Buklog Festival

The Buklog is one of the religious rituals and ceremonies held in Zamboanga del Sur by the Subanens, a group that derives its name from suba (river) because of a preference to settle near rivers and mountain streams.

For centuries, the Subanen have held staunchly to this ancient ritual to honor the spirits, particularly the malengma (spirit of the waters), mamanwa (spirit of the forest), and manising palingkitan (spirits of the mountain), on which they rely for an abundant harvest and protection from misfortune. This is held regularly to reaffirmed the community's profound gratitude for the continuous blessings.

The Buklog, which also stands for ceremonial platform, is a thanksgiving festival of the Subanen. The buklog is erected using eight sturdy tanguile and white lauan trunks as foundation. It stands eight to 10 feet high using wooden trunks 10 to 18 feet long. With the foundation in place, the workers place wood trunks side by side to form a platform. They worked one or two chanting prayers as they haul one trunk after another. The chanting is performed to ward off evil spirits. The platform has to be strong enough to bear the weight of the festival's participants but at the same time pliable to move up and down without breaking. In the middle of the platform, a pole is inserted and set right above a hollow log three meters long, which is laid horizontally on the ground beneath the structure. The intention is for the pole to strike the log and produce a resonating sound.

The festival requires months of preparation and entails a large amount of money for the purchase of more than a dozen chickens, five hogs, and 10 sacks of rice as offering to the spirits.

An announcement of an upcoming Buklog is made weeks earlier through the continuous sounding of the agung or gagong. The rhythmic booming of the gong located atop a hill can reach settlements hundreds of kilometers away.

On the day of the festival, households would then travel by foot along mountain trails until they reach the venue of the festival.

Three days before the festival, community elders perform a ritual invoking permission from the spirits to gather the materials needed for the festival. Trees like white lauan, baktikan, bagasuso, babalud and tanguile are used to construct the buklog.

A day before the festival, another ritual, the Gempang, is held near the bank of a stream. This is a water ritual held to appease the spirits and protect the community and their land from any ills.

As part of the ritual, a pig is slaughtered near the waterline and its blood is taken downstream. This is symbolic that any bad omen had been thrown away. Then, the pig is roasted without salt and its meat cut into pieces as an offering. Two young chickens are also killed to please the gods.

The Subanens also believe in drawing up a boundary to prevent evil spirits from entering their territory. A thin branch is tied between two posts to indicate that boundary. The branch is hung with strips of folded palm leaves and a chunk of pork.

Holding bunches of folded palm leaves, the chieftain performs a dance ritual around the area. He then dips the leaves in the stream and directs it towards the people as an act of blessing and protection.

The dance ritual is done simultaneously with an assistant trailing him, burning incense and sounding a porcelain bowl with a stick made of fragrant wood. The incense is said to invoke the good spirits and the tinkling sound of the bowl, to guide the spirits towards their direction.

This sequence is done seven times in a counter-clockwise movement around the area and back again seven times clockwise to seal the circle. The ritual progressed with the sound of the agung in the background. (TMT)