Priceless Treasure

          Mother is the one who is most likely to wield all of the power. A mother is the most powerful creature in the universe! In every situation, she can handle and control everything. In other words, God has granted her the authority to handle all of the world's concerns. A single Mother's Day celebration is insufficient to express gratitude to all of the world's mothers. At any cost, no one can ever replace her. Everyone should shower lots of love and care to her for their sacrifices. 

          It is common knowledge that honoring a mother's contributions to our lives takes more than a day or two. However, a day has been set aside to make all moms proud of themselves and recognize that life would not be what it is today if they had not been present. It comes in the month of May every year and reminds people of the courage of a mother that she shows up in order to make our life a brighter one. 

          Our mothers hold a particular place in our hearts. She smiles for us even when she is exhausted. She assists us in the preparation of project and homework assignments, as well as during exam periods. She looks after our school clothes and uniform. She instills in us the need of washing our hands with soap and water before eating anything. She teaches us good manners, etiquette, morality, humanity, and helping others always in life. 

         She takes care of every members of the family. We all too love her too much. She has such patience that she listens to all of our difficulties and offers the best solution for each one. Even if we make a mistake in life, she never lets us down and keeps us motivated for as long as she lives. Love our mothers since they were the ones who initially loved us before we were born.

References:

https://imp.center/i/mothers-day-essay-10022/

https://fastread.in/?infoID=945

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Challenges Of Covid-19

         The streets were closed, and crowds gathered in specific areas. Drums are pounding incessantly. The street dancers enthusiastically declare "Viva Vigan!" in colorful costumes. The Binatbatan Festival has grown to become one of the major cultural events in the Philippines' northwestern archipelago. Binatbatan Festival is more than just a festival, with participants dressed in abel Iloko, a woven fabric native to the Ilocos Region. It highlights Vigan's rich culture and traditional industry.

         Binatbatan Festival has its origins in Vigan's abel weaving business, which existed long before the Spaniards arrived to colonize the Philippines. It comes from the word batbat, which refers to a pair of bamboo sticks used to remove cotton pods from kapas sanglay trees. In Ilocano, the word "kapas" comes from the term "kapas sanglay," which means "cotton."

          Binatbatan Festival street dancers happily and enthusiastically wave their "batbat," some imitating the manner used by abel-weavers in separating cottons as they gracefully perform the process artistically to the beat of drums and lyres rolling along the historic streets of Vigan's heritage city. Binatbatan Street Dancers also have a basket behind them in which they place cotton pods harvested from the kapas sanglay tree. The fruits of the Kapas sanglay tree dry up at the tree's branches before falling off after the fruit breaks open on its own, revealing the seed-filled cottons inside.

         But now... All this amazing and enjoying activities during Binatbatan Festival are gone because of the pandemic. COVID-19 affected the Binatbatan Festival celebration. The things that we used to do and we used to see when the city of Vigan celebrates their festival are gone and this is because of the COVID-19. Just like last year, Binatbatan festival celebrated differently. People right now should stay in their homes because staying at home is the safest thing to do during this pandemic. This situation makes me sad and I know that others felt the same.

        Additionally, based on what I observed, there are still challenges during the Binatbatan Festival and one of this is the situation that we are facing right now. In which, we can’t experience the things that we used to do when the Binatbatan Festival begins. People right now should stay in their homes to avoid COVID-19.  

        To sum it up, the COVID-19 pandemic caused a big effect in Binatbatan Festival celebration. COVID-19 is truly dangerous and destructive, but, I believe that we can overcome this problem. Hopefully, this pandemic will end soon so that we can all go back to normal and we can again do what we want and we can experience again the cheerful celebration of Binatbatan Festival.

References:

https://pia.gov.ph/features/articles/1021193

https://eazytraveler.net/2012/05/viva-vigan-binatbatan-festival-of-the-arts-2012/

http://vigancity.gov.ph/binatbatan-festival-of-the-arts-2019-2/

Photos retrieved in:

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