. It is
still active today and are visited by Nabueñ os and tourists. A blogger named Water
Snake who visited the Church of Nabua shared his insights about the place including the
explanation of some of the artworks related to the church and its history. According to
Snake (2019), the church has gone through different transformations throughout the
years due to the natural disasters in the region such as typhoons and earthquakes,
causing the church to change its architecture with stronger materials that made it stand
stronger than it ever was.
Inside the church, a patriarchal cross is placed in the center of the retable which
symbolizes the Byzantine empire that had connections with Spain during the middle-
ages (Snake, 2019).
The blogger also mentioned how the depictions of the painted glass windows represent
its local origin. Photos are also captured by the blogger.
The painted glass windows, according to Snake, portrayed the introduction of
Christianity to the natives. The painted glasses showed that the events happened in
the region because of the Mayon Volcano seen in one of the artworks. The artworks
also showed Spanish galleons, soldiers, and natives on the shore being led by a priest
while a cross is being planted and the natives fleeing away from the eruption of Mayon
Volcano while carrying a statue of the Virgin Mary and the body of Jesus with bamboo
poles (Snake, 2019).
Macagang Hotel & Resort
According to Macagang Business Center Incorporated (n.d.), the resort was named after
the plenteous local birds that used to roam around the place in the past but are now
almost extinct. The birds were called “Cagang” while "Ma" means many in the local
dialect. Thus, to revive the historical name of the area, the owner of resort named their
enterprise "Macagang Business Center".
Just a few kilometers away from our provincial home and the Church of Nabua,
Macagang hotel can be seen and visited. This is where my family and I stayed on our
most recent visit in Nabua. I was attracted to the place because of the architecture and
the calming nature including the birds that would fly across the place from time to time.
It looks simple on the outside but its interior is nice. It has a 5 ft. pool, two kiddie pools,
and waterslides which is very exciting especially for kids. Their staff is accommodating
and the food is tasty although it took time to prepare. Overall, it is a must try.
Kambingan sa Dalan-dalan
Kambingan sa Dalan-dalan is located just along the corners of Nabua’s highway 1. And
because they are just on the side, they named their place “Kambingan sa Dalan-dalan”
which meant “kambingan sa daan-daan”. They are famous for their good Bicolano food
and halo-halo desserts. My family and I consistently visit here because of the good food
and fast serving time. It also claims to have the best halo-halo in town.
Ang aking kaBOAyan sa Nabua:
Significance of the study
Nabua is my mother’s province and we would have a reunion there every year to spend
our vacation with our family and relatives. Though it’s not where I grew up in, it has a
special place in my heart because of the remarkable people, places, and food that I’ve
encountered. Doing this local research gave me the chance to promote my province,
help others know more about Nabua, and convince them to visit it. In addition, helped
me know more about my mother’s hometown and give importance to the history of a
place I consider important. Learning about the culture of a local place paves way for us
to appreciate art and be able to explain why things we think have insignificant meaning
are given importance by other people. Hence, exploring one’s culture gives us the
chance to see other people’s perspectives and even relate ourselves with the places or
artworks once we know its history or when we gain enough information about them.
References
Adiova, M. (2014). Music, Dance, and Negotiations of Identity in the Religious Festivals of
Bicol, Philippines. About: Nabua, camarines sur.
http://dbpedia.cs.ui.ac.id/resource/Nabua,_Camarines_Sur
Cano-Beringuela, A. (2015, June 2). The bicolanos. National Commission for Culture and
the Arts. https://ncca.gov.ph/about-ncca-3/subcommissions/subcommission-on-
cultural-communities-and-traditional-arts-sccta/central-cultural-communities/
the-bicolanos/
Docot, D. (2016, November 30). 1: Ton-ton and Balo-Balo in Nabua. anthropologifs.
https://anthropologifs.wordpress.com/2016/11/30/tonton/
Docot, M. L. B. (1970, January 1). Anthropology of the hometown : The workings of
migration and intimacy in the town of dollars, Philippines: Semantic scholar.
https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Anthropology-of-the-hometown-%3A-
the-workings-of-and-Docot/0ed278787376b8c34647e21078aad0f060bd54bf
History. MUNICIPALITY OF NABUA OFFICIAL WEBSITE. (n.d.).
https://nabua.gov.ph/history/
Home: Macagang Business Center Incorporated. (n.d.).
http://www.macagangbusinesscenter.com/
Llana, J. (2019, September). The Bicol Dotoc: Performance, Postcoloniality, and
Pilgrimage.
https://pure.aber.ac.uk/portal/files/10396441/Bibliography.JazThesis.pdf
Nabua. placeandsee.com. (n.d.). https://placeandsee.com/wiki/nabua
Snake, W. (2019, November 10). Take me to church "nabua church" - beautiful Sunday.
TravelFeed.
https://travelfeed.io/@watersnake101/takemetochurchnabuachurch-
beautifulsunday-kiuivpeces
