Ilonggo fashion, poetry at the Antillan House

By Hazel P. Villa Inquirer ILOILO CITY--Sashaying to the live renditions of old Ilonggo favorites like Pinalangga (Beloved) and the more current Handumanan (Remembrance), models made their entrance up the burnished narra stairs, glided through antique rooms, and preened before an audience seated atelier-style on a balmy evening at the Sanson y Montinola Antillan House in E. Lopez Street, Jaro District, Iloilo City. The Antillan House itself, one of the very few left intact in the country, was like a debutante dressed for a grand ball—its trademark yakal rooftop carved decors were restored and repainted, shuttered windows were cleaned, and the exterior was painted a more cheerful mocha and pastel blue even as the brick foundations were spruced. It was not only because the Iloilo Heritage Gala was held at the Antillan House in May that Greg Sanson, the owner, decided to glam up his family’s turn-of-the-century ancestral home but also because heritage-conscious Ilonggos have once more revved up the advocacy machine calling for the preservation of Iloilo City’s heritage houses and buildings. The Gala was but one of the activities of the 15 members that the Iloilo City Cultural Heritage Conservation Council (ICCHCC) spearheaded during the celebration of the National Heritage Month in May. The ICCHCC has architect Antonio Sangrador as chair representing the private sector while Noel Hechanova, its director, represents the government. “We must promote responsible appreciation of our culture. To preserve, we have to unite and beyond that, make people conscious of our heritage,” Bambi Harper, National Heritage Festival director, had said. For their “exemplary act of ongoing preservation and stewardship,” the Iloilo City government recently awarded plaques of appreciation to the owners or managers of the following heritage buildings: Sanson Y Montinola Antillan House, Zafiro Ledesma Residence, Casa Mariquit of the Lopezes, Nelly Garden, Montinola Residence, Marquez Lim Residence of former Sen. Nikki Coseteng, and the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. in J.M. Basa Street. Fashion, music, poetry Soon after cocktails, the guests, numbering about a hundred with some dressed in formal wear, entered the Antillan House for a night of Ilonggo fashion, music and poetry—effectively setting an ambiance of greater appreciation for things uniquely Ilonggo. The fashion show, topbilled by Ilonggo designers Don Protasio, Bo Parcon, Angelette Borja-Ragus and Jaki Peñalosa of the Designers Guild of Iloilo, started with two actors from the University of San Agustin Little Theater delivering excerpts from “Kawayan,” a poem by eminent Ilongga writer and poet Magdalena Jalandoni. Tingug (Voice), a young vocal ensemble formed in August 2006 under the directorship of Gerardo Muyuela set the mood for young designer Don Protasio’s collection with their rendition of the upbeat but distinctly Hiligaynon performance of Benny Castillon’s “Kruhay!” Though the fashion show’s motif was bamboo, avant-garde Protasio’s collection had models wearing mostly billowy black or gold dresses and blouses “as inspired by dark clouds, leaves and wind” for “dark romance” with bits and pieces of bamboo on the models as accessories. Apropos with Bo Parcon whose collection was made distinctive by a rugged, earthy look with tiny bamboo pieces forming squares and rectangles in his creations as “inspired by windows” or with bamboo acting as embellishments on what could have been run-of-the-mill creations. Bamboo gown, anyone? Women designers Angelete Borja-Ragus and Jaki Penalosa hewed more to the bamboo fashion motif as they pleasantly surprised the audience with their ingenuity and innovations with bamboo and indigenous fabric. Penalosa redefined the Philippine terno by marrying indigenous fabric such as hablon and raffia with contemporary designs with bamboo bits and pieces incorporated into either the beadwork of the gowns or into the shawls. Borja-Ragus had a model wear a bustier made of geometrically arranged bamboo and one wore a cocktail dress with bamboo “tapestry.” As if that wasn’t remarkable enough, another model came in wearing a skirt made of curled bamboo for that billowy look which you never thought was possible with such a hard material as bamboo. Applause followed a model wearing a Borja-Ragus ball gown with bamboo shavings as embellishments on the gown itself, complemented by an intricate but elegant hairpiece made of bamboo shavings too.