ANTIQUE IN PERSPECTIVE
By Jun Escalona, Antique Bureau Chief

Binirayan 2005 a successful festival

In spite of the many criticisms, this year's Binirayan Festival was widely celebrated. It is perhaps one of the joyous festivities in a decade, notably just a manifestation of the desire of the people for a better deal.

Of course, there were a few snags here or there, but was drown in the popular wish of Antiqueños for an event to look back at their roots and reminded that they descended from a great race, an amalgam of Malay and Ati influences. Of course, nobody wants to believe he is a descendant of the aboriginal Ati, but of Malay race. Whether we like it or not, however, we came from both, in culture or by ethnic group.

Quite everyone believes that the success of the festival is a manifestation of support of Antiqueños to their leader who has done so much in a short time without counting the cost. Private business seems to respond positively. The current progress shows in a building boom experienced never before in Antique.

Many businesses have sprouted particularly in the capital town of San Jose. Private business is an indicator of progress, everywhere they may happen. It reflects investor confidence in the economy and leadership of the place. Ask anyone from neighboring provinces who has frequented Antique for a long time. They say the developments in the past five years or so, has so far exceeded that of the past twenty years.

We do not want to conjecture, nor advance a guess. Other people may have other interpretations and assumptions, economic or political. Let us leave it at that, that Antique maybe, just maybe, is finally on its way to progress.

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Sibalom Mayor in a Dilemma?

A news item carried by a regional paper: It seems that Mayor Eric Lotilla of Sibalom did not support the town's participation in Binirayan 2005 after having threatened to have a private sector group arrested if caught soliciting support from the people to participate in the Binirayan Festival. When pressed for any ordinance violated, he could not present a valid restriction to deny the private sector from receiving donations for the festival participation of the PEOPLE OF SIBALOM.

So named, the group led by a long-time resident of the U.S. represents the sentiments of Sibalomnons regarding the celebration of Antique's prime festival. A reliable source here disclosed it seems that the governor denied the mayor's making his town's participation as some kind of leverage. We learned that Gov. Perez appointed Dr. Jardenil Chief of Hospital in Sibalom, contrary to the wishes of the mayor's wife who is admin officer there.

The news item carries the story, thus:

“The Binirayan Foundation Inc. (BFI), the organizer of the provincial festival, after its letter of invitation was sent out to all municipalities, asked for the Sibalom mayor's confirmation whether to join or not in any of the lined up activities. But the mayor dilly-dallied on committing and as the festival date came closer, some civic minded Sibalom folks organized a task force mostly from the private sector to field participation to Binirayan. They called themselves “the PEOPLE of SIBALOM” chaired by Mr. Leandro ‘Commonwealth' M. Maza, a balikbayan who spent most of his life in the United States but decided to retire in his hometown. Their participation, according to observers spelled SUCCESS!