BAGUIO (UCAN): Imposing hillsides teeming with gigantic pine trees, the city of Baguio in the northern Philippines saw devotees dressed in traditional attire kick off their annual Panagbenga [season of blooming] Marian flower festival on February 1, after a three-year hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The festival themed, A Renaissance of Wonder and Beauty, gives thanks to Mary for the past year’s harvest with cultural shows, featuring the history of the mountain province of Benguet.
“We want to honour 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 devotee in Baguio, said.
The civic administration is also part of the festival, which ends on March 5.
The Panagbenga festival was conceived in 1995 after an earthquake in 1990 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 festival—also an homage to the city’s flowers—to revive Baguio’s economy.
Bishop Victor Bendico of Baguio reminded participants of the role of Mary during the pandemic. “I express my solidarity and blessing to all the participants. Mary has always had a special role in our hearts,” Bishop Bendico said.
We want to honour 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
Marian devotees made more than 50 floats with flowers to honour Mother Mary during the opening parade attended by hundreds of people.
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People 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.
Vivar’s float was decorated with white tulips and roses, depicting Our Lady of Lourdes, whose feast is on February 11. During the height of the pandemic in 2020, the image of Our Lady of Lourdes was paraded through the city for healing.
“Our Lady of Lourdes is known for her healing powers,” one devotee, Pia Halaen, said.
“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, recounted.
Farmers in the region attributed success in selling their harvest when the city was subject to Covid-19 pandemic curbs to the intercession of Mary.
In August 2020, tons of vegetables perished due to a lack of buyers, especially in Manila where restaurants were closed.
Farmers opted not to harvest to save on labour 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, said.
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. Locals claim the city got its name from a green flowering plant called bag-iw.
