LISTENING to the chanting in Capampangan during Maundy Thursday and Good Friday was a special privilege for us. It meant that the tradition passed on through generations is very much alive.
At the Aguman Ding Building located at the GSIS Village in Davao City, we met the families of the founders of the organization who have passed on the Lenten tradition to the present generation. The bible verses are sung in the Capampangan dialect, relating to the passion of Jesus Christ.
Edna Villegas Cheng, who made sure that we had the first-hand experience of witnessing and listening to this religious tradition, which seems to be fading away, invited us to partake of the simple lunch and meet the officers and members of the organization.
Edna belongs to the Villegas clan, who developed the GAP Farming Resort in Maa, Davao City, established in 1973. We also had the opportunity of meeting a member of the Labao Family from Calinan, who used to grow Pomelo. She is Maria Confina Labao, who took up studies in New Jersey, USA, and Queensland, Australia. The president, Jess Garcia, was present during the two days that the Pabasa was held.
We learned from the yearbook that “it was in the early 1950’s that a group of Kapampangans settled in Calinan, Davao City, and formed a small group to help one another and to preserve the values and traditions of their native land.”
Pampanga is a province located in the central plain of Luzon with two cities and twenty towns. Like other places in the country, the name Pampanga was given by the Spaniards who colonized the Philippines. It is the home of former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Senator Lito Lapid.
