Quezon Province

MAY 15 -- THE PAHIYAS FESTIVAL OF LUCBAN, QUEZON

The Pahiyas Festival is celebrated in honor of San Isidro
Labrador, the patron saint of farmers. The houses in Lucban
during the Pahiyas festival are decorated with fruits,
vegetables, and kipings. Mostly Pahiyas is a festival that takes
a long time to prepare and celebrated only for a short period and after the event the
fruits and vegetables used to decorate the houses will now be thrown away to the
people. But mostly the enjoyable fact of this event is to see the efforts of those people
who made the beautiful decorations each year of the pahiyas festival and the fruits of
our farmers labor.
St. Michael the Archangel Minor Basilica
One of the oldest churches in the province, it was first built in 1585
and repaired in 1590 using nipa and palm. In 1600, they used
bricks to enhance the site. The church was destroyed by an
earthquake in 1743 and later rebuilt and made bigger in 1856. It is
located in Tayabas, Quezon.
Quezon National Park
With an area of about 9,830,765 hectares, the park has an
intricate system of caves, waterfalls, springs, creeks, gorges,
and ravines set against a quaint backdrop of lush greenery.
The park teems with flora and fauna, from butterflies to birds
and monkeys tugging along their young while crossing the
street. The trees are so tall and huge that they make the
zigzag road darker than it should be. The park is also the site
of Pinagbanderahan, where the Filipino Revolutionaries
planted the Philippine flag in their fight against the Spanish colonizers. Quezon National
Park encompasses the western municipalities of Atimonan, Pagbilao, and Padre
Burgos.
Quezon Province History
At one time, Quezon was under the jurisdiction of various provinces. In 1858, the central
portion was under the authority of Batangas. The northern portion was divided between
Laguna and Nueva Ecija while the other portion was divided between the provinces of
Mindoro, Marinduque, and Camarines.
In 1591, Tayabas was created into a province under the name of Kalilayan. On 12
March 1902, the civil government was established in Tayabas with Lucena as its capital.
On 12 June 1902, the district of Principe, formerly under Nueva Ecija, and the district of
Infanta, including Polillo, was annexed to Tayabas.
Tayabas was among the first provinces to rise up in arms against Spain. At the close of
Filipino-American hostilities, a civil government was established in the province in 1901,
and Lucena was appointed the capital. On 7 September 1946, Tayabas was renamed
Quezon Province in honor of President Manuel L. Quezon, president of the Philippine
Commonwealth, who hailed from the town of Baler.
NIYOGYUGAN FESTIVAL
Since 2013, the Quezon provincial government has celebrated
the Niyogyugan Festival, a feast held every August as
thanksgiving for the bountiful harvest of coconuts, the
province's main product. The festival aims to unite all
municipalities of Quezon and promote the coconut industry as
well as other local delicacies and products. This year, the
festival runs from August 9 to August 20. Among the highlights
of the festival were the booths of the cities and municipalities,
all of which were decorated using coconut.
BULIHAN FESTIVAL
The town of Sampaloc in Quezon Province comes to life every
April, when it stages its annual Bulihan Festival, a town fiesta
that highlights the many possibilities with buri (a material
derived from the processed leaves of the palm tree, known in
the vernacular as buli). But never has the celebration been as
grand and exciting as when the town of Sampaloc held the 4th
Bulihan Festival recently (April 23 to 26, 2014).
HISTORY OF THE NAME PAGBILAO
Pagbilao came from the word “Papag at Bilao”. The story began when one bright day in
the early 1965, while the natives were busy on their usual trade of business making
papag at bilao a group of Spanish missionaries, mostly catholic priest arrived in the
village. It was a traditional belief of the natives that the foreigners maltreated the
natives. Fearing that this may happen, the natives tried to elude the strangers. Realizing
that the natives were in panic and afraid, the Spaniards make an excellent idea by
raising their right hands wide open symbolizing that they came to make friends with the
Filipinos. The native then become calm and settled in their places in a friendly manner.
The missionaries tried to talk with the Filipinos using their own language but they were
not understood. One of the missionaries however asked a friendly question; incidentally
pointing to a bamboo bed, “What is the name of this village?” assuming that the
question was what is the name of the object that he was pointing at. One of the villagers
quickly replied. “Papag” and immediately the missioner noted the word “Papag” in his
record. Another missionary group asked another question in the same manner pointing
to a winnow-wind basket. “What place is this?” “Bilao”. According to the native and from
the two words “PAPAG” and “BILAO” originated the name of the municipality of
PAGBILAO.
CHAMI FESTIVAL
A festival is held annually to feature our favorite Pansit
Chami. This Chami Festival started way back in 2006 as an
additional attraction to the Pasayahan Festival we celebrate
every month of May. Chami cooking competitions and eating
contests are scheduled regularly together with the other
activities of Pasayahan like Street Painting, Santacruzan, and
the Grand Parade.
TARIKTIK FESTIVAL
Tariktik is a kind of a hornbill of a bird and can only be found in the
forest of polillio. In this festival can see people dancing actively like
a group of birds playing. In this festival also presents the fruits and
vegetables harvested by the farmers and put it on the agri-fishery
trade fair. Also the event dragon boat race for the people who came
from different universities. This festival occurs in march.

HERMANO PULI DAY

Was a Filipino religious leader who founded and led the Cofradía de
San José. The cofradía was established in 1832 in response to the
racially discriminatory practices of the Catholic Church in the
Philippines. During the Spanish colonial period, Catholic religious
orders refused to admit native Filipinos as members. In retaliation,
Pule established his own religious order which was exclusive for
native Filipinos. Fearing an armed rebellion, the Spanish colonial
government sent military forces to suppress the cofradía, an attack
that was resisted by Hermano Pule and his followers on October 23,
1841. However, more troops were sent and the cofradía was finally
quelled by the colonial military forces on November 1, 1841. Pule was then captured,
tried, and executed. This is celebrated in November 4.