Appropriating Processional Standards as Symbols of Authority: Inter-ethnic Power Play in the Early 19th-Century Processions of the Historic Cathedral City of Vigan, the Philippines

Abstract

: The chapter on the ethno-social history of the religious ceremonies of the cathedral City of Vigan in Ilocos Sur, The Philippines is now unknown. Yet, two hundred years ago, power play between ethnic groups flared up to disrupt the celebration of the city’s traditional Holy Week procession. The scandalous incident sparked an investigation, providing an account that is the basis of contemporary views on past traditional celebrations of these solemn events. More importantly, it unravels the social structure of the city, its ethnic composition and their inherent privileges. The Holy Week incident in Vigan was a precursor to the tense ethno-social rivalry that would also take place in the extramural towns around Manila later in the 19th century, with grave implications on the solemn traditions of the church. Using archival materials, this paper analyzes the events based on the concept of * Acknowledgement: This article was subsidized by grants from the Far Eastern University and the Commission for Higher Education (CHED) Graduate Scholarships in the K to 12 Transition Program. A preliminary version of this article, “Vying for Supremacy: Vigan’s Gremios at the Turn of the 18th Century”, was presented during the 3rd CSSP Graduate Student Research Conference at the University of the Philippines – Diliman. I extend my heartfelt gratitude to the National Archives of the Philippines for granting me permission to use the manuscripts from their holdings, to Ms. Gloria Castillo and Ms. Rebecca de los Reyes for the interviews, to Mr. Al Casiño Benzon for providing the pictures used to validate the information in this article, to Ms. Mary Joy You for editing the draft, and above all, to the reviewers, whose comments greatly improved this paper.