Ormoc City brings back Piña Festival

COLOR ME PINEAPPLE | Contingents of dancers in colorful costumes perform during the revival of the Piña Festival in Ormoc City on June 26. The event, staged to promote the city’s pineapple industry, has been revived this year following a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic. (PHOTO COURTESY OF ELITE)

ORMOC CITY—After a two-year hiatus, this city again staged its Piña Festival to help revive its tourism industry as well as promote its world-class pineapples grown in the numerous plantations in this rapidly growing urban center in Leyte province.

Former Ormoc City Mayor Richard Gomez, who presided over the festival’s revival before he relinquished his post, said he was pleased with the turnout, which drew in at least 20,000 people during the culminating activity on June 26, including the performers in this year’s festival.

“This means people would really want to go out of their homes and see that we have a good COVID-19 program here,” said Gomez, who is now the newly elected representative of Leyte’s fourth congressional district.

Gomez has swapped places with his wife, Lucy Torres Gomez, the former congresswoman of the district who is now the mayor of Ormoc.

The last time Ormoc held its Piña Festival was in 2019, barely a year before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The pandemic prohibited local governments across the country from holding mass gatherings.

Some health protocols and restrictions in Ormoc have already been lifted before the festival was held, as the coronavirus cases in the city had significantly dropped, with not a single new active case reported as the month of June ended.

Presenting a quick-response code before entering establishments and government offices was no longer required.

Wearing a face mask was still required but those who were seen in public without it would not be arrested.

While cases of COVID-19 in Ormoc have decreased, Gomez reminded residents to continue following the health protocols.

“We are still in the midst of a pandemic. You have to take care of yourself,” he said.

Piña Festival was one of the programs of the local government to help promote the pineapple industry in the city.

Ormoc is known to produce one of the country’s sweetest pineapples that are being exported to other countries, mainly in the Middle East.

At least 500 hectares of land in Ormoc are dedicated to growing pineapple, with over 100 tons of the fruit harvested every year.

—JOEY GABIETA

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