Cebu’s Sinulog grand parade draws thousands By Jolene Bulambot Visayas Bureau First Posted 17:30:00 01/20/2008
CEBU CITY, Philippines--Thousands of spectators trooped to the streets as early as 8 a.m. on Sunday as over 137 participating contingents, including dance troupes, floats, puppeteers and higantes (giant parade figures), joined Sunday's Sinulog Grand Parade.
The Sinulog is Cebu City's biggest annual event, attracting foreign and local tourists.
It was scorching hot earlier in the day Sunday and a little bit cloudy towards late afternoon but the Sinulog Grande Parade continued to excite thousands of Cebuanos and visitors. The parade has become a venue to promote other destinations and festivals.
This year, 12 out-of-town contingents came to participate in the street parade. The 12 included those coming from Camarines Sur, Hilongos in Leyte, Bien Unido town in Bohol, Surigao City, Cabadbaran City in Agusan del Norte, Tangub City in Misamis Occidental, Iligan City, Isulan in Sultan Kudarat, Shariff Kabunsuan, San Carlos City in Negros Occidental, Sta. Catalina and Jimalalud towns in Negros Oriental.
During the grand opening of the Sinulog Mardi Gras, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña said the Sunday's celebration was the biggest in the 28 years since the festivity started.
Osmeña said the celebration this year drew thousands of spectators from all over the country and even other parts of the world.
He attributed the event's success to the unsung heroes who made the Sinulog festival an internationally reknowned activity.
The street dancing started at about 9 a.m. and was expected to last until early evening as 137 contingents participated in the annual event. The familiar "higantes," the giant painted figures made of paper maché and wood, awed crowds once again.
A slight drizzle early afternoon did not dampen the crowd's enthusiasm as the contingents, going around the parade routes, continued to put on a show.
At least 2,000 uniformed police and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) personnel, together with 14,000 volunteers manned the streets to keep the crowd from overflowing into the parade route.
Personalities like Senator Mar Roxas also watched the presentation at the Cebu City Sports Complex Grandstand.
Lawyer Raymund Fortun, spokesperson of former president Joseph Estrada’s defense panel in his impeachment trial, was not just a spectator but was taking photographs of the various sights. Fortun told the Philippine Daily Inquirer (parent company of INQUIRER.net) that the Sinulog, for him, has been the best subject for photography.
The Sunday's Sinulog offered total cash prize of P4 million, with first prize winners for the Sinulog-based and free interpretation categories getting P500,000 each.
Except for problems in crowd control, police did not have to deal with any major hitches on Sunday.
Copyright 2008 Visayas Bureau. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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