Iligan City the next big thing

One week with all businesses and schools closed. People leaving their homes and filling the streets late into the night. Public places all filled with youth seeking diversion.

It may sound like the after effects of a typhoon “Pedring”, but this is merely the description of Iligan City’s week-long “Kasadya” celebration, culminating in a full day of open homes and feasts honoring their patron, St. Michael the Archangel, San Miguel, the slayer of Lucifer. All gatherings are punctuated by loud exhortations of “Viva San Miguel!” to which the equally loud reply of “Viva!” is automatically heard. The magnitude of celebration here is comparable to many of the country’s more known fiestas: Panagbenga, Kadayawan, Masskara, if only more hidden from the mainstream.

“Kasadya really just means merry-making, a signal to celebrate,” says Councilor Freddie Siao, the city’s former sports director and now head of its rapidly developing sports program. Siao spearheaded the city’s successful night market, where vendors surround the plaza on weekends, plying their wares, generating revenues for the city, and providing the youth a place to congregate and indulge their passions for sports and the arts. For the festival, the night market was open all week.

Siao also worked hand-in-hand with the Jaycees chapter in the city to pump up the annual street dancing competition, one of three centerpiece events of the Kasadya. Five teams of about a hundred dancers each paraded down the city streets, showing off their routines in front of judges stationed along the way. The march ended at the amphitheater beside city hall. The event, covered live by a massive production team from ABS-CBN Northern Mindanao, drew so many people, it took this writer 20 minutes just to navigate the crowd leading to the exit.

The twin of the street dancing, organized exceptionally well by the young leaders of JCI, was “tartanilla” or kalesa decorating contest. In the evening was the Miss Iligan pageant, supported by the office of Mayor Lawrence Cruz, himself a sportsman, being a champion duckpin bowler. The following evening, Wednesday, all-Cebuano pop rock band Cueshe attracted a crowd of over 5,000 youth who braved the heat, afternoon drizzle and tight confines of the town plaza just to hear them play. The group, fittingly enough, was flown in by San Miguel Beer.

“This is such a great crowd. We’ve been coming here for the last five, six years, and it’s always been fun,” says lead singer Jay Justiniani, who worked the crowd into a frenzy by speaking the dialect.

Iligan City is no stranger to sports. As the home of more than 20 waterfalls, it has been quietly attracting water sports enthusiasts for decades. Now, Siao and his fellow Councilor Rudy Marzo have drafted plans for Iligan City to break through to the consciousness of the mainstream sports-loving public. First on their agenda is the “Run for the Falls”, a 21-kilometer half-marathon spanning Maria Cristina Falls, Tinago Falls and others, as part of the city’s foundation day celebration next June. Siao, who managed the city’s NBC team Iligan Crusaders a few years ago, is already helping JCI Iligan prepare for next year’s Kasadya. The plan is to bring in national media and show them the warm hospitality and incredibly diverse cuisine of this developing city.

Also in the works is a signature beach sports event on the border between Iligan and its neighbor, Cagayan de Oro. Three-on-three basketball tournaments and other sporting competitions are also on the drawing board.

“Iligan City has so many great things to offer, and it’s time people knew about them,” adds Siao, himself a successful businessman.

What makes the local government upbeat is the opening of its new airport, slated for 2012. When it opens, visitors will no longer need to drive over an hour to get there from Cagayan de Oro. Local officials are also working overtime to raise funds for the P1 billion convention center and coliseum, which will hopefully be a new venue for PBA games, world title fights and international sporting events and concerts. Iligan City, a lone congressional district, is blessed with warm weather and a very dynamic young populace open to new things.

With all these plans for sports and celebrations, Iliganons will soon be at the center of the next big thing in sports tourism.