Pork parade

BALAYAN, Philippines - A pig in a tutu, a porker on a bike, a hog on a drip -- it was no ordinary parade that snaked its way through this Philippine town Sunday.
Participants in your average hometown parade aren't usually dead, let alone roasted, nor are they generally carved up and eaten afterwards.

But in Balayan, south of Manila, a centuries-old religious festival is all that's needed to kill, clothe, parade and consume the neighbourhood pigs. Hundreds of succulent, roasted pigs decked out in colourful costumes were paraded in the festival celebrating the sainthood of John the Baptist.

The pigs, known as "lechon" in the local language, were placed on motorized floats as residents soaked each other in water to recall the baptism of Jesus Christ. The eccentric event serves as a religious and purifying rite in the mostly Roman Catholic town of Balayan and draws thousands of tourists each year.

Nobody really knows when the tradition began, although it likely pre-dates the arrival of the first Spanish missionaries who introduced Christianity here in the 15th century.

The succulent, reddish-brown lechon is a centerpiece of Philippine culture, much like Thanksgiving turkey in the United States. No party or family reunion is complete without one. But at this festival, the cooked pigs are paraded around the town as thick crowds line the streets and snatch off bite-sized pieces.

Among the more colourful displays was a pig atop on a motorcycle with a ski mask on its glistening, oily head and sunglasses above its snout. Nelson del Rio said he spent hours making the pig, which also serves as an advertisement for his local shop selling Suzuki bikes.

"We have been joining this event for years," he said. "The parade has evolved also as a marketing tool for many businessmen."

Another pig was set up on a mock stage in rock-star pose, wearing jeans, a suitably grungy T-shirt and with a microphone. A float, sponsored by a local hospital, had a hog covered in bandages with an intravenous drip. Yet another had a pig dressed in a tutu, standing on the edge of one set of trotters in a parody of a ballerina. Elsewhere, a hog in nappies (diapers) cradling a milk bottle triggered some curious laughter.

Cleofas Torres, beside his own porcine display, said "this festival serves to remind us that, every year, we can always look forward to a bountiful life under the patronage of Saint John."

Around town, adults and children alike used plastic water pistols to spray each other and firecrackers were set off.

The pigs were later brought into various homes where they were shared with friends and strangers in a traditional show of hospitality.