Cocowayan Festival of Basilan

I was supposed to attend both the simultaneous Pintados Kasadyaan and the Sangyaw (derived from the Waray word meaning “to herald the news”) Festivals in Tacloban City (Leyte), both held on the month of June, but missed out on the former as my son Jandy still had classes on the day of the parade (June 27).  The Sangyaw Festival’s parade, held on June 29, the day after our arrival, was still worth the visit.  This cultural festival was first created by former First Lady Imelda Marcos in 1974 but was discontinued after 1986.  After an absence of more than 2 decades, it was revived last year by Tacloban City Mayor Alfred S. Romualdez, Imelda’s nephew. 

Image of Sto. Nino de Tacloban

This year’s parade promised to be extra special as it was the 120th celebration of the Fiesta of Sto. Niño de Tacloban, the city’s patron saint, plus Tacloban also just became the first city in the Eastern Visayas Region to be classified as a highly urbanized city.  As with previous parades, our grand view deck for watching the 3-hr., 3-km. long afternoon parade was Avenida Veteranos, packed, since early morning, with thousands of onlookers lining up to watch this unprecedented display of pomp and revelry.

Pattaradday Festival of Isabela

The festival’s street dancing competition was participated in by 17 contingents from different provinces and cities from Luzon (the Pattaradday Festival of Santiago City, Isabela; the Magayon Festival of Legazpi City, Albay; etc.), the Visayas (Sinulog Festival of Cebu City; the Dinagyang Festival of Iloilo City, the Masskara Festival of Bacolod City, Negros Occidental; Kawayan-Banigan Festival of Basey, Samar; etc.) and Mindanao (Bonok Bonok Marajaw Karajaw Festival of Surigao City, the Cocowayan Festival of Isabela de Basilan City, etc.).  Tacloban City’s Tribu Kabatuk, last year’s grand prize winner, was on hand to defend their title.  Cash prizes, for the Open or Free Interpretation Category, plus trophies were up for grabs. 

Kawayan-Banigan Festival of Basey

Like with previous cultural competitions, these street dances depicted Filipino culture and tradition.  Each contingent performed, for 3 mins., in designated streets (Imelda St., Rizal St. and Justice Romualdez St.) before performing, for 5 mins., at the Balyu-an Amphitheater. The dance drama presentation showcased the ingenuity, talent and creativity of the over 1,000 participants as well as the cities, schools and institutions they represented. Makati City was ably represented by its Drum, Lyre and Bugle Corp contingent, dressed in their gay blue and white parade attire. 

The Bonok-Bonok Maradjaw-Karadjaw Festival

The Bonok-Bonok Maradjaw Karadjaw Festival, represented by Surigao City’s West Central Elementary School, grabbed all four minor prizes (PhP50,000 each) in the open category (best in costume, best in musicality, best in street dancing and best in choreography) plus  the PhP500,000 grand cash prize. Second place (Php300,000) went to the Kawayan-Banigan Festival and third place (PhP200,000) went to the Pataraday Festival.  

Alibangbang Festival of Dolina

In the community and school-based category (with 10 participating contingents), best in costume (PhP10,000) went to the Alibangbang Festival of Dolina and best in musicality, street dancing and choreography (PhP10,000 each) to the Eastern Visayas State University (ESU).  The eventual grand champion (winning PhP300,000) was EVSU.  Second place (PhP150,000) went to Holy Infant College and third place (PhP100,000) to Sagkahan.  

Come nighttime, these same people who lined the streets for the parade also filled up Balyuan Barbecue Park and Amphitheater and the Tacloban City Convention Center, venues of concerts and other entertainment for the weeklong socio-cultural festivities.  Business was brisk and hotels and inns were fully booked with tourists, both local and international, truly an indicator of the festival’s success and its worthiness of being returned to the tourist map.

City Tourism Operations Office: City Hall, Kanhuraw Hill, Tacloban City, Leyte.  Tel: (053) 325-8955, (053) 325-2491, (053) 523-9671 & (053) 325-6248.