The Panag-aapoy (“lighting a fire”) takes place on All Saints’ Day in the tourist town of Sagada, north of Luzon’s main island, for 122 years, according to Winston Garlejo Menong, director of the Saint Mary the Virgin Episcopal Church, cemetery owner.
As night falls and darkness covers the four hectares of the burial ground, a sepulchral glow appears, the flames burning for more than 2,000 deceased souls.
The animist inhabitants of the Cordillera mountain region did not adopt Christianity until after the Philippines were ceded by Spain to the United States in 1898, four centuries after Catholic Spanish missionaries had evangelized the local coastal populations. American Protestant missionaries encouraged Sagada residents to bury their dead and to light candles on their graves, notes Winston Menong. “According to our concept of the Bible, Christ means light”, he declares.
Whether with candles or pine torches, in Sagada lighting a flame amounts to “welcoming the presence of Christ among us, sharing in a communion with our departed loved ones”, he explains.
Respect Boundaries
The early Christians of Sagada burned pine wood because candles were expensive and their flames easily died in the wind, unlike the burning of aromatic pines rich in resin, explains Sagada’s tourism officer, Maria Teresa Abad, to AFP. This practice recalls the burning of incense in Buddhist rituals.
Cybil Domoguen returned to Sagada this year with her father and a bundle of 51-centimeter pine sticks to honor her grandparents who had raised her there. “If a tomb has no visitors, we make sure to light a few sticks for it”, explains AFP this 31-year-old teacher. Like other participants in the ceremony, she feels mixed about the growing tourist presence. “Last year, tourists were taking photos of us, which was embarrassing”, she adds. “We have no problem with strangers as long as they respect the boundaries”, she supports.
Hanging Coffins
The inhabitants of Sagada did not always light flames for their dead, nor even bury them. Before the arrival of the missionaries, the favored practice was to suspend coffins on cliff faces or wedge them at the entrances of caves, a custom that did not completely disappear until 2010, notes Ms. Abad.
Some of these “hanging coffins” remain visible on the cliffs near Sagada. “Traditional beliefs about burial link caves and elevated burial places to the passage of the spirit to the realm of ancestors”, she explains, which burial would hinder. It also offered the advantage of protecting the remains from wild animals and floods.
Over time, Panag-aapoy and the hanging coffins have become major tourist attractions, much to the dismay of locals. The Church and local authorities have since taken steps to safeguard the region’s cultural heritage. Picnic blankets and drone photography have been banned, and noisy tourists, phone in hand, are kept at a safe distance from the graves and asked to observe respectful silence.
“Panag-aapoy is a sacred cultural tradition, NOT a festival or a tourist event,” stated the Philippine Department of Tourism in a notice published for the season. “The solemnity of the practice is being lost”, sighed Mr. Menong with a sigh. “It was turning into a puppet show.”
Rex Refuela, a 46-year-old tourist from Manila, says he understands the need to show respect. “It is acceptable to impose a few restrictions to preserve and maintain the solemnity”, he tells AFP, adding: “it’s an absolutely incredible beauty”.
