"Palawod" wins top plum in Pasigarbo

CEBU, Philippines - The Palawod Festival of the town of Bantayan made it back-to-back in the Pasigarbo sa Sugbo as it bested 37 other contingents for the million peso grand prize early yesterday.

The heavy downpour did not dampen the spirits of the young street dancers, organizers and spectators, who decided, the show must go on at the parking area of the Cebu International Convention Center running from the evening of Saturday until dawn yesterday.

The Palawod performers, who showcased the bounty of their seas and the livelihood of the people, were one the crowd favorites because of their upbeat movement and the use of colourful props that depicted sea creatures.

The contingent from the municipality of Tabuelan featuring the Ani-anihan festival finished second to take home the P800,000 prize.

At third was Daanbantayan’s Haladaya festival earning P750,000. The Hinulawan festival of Toledo City was fourth earning P650,000, and San Francisco’s Soli-soli festival was fifth taking P550,000.

Sibonga’s Bonga festival was sixth winning P450,000, Pinamungajan’s Pamuhuan festival seventh taking P350,000, Sta. Fe’s Kinasaon festival eighth claiming P300,000, Carcar’s Kabkaban festival ninth winning P250,000 and rounding up the top ten was Alcoy’s Siloy festival earning P200,000.

Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia said the Pasigarbo has moved to a level where the cities and municipalities have learned to take pride of their localities.

The Pasigarbo also an expression of Cebuano cultutre and the pride that people has taken from it, she said.

The governor said the competition was bigger compared to that of last year because of the festival workshops of the choreographers and designers of the contingents. 

A total of 38 contingents joined this year’s competition as compared to the 32 in 2008.

New entries were those from the municipalities of Sta. Fe, Malabuyoc, Naga, Borbon, Cordova and Boljoon.

Consolacion and Carmen, which joined last year, skipped this year’s competition.

In the competition, the Haladaya also wowed the audience as they depicted the life of “Datu Daya” who is the first chieftain of the town.

The Haladaya also bagged the first prize in the street dance competition bringing with them the P500,000 pot.

The Haladaya festival also won the best in costume award.

This year’s Pasigarbo contingents first competed in the street dancing category which started at 1 p.m. as the danced on the streets of Mandaue City from the CICC at the reclamation area to the city hall then to the Mandaue branch office of SSS and the Palace of Justice then back to CICC.

  The showdown at CICC started at 7:30 p.m. and lasted for almost five hours.

The winners were announced at 2:30 a.m. yesterday.

The winners will be formally recognized during a brief program which will be held at the CICC plenary hall tonight. — /NLQ (THE FREEMAN)