No final budget yet for Kadayawan

DAVAO City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio said Thursday that there is still no final budget for this year's Kadayawan sa Dabaw slated in August.

In her weekly press briefing, Duterte-Carpio said she is yet to issue an Executive Order (EO) that will create the steering committee that will oversee the overall management of the festival.

"Pero nagasugod na ‘mi sa mga preparations sa karon (But we already started the preparations)," Duterte-Carpio said.

Lisette Marques, festival director of Duaw Davao Festival Foundation Inc., told Sun.Star Davao last week that they have already started preparing some of the key events for the Kadayawan.

Duaw partnered with the city in organizing this year's Kadayawan.

Aside from Duaw Dabaw, there are other private groups that partnered with the city in organizing the city's main festivals, including the Davao City Chinatown Development Council (DCDC) and Davao Association of Tour Operators (Dato).

But as of this writing Friday, Duterte-Carpio is yet to issue the official partners of the City Government from private sector in organizing this year's Kadayawan.

Last year, key events in major festivals of Davao City were handled by Duaw.

The core activities of Kadayawan -- Indak indak sa Kadalanan and the Floral Float Parade -- will be held on August 18 and 19, while the finals of Hiyas sa Kadayawan will be on the 15th.

As early as May, the Davao City Investment Promotions Center already estimated around 20,000 to 30,000 visitors for this festival. There is still no fixed date as to when the celebration will be held. (JOP)