Three million rock Sinulog festivities
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 Niño. The celebration lasts for nine days, and is packed with a variety of activities culminating in 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 reenactment of the Christianization is performed.
In the afternoon, a more solemn procession takes place along the major streets of the city, which lasts for five hours due to the large number of participants; this year the crowd was 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 three million spectators. Majority of the beautifully choreographed performances carried the “Pagbangon†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 that showcased the telco’s lineup of prepaid, postpaid and Tattoo broadband devices as well as exclusive Sinulog deals for subscribers to enjoy.
It likewise accorded customers an 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 four-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.
