By BEVERLY PAOYON
GLAN, Sarangani (October 4, 2011) - It was out of the ordinary seeing Juliana picking up fallen withered husks, twigs, guinit, young leaves and other parts of the coconut tree in their sprawling coconut plantation.
She was not in a rush and seemingly enjoying as she peered through each item before placing them in a bag.
After she had enough of them, she hurriedly went home, emptied the bag and sorted them out in the wooden table in their porch.
She cut the guinit into big shapes for the upper garment and skirt, painted in white and ornamented it with multi-colored woven leaves and cut-outs of the materials she collected.
(According to the Philippine Coconut Authority, the guinit of the coconut tree can produce helmets, caps, wooden shoe straps, handbags, fans, picture and house decor like lamp shades and guinit flowers for the table.)
She dyed some coco sticks and glued each vertically into the already decorated crown-shaped guinit as headgear.
Little did she notice that after a few days of painstakingly putting up pieces into a pattern, everything was all set for the Lubi-Lubi sa Glan street dance competition she would join for the first time the next day.
Lubi-Lubi street dance is the townspeople’s invaluable expression of celebrating its heritage and cultural significance rooted from the abundance of life the coconut trees had provided them.
This year, the Lubi-Lubi Festival street dancing contest on October 8 will start at 1:00 pm. with six competing contingents.
Like the famous Mardi Gras’ traditional masked and costumed parades in the West, Lubi-Lubi exhibits flamboyant outfits intricately stitched out from various coconut tree parts. They usually come in yellow, green, red, orange and a touch of other bright colors.
Contingents are body-painted and wear headdresses, accessories and props which are also crafted from the same materials.
Before each group would have their finale presentation, they would parade-off around the hub of the town tapping in modern-ethno to the beat they locally produced, unique to that of their other group contenders.
They use indigenous musical instruments made of bamboo that blends with the brisk beating of drums and lyres.
The street dance is the most anticipated episode which culminates an elaborate series of activities comprising a usually week-long festivity that speaks of Glaneans’ innovativeness and historical attachment.
How the first Christian settlers beat the odds and opened up a trail that they and generations after them enjoy is concisely captured in each storyline presented.
It dates back to October 1914 when the first batch of Christian settlers, led by the Colony Superintendent Tranquilino Ruiz Sr. that sailed off from Carcar and Alexandria, Cebu, disembarked along the coast of Sarangani Bay, now the municipality of Glan.
It was during the American occupation of the Philippines that agrarian unrest in parts of Luzon and Visayas caused these people to migrate to Mindanao, including Glan as Colony No. 9 of the colonization project of the Philippine government.
When they came ashore, they saw the area enormously covered with coconut trees which encouraged them to plant more- this eventually made Glan the biggest copra producer in Mindanao.
“On October 8, 2011, we will be celebrating the founding of the Municipality of Glan,” said Mayor Victor James Yap Sr. “It is quite amazing that it has actually been 97 years since our great pioneers set foot on this once distant and forbidding land and began the gargantuan task of transforming this former wilderness into what it is today: a peaceful and progressive town – the crown jewel of Sarangani Province, if I may say so.”
Copra production has been the bread and butter for most of the people here since. It shaped successful careers of lawyers, engineers, doctors, nurses, teachers and other professionals.
Latest statistics from the Philippine Coconut Authority and the Provincial Agriculturist’s Office showed that out of the total land area of 69,820 hectares of Glan, 35,177.23 hectares or 50.38% is planted with coconut which generated a total nut production of 195,692,375 per year.
Glan has the most number of coconuts in Sarangani Province totaling to 3,517,757 trees and yielding an average of 63 nuts per tree per year.
The price of copra dropped instantly in 1998, causing apprehensions to coco farmers and making the industry unstable. This compelled the Pastoral Economic Council of Glan that time to launch Lubi-Lubi sa Glan Festival.
Since then more investments gradually came in. Currently, Glan provides a stable supply of coco fibers as export material for mattresses and other cottage industry.
Among the endless list of products and by-products of the coconut tree (Cocos Nucifera L.), in which it is called the “Tree of Life,” Glan also supplies coconut toddy (tuba), an alcoholic drink from fermented coco juice, and charcoal as export material to be processed for pencil lead.
Copra production, however, is still a stable business in Glan. (Beverly Paoyon/SARANGANI INFORMATION OFFICE)
