IDFI confirms Bola-Bola won't join Dinagyang 2007
Iloilo Dinagyang Foundation Inc. (IDFI) executive director Ben Jimena yesterday (Thursday) confirmed that hall of famer Tribu Bola-Bola of the Iloilo National High School (INHS) will not join the 2007 Dinagyang Festival.
Jimena said, officials of the Bola-Bola tribe did not submit their application form and did not attend the meetings called by the Foundation since last year. The tribe also did not appear when the foundation had a workshop for Millennium Development Goal (MDG). In the workshop, participating tribes were asked to incorporate the MDG's goal formulated by the United Nations in their presentations.
Jimena added that he has called the attention of Mrs. Nelda Lopez, tribe manager of INHS, but he got no response from her.
When asked what is the reason why Bola-Bola suddenly backed out from the yearly ati competition, Jimena said "we do not know the reasons and only school officials know it."
"Despite the absence of Bola-Bola tribe the show must and will go on," said Jimena.
Jimena said the Dinagyang 2007 organizers are not disturbed by Bola-bola's non-participation although said tribe had been reaping the championship awards for the past years.
Bola-bola is only one of the 20 competing tribes and there are still other tribes who are willing to join and perform. Dinagyang has already established its name and it is not dependent on one tribe alone. "They do not monopolize the event. And no one is indispensable in the Dinagyang," stressed Jimena.
A source told The News Today that Bola-Bola decided to back out from the competition after they failed to get financial support from the Parents Teachers Association (PTA) of INHS.
The PTA reportedly gave P150,000 to the tribe in 2006. However, the tribe allegedly failed to liquidate all the expenses covered by the P150,000.
For 2007, the tribe asked for a P120,000 budget from the school but the request was rejected because the previous fund remain unaccounted.
However, Lopez strongly denied the reports on the unliquidated fund. She claimed, the school releases her salary, meaning she was cleared from any liability.