THE "TURUMBA" OF PAKIL
by JUAN R. RARELA
*


The "Turumba" fiesta in the historic town of Pakil, in legendary Laguna, is a series of fiestas in April and May of each year depending on the dates fixed by the local parish priest, based on the movable dates of the Lenten Season.

The dance of "Turumba" during the procession of the Blessed Virgin is held seven times a year, in commemoration of the Seven Dolours of the Blessed Mother beginning on the Friday before Palm Sunday and ending on Pentecost Sunday.

But that is going too far ahead of the story. We are supposed to know how the "Turumba" is done or danced, but I think we should also know how it came about and why in Pakil of all towns. That is what makes the story of the "Turumba" more colorful if not interesting. This I shall endeavor to state here briefly and concisely for the delectation of my many friends and inquiring acquaintances. I owe it to myself and to others to know the origin of this interesting ceremony that thousands of devotees from neighboring towns and provinces attend every year to see and to enjoy, perhaps as a sign of veneration and respect for the object of such devotion or due to tradition.

Legends have it that way back in 1788, or thereabouts, the image of the Blessed Virgin was seen by Pakil fishermen floating somewhere in the murky bay. The fishermen were able to take the image to the bank of the bay, or the seashore, but from there all their efforts failed to move it further. It became very heavy, so they said, and not until they vowed to enshrine the Virgin at the local parish church and make annual pilgrimage thereto that they succeeded in carrying the image to its present location. It became very light indeed when in their happiness the fishermen danced the "Turumba" as they lifted the image to their shoulders. It is this "Turumba" that was and is being done every year as a sign of their Thanksgiving for the blessed event.

But do you know that with the "Turumba" they came up with a song that to this day is sung by every devotee in the yearly ceremony? And that the face of the Blessed Virgin lights up or darkens depending on the mode or behaviour of the devotees? That when they looked happy and content the Virgin is said to brighten up, but when they quarrel or become unruly, this bright face suddenly becomes gloomy and dark. This the old folks say and the young ones witness in awe every time they join the procession that is done either on a portion of the town or around it depending on plans or on the weather.

But your knowledge of the "Turumba" would be incomplete if you do not know the song which was sung by the fishermen years ago which all devotees sing whenever they join the ceremony or procession every year.

This is how they go about it --
Turumba, turumba Mariangga
Matuwa tayo't magsaya
Sumayaw ng tu-turumba
Puri sa Virgeng Maria
(Sa Virgen, sa Virgen!)

Turumba, turumba sa Virgen
Matuwa tayo't mag-aliw
Turumba'y ating sayawin
Puri sa Mahal na Virgen
(Sa Virgen!)
Biyernes nang makita ka
Linggo nang iahon ka
Sumayaw ng tu-turumba
Puri sa Virgeng Maria
(Sa Virgen!)

Turumba, turumba sa Virgen
Turumba, turumba sa Virgen
Turumba'y ating sayawin
Puri sa Mahal na Virgen
(Sa Virgen!)
Little did you know perhaps that among the first spectators to the difficulty of the fishermen to carry the Blessed Virgin to the local church was a fat woman named "Mariangga." She tried and tried to lift the virgin when others failed but she also failed so someone had to go to the priest who ordered a ringing of bells, and many people came by to carry the image in procession, joined by the old and the young alike.

There were and are many miracles ascribed to the virgin but they are too numerous to be recited in this short write up. One such tale, however, is narrated with gusto and sometimes in awe by a devotee. According to her, an old woman came by one early morning at her house in one of the mountain towns of the province, to borrow something that she said she needed very badly for a certain occasion. The house owner at first refused or rather denied that she has the thing mentioned, but when the visitor told her where the thing, which was a ring, was kept, the latter had to produce the same and handed it to the visitor who promised to return it when next, if ever, she went to Pakil. The former even described in what place she could be seen or contacted. So when the town fiesta in Pakil, as scheduled, came to her knowledge, she lost no time in going to join the other devotees. Imagine her surprise when she entered the church and saw the ring borrowed from her on the finger of, worn by the Virgin? What else could she do under the circumstances? She gave up the desire to win back the thing and left for home the next day. And do you know that on opening her baul sometime later she saw the ring in its original place as if it had never been touched?

There are many others, but that one just related illustrates more convincingly than a mere narrative the many marvelous powers of the virgin of our "Turumba" in this historic town of Pakil, in my dear province of Laguna.

Many devotees take a bath at the Virgin's swimming pool after the procession and a number of times during their stay in Pakil. They go home to their respective towns with water from the spring which they share with their townmates upon arrival. It is said that the sick take the little water as a balm for their ailment, and they get cured immediately after taking in said water. Miraculous indeed, specially considering that it is quite often that townspeople of Pakil are warned against dipping in the pool when tired or after some strenuous work. But such is the way of the supernatural that no living being can question, only observe and be in awe of or something like it.

In the early days when transportation was not as plentiful or efficient as at present, devotees came to Pakil by horse a day or two ahead of the fiesta and this gave the young ones of the town extra money supplying "sacato" for their horse feed. That time will perhaps never return but they linger in many a heart of the old as something nice to remember. How times have changed indeed!


*JUAN R. RARELA was mayor of Pakil from 1968 to 1971. He wrote this article in 1981 for a granddaughter who was doing research on the "Turumba" for her Humanities class.

This article is printed by the Rarela family in memory of their patriarch who died at 91 years old on 12 September 1990, leaving behind his wife Avila, 12 children, 40 grandchildren, and 23 great-grandchildren.



Procession

The Nuestra Seņora de los Dolores de Turumba in procession.

Turumba Swimming Pool

The Virgin's pool teeming with people after a Turumba.
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