17-day Bangus Festival is on
CAMPAIGN FRENZY TAKES A BACK SEAT
ELECTION fever will have to give way in Dagupan starting this week as the Bangus Festival 2010 reels off on April 16 with preliminary events scheduled two days earlier.
Vice Mayor Belen Fernandez, who is seeking re-election, said as chairman of the festivities she has had to sacrifice most of her planned campaign sorties.
“I had to forgo my own campaign because I have a duty to perform, tasked to me by Mayor Alipio Fernandez Jr. and the people of Dagupan City,” said the vice mayor.
Starting off on April 14 with a new feature, the ‘Trabaho at Iba Pa’ sponsored by the Department of Labor and Employment, the festival will be on until May 1, exactly in time for the annual Pista’y Dayat at the Dagupan Blue Beach.
On April 15, the new 3-storey Philippine National Police (PNP) station on A.B. Fernandez Avenue West will be inaugurated.
The festival’s main opening salvo will be April 16 with the holding of ‘Araw ng mga Bata’, which will be marked by a parade of children on the city’s streets, from Arellano to the Plaza.
Vice Mayor Fernandez said the opening activity promises to be colorful and strictly for children with the arrival of child actor Zaijan Jaranilla, popularly known for his character as ‘Santino’ in a TV series, and TV personality Erich Gonzales.
Fernandez said the Bangus Festival on its ninth year is intended not just for adults and the youth but also “the children who will carry the torch in Dagupan to the next generation”.
Among the sports events lined up are the 23rd PKP National Open and Age Group Championship, Mayor Al Fernandez Bowling Cup and Milo Sports Clinic. An Earth Day Fun Run also set on April 21.
ECONOMIC BENEFITS
Meanwhile, Fernandez stressed anew that the Dagupan Festival is for the Dagupenos, who should reap economic benefits from the event.
She noted that as in past Bangus Festivals, all who turn the wheels of the economy in Dagupan earned, including the jeepney and tricycle drivers, peanut and corn vendors, the fish and meat vendors as well as owners of restaurants and hotels, among others.
The Bangus Festival also features events focused on promoting the city’s products. These include the “Pigar-Pigar Festival, “Halo-halo, Sa Malamig”, Bangus Rodeo, Bangus Food Strip, Restaurant Showcase, “Treasure of the North”, and a cookfest with the special participation of the “Tossed Salad” of Baguio City.
For entertainment, there will be the ‘Gilon-gilon ed Dalan’, to be followed by the ‘Festivals of the North’, the ‘Pista’y Dayat and the crowd-drawing Bangusan Street Party as the culminating event.
Other activities scheduled are a Pet Fashion Show Exhibit by the Venerable Knight-Lady Veterinarians Fraternity headed by Dr. Saisy Macaraeg, and a trade fair.
Fernandez said political candidates will not be allowed to post or display their propaganda materials along the De Venecia Expressway Extension and neither will they be allowed to make speeches atop erected platforms. –LM
Share your Comments or Reactions
Powered by Facebook Comments
