Moriones Festival

Moriones festival is a hallmark tradition  
Around your six coastal towns  
Re-enactment of the legend of Longinus, the blind centurion  
In pantomime and colorful Roman costumes  
Nocturnal recitation of Christ’s passion in verses  
During the entire Lenten season  
Usually mark the week long celebration  
Queue of flagellants scourging themselves  
Under the scorching heat of the summer sun  
Echo in my dreams of you, my home--my beloved…  
 
I am proud of your majestic views and God-given beauty,  
where the warm breeze from the deep blue ocean  
kisses the lush idyllic hillsides and caresses our souls  
as we greet the coming of a new dawn  
with renewed hopes and enthusiasm.  
 
I am also proud of your beautiful sons and daughters  
who bravely fought their fears and anxieties  
working hard in war-torn and calamity-laden countries  
thinking of nothing, but their loved ones left behind.  
A few got lucky while others didn’t see the light of day,  
nor tasted the fruits of their toils--bitter or sweet…  
 
Is it really worth the sacrifice when families are separated,  
either by choice or unfortunate stroke of fate?  
Young kids are left by their mothers or fathers, or both…  
their total care and well-being, sometimes neglected  
could possibly lead to an early and catastrophic ending;  
the lucky ones never stop with their lavish spending  
as if money grows on trees and manna falls from heaven.  
Stop… look, and listen to your inner voice  
Do we really need to outdo each other?  
 
Vanity and ego slowly cripple the moral fibers  
of a once sweet and innocent society…  
Loneliness due to separation from loved ones  
sometimes could lead to broken families,  
and early demise of someone’s character;  
are these the price we need to pay  
in lieu of your progress and modern lifestyle,  
quo vadis, Marinduque?…my home, my beloved!  
 
Is it worth the prize when your lovely daughters  
are selling their souls to the devil to satisfy yours?  
Beautiful and modern homes completely furnished,  
now replaced their old but cozy nipa huts  
where their parents and siblings watch soap operas  
on their big screen-colored TV sets,  
and listen to the ear-piercing sound of HiFi stereos  
while dancing and singing to their favorite videoke tunes.  
 
Do we really need to leave your beautiful shores?  
Your open seas are teeming with fish of all species,  
and your dense forest is filled with fauna and timber  
as far as my eyes can see and my feet can explore…  
Over the green hills and on top of your fertile plains,  
and across the valleys where our old folks toiled  
Abundant harvest and sharing, are they gone?  
 
Marinduque--my beloved, my beautiful home  
I’m happy and proud of what you had become…  
Despite the moral decay and other social issues,  
and although still plague with occasional brown-outs  
as your development is a work-in-progress,  
and your total transformation still remains to be seen;  
you are vibrant and progressive, and still welcoming  
your warm receptions and beautiful smiles,  
always keep the weary and starving strangers  
filled with delight…my foreign friends,  
take a hike and go see for yourself.  
 
God bestowed you with scenic beauty,  
and natural resources to sustain your children  
Let no man put you asunder,  
and trample upon your tranquility;  
let no one destroy you again  
as in the case of Calancan Bay,  
for together with the fallen ones  
who fought and died in the “Battle of Pulang Lupa”  
we will rise as one in spirit, body and mind!  
the mighty and proud Marinduquenos…