By Dan Segovia, Lapu-Lapu City
I HAVE been bothered all these years why the bugle sound as accompaniment to the Sinulog dance is integrated.
I understand that our schools’ drum and bugle corps have always been a part of our grand parade contingents.
However, it occured to me that a bugle sound is actually off from the supposedly indigenous sound that we should try to achieve in our festival, being partly a celebration of our indigenous culture.
I hope the academe, which has expertise in research, can tell our festival organizers to at least conduct a review to see if the bugle sound in our Sinulog dance should continue.
I think percussion instruments can do the job as these achieve that ethnic sound. That is, if we wish to be authentic culturally with our Sinulog Festival.
Secondly, I think we should stop portraying Lapu-Lapu as the warrior. What is more accurate was that he was the chieftain in Mactan and may have been a brave warrior during his younger days.
Research will tell you that he was already old when Magellan landed in Mactan Island. Our countdown to the quincentennial should also allow us to correct inaccuracies in our portrayal of history.