GOLGOL: A LIVING TRADITION

Golgol - This type of funeral ritual is cleansing in nature and is frequently carried out in various ways based on the circumstances. It is still a living tradition, mostly in Ilocano community. My personal account of this ceremony is below.

The third biggest province in the whole Philippine Archipelago derived its name from salt or “asin” in the vernacular. Owing to the rich and fine salt beds which were the prime source of livelihood for the province’s coastal towns, PanagASINan or “Pangasinan” which means “where salt is made” came to be its name. Cagayan Province lies on the northeastern most part of Luzon mainland occupying the lower basin of the Cagayan River. It is bounded on the east by the Pacific Ocean, on the west by the Cordilleras, on the south by the province of Isabela and on the north by the Babuyan Channel. It is well traversed by many rivers, with Abulug and Cagayan Rivers as the largest. The province comprises an aggregate land area of 9,003 square kilometers, which constitutes three percent of the total land area of the country and is the second largest province in the region.

I am accustomed to carrying out this kind of ritual because both of my parents are Ilocanos. Whether in Cagayan Valley or Pangasinan, we consistently adhere to this custom when we attend a relative's funeral. Just last month was the last time we went to a funeral in Pangasinan. I'm already aware that, since this is something we do in our province on a regular basis, I have to dress suitably in old clothes for the funeral. We immediately headed to the "pila" river after my uncle's funeral. Our clothes from the burial ceremony were thrown into the river, allowing the current to naturally carry it away to its destination. I still recall asking my mother why the ceremony was being held. She claimed that it was being done to ward off bad luck from the deceased's spirit. There was a belief that attending a funeral would bring bad luck to the attendee, so in order to prevent that, we must perform this ceremony. Apart from this, it's done to drive out a deceased relative's spirit and direct the deceased to heaven. A person must follow this superstition in order to prevent speculation that the dead will haunt or visit the attendees because the soul is not at peace.

    We don't do it when we go to someone else's funeral. I respect the deceased's family's beliefs because they do not follow that tradition. I just realized that we don't do this until a relative passes away. We are all different from it when it comes to beliefs. Thus I think it is our responsibility to treat each other with respect at all times.

    To sum it up, this ritual is all about throwing away the clothes that were worn during the burial ceremony of deceased relatives. This is to cast away the bad luck and to let go of the loved ones spirit from his/her life here in the physical world.