In Cagayan, mural painting tilt highlights community cooperation

WALL ART An artist puts finishing touches on his entry to the mural painting competition, which uses as canvas the concrete wall of the Cagayan Sports Complex in Tuguegarao City, on June 14. The mural by James Perlas and Shamae Abulencia from the University of Saint Louis-Tuguegarao won second place with a P30,000 cash prize. The event is part of the monthlong “Aggao Nac Cagayan” celebration in the province. —Villamor Visaya Jr.

TUGUEGARAO CITY, CAGAYAN, Philippines — Thirty-four groups of young students from various colleges in the province painted colorful artworks depicting cooperation among people in a mural art painting competition as part of the 441st “Aggao Nac Cagayan” celebration in this city.

The event, staged last Friday at the Cagayan Sports Coliseum, focused on the theme “Endless Fun Cagayan.”

The mural work of Rhov Zedrick Tamayo, Orven Marantan, and Zean Jeter Tolentino, all first-year college students of the University of Saint Louis Tuguegarao (USLT) taking up a Bachelor of Science in Architecture, bagged first place with P40,000 prize.

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The same group won second place at the staging of the mural painting contest last year.

Their painting, which was inspired by the theme of the celebration “Pagguruffunan: Endless Fun Cagayan,” featured a boat carrying images of Gov. Manuel Mamba and other Cagayanos of different ethnicities and professions.

“It is a symbol of the cooperation of all people. Leadership is not only for one person; pagguruffunan (Ybanag for helping each other) can offer a lot. The upper and lower part of the mural is the new tagline of the government, which is ‘Love the Philippines.’ Just like the Philippines, Cagayan has a lot to offer,” Tamayo said in an interview on Friday.

The two-man group of James Perlas and Shamae Abulencia, also from USLT, won P30,000 for their second-place win, while Edgar Raquino, Karl Vince Tabia and Maureen Claire Bugaring of the Cagayan State University (CSU)-Carig Campus took home P20,000 as third-placers. Nonwinning groups were awarded P7,500 each as consolation prizes.

‘Worth the experience’

Mural artist Whelmei Yadao, 21 and a business administration second-year student at St. Anthony’s College in Santa Ana, Cagayan, said she and her fellow students participated in the event to hone their skills.

“Even though we did not win, we gained experience,” Yadao told the Inquirer on Friday.

Another mural artist, Divine Soriano, 19, an architecture student of CSU-Carig, said they spent about 14 hours finishing their artwork.

Despite the hard work, Soriano said, “it is worth the experience that we gained.”

Provincial engineer Kingston James dela Cruz, who was in charge of the competition, said the art industry in Cagayan was still not popular but was “getting there.”

“Like our museum and tourism right now, we are pushing our artists to come out and let themselves [participate] not only in mural painting but to other forms of arts. This mural painting contest opens young students to expose themselves,” said Dela Cruz.