The Ati-Atihan is a showcase of the richness and diversity of our Christian and native traditions. It is a colorful festival that is both a statement and a symbol of the people’s faith in the Almighty God and the enduring legacy of peace and reconciliation of our predecessors. It brings us back to history, offering us a glimpse of our uniqueness as a people in expressing our gratitude and prayer to the Divine Being for a bountiful harvest and other blessings. Our ancestors have been using colorful dances, whether singly or with others, as primordial expressions of prayer and thanksgiving. Dancing has always been an element in all religious acts through the years, even until the present. It is best seen in the display of tribal dances in our time-honored festival dubbed as Ati-Atihan. Famous all over the world, this festival is celebrated in the City of Cadiz, as well as in other cities like Iloilo, Cebu, Kabankalan and has been attracting tourists from all corners of the world.
But even to the native of Cadiz City, the origin of the Ati-Atihan Festival has remained a relic of the past, sometimes forgotten, sometimes unknown. We shall relive the birth of our famous tradition in retrospect so that we may grasp the festival’s true meaning and essence.
The Cadiz City Ati-Atihan Festival began in the year 1972. It was the brainchild of some of the members of the Samaria House Council of Cadiz City, a lay religious organization of the Catholic Church. The festival was a product of exigency, as some of the members of the Council were alarmed with the popular habit of the local residents to gamble in cockfights rather than offering homage to the City’s Patron, during the Feast of the Santo Niño. As if stricken by a flash of genius, the founding fathers of Cadiz Ati-Atihan thought of a way by which the feast of their Patron may be truly celebrated by acts of gratitude and praises, rather than by cockfights. These founding fathers, led by Msgr. Vicente Salgado, the then Parish Priest of the Sto. Niño Parish made history. It was then that the Cadiz City Ati-Atihan Festival came into being.
In its first year of presentation, there were thirteen (13) participating tribes, namely: Paghidaet of the Barangay Sang Birhen and the Samaria House of Council, the Luy-a tribe, now well known as the Querosan, the Simaraw of the Philippine Normal University (then Philippine Normal College), the Serwitu of the Cadiz City West Elementary School, the tribe of the Cadiz City High School, the Holy Infant Academy tribe, the Zepolragus of the Lopez Sugar Central, the tribe of Villa Cristina, the Lefungka of the Cadiz City Public Market, the Cadiz Viejo tribe, Tribu Hitalon of Barangay 6, the tribu Yab-Yab Dongol of Barangay 5 and the tribu Kawaynon.
From its onset until third year, the management and organization of the Cadiz City Ati-Atihan Festival was handled by the Cadiz City Catholic Church, through the Barangay Sang Birhen and Samaria House Council. Then came 1975, when the Catholic Church, already faced with fiscal inadequacy in sustaining the festival sought to pass on the local government, the honor of continuing the legacy that was Ati-Atihan. From then on, the traditional Cadiz City Ati-Atihan Festival to honor our Patron, Señor Sto. Niño , is magnamously carried out by the City Government of Cadiz, through working committees created by the City Mayor.
However, it was only when the Honorable Salvador G. Escalante, Jr. became the City Mayor that the people behind the traditional celebration had a chance to seriously revisit the essence of the festival. After constant brainstorming, it was conceded that the nomenclature “Ati-Atihan” that was used by its founding fathers in 1972 has generic connotation that may be confused with other tribal festivals celebrated in other parts of the country. Thus, it became clear that the Cadiz City Ati-Atihan, from its inception, has been in a constant metamorphic search for its own identity, an identity that is reflective of the culture, faith and tradition of the people of Cadiz City. Then for the first time, in 2002, the City’s festival acquired its own individuality and has assumed a new name that is truly Cadiz’, DINAGSA!
Now, Dinagsa on its 5th year as the festival’s identity is sustaining its momentum as a true convergence. Now more than ever, there is a need to continue to nurture the cooperation between the government and the private sectors through a real convergence of people from both sides for a deeper integration towards the impending challenge for people’s welfare services; towards the impending challenge of modernity, foreseen and unforeseen without losing sight of our city’s vision towards reality./*
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