Dinagyang committee assures fair judging
Iloilo City -- The judging committee for this year's Dinagyang competition gave its assurance that the judges for the tribes contest will be fair and competent.
Dr. Roseller Cabado, member of the judging committee, gave the assurance yesterday morning, during a press conference with the Iloilo City Hall Press Corps.
None of the judges are from Iloilo. According to Cabado, the judges they chose were from Metro Manila, Davao, Bacolod, Dumaguete among others.
They, Cabado said, referring to the judges, were chosen based on their competence. All of the fifteen judges-three for each judging area-are connected with the National Commission for the Culture and the Arts.
"We will try, as much as possible, not to give rise to impressions of bad judging,"; he stressed, although he noted that "people usually have their own favorites."
Commenting further on the fact that there will always be objections against the judges' decisions, Cabado said that viewers do not appreciate the tribe's contest the way the judges do.
"They look at it from all angles,"; Cabado said of the judges.
This year would be the second time that the Dinagyang committee has 'imported' judges.
Cabado also brushed aside notions that the judges-not being natives of Iloilo-have no idea of what the tribes are trying to depict.
"They are knowledgeable,"; he said. "In fact, it is the NCCA that oversees all the festivals in the country.";