Bohol stages Sandugo Festival sans street dancing

HIGHLIGHT The street dance competition is the highlight of the monthlong Sandugo Festival held every July in Bohol province as shown in this photo taken in 2018. But this has been suspended since the coronavirus pandemic struck in 2020. —LEO UDTOHAN

TAGBILARAN CITY—Despite the decline in COVID-19 cases, organizers of the monthlong Sandugo Festival in Bohol province have decided to cancel its street dance competition.

The Isang Dugo Foundation, which organized the festival together with the provincial government of Bohol, said the dance competition has to be dropped for the third straight year due to the ongoing pandemic.

The annual street dancing is usually held on the third Sunday of July to commemorate the Treaty of Friendship between Datu Sikatuna, a chieftain in Bohol, and Spanish conquistador Miguel López de Legazpi through a blood compact in 1565.

But other in-person activities of the celebration like the Agri-Fair, Milk Festival and Night Market were allowed.

Milk program

Last Tuesday, farmers and fisherfolk in Ubay town celebrated the sixth Milk Festival, which aims to push the province’s stature as the dairy capital of the Philippines.

It also highlighted the community-based feeding program where children received free bottled milk.

Bohol Gov. Aris Aumentado said the provincial government will fund the “Bol-anong Gatas” program to ensure that local fresh milk has a market, provide livelihood to dairy farmers and continue to provide nutrition to children.

This year’s Milk Festival, with the theme “Pag-amoma sa Kabataan, Abot sa Gatas Pasidak-an” (Nurturing Children, Reaching Milk Enough), was organized by the Office of the Provincial Veterinarian in collaboration with various agencies, such as the Philippine Carabao Center in Ubay and National Dairy agency.

Bohol has been pushing for the improvement of the dairy industry. Only 2 percent of the total national dairy requirement is produced in the country, while 98.2 percent are imports.

In Bohol, at least 2,000 hybrid carabaos are found at the Philippine Carabao Center at the 3,000-hectare Ubay Stock Farm.

The festival also has nightly events at the airport grounds, featuring various bands and entertainers. Vaccination cards are needed to gain entrance to the events.

Next week, the provincial government will hold the Sandugo Job Fair 2022, the capitol’s first in-person job fair since the pandemic started two years ago. It will be participated by 20 local companies and 15 overseas recruitment agencies.

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