MEMBERS of a delegation from Quezon province wear costumes made of coconut fiber at the 21st staging of the Baguio Flower Festival, which was noticeably free from candidates. EV ESPIRITU/INQUIRER NORTHERN LUZON
BAGUIO CITY—Candidates in the May 9 elections stayed away from the 21st staging of the Panagbenga street dancing on Saturday, heeding the request of its organizers.
School children and performers from other provinces danced through downtown Baguio and proceeded to Burnham Park, where a giant billboard proclaimed the activity as an apolitical affair.
“The Grand Street Parade [and] the Grand Float Parade [that will be staged today, Feb. 28] are not political events and should not be construed as one,” said the sign.
“No political personalities may join the grand parades,” except for incumbent officials, the organizers said, warning that the festival’s peace and order committee had been tasked with physically removing attention-grabbing candidates from the premises if they ignored this rule.
But some candidates were able to work around a loophole. Private vehicles, which displayed campaign posters, were parked near the parade route. Some of the vehicles were playing campaign jingles.
Informed about the vehicles, organizers said they “campaigned at their own risk” because people who joined the past Panagbenga parades considered campaigning during the festivities as annoying distractions.
Since Friday night, buses had been bringing people mostly from Metro Manila, La Union and Pangasinan to watch the parade and to join concerts scheduled over the weekend.
This year’s street dancing drew 20 participating schools and visiting performers from Ilocos Norte, Quezon and Kalinga provinces.
A group of children paraded with giant yellow petals strapped to their backs, while another set of performers carried orange parasols to match their fiery pink outfits.
The Quezon delegation featured women who marched in costumes made of coconut fiber, a marketable commodity which the province had wanted to showcase.
Kalinga sent two delegations, one set of which carried parts of a large photograph. When they put the pieces together, they displayed popular Kalinga tattoo artist Whang-od.
Traffic was not as bad as expected. Vehicles along main roads and inner city streets experienced slow but smooth traffic flow as many residents stayed home to watch the telecast of the parade.
People occupied the downtown sidewalks as early as 7 a.m. Many hotels were fully booked for the weekend. The Baguio public market, which was decorated with plastic flowers and giant sunflower drawings pasted on jute sacks, reported brisk sales of strawberries, jams and salad vegetables.
US Ambassador to the Philippines Philip Goldberg addressed the crowd at the Baguio Athletic Bowl, where the street dancers converged, and said Baguio City was the foundation of the special ties between the Philippines and United States.
Baguio and city landmarks like Camp John Hay were designed and built by the American colonial government in the 1900s. “We encourage [everyone] to continue this tradition and we appreciate our long relationship with the people of Baguio and the Cordillera,” Goldberg said. Reports from Vincent Cabreza, Jessica Tabilin and EV Espiritu, Inquirer Northern Luzon