It would have been the grandest Ilocano festival in years, held no less at the P1-billion Ferdinand E. Marcos Memorial Stadium in Laoag, but the Marcos family wasn’t in full attendance on Friday, February 24.

Senator Imee Marcos, who was governor of the province when the very first Tan-ok festival was organized in 2011, was noticeably missing. The presence of her brother, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and her son Matthew Marcos Manotoc, also current Ilocos Norte Governor, was not enough to compel her to grace the special occasion.

“Ammotayo amin nga asideg unay ti FEM stadium iti pusok, nangnangruna ti Tan-ok festival-tayo, ngem nupay kasta kayariganna pinagay-ayamannatayo ti gasat gapu ta nairana ti selebrasion iti petsa a diakto pulos mairusok a rambakan,” the senator said in a Saturday statement.

(We all know that FEM stadium is very close to my heart, especially our Tan-ok festival, but nevertheless it seems that fate played a game with us because the celebration coincided with a date that I can’t stomach celebrating.)

The festival happened to fall the eve of the 37th anniversary of the EDSA People Power Revolution, the peaceful uprising that forced the late dictator and the Marcos family to flee from Malacañang.

Imee said it has been habitual for her to visit the grave of her father on February 25, taking the time for “reflection” and “revisiting” of the past that dramatically changed the fate of her family and that of the country in 1986. She asked fellow Ilocanos for some understanding.

In contrast, the President, for his part, sent a wreath of flowers to the People Power Monument along EDSA in Quezon City – as seen in photos from Saturday. He offered a “hand of reconciliation” to those holding different political views, and said he was “one with the nation in remembering” the EDSA People Power Revolution.

The senator was not the only one noticeably absent in the spectacular Ilocos Norte event. So was First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos. Presidential son Sandro, also Ilocos Norte 1st District Representative, ended up introducing his father and managing to get him to donate more to raise the festival’s grand prize to P1 million.

The annual festival brings together locals from all the province’s municipalities and cities to showcase their culture through dance performances, paying tribute to Ilocos Norte’s history, faith, art, and livelihood.

From 2011 to 2016, the Tan-ok festival was held in November, but in 2017, it was moved to February 2018 to coincide with the province’s 200th founding anniversary. February 2019 was the last in-person Tan-ok festival before the pandemic struck. – Rappler.com