TAONG PUTIK FESTIVAL

In Aliaga, Nueva Ecija, in Barangay Bibiclat, hundreds of devotees of

 the village's patron saint, John the Baptist, transform themselves

into "mud people" -- literally "taong putik." The locals call the ritual

 Pagsa-San Juan. Outsiders call it the Taong Putik Festival, an

event -- an experience -- that has recently caught the attention

and interest of the tourism sector.

Nobody knows exactly when the Taong Putik

Festival started. One legend says the image

of the patron saint which was brought to

 Bibiclat by early Ilocano settlers, helped in

driving away poisonous snakes from the village.

 The name "Bibiclat" came from the Ilocano word

 "biclat" meaning snake. Another legend says that

 when Japanese soldiers during World War II

 were about to execute all the men in the

 village in retaliation for the death of 13

fellow soldiers, it rained so hard that the

 male villagers had to be herded into the

church to seek shelter. After a while, the Japanese

 soldiers had a change of mind and set their

 captives free. The residents attributed this to

 a miracle of Saint John the Baptist, and vowed

 to pay homage to him on his feast day by

wearing costumes patterned after his attire --

 this time, using native materials.

HISTORY OF

TAONG PUTIK FESTIVAL

There are many stories about the history of the

 �Taong Putik� Festival. Some of these are

 the Scriptural Beliefs and the Story Version

told by elderly people.

 

SCRIPTURAL BELIEF:

According to the elderly residents, when

 you will base this festival to the bible,

people are just trying to be like St. John

the Baptist. For them St. John symbolizes

 dirtiness. As bible says, St. John was full

of mud and vines on his body when he

 prepared the way for the Jesus and he

welcomes his with this appearance.