JULITA, LEYTE– Without beaches, waterfalls, or iconic landmarks to draw crowds, Julita is embracing its cultural heritage through the revived ‘Hulatan’ Festival, hoping to transform tradition into a tourism asset and a catalyst for economic development.
Determined to preserve local traditions while creating new opportunities for tourism and economic growth, the local government has revived the Hulatan Festival, breathing new life into a celebration that reflects the town’s rich history, culture, and identity.
Julita Mayor Irvin R. Dy said that after years of inactivity since 2019, the festival is once again a major highlight in this year’s town fiesta and has returned as more than just a colorful spectacle. It is now envisioned as a platform to reconnect younger generations with their heritage, encourage community pride, and showcase Hulatan as an emerging cultural destination in Leyte.
“The Hulatan Festival is more than a celebration, it is a tribute to our history, our culture, and the resilience of the people of Julita. Through its revival, we hope to strengthen community unity, preserve our heritage, and showcase our town to visitors, allowing tourism to become a catalyst for growth and greater opportunities for our local businesses,” Dy said.
The Hulatan Festival is the official town festival of Julita, Leyte coinciding the town’s fiesta celebration on August 12 of their patron saint, St. Roch (San Roque). Derived from the local Waray word “hulatan,” which translates to “wait” or “anticipation,” the festival depicts the historical events that led to the creation and independence of the municipality.
In this year’s revival of the festival, five contingents from different schools and organization in the municipality competed by showcasing the town’s rich history and cultural heritage. The participants performed vibrant festival dances that interpreted the origins and cultural significance of the Hulatan Festival through colorful costumes, synchronized choreography, and creative storytelling.
Dr. Nelson Enage, Vice President for Academic Offairs of Palompon Institute of Technology, was among the judge for the competition. He praised the event as a promising cultural celebration, saying it has the potential to become more than just a local festival dance competition.
Enage, who is an esteemed expert in Philippine creative festival dancing and folk arts, noted that all five competing contingents successfully presented creative interpretations of the festival’s theme while effectively showcasing the history and cultural identity of Julita through their performances.
“So far, all five contingents exhibited thoughtful interpretations. They wisely presented the concept, production design, and storytelling of what the Hulatan Festival is all about. Overall, it was a meaningful showcase of Julita’s culture,” Enage said.
Winning this year is the Julita National High School with their colorful and creative interpretation and meaningful presentation of the town’s tumultuous journey to becoming a municipality before it was finally granted independence.
Enage also encouraged trainers and choreographers to deepen their understanding of the festival’s origins through extensive research, strike a balance between culture and innovation and preserve the true meaning of the Hulatan Festival for future generations.
Local officials meanwhile said the revival is part of a broader strategy to promote sustainable tourism by highlighting what makes Hulatan unique. Beyond attracting visitors, the festival provides opportunities for local entrepreneurs, food vendors, transport operators, and other local businesses to benefit from increased economic activity.
For many longtime residents of Julita, they see it as a meaningful way to preserve local customs, while young people gain a deeper appreciation of their cultural roots through active participation in performances and heritage activities.
Cultural festivals have become powerful drivers of local development, creating jobs, stimulating small businesses, and strengthening community identity. By investing in heritage-based tourism, LGU Julita is poised to join other municipalities in Leyte that have successfully transformed local traditions into sustainable tourism assets.
As music fills the streets and dancers proudly perform stories of the town’s past, the revived Hulatan Festival stands as a celebration of resilience, identity, and hope. More than preserving tradition, it opens new doors for inclusive growth, proving that culture remains one of the strongest foundations for community development and tourism in the years ahead.
(AHLETTE C. REYES, PIA-LEYTE)
Let’s go transcending
LET us learn the beautiful art of transcending. We are not created to remain confined within the limits of the merely natural. While we live in this world, we are called to rise beyond it into the spiritual and supernatural life of God, in whose image and likeness we have been created.
To transcend does not mean escaping the world. It means seeing beyond appearances and discovering the deeper meaning hidden within ordinary things. Every earthly reality can become a doorway leading us closer to heaven.
Is this possible? Certainly. God has already equipped us for it. He has given us intelligence to seek the truth and a will to embrace the good. When these gifts cooperate with grace, they lift us beyond what nature alone can ever attain.
Life on earth is more than a brief journey. It is a sacred pilgrimage and a loving test of the heart. Each day we decide whether to move toward God or remain enclosed within ourselves, satisfied with what is passing and incomplete.
That is why we must be clear about our vision of life. Many voices today deny that our destiny extends beyond this world. Their message is attractive because it promises immediate satisfaction while ignoring our deepest longing for eternity.
One of the most influential of these ideas is naturalism. It claims that reality consists only of matter, natural forces, and physical laws. Everything, it says, can be explained without reference to God or the supernatural.
Yet this view leaves the greatest question unanswered. If everything is merely natural, where did nature itself come from? How can an ordered and intelligible universe explain its own existence without a cause greater than itself?
Reason can travel a long way, but it cannot cross every horizon. It naturally searches for the First Cause, while faith enables us to recognize the Creator. Grace does not replace reason; it completes and elevates it.
To live only by naturalism is to judge everything by what we can see, measure, or control. We make ourselves the final authority on truth and goodness. The result is confusion, because every person becomes a law unto oneself.
That is why we must master the art of transcending. Faith widens our vision and gives meaning to everything we do. It opens our hearts to God’s presence and invites us to share in the divine life for which we were created.
Through faith, ordinary experiences become extraordinary. Work becomes service, suffering becomes purification, joy becomes thanksgiving, and daily duties become offerings of love. Nothing is wasted when everything is entrusted to God.
Learning to transcend requires prayer, silence, reflection, and a sincere desire to know God more deeply. As our friendship with him grows, his will becomes the quiet compass guiding every decision and every step.
This journey demands effort, but every worthwhile pursuit does. At first it may seem difficult, yet perseverance slowly transforms discipline into freedom. Grace enables us to live fully in both the visible and the invisible worlds.
We should therefore remain vigilant, especially today. Modern technologies, including artificial intelligence, are remarkable gifts, but they can also imprison us within ourselves if used without wisdom. Let them become bridges to truth and charity, never walls that prevent our minds and hearts from rising to the God who continually calls us beyond ourselves.