Baguio’s Panagbenga floral fest, which thanks Mary for the past year’s harvest, is back after a three-year Covid-19 hiatus
By UCA News Reporter
Published: February 03, 2023 06:26 AM GMT
Imposing hillsides teeming with gigantic pine trees, the city of Baguio in the northern Philippines saw Catholics dressed in traditional attire kick off their annual Marian flower festival on Feb. 1.
The Panagbenga festival thanks Virgin Mary for the past year’s harvest with cultural shows that feature the history of the mountainous province of Benguet.
This time there was more enthusiasm as the event was being held after a three-year hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We want to honor Mother Mary through our floats because of our prayers, we believed, she interceded for our people, especially when our farmers had difficulty selling their crops due to pandemic-related restrictions,” Carol Vivar, a Marian devotee in Baguio, told UCA News.
The civic administration is also part of the festival, which ends on March 5, with the theme, “A Renaissance of Wonder and Beauty.”
The Panagbenga festival began in 1995 after five years after an earthquake devastated Luzon, the most populous island in the Philippines.
Representatives of other religious denominations and Baguio mayor Benjamin Magalong and lawmaker Mark Go attended the ecumenical prayer meeting at Panagbenga Park.
The city government is banking on the flower festival to revive Baguio’s economy.
Bishop Victor Bendico of Baguio reminded participants how prayers to the Virgin Mary during the pandemic helped them.
“I express my solidarity and blessing to all the participants. The Virgin Mary has always had a special role in our hearts,” Bishop Bendico told UCA News.
Marian devotees made more than 50 floats with flowers to honor the Virgin Mary during the opening parade attended by hundreds of people.
Catholics walked behind each float, reciting the Rosary and scattering flowers along the streets to mark the season of bloom in Baguio — known as the country’s summer capital.
One float was decorated with white tulips and roses, depicting Our Lady of Lourdes, whose feast is on Feb. 11.
During the height of the pandemic in 2020, Our Lady of Lourdes’ image was paraded in the city for healing.
“Our Lady of Lourdes is known for her healing powers,” Marian devotee Pia Halaen told UCA News.
“We were praying the Rosary while the parade stopped at the cathedral’s entrance. It was a beautiful moment … the air was filled with the smell of flowers,” Baguio parish priest Father Ronald Vistan told UCA News.
Farmers in the region attributed to the Virgin Mary the success in disposing of their harvest when there were pandemic-related curbs in the city.
In August 2020, tons of vegetables perished due to a lack of buyers, especially in the capital Manila where restaurants were closed.
Farmers opted not to harvest to save on labor and cost.
“It was so painful because we were just letting our harvest rot. We did not have the market. if we harvested it would have entailed costs on our side also,” a vegetable farmer in Baguio, Louie Magansa, told UCA News.
However, Catholic foundations stepped in and bought their vegetables in bulk to sell them in big cities.
“The Jesuit Tanging Yaman Foundation bought our harvest so we have the capital to plant more,” Magansa added.
Baguio is called the “City of Pines” and is known for its green park spaces. Locals claim the city got its name from a green flowering plant called “bag-iw” which is found here.
Americans during the occupation pronounced it as “bág-ee-yow” and Baguio got its name.
