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I stumbled upon this story in the internet about a foreigner who once visited the town of Licab during the 80's, and was able to experience a very unique Filipino tradition. The story, which actually happened in June of 1984, describes a religious tradition that many Filipinos still observe even until today. ------------------------------ In June 1984, I made my first trip to the Philippines. As part of my trip, I planned on visiting the child I sponsored through the Christian Children’s Fund. After traveling by bus from Clark Air Force Base to Cabanatuan City, I boarded a jeepney to the village of Licab, where my sponsor child lived. While on the way to Licab, our jeepney was suddenly hit by water from all sides. As I wiped the water off my face, I looked out the window and saw a group of young boys refilling their buckets in the rice paddy. Meanwhile, the equally soaked Filipinos in the jeep were laughing. I instead opted for cursing, albeit silently, because these little brats had drenched me from head to toe. I had told my parents about my trip to the Philippines, and told them that I planned to visit there again in 1985. To my pleasant surprise, they sent me a Philippine travel guide for a Christmas gift. While reading the guide, I learned that on June 24 the deeds of St. John the Baptist are reenacted in San Juan, Manila, as friends, relatives, and spectators are “baptized” by water thrown from and at passing cars.
This seemed to explain the boys’ “mischievousness.” Of all days, I chose June 24 to visit Licab. However, I was 100 miles north of San Juan, Manila. I pulled out my map and found that our jeepney had passed through a small village named San Juan, which is on the way from Cabanatuan City to Licab. If I had taken the time to read a travel guide prior to my first trip to the Philippines, I may have chosen to avoid anyplace named San Juan on June 24. Or, even if I had traveled on June 24, I would have understood that these boys were merely taking part in a celebration and I would have laughed along with the other passengers in the jeepney. ------------------------------ As this, and other old religious traditions, happen and are even celebrated until today, I sometimes ask myself if people do these things just out of tradition, or is it because they do the rituals to obey certain religious beliefs? Do the people, especially the youths of today, understand why people are doing such traditions? Or they do just because they follow the culture they were born to? Beyond religion and tradition, the foremost important thing is for us to have a deep personal relationship with our God. He has shown his love by sending His only Son Jesus Christ to save us from all our sins at the cross of calvary. And that is why we have the reason to celebrate.
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