OP, DILG launch lantern-making contest

MANILA, Philippines — The Office of the President (OP), in partnership with the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), launched a nationwide parol-making contest to showcase the creativity and culture of the provinces.

In a post on Facebook Wednesday, the OP said first place in the Christmas lantern-making contest will receive P100,000 while the second and third places get P75,000 and P50,000, respectively.

“Isang Bituin, Isang Mithiin: A Nationwide Parol-Making Competition will showcase the ingenuity and culture of our provinces,” the OP said.

The competition is open to all Filipinos, individual or group with a maximum of four members.

The entry must be made with at least 70 percent endemic materials, the OP said.

Provincial winners will be determined by Nov. 14, while national judging of the parols will be held at Malacañang on Nov. 22.

The DILG for its part has urged all local chief executives to support the OP’s nationwide parol-making contest in time for the coming holiday season.

Meanwhile, the Department of Tourism (DOT) will launch early next year its new project focused on promoting the country’s heritage, arts and culture scene, aiming to become a “tourism powerhouse in Asia.”

The agency will roll out the “Philippine Experience: Culture, Heritage and Arts Caravans” in the first quarter of 2023, Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco said yesterday.

The new tourism promotion project will “facilitate cultural tourism circuit development focused on heritage, culture and arts to enhance current tour and domestic circuit offerings, which include thematic experiences on Food and Gastronomy, Pilgrimage and Wellness, Festivals, Living Cultures and Heritage and the Arts,” the agency explained.

It would also “link key destinations to lesser known destinations,” which would help expand the country’s tourism portfolio already composed of sun and beach offerings, nature-based tourism, diving, food, education, health, meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions or MICE and farm tourism.

Frasco said the DOT program is inspired by the “Suroy Suroy Sugbo” that her mother, Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia, implemented in the province in 2008.

The campaign utilized so-called cultural mapping by communities to document the province’s various natural and cultural heritage assets, which helped “successfully reposition the province as a prime destination not only for its white sand beaches and dive spots but as a tourist magnet for underrated tourism gems,” she said.

The Philippine Experience caravan aims to “diversify the cultural tourism product offerings of the country, equalize opportunities across the regions, support the preservation of the country’s heritage and artistic resources and assets…”

The program also hopes to instill a sense of pride and patriotism among Filipinos through a greater appreciation of inheritance and legacy, she said.

Frasco also declared the country is going toward a “new era for tourism built upon the strength of our cultural identity, our unity as a nation and renewed global interest in our country’s offerings.”

“Together, we will transform the Philippines into a tourism powerhouse in Asia,” she said. – Ghio Ong, Alexis Romero, Romina Cabrera