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Welcome to the heart of the Philippines(Marinduque)

Marinduque is an island province of the Philippines located in the MIMAROPA region in Luzon. Its capital is Boac. Marinduque lies between Tayabas Bay to the north and Sibuyan Sea to the south. It is located south and west of Quezon, east of Mindoro, and north of Romblon.

Marinduque is a heart-shaped island situated about eleven miles (18 km) from the main island of Luzon. It is 370 square miles (960 km2) making it the thirteenth largest island in the Philippine archipelago.[1]

Marinduqueños are of Tagalog origin and speak Tagalog. However, because of the island's proximity to the Visayas region, the Marinduqueño variant of Tagalog has many words that are Visayan origin and are not comprehensible to other Tagalog speakers. Traces of Bicolano can also be found in this variant. Filipino and English are also well understood.

Marinduqueños are very hospitable in nature and are very welcoming. One such custom reflecting this is putong, which is a custom of welcoming and honoring friends and visitors. The honoree (or honorees) are seated and crowned with flowers while local women dance and sing for them. Other well-wishers throw coins and flower petals for long life.

The Moriones festival also plays a prominent role in Marinduque's culture. Marinduque is famous for this annual Moriones Festival. During the month of April, parades and celebrations can be seen on the streets. In Gasan, Boac, and Mogpog, a parade of people dressed as Moriones can be seen on the main road connecting the towns of the island. Boac and Sta. Cruz, the biggest town in the province, shows a reenactment in the evening of the actual event when Longinus, a blind soldier, punctures Jesus with his spear and blood droplets from the wound restores Longinus' sight.

Videos
Marinduque Part 1

Marinduque Part 2

The Moriones Festival

One of the most colorful festivals celebrated in the island of Marinduque is the Moriones Festival. Morion means "mask" or "visor," a part of the medieval Roman armor which covers the face. Moriones, on the other hand, refers to the masked and costumed penitents who march around the town for seven days searching for Longinus. This week-long celebration starts on Holy Monday and culminates on Easter Sunday when the story of Longinus is reenacted in pantomime. This is a folk-religious festival that re-enacts the story of Longinus, a Roman centurion who was blind in one eye.



Legend has it that Longinus pierced the side of the crucified Christ. The blood that spurted forth touched his blind eye and fully restored his sight. This miracle converted Longinus to Christianity and earned the ire of his fellow centurions. The re-enactment reaches its climax when Longinus is caught and beheaded.

The festival is characterized by colorful Roman costumes, painted masks and helmets, and brightly-colored tunics. The towns of Boac, Gasan, Santa Cruz, Buenavista and Mogpog in the island of Marinduque become one gigantic stage.

The observances form part of the Lenten celebrations of Marinduque. The various towns also hold the unique tradition of the pabasa or the recitation of Christ's passion in verse. The Via Crucis is also reenacted and flagellants, known as antipos, inflict suffering upon themselves as a form of atonement. After three o'clock on Good Friday afternoon, the Santo Sepulcro is observed, whereby old women exchange verses based on the Bible as they stand in wake of the dead Christ.

Bathala Cave

A complex network of 7 caves but only four of these caves have so far been explored. Simbahan is the biggest, Kay Coke cave is occasionally guarded by a python, third cave has an underground river and in the fourth cave are human bones believed to be the remains of WW-II soldiers.



The Caves of Bathala are eight different caves, named Church Cave, Secret Cave, Python Cave, Cemetrey Cave, Lihim Cave, Underground Cave, River Cave and Kay Mendez Cave. They are located in a 19 hectares big area, at about 700m asl. The small karst contains even more caves, but they are not explored or named.

The biggest cave is called Kuweba ng Simbahan (Cave of the Church), as it was used for worship. It was believed to be the home of Amang Bathala, the Supreme God of the Tagalogs, the indegneous inhabitants of the Philippines. The cave is big enough for 100 people.

It seems the cave has always attracted extremists, terrorists and religious sects. The Pulajan Movement worshipped their Supreme God here to regain the potency of their amulets. They believed that their amulets could protect them from the bullets of the American colonizers and their Filipinos allies. The fanatical group was founded by Faustino Ablen, an illiterate peasant. He teclared himself Pope.

The next were the Samahang Tatlong Persona Solo Dios, who stayed at the cave for a long time during the early 1900s. This sect was formed in Mount Banahaw in Quezon by Agapito Illustrisimo. The beleive that Banahaw and Bathala Cave are spiritually connected. They still have a center at the cave.

The next cave is 100m away and called Cemetrey Cave, as it was used as a burial site. Excavations revealed earthen jars, china jars, coffin fragments and human relics, including 13 skulls. The excavation was carried out by the French archaeologist Alfred Marche.

The Python Cave is guarded by numerous living pythons. The strange thing is, that the snakes are normally dangerous and aggressive, but here at the cave they are not harmful. They are said to have never harmed visitors. Visitors even take pictures as close as 35cm. The locals explain this with the fact that the snakes are the pets of Bathala.