MAY ONEÂ Â is Fiesta Time of Tagbilaran City, the capital city of Bohol- a province of over a million residents and considered the 10th largest island in the country.
It is a joyous day of festivity-where all doors are open- for friends and strangers alike- to partake of sumptuous food- and “bring home” some- with no hard feelings.  Rich or poor – most Boholanos would fatten cow, pig or chicken and convert them  into mostly Filipino, Chinese and American cuisine for our food-laden fiestas.
This could mean busting the last savings money from the piggy bank or even borrowing  money from the neighborhood usurer just so one’s fiesta is not  bungol. After all Boholanos celebrate their fiestas with the same fervent consistency and celebratory fervor as Christmas , New Year of even one’s birthday.
Besides, the average Boholano is normally  hospitable (almost to a fault) to visitors -reason why perhaps we had a Rajah Sikatuna forging friendship shedding blood mixed with the Spaniard Miguel Lopez de Lagazpi’s own-  over a goblet while neighboring Lapulapu of Cebu slew the visiting conquistador Ferdinand Magellan – in a completely different kind of bloodletting.
The enterprising  fiesta-goer can choose from a host of  other fiesta dates and places: (May 4) Albur and Mabini, (May 8) San Miguel, (May 10) Calape, (May 15) Bilar, Trinidad and Tubigon , (May 19) Candijay and (May 29) Talibon.
Over the years , the city has observed the fiesta with parades, beauty contests, concerts, stage plays, dance contests,circus and carnivals. Booze flows like water from the faucet and it is not unusual that police blotters get colorful with reports of drinking-related incidents. Moderation is still the  sought order of the day – no matter the deep revelry.
It is a fact that many Boholanos from other provinces and abroad come home in the joyous month of May and schedule their many dramatic reunions of family, kin, classmates and friends. Trade and commerce will benefit with the velocity and volume of money in circulation treble in May.
Aside from hospitality, the religious fervor of Boholanos come to the fore during fiestas as all towns and city have their own patron saints.
Observed during a National Holiday for Labor Day on May One- the people pray for and honor its patron saint St Joseph The Worker, officially sanctioned by the Roman Catholic Church. Another official feast for St Joseph is March 19 which the Tagbilaranons in Manila observe with a flourish every year.
St Joseph was a Chosen One- to be the foster father of Jesus and husband of Mary. He was an obedient one – where angels appeared thrice: to announce Mary’s pregnancy of the Holy Child, to escape the violent edict of King Herod of Judea and to return to the Holy Land upon the death of Herod.He religiously obeyed all the angels’ directions, with a great deal of sacrifice.
St Joseph through his life was the unquestioning one and a good provider as an artisan and carpenter for their small family . He is assumed to have a fairly high intelligence carrying out principles of physics and engineering without modern education and physically strong in performing his work as carpenter without the new fangled instruments and tools.
The obedient and hard working Man of the House is believed to have died before the entry of Jesus into public life- which explained his absence in the crucifixion at Calvary and burial of Jesus body in a tomb.
This 2015, the city will explode in a number of fun filled activities -anchored by the youthful mayor Baba Yap-and is expected to draw a record crowd.
This would be an interesting prelude to the scheduled TBTK , the every three year global Boholano reunion here.
Contrary to what was published here-  many CONBUSAC  members, according to its current president Larry Galang, will not be present in their New Jersey Confab, two weeks after TBTK here, in order to lend their presence to the July TBTK celebration in Bohol.  There will then be no unfounded fears  that the  2915 TBTK will be thinly attended in July. No such fear, Galang clarifies, in his communication to the  Chronicle,
According to him- TBTK was initiated by CONBUSAC and started out as its program and is in fact the general assembly of the latter- there is a deathless umbilical cord that ties the organization together- breathing from the same lungs, as it were, though distinct in names and officers. CONBUSAC ,under the banner of TBTK held its meeting twice in Bohol : in July 1999 and July 2003.
The enormous crowd of fiesta goers in May will extend its numbers even bigger towards the highly anticipated TBTK in Bohol in July.
The collective Boholano heart is wide open to  warmly welcome our May fiesta goers and our TBTK-CONBUSAC members in July. Arriba, Boholanos!