7 groups to wow crowd in Tultugan Festival ‘06
Seven competing groups from Maasin's high school and elementary schools would try to outdo each other in wowing the audience when they take centerstage for the tribal competitions of this year's Tultugan Festival in this bustling municipality some 30 kilometers south of Iloilo City Friday this week.
The seven participating groups are those from Quiling National High School, Maasin National Comprehensive High School, Siwalo National High School, Burak National High School, Layog National High School, Tigbauan National High School, and Maasin Central Elementary School.
According to Mayor Mariano Malones, Sr., visitors and guests who plan to troop to this town, widely regarded as the Bamboo Capital of the Philippines, should expect a bigger, better and brighter Tultugan Festival this year.
"What you see now is only but a glimpse of what you should expect come the grand day on December 29, the eighth staging of this yearly spectacle," said Malones, who is on his third and final term as town chief executive, during the Tultugan Musicale Showcase at the SM City-Iloilo last December 21.
"Our very own Tultugan Festival, through the years, has evolved into one of the better local festivals here in the province of Iloilo. In fact, during this year's Dinagyang Festival in Iloilo City, we won the championship in the Kasadyahan Festival in only our second year of participation, proof of how much we have improved in the last couple of years," he added.
"More astonishingly, we have made a good account of ourselves in the Aliwan Fiesta in Metro Manila middle of this year, finishing fifth overall in a field of more than 20 festivals all over the country in just our first year of participation. This only accentuates the fact that we have come a long way since the inception of Tultugan Festival some eight years ago," Malones, who conceived the annual festival in his very first year as Maasin mayor back in 1998, said.
It was also learned from the mayor that among those who are expected to grace this year's Tultugan Festival are Iloilo third district Rep. Arthur Defensor, Sr., Iloilo Gov. Niel Tupas, Sr., and former senator Anna Dominique "Nikki" Coseteng.
Aside from inviting Ilonggos both home and abroad to this annual spectacle, Malones also extended his invitation to those who want to join his municipality in the celebration of their yearly municipal and religious fiesta in honor of their patron St. James the Greater the following day.