Koronadal's 12th Hinugyaw Festival and Piyesta Korona 2012

It was a wonderful venture being part of  the six Soccsksargen Bloggers who were invited  by the LGU of the city of Koronadal. We get to experience first hand the celebration of the 12th Hinugyaw Festival and Piyesta Korona, which is also in conjunction with the city's 72nd Foundation Anniversary. 

Our day started early with a civic parade in  Koronadal's main thoroughfares. Afterwards, school kids from the elementary and high-school levels braved the rainy outbursts for the marching band/ drum and lyre competition in the South Cotabato Sports Complex. It was nice to watch these talented kids do their stuff marching and doing cart wheels while the rest did wonders with their huge base drums and cymbals. 

I am also proud to mention that the laurels of the drum and lyre open competition was brought home by the Eugenio Ranada Elementary School and the Christian School of Polomolok, both coming from my home base - Polomolok. *wink *wink 

The afternoon festivities for the Piyesta Korona started with a flourish as beautiful maidens (ahem and x-men too) strutted their beautiful rendition of Mardi Gras inspired costumes in the streets. It was a photographer's dream being able to take photos of the contestants up close. Registered photo hobbyists joining their photo contest (including us bloggers) were allowed access inside the cordoned area. So we can mingle and take photos according to our fancy. I only posted a few here, but you can view more of the photos in our facebook page. 

A little trivia for you: Piyesta Korona is the brainchild of current Mayor Peter B. Miguel to give emphasis on the "korona" or crown which might aptly describe the city of Koronadal. The event was composed of three different categories: Hinugyaw street dancing, Mardi Gras individual category and the Floats with their festival queens all focusing on the theme "crown".

Below is the winner of this year's Mardi Gras individual category. What I love about this contingent is the ingenious way they presented their idea in a very mardi-grah-ish way. The painted face and the huge crown all screamed mardi gras to me. :) I felt like being in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil just looking at him. 

Of course who would not notice the energy and hype of the nine participants in the street dancing competition..never mind that the street dancing lasted until late in the evening, but not once did I get droopy eyes all trough out just watching them perform. Some of the participants came from as far as Cotabato city and they all did a wonderful and entertaining presentation.

To cap the evening's celebration, the members of the LGU of the city of Koronadal released colorful lanterns while a grand fireworks display wowed the throng of people who attended the festival (including me :).

Kudos to the organizers of the 12th Hinugyaw Festival and Piyesta Korona. It was indeed a successful and fun event. 

Other Soccsksargen Bloggers who attended the 12th Hinugyaw Festival culmination day and the Piyesta Korona were: Avel Manansala of Gensantos.com, Doc Remo Aguilar of TacurongCity.net, Arzeriel Garcera of Pinasbackpackers.com, Aethan Yting of Aethanoscopy and Nanrdxz of South Cotabato News.

I would also like to thank our hosts headed by Hon. Mayor Peter B. Miguel- who incidentally is also the festival director;  Mr. Francis Sablon - asst. festival director, the members of the LGU of Koronadal City and the Sox blogger's official residence during the 12th Hinugyaw Festival - Cresta Del Rio Splash Resort.

12th Lubi-Lubi Festival

In Glan, Sarangani Province, they have a high regard for the coconut. The coconut after all is a major source of livelihood in this area of Southern Mindanao. It is the reverence they hold for the coconut that   they celebrate the Lubi Lubi sa Glan Festival every 8th of October. 

Lubi lubi is a native name for the coconut. They celebrate its benefits and multiple uses by a dance festival. Grooving their feet to the rythm of drums.  

They also give reverence not only to the lubi lubi but to their patron saint, Sta. Catalina de Alexandria

What I love about this festival is the painted faces and bodies of the participants. You can see a variety of painted faces and colorful costumes here. Often, I marvel at the intricacies of each costume's detail. 

Truly they go all the way when it comes to the Lubi lubi festival. And then it also helps that the prize money here is a whopping one hundred thousand pesos for the lucky winner! :) At least it only shows that the local government here give importance and therefore really alot budget to this festival.

Glan offers not only its pristine beaches but a wealth of culture and the arts. 

Given that this festival has already been on for 12 years, we wondered why  it was not well documented. Why do I think that? I tried googling it and I only came up with LGU published posts. So I wondered, why do photographers (and bloggers alike) seem to shy away from attending this festival when the street dancing was one of the most colorful we've ever been to. And then the 3 photo hobbyists from the camera club who came all the way to Glan had to stop shooting since the place intended for photographers were suddenly blocked by people from Glan themselves.  Blocking their view therefore preventing them from taking any more photos. :) Poor crowd control? Maybe.

So sad, when photographers (and bloggers alike) should have been their partners in promoting this event. They are also like tourists so to speak. If people here, start being really friendly to tourists (well, bloggers and photo hobbyists included) maybe more people would start enjoying this festival along with the locals.. --just my two cents worth on this, no offense meant. :)

13th Gensan's Tuna Festival

For this year's 13th Gensan's Tuna Festival, the generals along with their guests, tourists and pollanders like moi were wowed with this year's celebration. The activities were upped a notch with this year's theme on "Exploring New Depths, Conquering New Challenges". The theme was aptly executed in this year's events. And one of my favorites is the Float Parade...

The floats this year were adorned not only with the usual hoopla but was made more glamorous with the lights that come with it. Another added plus with the floats is the presence of the street dancers, which only made the float parade more festive, giving a party atmosphere which reminds me of Rio's Carnival celebration. The float below is by East Asia Royale Hotel, winner of this year's Float Parade.

Not to be outdone, this year's Street Dancing showdown was also a spectacle to watch. Their theme "Dili na mabangbang, Dili na mapunggan" (well, from my knowledge of the local dialect, that means  - cannot be defeated, cannot be stopped :) Indeed the dancers showed much vigor and energy with each of their numbers, adding  a feeling of festive cheer for everyone who was watching.

Talk about starting them young! These kids were avid performers in the street dancing showdown...

Mr. OSG's motion blur in this photo only shows how fun the street dancing competition turned out to be. No wonder he came home with a scraped knee! (nadapa ata taking this shot-hehehe)

And to cap off the celebrations, a fireworks display was a fitting end to this year's Tuna Festival. See you all next year for another round of Gensan's Tuna Festival!  

The Prestigious Mr and Ms Gensan 2011

Being a travelogue, you might be surprised with this blog post which tackles not about a particular place in my island Mindanao. But, I couldn't let it pass without blogging (bragging actually :) about the Mr and Ms Gensan 2011. People after all are part and parcel of a place's charm and a fitting attraction that lures visitors to South Central Mindanao. 

This prestigious pageant is part of Gensan's Tuna Festival celebration. Organized by topnotch events specialists Project O consultants spearheaded by Gensan's main man - Mr. Orman Manansala. 

What really captured my attention in this pageant right from the very start is the parade of their Festival Attire. They centered on silver and white marine inspired theme. I looove the elegance and extravagance of each detail.

And I am sure, you will never see a festival attire as intricate in detail as what these pageant finalists have donned.

Truly one of a kind, you can only see these in Gensan. I literally felt being in the company of mermaid royalties when each of these beauties came out on stage.

Truly, the participants (the candidates and their designers) didn't want to go half way in their designs. Suddenly, I no longer have any idea what the term "simple" meant. :) Elegance was a picture painted by all of these lovely and handsome candidates.

Have you ever seen a sight as jaw dropping as these?

And of course, the ladies also comes with these handsome mermans donned in their own extravagant designs...enjoy the pictures by MR. OSG.

To this year's winners: Mr. Gensan 2011 Marc Jerick Chan and Miss Gensan 2011 Caroline Lim - congratulations! You have just been lined along Gensan's finest. Our hats off to all the organizers and the people who were part of this awe inspiring pageant.

GTX 1st Lawihan Street dancing and Fish Fest sa Fishport

It has been a successful Tuna Fest so far with the advent of exciting activities such as the Fish Fest sa Fishport and the 1st Lawihan street dancing competition. Unfortunately I wasn't present during these events so I can only give you a general view of what went on during the activity so you have something really wonderful to look forward to for other upcoming events of this year's Tuna Fest.

The 1st Lawihan Street dancing competition was participated by the local fishing and tuna canneries in the area. They paraded early on in their colorful costumes all brandishing the mighty tuna.

1st Lawihan Street dancing showdown with a crowd of onlookers, bloggers and photographers.

One of the contingents giving reverence to the Tuna in a dance showcase

The fish port area served as stage for this year's Lawihan street dancing

GenSan Tuna Festival Experience 2010 .. The Tuna Fest Fever is on!

Last year's Tuna Festival Float Parade

GenSan TunaFestival eXperience 2010 is on! Festival Month of September jampacked with events!

The 2010 Tuna Festival Month of September handled by the General Santos City Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (GSCCCII) as Festival Organizer with City Mayor Darlene Magnolia Antonino-Custodio as Chairperson started on a high note last week.

Guided by the theme "Go Global GenSan: We Are Ready for the World", the jam packed month-long GTx (GenSan Tunafest experience) kicked off on September 2-4, 2010 with the conduct of the 12th National Tuna Congress which broke records in terms of the # of attendees and exhibitors at its Tuna Congress Exhibit held at Family Country Convention Center.

On September 3, 2010, former Senator Mar Roxas came in behalf of Keynote Speaker President Noynoy Aquino to inspire the participants consisting of local and international tuna and fishing industry leaders and stakeholders.

The annual Karagatan Awards that honored the year’s outstanding handline fishmermen were given to the awardees at the Appreciation Dinner that same night at the Isla Parilla Resort in Alabel, Sarangani.

Then on Sunday, the whole city commemorated the 42nd Charter Day Anniversary with a mass at the Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage Parish Church and an Ecumenical Prayer Service and short program at the Gen. Paulino Santos Shrine inside the Plaza Heneral Santos.

This was attended by the city’s business and socio-civic leaders, government workers and officials led by Congressman Jun Acharon, Mayor Darlene Antonino-Custodio, Sarangani Vice-Governor Steve Chiongbian-Solon, the city councilors, among other personages.

Vice-Governor Solon's attendance made the affair more meaningful as it was his grandfather, the former Congressman James Chiongbian who authored the Bill that created General Santos City.

An "Almusal Alay sa Kapwa" spearheaded by the CSWDO followed afterwards which offered free breakfast to the city's less fortunate families.

For the 2nd weekend of the month, on September 10, 2010, the much-awaited concert of the ASAP Sessionistas will happen at Mindanao's largest indoor air-conditioned gymnasium, the GenSan Gym in Barangay Lagao. This is one of the city's biggest gathering of famous performers from Manila and tickets are selling briskly especially now that the concert date is getting near.

The major highlights of the GTx will occur during the week of September 18-26, 2010.

Expect these crowd-drawing beauty and talent search events to dazzle the generals and visitors alike:
• Search for Ginang Bariles on Sept 22
• Search for Ms. GenSan 2010 on Sept 25
• Search for Mr. GenSan 2010 (new event!) on Sept 25
• Gaisano Mall's Search for Munting Mutya ng GenSan 2010 on Sept 26

Then there are these youth-powered dance and singing competitions:
• Pasiklaban Cheer Dance Competition on Sept 18
• Campus Radio's Sayaw Sa Baybay-Kids Edition on Sept 21
• Search for GenSan Pop Idol Year 6 on Sept 22
• GenSan Pop Star Kids Competiion on Sept 23
• Fishdance Hip-Hop Dance Competition on Sept 24
• Search for GenSan Band Idol on Sept 24

The GTx Month is also filled with exciting sports competitions:
• Tuna Motorbike Competition
• Beach Volleyball Competition
• Robinsons' 1st TunaBodis Body-Building Competition
• National Skim Boarding Competition
• HRM Mini-Skills Competition
• Robinsons' Inter-Tribe Tuna Cookfest
• Bombo Radyo's Bancarera

On its own, the FishFest sa Fishport will also have its own set of events for the fishermen on September 22nd:
• Langoy-Bugsay Marathon Challenge
• 1st Lawihan Street Dancing Competition

To enliven the GTx more, there are the parties and concerts!
• Kapamilya Caravan featuring ABS-CBN stars @ KCC on Sept 18 (new!)
• Kapuso Night featuring GMA stars @ KCC on Sept 24 (new!)
• Robinsons' Praize Xtreme Concert on Sept 19
• Foam Parties @ East Asia Royale Hotel with Eli Buendia & PUPIL on Sept 24-25
• Robinsons' Al Fresco Sashimi Night featuring the Best of GenSan Bands on Sept 25
• SMART Communications Concert @ Oval Plaza Stage on Sept 25
• GLOBE Telecoms Concert @ Oval Plaza Stage on Sept 26
• San Miguel Beer Concert @ the Junction on Sept 26

And not to forget the must-see Major Highlights on Culmination Day (Sept 26, 2010):
• Tuna Float Parade Competition @ 9am
• GTX Mardi-Gras Competition (Street Dancing) @ 9m
• Splash in the Sky Fireworks Display @ 7pm

And for three weeks, these attractions will be featured at the City Oval Plaza, the main activity center:
• Tinda-Tinda sa GTx (Flea Market)
• Tuna Food Plaza
• Tuna Fiesta Carnival
• Plantuna Garden Show
• Coca-Cola's Everyday Kainan Happiness Zone
• San Miguel Beer Barkada Zone

For this year's Tuna Festival Month celebration, a new Tuna Festival Theme song will be launched. Entitled "WHOA GENSAN!", this catchy and lively festival theme song commissioned by TunaFest Director and GSCCCII VP Orman O. Manansala, is composed by GenSan's very own "Centerpoint Band" who will first perform it LIVE to the public during the "ASAP Sessionistas Live in Concert" on September 10, 2001 where they will serve as the front act.

With all these events, activities and new attractions in store for GTX festival revelers, expect the Tuna Festival Celebration to upgrade its reputation as the 2nd Best Festival in the Philippines, an award given to the Tuna Capital by the the Association of Tourism Officers of the Philippines (ATOP) in 2009.

Because for sure, this will be the best GenSan's Tuna Festival Experience for the generals and their visitors ever making the city truly MAGANDANG GENSAN!
________________________________________________________________________________

For more information on this year's Tuna Festival, please click on Bariles's link here and/or His Royal Gandaness link here. Thank you Mr. Avel Manansala for the info about GenSan Tuna Fest above! :)

At last year's Tuna Fest... you can challenge him this year! :)

3rd Pinyahan Festival - A Synopsis...

I enjoyed the 3rd Pinyahan Festival so much I realized, i haven't blogged about it! For my new readers, the Pinyahan Festival is Barangay Cannery, Polomolok's festival of sorts, a brainchild of Bgy. Capt. Mariano Superioridad. It has been 3 years in the running and I'm happy to note that every year, it never fails to haul in crowds of spectators both from near and far. This year's organizing/technical working committee headed by Mr. Benjor Dapanas, with Mr. Monsit Jovenes, Ms. Cherry Alday and Ms. Luz Superioridad along with Festival Director Eunice Canda all did a wonderful job! Kudos to you sirs and madams for doing a spectacular job for this year's festival. So let me recap some of my favorite events in the festival for you...

Lumba Kalabaw.  It was a hilarious carabao race which was participated by hardworking carabaos from near and far. Some had to hike a day before the race so their carabaos are in tip-top shape for the race, I even heard about some who had to train their carabaos two months in advance just for the race. For more on this, click here.

Body Fest. First time pageantry featuring well buffed men and women who showcased their fit and sexy bodies. This event merited a lot of hoots and catcalls from both male and female audience. And of all the events, I saw a lot of pictures from this event from the contingents of the Gensan Camera Club photo hobbyists..for sure a lot will look forward to next year's Body Fest since this year's event was definitely a major success.

Pinyahan Festival Queen 2010. It was a parade of beauties as finalists for this year's Pinyahan Festival Queen pageant strutted their stuff in the coronation night. It exuded class and artistry that impressed most visitors from other cities as the organizers made the pageant exude elegance. I even heard that Mr. John Castino a notable instructor at the Notre Dame - Sienna College Polomolok gave the ladies a "Personality Development Seminar" before the pageant..wow parang Ms. Universe?? hehe. For more on this click here

Street-dancing and Showdown Competiton. To give a Mardi Gras atmosphere, the organizers had a common song playing in the background so all the participants had to dance to same beat. They had a Pinyahan Festival theme song made for this event. It made a lot of sense since everybody was dancing to the same tune, it was not confusing for the spectators compared to different drum beats which is quite the norm you see in other street dancing competitions. One thing I missed this year is the green body paint which was supposedly used on the participants like previous years..oh well.. maybe the green body paint will have to make an appearance next year. But then, it still proved to be loads of fun.

In all, the festival was a success, makes me proud to be here and experiencing this first hand. Will definitely look forward to next year's festival and invite more people to witness. Thank you to all the people who came and experience this event with us. Your presence surely made it tons more fun! Hats off to the organizers! 

Enjoy the pictures of Mr. OSG below..

Streetdancing participants in their Dole field worker attire :)

Dance to the beat!

Who says that the young ones cant strut their moves on the streets?

Pinyahan Fest Showdown

Best Body Fest Winners

This year's Pinyahan Festival Queen in her pineapple inspired costume

Pinyahan Festival Queen..love their costumes!

The Lumba Kalabaw race is on!

Pinyahan Festival Queen 2010

The recently concluded Pinyahan Queen pageant at Polomolok's Bgy. Cannery's Pinyahan Festival earned a lot of praises not only by the local community but by visitors of the event near and far. sigh.. so glad! They started off with a showcase of the beauties in a facebook account which you could checkout here. I wouldn't be surprised that at a short time, they were able to have a number of traffic in the site only for the Miss Surfer's Choice award wherein voting was cast by the number of "likes" in the posted photo of the surfer's candidate of choice. These are modern times indeed. =) Enjoy the photos of the candidates in their pineapple inspired costumes below from the lens of Mr. Omar S Gallinero  for Montage Digital Photography, a sponsor of this event.

Truly creative and one of a kind costumes these ladies had in presenting the pineapple. Love, love their costumes!

Another thing I like about this pageant is the way it presented its candidates and the coronation night with class. The organizers definitely did a very good job. It makes me proud that we could do this kind of event that is at par with big pageants in big cities. =) The candidates all came out not only with impressive pineapple costumes but with the same sports wear and gowns.
 
Hats off to the choreographers: Red Carpet Events (made up of Eunezel Marfito, Rogen Eulatec, Rodgiel Delgado, Reynel Calmerin). They did a very good job. Enjoy some of the photos of the event below.

Intermission number from the SLRAP dance troupe

Mr OSG representing Montage Digital Photography presenting the Miss Photogenic Award to candidate 11 (photo courtesy of Mr. Dong Pading)

This year's Ms. Pinyahan Festival Queen (Nikki Jane Francisco)

have to convince her that she won!

The lovely Pinyahan Festival Queens

Hilarious Lumba Kalabaw at the Pinyahan Festival

One of the finalists in the race

Ive just been to the Lumba Kalabaw race of Bgy. Cannery, Polomolok's Pinyahan Festival. It was a lot of fun seeing my first green kalabaw! The “kalabaw” (or kabaw or carabao or water buffalo if you still can’t relate hehe kiddin) is the trusty partner of every farmer. In these parts, they are known as hard working animals usually used by farmers in plowing their fields. So it was unusual to see them running around in a race. Actually, it still baffles me how they were made to run in the direction the jockey wants them to run.

Before the race started, I chatted with one of the carabao jockeys. I was amazed that they actually set two months training in preparation for the race. They took the carabao on jogging sessions every day just to make sure it is well conditioned for running – and to run in the right direction at that! Hehe..

As the race started, the crowd went wild as each carabao headed to the starting line. It was very entertaining to watch the jockeys gear up with their motorcycle helmet (one even had to wear his helmet backwards since he didn’t need the face shield =)), one jockey even thought of wearing knee and elbow pads to keep up with the organizer’s safety conscious stance but decided the last minute not to..hehe. There were moments when the jockey would fall from his carabao, which really had the crowd roaring with laughter and cheers. Not because it was funny that he fell, it was the fighting spirit they had when they still climbed up their carabaos to continue the race. One jockey even had to run side by side with his carabao when he found it difficult to climb back up. And there was one carabao who went wild and decided to run on his own and disregard the jockey altogether. But what was really riotous was the carabao who decided to join the crowd watching the race. =) Enjoy the pictures taken by Mr. OSG below..

Aka Lito Lapid (jockey in blue) doing another stunt..he keeps falling off his carabao but he still keeps on climbing back up! =)

Love the way they wear their helmets backwards =)

Go! Go! Go! the carabaos strutting their stuff, taking their time. =)

The very green carabao of the event who also won additional awards for the beautiful body painting he has on

I was also happy to note that members of the Gensan Camera Club headed by their president, Mr. Omar S. Gallinero (our official photographer ;) were also present to shoot the hilarious event. Mr. Toots Jabido, also from GCC even took a video of the event. Our thanks to those present to cover and celebrate with us: Ariel Oclarit, Toots Jabido, Dong Pading, Dondon Pagunsan, Christian Quito and Polomolok's own Wang Rallos, Bong Maliwat and Percival Evangelio. You can visit their facebook accounts for more pictures on the Lumba Kalabaw and the Pinyahan Festival. Hope to see you guys again soon and thank you for your support!

GCC photo hobbyists at the Lumba Kalabaw. Thanks to Mr. Toots Jabido for this photo =)