This story
was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly
newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com, www.bulatlat.net, www.bulatlat.org).
Vol. V, No. 49, January 22-28, 2006
Baguio City's
Panagbenga Festival Kicks Off January 30
The 11th Baguio Flower Festival or Panagbenga
opens on January 30 and the revelry is highlighted by the parade of flowers on
February 25 and 26. Visitors to Baguio City (246 kms from Manila) will be very
excited about the various activities lined up this year. Equally interesting,
however, is the political bickering that surrounds this festival which has
become not just as a tourist attraction but also a money-making opportunity for
unscrupulous officials.
BY LYN V. RAMO
BAGUIO CITY — It’s all systems go for the
staging of the 11th Baguio Flower Festival or Panagbenga officially
handled by the Baguio Panagbenga Flower Festival Association (BFFA).
The impasse on the holding of the city’s major
crowd-drawing event appears resolved, ushering in more than a month of revelry
from January 30 to March 12.
To answer Baguio City Mayor Braulio Yaranon’s
query clarifying the rule of law as invoked by both the BFFA and the Baguio
Flower Festival Foundation (BFFFI), DILG Regional Director Everdina Doctor
issued a statement in December 2005 that an Executive Order or an Administrative
Order has more power than a mere resolution because the latter is only a
temporary measure.
Doctor clarified that the city council's
Resolution 294-05 returning the management of the flower festival to the BFFFI,
is merely an expression of the legislative body’s opinion. However, it does not
have the force and effect of a law and cannot be treated as superior to an
executive order issued by the mayor, Doctor added.
Yaranon and BPFFA co-chairpersons Bishop Carlito
Cenzon and Nelia Cid revealed that during the weekly Ugnayang Panglungsod that
several groups, including those in other regions, will participate in the
Panagbenga, thus making this year’s celebration a showcase of a truly
cosmopolitan city of a unique character and a melting pot of several
cultures.
Despite political bickering which delayed the
preparations, the festival has attracted several other provinces to participate,
according to Cenzon. La Union towns of Naguilian, Burgos, Bauang and San
Fernando City will join the market encounter with their basi (cane wine),
buyboy (tiger grass brooms) and cultural presentations. La Trinidad
will come with its flowers and strawberries. According to Cenzon, even
provinces in the south like Masbate are coming.
Chinese, Japanese and Korean cultural tradeshows
will also be featured in three separate dates. The Office of Muslim Affairs will
also participate.
The festival opens on January 30 with the
launching of Barangay Landscaping and Salad Garden contests; and the
inauguration of the Burnham Lake Lights. Sen. Pia Cayetano, a frequent visitor,
will grace the occasion. Earlier, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo accepted
the invitation, but recent developments in the country necessitated the
cancellation of GMA’s provincial trips.
The yearly spectacular street dancing and
drum-and-lyre competition, now dubbed as Flower Power Parade will be on February
25 followed by the Float Parade and marching band competition or the Flowers on
the Go parade on Feb. 26.
Yaranon maintained that the holding of the 2006
Panagbenga will be solely in the hands of the Baguio community and not the
politicians. “There is only one Panagbenga and this is the Panagbenga of the
Baguio people ,” he said appealing to parties to stop sowing confusion by saying
that there are two Panagbenga celebrations.
The BFFFI also launched its own flower festival
on December 3 after BPFFA has launched its own earlier. However, because
Yaranon has reserved city streets for the official Panagbenga, parallel
activities by other groups may be staged inside the Camp John Hay, sources said.
with reports from Ace Alegre, Aileen Refuerzo and Julie Fianza/Posted by
Bulatlat © 2006 Bulatlat
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Northern Dispatch
Posted by Bulatlat