The Cebu Provincial Government is set to stage a provincewide cultural showcase this August that will bring together champion festival contingents from different cities and municipalities, with Governor Pamela Baricuatro saying the initiative could serve as a basis for selecting Cebu’s representative to the Sinulog Festival.
Instead of creating a new competition, the provincial government plans to gather existing winners from local festivals and allow them to perform again before a broader audience under a proposed “Festival of Festivals” concept.
Baricuatro said the approach recognizes that local government units already have established champions in their respective festivals, making another separate contest unnecessary.
“Naa namay winners each LGU all throughout the province. It’s really a good idea to putting them in one venue and letting them present once again and see to it nga best of the best pa jud sa atong festivals mao atong ipadala sa Sinulog,” she said.
The event is scheduled at the Cebu City Sports Center, with the Capitol allocating around P20 million for the undertaking.
According to Baricuatro, the project is designed both as a cultural showcase and a practical screening platform for identifying the province’s Sinulog delegation.
Participation, however, will not be mandatory for local government units.
“Dili man mi mamugos. We just want to see kung kinsa ang moapil,” the governor said.
The Capitol initially set a cap of 15 contingents, although officials said the final lineup will depend on how many LGUs confirm participation.
“15 ra man ka contingent ang atong gi-allocate. Let’s see if walay mo-attend then dili ta mopadayon,” she said.
To help defray costs, the provincial government will provide financial assistance to participating contingents, with mainland LGUs expected to receive up to P1 million each and island municipalities up to P1.5 million.
Each contingent is expected to have 60 to 100 performers, making the event smaller in scale compared to previous large provincial celebrations.
Baricuatro said the P20-million allocation is relatively modest compared to past festival-related expenditures.
“More or less P20 million. It’s very minimal,” she said.
She added that the initiative simply consolidates existing festival winners rather than mounting a separate large-scale production.
“We are just putting the buttons together, laing-laing municipalities. We’re just putting everything in place,” she said.
The governor said the program reflects the province’s effort to promote Cebuano cultural heritage while maintaining fiscal discipline, noting that the Capitol cannot sustain spending hundreds of millions for a single festival event.
Photo by Jacq Hernandez, PBB Photojournalist
Comments