The town of Alitagtag, nestled along the southern shore of Taal Lake in the central part of Batangas, scintillated on the evening of 31 May as 11 karosa, or floats, designed in different themes, adorned with flowers and illuminated with lights, delighted spectators during its traditional celebration of Tapusan.

Tapusan is the culminating event of Flores de Mayo (Flowers of May), the month-long Roman Catholic practice of honoring the Virgin Mary through the daily offering of flowers to her images, along with prayers and catechism. In many parts of the Philippines, the observance concludes with Flores de Mayo processions. In several towns of Batangas, Cavite and Laguna, this conclusion is celebrated as Tapusan, which is Tagalog for “ending,” and is observed by a variety of religious and community activities.

Alitagtag’s Tapusan not only marks the end of Flores de Mayo but also the close of a month of religious activities and festivities in the town, such as the Pagtatagpo ng Magkapatid na Krus on 2 May, the fiesta of the sitio of Binukalan, and the town fiesta on 7 May. Its highlight is a procession in which the karosa, the carriages bearing images of the Virgin Mary, are transformed into large and elaborate floats.

The tradition is believed to have begun even before Alitagtag became a separate town from Bauan in 1910. Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary grew in the Philippines after Pope Pius IX declared the dogma of the Immaculate Conception on 8 December 1854, through the papal bull Ineffabilis Deus. Father Mariano Sevilla’s Flores de María ó Mariquit na Bulaclac later helped popularize Flores de Mayo, which was first held in Santa Cruz, Bulacan, in 1867. The practice eventually spread to other parts of the country, including Batangas.

Unlike celebrations organized mainly by the church or local government, Tapusan in Alitagtag is largely community-led. At the center of the festivity are the kapisanan from the town’s different barangays. By early or mid-May, Alitagtagueños begin preparing their floats. In many barangays, a hermana or hermano mayor, much like in town fiestas, helps finance the float, provides food for the workers and makes key decisions. The hermana or hermano mayor also leads the procession. In barangays without one, the kapisanan itself shoulders the cost of creating the float, whose theme and design change every year.