The Sinulog 2014

CEBU, Philippines - In Cebu, the most revered festival is the Sinulog,  which commemorates the Filipino people's pagan origin, their acceptance of Christianity and recognition of the Santo Nino.The celebration lasts for nine days and is packed with a variety of activities  culminating with the Sinulog Grand Parade  on the third Sunday of January.

The day before the Grand Parade, a fluvial procession is  held at dawn with a statue of the Santo Niño on board a motorized boat which is decked with  hundreds of flowers and candles. The procession ends at the Basilica del Sto. Niño  where a re-enactment of the Christianization is performed. In the afternoon , a more solemn procession takes  place along the major streets of the city which lasts  for 5  hours due to the large number of participants, this year estimated at 3.5 million.

Despite the threat of a heavy downpour due to tropical depression Agaton,  the Sinulog parade was a huge success with over 3 million spectators. Majority of the beautifully choreographed performances carried the  "Pagbangon" (rising/recovery) theme.

The Lumad Basakanon won first place in the Street Dancing and Free Interpretation categories while Kulturang Placereño of Masbate finished first in the Sinulog-based category.

A Sinulog related activity took place at the Cebu IT Park, where Globe Telecom created a wonderful world of fun and excitement with the launch of the Globe Neon Carnival, a village-like attraction that housed the Globe Mobility Store-on-the-Go, a one stop shop which showcased the telco's line up of prepaid, postpaid and Tattoo broadband devices, as well as exclusive Sinulog deals for subscribers to enjoy.

It likewise accorded  customers the opportunity to inquire and apply for the latest in postpaid and broadband plans as well as other Globe promos while on the go.Devise partners Cloudfone and Samsung also joined the 4-day event that showcased their latest roster of phones and gadgets.

One of the highlights of the carnival was the daily raffle of  prizes such as tablets, handsets and gift certificates from partner establishments. On hand to welcome guests were Joe Caliro - Globe Retail Transformation and Management Head, Jerry Yntig - Globe PR director, Patrick Gloria - head Premium Dealers for VISMIN, Tania Padilla - head Regional Operations and Mark Go - head Postpaid Acquisition. (FREEMAN)