Days after the excitement and thrill of the street dance competition for the first Pagey Festival in this town, young people who participated recounted the lessons they learned, especially about agriculture.

Harizon Tolin said they studied the process of pagey (rice) planting to be able to understand and execute the steps accurately for their dance performance.

There was a total of eight contingents from the 73 villages, clustered or combined, each with 80 to 90 dancers and technical support staff.

“Mahirap po pala ang magtanim ng palay. Natutunan po namin ito sa mga practice namin kaya super appreciated po namin ang mga farmer (Rice planting is not easy. We learned this in our practices, that’s why we appreciate our farmers more),” he said in an interview.

Sean Gabriel Cortez said the months-long preparation for the festivities inculcated in him discipline and patience as well as teamwork.

He said he knows the process of rice planting since he lives in a farmland community in this town.

“It made me appreciate our culture and tradition. I see the farmers everyday during cropping season. They are my motivation in the dance,” he said.

Malasiqui is mainly agricultural, with 6,191 hectares of plantation during wet season and 1,629 hectares during dry season.

Its rice harvest reached 32,864.89 metric tons in 2025, from 29,778 metric tons in 2024, rice program coordinator Reymundo Gural said in a phone interview.

Despite the series of weather disturbances last year, the production is a reason to celebrate.

“During the first onslaught of weather disturbances, the rice production during that time was on vegetative stage but was able to recover following the calamity. During Uwan, the farmers have already harvested,” Gural said, referring to the tropical cyclone that reached super typhoon category in November 2025.

Some low-lying areas suffered but majority benefited from the rain as compared to the drought in 2024, he added.

Pride and devotion

Since the Pagey Festival is integrated in the town’s annual fiesta in honor of patron St. Ildephonse of Seville, the contingents’ performances also highlighted the people’s devotion.

Praying during calamities and offering praises and gratitude after the disaster were portrayed in their performances.

Ken de Guzman, a farmer’s son, said joining the Pagey dance competition made him appreciate him more.

“I am already proud of my father because his livelihood brings table to the food, and it made me even prouder of him,” he said.

The reality of seeking greener pastures overseas was also reflected in the storyline of the contestants’ performances.

Based on the Philippine Statistics Authority’s 2022 Census on Agriculture and Fisheries Agricultural Households and Operators released in December 2024, the median age for male and female agricultural operators was 49.7 years.

However, there is a decline in the number of agricultural operators in the younger age group (15 to 24 years) of about 10,000 agricultural operators (4.6 percent).

Winning performance

The winning performance by contingent No. 4 composed of the villages of Aliaga, Bakitiw, Don Pedro, Lepa, Palong, Polong Norte, Polong Sur, San Julian and Warey, portrayed a family of agricultural workers with one of their children torn between staying in the country to continue farming and working overseas for higher income.

The child proceeded to work abroad and eventually returned home to continue farm work, which is his first love.

The whole act incorporated modern farming techniques with the use of farm machinery and other equipment.

The Municipal Tourism Office said they plan to register the festival, held Jan. 22, with the National Commission for Culture and the Arts.

Mayor Alfe Soriano said in an interview on Thursday that the festival will celebrate and encourage rice farming, notwithstanding various disasters that hit the province annually.

Soriano said while the town has other agricultural products, rice is the major crop.

“The festival showcases the hard work of Malasiqui’s farmers, the importance of rice in local livelihood and food security, and the community’s deep gratitude for nature’s blessings. Through colorful performances, cultural presentations and community activities, Pagey Festival highlights unity, resilience and pride in Malasiqui as a thriving agricultural town,” he said. (PNA)