Gov. Davide plans agri-fair, shorter one-week anniversary celebration

This year’s founding anniversary of Cebu province will be trimmed to a one-week celebration, no longer a month-long calendar of activities as practiced by former governor Gwendolyn Garcia.

Gov. Hilario Davide III said he wanted a “simple yet meaningful” celebration of Cebu’s 444th anniversary that opens with an agricultural fair.

Davide said he already met with Capitol department heads to start planning the events.

“The anniversary celebration will only last a week. Anyway, we can still declare August as the founding month but the activities will only be week-long,” he told reporters.

Last week, Davide said he found some of the events from the previous administration like the Governor’s Ball and the Pasigarbo sa Sugbo as “too expensive and unnecessary.”

A final decision on whether to hold them has yet to be made.

Davide said he will review the programs with Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale.

The Pasigarbo sa Sugbo or “Festival of Festivals” is a contest participated in by all towns and cities to showcase their different local fiestas.

Dance contingents converge in Cebu City to compete for cash prizes of almost P1 million for the winning performer, making it the province counterpart for the Sinulog Festival in January.

The winner in the Pasigarbo dance showdown gets to represent the Province of Cebu as the Capitol’s contingent in the Sinulog.

The anniversary of the provincehood of Cebu is traced to the appointment by Spain’s King Philip II of Miguel Lopez de Legasapi as governor of Cebu on August 6, 1569.

A 1993 Provincial Board resolution set August 6 every year as the province’s foundation day. Republic Act 8952 declares August 6 a special non-working holiday in Cebu province including the highly urbanized cities of Cebu and Lapu-Lapu. /Peter L. Romanillos, Correspondent