Fiesta of Argao, Cebu’s most progressive southern town

Today, September 29, all roads lead to Argao. It is the fiesta of the land of my birth, Cebu's southeastern jewel, perhaps the most progressive and biggest (in area and population, about 75,000) of all towns south of Carcar and Sibonga. The patron saint is God's commander-in-chief, St. Michael the Archangel. The town is blessed with peace, serenity, progress, the high education rate of its residents, and beautiful beaches. Above all, it’s famous for its legendary, world-famous “torta,” a very delicious delicacy only Argawanons can bake.

I am proud to have been born here in the small maternity house facing the church in the 1950s. My late mom was a Birondo with roots in Tulic and Looc. They weaved blankets and mosquito nets, and owned land in the mountains. During the war, they evacuated to the mountains until they reached Langin, the nearest barangay of Ronda town from Alambijud and Colawin, the birthplace of Argao's most famous son, chief justice, former Con-con delegate and Con-Com commissioner, and ambassador extraordinary plenipotentiary to the United Nations, Hilario Davide Jr.

The mayor is Stanley Caminero and the congressman is Willy Caminero, a self-made man who broke the political dynasties of the Garcias and one of the few representing the district who is not a Kintanar. Argao is really the political bailiwick of the old Kintanar clans, the latest of whom was my friend Simeon L. Kintanar (Sim K.). This is also the town of the Luceros, Alcazarens, and Albarracins (of Phinma, Magdaleno, brother of the late DepEd undersecretary Narciso, whose mother was a Birondo). I am a Birondo too, and we belong to a clan with members all over the country and the world. My late uncle Ildefonso married Engracia Canada, a teacher in a public high school, now a component of a state university.

Fiesta time is also a time of reunions. Hundreds of Argawanons now residing in the US are coming home for the celebration and torta. They have replaced the old Pitlagong Festival with the La Torta Festival, and rightly so, for indeed, outside Argao nobody knows what “pitlagong” is, but all over Cebu and even in the world torta is a delicacy. In Argao, guests do not come for lechon or adobo, they come for the torta.

Just like any popular product, the Argao torta has been imitated. But only Argawanons know the trade secrets and formula. The best torta I ever tasted in my life was cooked by my late great-grandmother in our old ancestral house in Suba, Poblacion. It is now owned by my aunt, Inday Agring, and her daughter and son. I wish I can be home for Argao's fiesta, and once more see the beautiful land of my birth.