Wenceslao: Sinulog app

CEBU City Mayor Tomas Osmeña has warned politicians not to engage in politicking during the Sinulog festivities and in the religious activities at the Basilica Minore del Sto. Niño as we celebrate the feast of the Child Jesus. For example, a candidate can be politicking if tarpaulins are hung announcing his or her candidacy in the coming May polls.

I have seen some of the tarpaulins but these mostly announce the candidacies of politicians belonging to the Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan (BOPK). I hope those tarpaulins have already been taken down. Also, we should monitor the culmination activity of the Sinulog Festival at the Cebu City Sports Center.

In past Sinulogs, Osmeña invited as guests some of the candidates for national posts he was supporting, like then senatorial bet Richard Gordon.

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The Sinulog Festival was organized in 1980 together with its main activity, the grand parade. Those were, I would say, innocent times. The parade and the dances were simple and every contingent’s expense was small. Only the locals participated in the competition. And this: the internet wasn’t around then.

Things have changed since then—by leaps and bounds even. The Sinulog Festival is now among the biggest tourist come-ons in the country, especially in the south. And the Sinulog Foundation Inc. (SFI), which is tasked to organize and administer the annual festivities, has gone online. SFI is now on Facebook.

Not only that. A recent post in the SFI Facebook account announced that Sinulog 2019 now has an official mobile app that one can download on Google Play or the App Store. I don’t know why there is not much buzz on this development considering that this shows that the Sinulog is now trying to be relevant online.

Here’s what you can do with the Sinulog app, according to the SFI account:

--Purchase Sinulog tickets.

--Get timely messages about festival news and updates, promo and winners. (You can also vote there for your favorite festival queen and contingents.)

--Plot your personal event schedule: devotion, festival and parties. (You can tap the heart icon beside your selected events.)

--Win P1,000 GCash rewards by posting your Sinulog 2019 moments in your personal Facebook account with hashtags #SinulogMoments and #PagGCashNaBai. Accounts must be public in order for you to be able to join the contest. The photo/video with the most likes during the day wins. Daily winners are announced through the app’s News and Announcement feature.

I find this development interesting especially on the purchase of Sinulog tickets. When the family watched the dance competition at the grandstand of the Cebu City Sports Center in the past, I went to the sports center to buy the tickets. Purchasing the tickets online has made the act convenient.

With the mobile app, the Sinulog Festival has gotten more interactive. I think though that this development has been slow in coming and can still be improved as celebrations come and go. Of course, the SunStar website has long taken the lead in bringing the Sinulog festivities and the feast of the Child Jesus online. The SFI is merely playing catch up.

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