BRYAN VASQUEZ Lobocanons of Illinois

By: Ryan Tejero

 

The Lobocanons of Illinois is a group of individuals, families and friends who have ties to the small town of Loboc, Bohol in the Philippines. The group started to organize and search for other town mates during the mid-90s. The group is a casual, yet intimate, as they engage in frequent socials and get-together of old friends, relatives, and former neighbors who have migrated and maybe their first time see each other here in Illinois. A typical Lobocanon has that common trait of associating with strong affections to their native town. They take pride in their town’s customs, traditions, and religious devotions that most of them have grown with.

Coming out of such strong affection and the longing to continue these traditions, the group here in Illinois has started celebrating the annual fiesta of Loboc’s patroness, the Virgin of Guadalupe, Extremadura. The group also gathered on a certain schedule to meet and pray the novena days before the celebration of the annual fiesta. The meetings and novena group engages in presenting traditional prayers in songs, such as the Gozos, which a ballad of prayers to the Virgin of Guadalupe sung in Cebuano. The main goal of Lobocanons of Illinois is to promote the rich heritage of their hometown and continue to observe their long-kept traditions, cultures and religious devotions.

Fast forward to the present, a little over 20 years later, the group continues to celebrate the annual town fiesta in pure Lobocanon fashion – the fiesta is open to all friends, co-workers, and neighbors. The annual fiestas are packed with tradition, such as the Bolibongkingking, which is a traditional dance accompanied by drums and gongs to honor the Virgin of Guadalupe, and also with lots of music, dancing, and of course, Filipino food! The annual fiesta is carefully organized and planned for several weeks by a core group of individuals, who selflessly donate their time and talents to ensure that the Lobocanon tradition lives on here in Illinois and to instill the same culture and tradition to the younger generation of Filipino-Lobocanon-Americans here in Illinois.

Over the years, the Lobocanons had proven to be strong partners of their town mates who are in the Philippines. Just recently, in 2013, when a 7.2 magnitude earthquake devastated the island of Bohol, along with many of its neighboring islands, Lobocanons spearheaded a support campaign for their kababayans. They held a series of fundraising events to help the families and victims of the earthquake. In May of 2014, just in time of their town fiesta, the group took advantage of celebrating their 20th founding anniversary, with a highlight event on promoting awareness on the needs of the Lobocanons and Boholanos afflicted by the earthquake, and soliciting financial campaign to rehabilitate the province from the damages, most especially the many century-old and treasured churches of Bohol.

As a social organization and a close-knit group, Lobocanons do not adhere to a structure with only one leader. The group is run by the board of directors. The contact for this interview was Bryan Varquez, a software application developer by profession and lives in Chicago. The other board members are Filomena Lamdagan, a nurse from Joliet; Edna Varquez, also a nurse from Romeoville; Mari Cleofe Digal, a school teacher from Naperville; Sylvia Tabilas, another nurse from Morris, Chona Alvarez, another nurse from Romeovile; Victor Mandin, a medical representative from Lombard, and Pilar Fernandez, a professional caregiver.

If you know of any Lobocanon in Illinois who is still not a member of this group, and would like to connect, please contact Bryan Varquez through email at lobocanonsofillinois@ gmail.com.

Lobocanons of Illinois during the fiesta celebration in May 25, 2015.