Thursday, December 21, 2006 Tomas allows students to join Sinulog
SPECTATORS can look forward to being entertained by young dancers during the grand parade next month after students were allowed to join the Sinulog sa Kabataan sa Dakbayan.
Sinulog Foundation Inc. executive director Ricky Ballesteros said the mayor allowed public school students to join the festivities provided they do not practice during school hours.
“I already cleared that with the mayor and he said that it’s okay as long as the students do not miss their classes because they have to practice dancing. We’re happy that they will join kay mas nindot man tanawn kung mga bata ang manayaw,” he told Sun.Star Cebu.
As of yesterday, five elementary schools and nine high schools registered to join the Sinulog sa Kabataan sa Dakbayan on Jan. 15.
Another three contingents have so far registered for the Sinulog sa Kabataan sa Lalawigan on Jan. 14.
The five winning contingents in both events will automatically be registered to compete in the grand parade on Jan. 21.
In a separate interview, the mayor’s consultant on education, Joy Augustus Young, warned principals and teachers to simplify their props and costumes to keep down expenses for the Sinulog.
“Mao ra man gyud na ang condition ni mayor, that there will be no practice during school hours and dili sad palabian ang gasto. Some spend P200,000 to P300,000 just to join and in that case, principals and teachers will no longer be in class because they will be busy raising funds,” Young said.
Osmeña banned public schools in the city from joining the Sinulog in January 2005 after they got very low scores in the National Achievement Test that year.
The children were allowed to dance again last year by joining the contingents of their barangays and practicing only on weekends.
With only a month left before the grand parade, Ballesteros is optimistic they can have more out-of-town contingents this year, if not the same number as last year.
He was happy to announce that Southwestern University (SWU), the contingent with the highest number of grand prize awards, will be joining the competition next month after skipping the grand parade for several years now.
With nine grand prizes and 11 awards as runner-up, SWU is the most awarded contingent in the Sinulog’s 27-year history.
Aside from SWU, the multi-awarded contingent from Tangub City also registered to join the grand parade.
A contingent from Panglao, Bohol also registered to join the festivity. (LCR)
