HRM student, 19, wins crown as 5th Tugob Festival Queen

ORMOC CITY, Philippines – Nineteen-year-old Alexa Marie Matuguina, a third year hotel and restaurant management student of the Western Leyte College, bested 11 other contenders to win this year’s Tugob Festival Queen title.

Matuguina, donning an elaborate vegetable-inspired gown, represented WLC’s Tribu Tugmok, headed by Archibald Gablino, which was also declared the festival champion to pocket a total winning purse of P260,000.

The judges consisted of Engineer Junjet Primos, Victor Cuenco, Demosthenes Jimenez, Mark Henry Reyes and Ricky Ballesteros of Cebu City, who urged festival organizers to join in the Sinulog Festival next year.

Tugob Festival is now on its fifth annual celebration, held every October 20, the city’s Charter Day observance known as Adlaw sa Ormoc, under Republic Act 8410.

Tugob, which means “abundant,” showcases the 12 major resources that fueled the city’s economy, such as root crops, flowers, vegetables, livestock, fish, sand and gravel, coconut, rice, water, pineapple, sugarcane and geothermal.

The contingents adopt a distinct costume, choreography, props and music inspired by the resources they respectively represent. They compete in two major categories: showdown and street dancing to the official Tugob jingle.

Mayor Edward Codilla thanked all the stakeholders, friends of Ormoc and the Ormocanons themselves for the successful staging of the annual event.

City Councilor Ruben Capahi, meanwhile, added that this year’s 67th Charter Day celebration was also a success. “I’m proud to be an Ormocanon,” he said.