Category: Family

Just as easily as they party, Filipinos find an excuse to dance – for leisure or entertainment. . .as a manifestation of worship. . .or as a social valve for relationships.   For this year’s Aliwan Fiesta – the annual cultural extravaganza organized by Manila Broadcasting Company and the Cultural Center of the Philippines in cooperation with the cities of Manila and Pasay – dance in its myriad forms once more takes centrestage, as interpreted in the festival context by contingents from various regions all over the country.  As early as January, the roster of entries had reached the maximum number set by the organizers – solid proof of how keenly anticipated the festival is.

Iloilo City’s Dinagyang Festival contingent for the Aliwan 2008

Metro Manila will be represented by the Pakalog Festival of Pasig City, anchored on the native delicacy called the “bulig,” and  Navotas’ Pangisdaan which celebrates the city’s basic industry and the different phases of its livelihood development program.

 

From the Cordillera Administrative Region, Baguio City showcases its myriad blooms for which Panagbenga has become immensely popular, while highlighting the city’s feverish preparations for its forthcoming centennial celebrations.  Mountain Province, in turn, will present the Lang-ay festival of Bontoc, which emphasizes the breakdown of barriers as indigenous practice merges with modern-day traditions in unifying the entire community.

 

Laoag City’s Pamulinawen Festival pays tribute to the hard-working Ilokano in the context of “Panagdaklis” or fishing as livelihood.  Angadanan Isabela, in turn, will feature its Gakit festival.

 

Once more showcasing the artisans of Hagonoy and the Bulakeno’s mien for lyricism in its art forms is the Desposorio Festival.  As residents of Catanauan, Quezon  present the wild revelry of the Boling-Boling  Festival, the Bicol region showcases religious fervour in the Penafrancia Voyadores and Pilgrims Festival of Naga City.

 

Townsfolk in San Carlos City, Negros Occidental blend dance and drama in presenting the legend of Princess Nabingka in the PintaFlores festival.    Iloilo, in turn, fields two entries – the Sa-ad Festival of Leganes, which is anchored on the miraculous deeds of St Vincent Ferrer, and the highly acclaimed Dinagyang Festival, which features the aboriginal tribes’ offering to the Infant Jesus.

 

This worship of the Santo Nino, which prevails in many parts of the country, likewise finds fruition in the breathtaking showcase of Midsayap, Cotabato’s Halad Festival, along with Cebu’s two-part pitch of the Sinulog, as interpreted by defending champion Lumad Basakanon, and the contingent from the municipality of Carmen.

 

Not to be outdone, Leyte also brings forward a double-header.  The Alikaraw festival of Hilongos showcases its equally fervent religious devotion manifested by tribesmen who also learned to co-exist with their environment, while the town of Abuyog bring life to the mystical bees of the magical fairy Opayda in the Buyogan festival.

 

Ecological concerns also comprise the theme of Kabasalan, Zamboanga Sibugay’s Bakhawan Festival, which draws public attention to the role of mangroves in protecting the community’s marine resources.   

 

The Shariff Kabunsuan festival of Cotabato City is a grandiose portrayal of how the city was introduced to the Islamic faith.   From the province bearing the shariff’s name,  the town of Upi presents the Meguyaya Festival which highlights their ritual traditions in a grand celebration prior to beginning the work cycle.  Sultan Kudarat displays its opulent coronation rites in the Kang’Gelal, while Parang presents its Buklod Festival as a show of unity and peaceful coexistence among Muslims and Christians.

 

From the young township of Mamasapano, Maguindanao comes the eternal story of of ill-fated love and a community’s quest for peace in the Kalilintad festival.  And finally, from Lamitan, Basilan is the Lami-Lamihan, a joyous festivity showcasing the skill of their master weavers as the Yakan chieftains gather to preserve and propagate their cultural heritage.

Aliwan Fiesta is now on its sixth year, and will be held on May 1-3, with the grand culminating parade traversing Roxas Boulevard from Quirino Grandstand to the Aliw Theater at the CCP Complex. 

Cebu Pacific (CEB), the country’s leading airline to the ASEAN region, will start flying direct from Cebu to Boracay (Caticlan), Macau and Bangkok starting April 4, 5 and 6, respectively, giving passengers to and from the Visayas and Mindanao region convenient access to Boracay and to the Asian region.

With the two additional international services, CEB now flies seven non-stop services from Cebu including Hong Kong, Pusan, Seoul, Singapore and Taipei.

Candice Iyog, CEB spokesperson said, “With these three new routes, we hope to further raise foreign travel interest and boost tourism and trade across the country. This will also provide greater flexibility and convenience for those who are based in the Visayas and Mindanao region.”

Meanwhile, Department of Tourism (DOT) Region 7 director, Patria Aurora Roa, said, “The industry is delighted, especially the Department of Tourism, about the additional flights coming into Cebu because it will open up opportunities for foreign tourists to have more access to Cebu.”

“We congratulate Cebu Pacific and we hope that they can make both Macau and Bangkok flights viable. In fact, DOT is willing to make the flights even more viable through hosting familiarization tours for media who want to write about Cebu,” Roa added.

CEB is the biggest airline operating in Cebu offering 254 domestic flights and 58 international flights weekly; more than 300 flights a week. Whereas, closest competition operate a total of 168 flights a week.

Now in its 13th year, CEB continues to have the youngest fleet in the Philippines. CEB flies to 12, soon to be 15 international destinations, with the addition of Ho Chi Minh, Hanoi, and Kaohsiung. CEB also operates flights to 21 domestic destinations.

PILAR, Siargao Island, April 02 (PNA)–Seventy participants have confirmed their attendance in the 1st Siargao Invitational Game Fishing Tournament scheduled April 16 to 19, according to Surigao del Norte Rep. Francisco T. Matugas.

Matugas gave an additional P200,000 from his provincial development assistance program (PDAF) for the big event.

The solon met Tuesday with Siargao Island’s nine mayors and ranking officials of government agencies involved in the tournament, such as the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and Department of Tourism (DoT).

Aside from several activities during the four day fishing competition,

A “Miss Siargao” contest, in the charge of Dapa Mayor Peter Ruaya is expected to add color to the four-day festivities.

The tournament to is the first of its kind in the southern island and President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, a surfing dilettante, is the scheduled guest of honor and speaker at the opening ceremonies at the Magpopongko Beach.

Among the entries are those from Australia, United States of America, Hongkong, Japan, Malaysia, Korea and Indonesia, and other neighboring Asian countries.

Matugas added that three of the country’s national and prestigious game fishing clubs, the Philippine Game Fishing Foundation, the Philippine Sports Fishing Club and the Silver Jack Fishing Club of Manila, have also confirmed participation.

Meanwhile, in an effort to make other tourist destinations accessible in this so called “Siargao Island of Paradise”, where the famous surfing sports haven is also located, the DPWH is also fast-tracking several multi-million infrastructure projects in the island.

Concurrently, Ratugas said the DPWH regional and provincial district engineering offices and local government units (LGUs)are cementing the P130-million Dapa-Del Pilar section of the highway.

Construction and improvement of the P140-million airport’ terminal, runway extension, parking area, fencing and ATO offices is ongoing while a P70-million bridges in General Luna is alo under construction. (PNA)
/BJ/MUC/mec

Philippine News Agency

SUBIC, April 01 (PNA) — Zoobic Safari, which brought to Subic the only tiger safari adventure in the country, is now offering a bigger, improved animal show, plus an educational camp for adventuresome kids and adults.

“Want to see poodles that waltz, monkeys that act, pigs hurdling obstacles, or dogs dancing tinikling? Then Zoobic Safari is just the place for you,” said company chief executive officer Robert Yupangco.

Yupangco, who opened several new attractions recently in this popular theme park, said Zoobic Safari launched early this month the “Zummer Zoobic Safari” program, with additional facilities and entertainment features that the whole family would surely enjoy.

“You can do so many things here,” he said. “You could go camping. We have a boot camp, with a course. You can learn different things like how to breed animals.”

Under the special summer program, Zoobic Safari has headlined its daily entertainment fare with an animal show, where Jenny the monkey impresses the audience with her acting skills, Vera the dog successfully undergoes a tricky question-and-answer segment, while poodles dance and show their athletic prowess, and potbellied pigs jump and fool around.

Then, a tour of the whole theme park follows, with tour guides providing trivia about the golden pheasants, tarsiers, albino water buffalos, moon bear, camels and other animals featured in the park.

The tour would actually take half a day, at least, as it includes a visit to the “Rodent World,” which has specimens of cloud rat, one of the biggest rodents in the world; the “Rodent Saloon,” which is equipped with small bath tubs, hair blower and shampoo for its tiny furry customers; the “Serpentarium,” which has a collection of pythons and other reptiles; and the “Tiger Safari”, where visitors ride on metal-screened jeepneys to get close to tigers roaming in their natural grassland habitat.

The tour, of course, wouldn’t be complete without going to the “Savannah,” where ostriches, potbellies, wild bears and guinea fowls roam freely; the “Animal Muzooeum”, which boasts a rare collection of stuffed wild animals and mounted animal skeletons; and the “Croco Loco,” which, of course, features live crocodiles.

The tour is capped later in the afternoon with an animal parade, where representative specimens of all the animals in the park, both wild and domesticated, are brought out in a parade that is actually a modern take of the biblical story of Noah’s ark.

Despite the overwhelming number of attractions at Zoobic Safari, Yupangco said, the theme park is only about 30 percent completed.

“We have yet so much to do, and I think 50 years is not enough to accomplish all that,” Yupangco said with a laugh.

“We now have 50 tigers here, but we will soon introduce white tigers. A lot of zebras and giraffes are also coming in, and yes, an elephant.”

Yupangco also mentioned plans for animal races, which include greyhounds, horses and quite surprisingly, even chicken. This is in addition to Zoobic’s ongoing breeding program for endangered animals, and a “pit bull program”, which trains what are otherwise known as fighting dogs for the non-aggressive activity of racing.

And more is yet to come, as the management is currently working to add to the list more adventure rides, a forest camp with trailers painted in tiger stripes, as well as fishing and canoeing.

Early this month, Zoobic also broke ground for its latest project —the “Aeta’s Way,” which would enable tourists to experience how it is like to live close to nature, as the indigenous people of the Subic Bay Freeport still do.

For this project, Yupangco said, a parcel of the theme park would be developed, complete with air-conditioned cottages and first-class amenities of modern living.

This seemed ironic, as Yupangco himself admitted, adding that the idea was for Zoobic Safari visitors to get a grasp of the Aeta lifestyle without sacrificing comforts.

For those who really want to do it the hard way, he said, he might allot a portion of the park just for that kind of adventure. (PNA)
LDV/BAC/utb

Philippine News Agency