PH: Home to the world

PH: Home to the world

Fiesta Islands

By PAUL EDWARD P. SISON

July 31, 2011, 8:00am

MANILA, Philippines — A wise old man from Liwasang Kalayaan in Marikina Heights, who we shall call Mr. T for purposes of anonymity, always says, “Sa Pilipinas lang genuine ang ngiti natin sa mga bisita. Sa ibang bansa, fake lahat yan.”

What he really means is -- it is very natural for Filipinos to be hospitable to tourists compared to our Asian neighbors who have to put up a front. He attributes this to something which we have considered all our lives as a negative trait and weakness as a people – the fiesta mentality.

The fiesta mentality is all about putting our best foot forward. It’s about wanting to please our guests. It’s about giving up the best room in the house for our visitors to sleep in. How many of us have slept on the floor so our guest could have a comfortable sleep on our own bed?

Filipinos throw the best parties. Have you noticed that? Fiesta is about a whole community coming together as one to host a party where every home is open to everyone – even those you don’t know.

Mr. T believes that if we succeed in harnessing this newfound strength into a culture of tourism and make the whole world know about it – we can surpass all our neighbors in terms of visitor arrivals.

Why talk about destinations when we can talk about our people? Let’s face it, our impressions of places we visit linger in our consciousness for a while – but our impressions of people we meet in those places last us a lifetime.
Besides, our top destinations are superior to what the rest of the world has to offer. Even foreigners attest to this fact.

Have you ever wondered why is it that expatriates who initially resent being assigned to the Philippines and consider it initially as a hardship post eventually find it so hard to leave when their tour of duty is up? Why are nurses and caregivers from the Philippines very much in demand in different parts of the world?

It is because we are a nation of 90 million smiling, caring, and affectionate people. Taking good care of the needs of guests is second nature to us. Somehow, the racial mix brought about by centuries of being a colony of different foreign powers is now working in our favor.

The challenge now is how to harness this competitive edge and galvanize all tourism-related sectors behind this collective positioning.

Let us hope for the best and pray that Tourism Secretary Alberto Aldaba Lim will be able to triumph over adversity, caused by industry outsiders, to lead us into the 6.6 million foreign visitors mark he is targeting for 2016.

The poor secretary, the decent and hardworking person that he is, is at the receiving end of a harsh and brutal demolition job coming from outsiders posing as know-it-all tourism experts.

You know something is fishy when people assailing the DoT Secretary are not the ones from the primary tourism enterprises like travel agencies, tour operators, hotels, resorts, tourist transports, etc. – but, people from real estate and hospital services.

The real score is that one of the most aggressive turns out to be a losing bidder for the National Tourism Development Plan (NTDP). But he does not mention this. He allegedly tried to pull a fast one with his association’s board of directors but was rebuffed. So, looking around for an entity from where to launch his “advocacy,” he finally found an NGO that would legitimize his vendetta. He even wrote P-Noy with concocted tales to discredit the tourism chief.
We were informed that past officers of the association are poised to censure this wily fox for using the name of the prestigious association to further his personal agenda.

The two others, on the other hand, belong to a body that was described as “not in accordance with the intent and wordings of the law” by solons who authored the Tourism Act of 2009 and are asking that the body be revamped to conform with the law.

The NTDP is Lim’s contribution to President Benigno S. Aquino’s poverty alleviation agenda. It is the roadmap which translates the DoT chief’s vision into actionable programs and projects. It rationalizes the different priorities into a strategic framework and outlines action plans to guide the DoT and other stakeholders in the development of the tourism sector between 2011 and 2016.

The strategic vision is to become the “must experience” destination in Asia. For the sake of our country, let us pray that Sec. Lim and the DoT succeed.

For comments, please email paulsison@ideasman.ph

Aliwan Fiesta: A showcase of festival champions from the 7,100 islands of the Philippines

By Jinky Jorgio

Kalilangan Gensan

MANILA, Philippines - Will the reigning champion TribuPahidaet, of Dinagyang Festival in Iloilo make it the second time around as 2011 Aliwan Fiesta street dance top winner or will Hall of Famer Sinulog Festival of Cebu take the crown?

Top of mind for the 21 other participants of the Aliwan Fiesta is the one million peso pot money for the street dance competition in this year’s festival.

Festival organizer Manila Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) in cooperation with the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) announced that this year’s three-day Aliwan Fiesta will start on April 14 and awarding will be on April 16 right after the grand parade and street dance competititon.

Aside from the street dance, the participants will also compete for the best float and the Reyna ng Aliwan.

MBC President Ruperto Nicdao said that more than 5,000 participants are expected to troop to the CCP complex in Pasay City to compete in the much awaited three-day Aliwan Fiesta. Thousands more of these revellers will clog the stretch of CCP to Quirino Grandstand to witness these events.

Nicdao said participants and revellers enjoy the event not only because of the different sights and sounds but also because it provides an opportunity to celebrate Filipino craftsmanship and ingenuity.

The street dance competition is a fusion of cultural diversity, though our provinces are separated by more than hundreds of kilometers of land and water.

Festival organizers explained that the streetdance celebration is rooted in different ceremonies from different provinces. For example, some participants from Mindanao draw their inspiration from the royalty; others, from everyday tasks such as planting and pottery, while others institutionalized in songs and dance the rituals their forefathers performed for the gods.

Nicdao said with the P1 million prize in mind, participants put in hours and hours of practice to perfect their craft.  Some practice under the sweltering heat of summer fully made up with their lavish and originally crafted costumes while some opted to practice at night time until the wee hours of the mornings.

Participants gyrate, climb, jump, flip, tumble in unison to perfect their moves.

Innovative ideas are the motivations for making the best float as the participants use their craftsmanship and ingenuity to win the half a million peso prize.

Float designs use local textiles, decorative mats, and basketry in vibrant colors distinct enough to imprint their regional characters.  They also use agricultural products and flowers.

In one of the earlier festivals, for example, the Ilocos contingent used its indigenous produce, the garlic, in adorning its float. The Bulacan contingent, meanwhile, used “puto” around its float.

The Maranao, Tausug, Samal, and Badjao use okkil originally from the middle-eastern Islamic art of the Umayyad dynasty in the eighth century. This lends a whole repertoire of plant-shaped folk motif to carved, woven and brass-cast pieces.  The skills and creativity of Mindanao natives can also be found in their seafaring and boat-building skills.

Ilokano damili pottery marked by indigenous features are also dominant fixtures of the float as well as Bulacan’s folk art, the Singkaban, giving rise to the decorative arches whittled from special wood.

On the other hand, 21 muses from different parts of the Philippines are competing to take the title Reyna ng Aliwan.
Nicdao said though the prize for the Reyna is not that much compared to street dance and best float, the pageant is still much awaited by the participants and the audience as well.

Previous winners of Reyna ng Aliwan are also winners in national beauty pageants. The 2008 Reyna ng Aliwan winner will compete in this year’s Bb. Pilipinas pageant while the 2006 Reyna ng Aliwan winner won a Ms. Earth title.

“Those who join the Reyna ng Aliwan are winners also from their respective provinces and they continue their journey as beauty titlist as they compete in other national beauty pageants and even international pageants,” said Ellen Fullido, VP and HR for Technical and Marketing of MBC.

In terms of the security both for the participants and the audience of the event, Nicdao said they hired professional bouncers to man the more than three kilometer parade area as well as festival venue aside from the coordination and cooperation of police from the cities of Manila and Pasay.

Photo enthusiasts and hobbyists also have a chance to win during the festival as the organizers opened a photography competition to both amateur and professional photographers who can submit five of their best photos taken during the April 16 grand parade and dance showdown.

Shop-a-holics will also have a feast as bazaars and regional trade exhibits will also be showcased during the event.

Itching to find terra-cotta, ikat, mother-of-pearl, t’nalak, embroidered piña, ube jam, abeliloko, marang, Ifugao blankets, bagnet, bamboo instruments, danggit, wooden furniture, tribal beads? Then troop down to the event venue and you will find these interesting items and perhaps bring them home.

Source: Manila Bulletin