Fiesta – Paranaque’s Moro-Moro - 1

It was a sunday when i decided to visit my niece and her daughter in their house to Cavite City. As I was in a passenger jeep, I passed along one place. And I remembered something about their fiesta.

"Paranaque's Moro-Moro", that's what they called it. I would like to share something about this fiesta. It is a little bit long but im sure you will love to read my article. As it's as colorful as a raibow. Try to see what I'm talking too.

Traditional theater is a feature of the fiesta. Thanks to the fiesta, the moro-moro (Tagalog comedia) survives in the Metro Manila town of Paranaque. When the moro-moro began remains a mystery. But it’s origins are clear. The moro-moro is nothing but a Tagalog adaptation of the Moros y Cristianos. The mimetic war was originally a battle of the seasons. With the Moorish conquest of Spain and the Turkish occupation of the Balkans and Hungary, the seasonal symbols changed to Christian and Moors.

The Moros y Cristianos is still the main feature of at least seven Spanish fiestas; the one in Alcoy, Alicante is world renowned. The conquista brought the Moro’s y Cristianos to Mexico, Central America and the Carribean, where it became part of the tradition of the natives who had never known Moors. From Mexico, it traveled across the Pacific to the Philippines.

The first comedians in Tagalog were miracle plays, dramas that dealt with the life of a saint or of a mystery of the faith. Comedia did not carry comic connotation; It simply meant “happy ending.” Mystery plays were religious presentations; the moro-moro was secular. The Santiago is both a moro-moro and a mystery play. It is a moro-moro because it is about Christians defeating the Moors; also a mystery play because the campeador is Saint James.

I hope you will be enjoying, till my next sequel !