 Roasted Pig (Baboy Lechon) contest
My wife and I were so happy as we were back home from our trip to Manila. I was living in Mindanao with my wife and extended family for seven months in a small house with a large extended room that we added on a few months before. We needed to go to the US Embassy for the final interview and we were so happy because she received her visa to come to the US.
I think we made the trip up there, from Davao to Manila, a half dozen times, maybe more. Our daughter, who was born in the Philippines, was also at the Embassy the month before to receive her citizenship. We were now in a very good mood as we had tickets to fly back to the US in a few weeks. My brother- in -law said that the next day was town pride day and after the parade, there would be a large pig roast. I said, ”Wow, I can use my new digital camera to take video and show everyone back home”.
The next day, we watched the parade. Many people marched, from school teachers and companies to different marching bands and the fire department. After the parade, my brother-in-law and I jumped on my motorcycle and we rode to the grand festival on the other side of town. I was on the back and I recorded on video us beeping and waving to people as we drove through town.
The main street was closed off and there was loud music everywhere. There was smoke and the smell of different foods was in the air. As I took a few steps from the motorcycle, I couldn’t believe what I saw. One after the other, roasted pigs, (baboy), were being cooked over barbecue fires. In the first group, there were about a dozen being cooked. I grabbed my video and started to record.
As we walked along, I saw many more roasted pigs. I later learned that each group of pigs represented different barangay’s from around the area. We all walked down the middle of the street and on each side was roasted pig after roasted pig, maybe 200 in all. Each pig was being roasted by a person sitting and constantly turning a bamboo stick. On the way back to our home, I took more video of the festival and town.
The next day I learned that our barangay had won the pig roast taste contest. It was a memorable day I will never forget.
Kev  |