Tuesday, December 18, 2007
City Hall allocates P8M for Sinulog festival
CEBU City councilors approved the appropriation of P8 million to help shoulder the expenses for next month’s Sinulog grand parade, which will cost organizers some P18 million.
But the City Council deferred the approval of the appropriation of P2 million in additional assistance to the Sinulog Foundation Inc. for the staging of the Sinulog grand finale at the Cebu City Sports Center on Jan. 20.
In a report submitted to the mayor’s office, Vice Mayor and Sinulog 2008 overall chairman Michael Rama said next month’s festivities is expected to cost P17,955,000.
If organizers stick to their proposed budget, next year’s Sinulog will be cheaper than this year’s festivities by P500,000. This year’s Sinulog cost a total of P18,355,000.
A bulk of the budget will go to cash prizes and financial assistance to out-of-town contingents and participants in the Sinulog sa Kabataan sa Dakbayan and Sinulog sa Kabataan sa Lalawigan.
Cash prizes for the winning contingents alone will cost organizers P7,230,000 while the trophies will cost some P350,000.
Contingents
The Sinulog Foundation Inc. will also give P100,000 each to contingents from the Province of Camiguin, Ozamiz City, Iligan City, Dauin in Oriental Negros, Tangub City, Province of Surigao del Norte, Panglao in Bohol, Borongan City and Sibulan, Oriental Negros.
Advertisements and promotional materials intended for national and international market were also included in the budget and will cost organizers some P1.2 million.
In a phone interview last night, Councilor Arsenio Pacaña said the organizers are requesting for additional funding of P2 million to cover the expenses for the grand finale program.
“They are requesting for the additional funding because the grand finale was not included in their main budget. We want to make the grand finale a major production as a way of marketing Sinulog and Cebu City, especially with our efforts to sell the South Road Properties,” Pacaña said.
MOA
During their session last Friday, the council authorized Mayor Tomas Osmeña to enter into and sign a memorandum of agreement with the Sinulog Foundation Inc. for the P2 million financial assistance.
But because the financial aid does not have the endorsement of the mayor yet, the council deferred the approval of the resolution appropriating the amount.
The council will tackle the resolution during their regular session this Wednesday. (LCR)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (December 18, 2007 issue)
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