MARINDUQUE is a lovely wooded island in the shape of a heart, On this island are many old towns, where people live who love their traditions. Many of these traditions are Catholic. par of the ancient festivals of the Church. Other well-loved traditions are so old that no one now remembers how they began.
One of these traditions is called Putong. The word means “crowning” and that is what happens in the ritual. No one now knows for sure how the Putong began.
Some say it really started out as a birthday greeting. Others say the Putong is a way of thanking God for a special favor received. Today, the Putong is a ritual for welcoming important visitors to the lovely old towns of Marinduque.
One thing is certain: only the well-loved and the highly respected are honored with the Putong. Grandmothers, on their birthdays, are so honored, but not little girls. An important visitor from the city is honored with the Putong, but not if he is a very, very young man, unless he has done something truly brave or worthy. In a family, the mother and the father are honored at a Putong on their birthdays, but not the very youngest children.
So old is the happy practice of the Putong in Marinduque that there are assigned ladies who are best at singing the song of the Putong. Whenever there is a celebration, they are called to perform. Dressed in the traditional baro ‘t saya, the flimsy blouse and bright skirt of the country people, the ladies of the Putong, accompanied by a guitarist and sometimes by a full rondalla of musicians, come up to the house of the honored person. Since the Putong is almost always held in the-late afternoon going into dusk, lights accompany the singers.
From the garden the singers wend their way into the house, up the stairs and into the living room. There, the honored person is seated at a place of honor. Singing and dancing, the ladies crown him with flowers.
The song of the Putong is very old. It is a prayer addressed to Mary, the Mother of God, asking her to give good health and long life, good cheer and the love of friends and relatives to the honored person.
The very last line of the song of the Putong says: Viva! Viva! Long life to you! That is the dearest wish of all: for someone who is well again, for someone who is marking another year, for someone kind enough to visit.
To share his joy, the person who is crowned tosses new coins. There is a scramble for them, for it is believed that newly minted money, symbolizing the generosity of the favored, returns favor a hundred times.
