DAVAO City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio encouraged Dabawenyos to discover their roots and honor the city’s “cultural traditions” to rise above the Covid-19 pandemic during the virtual opening of the 36th Kadayawan sa Davao Festival.
“Let us discover our roots and honor our rich cultural traditions in order to emerge from the pandemic as a stronger and more steadfast Davao City community,” Duterte-Carpio said in a video message on Friday, August 20.
For the second time in a row, the City Government skipped all major street activities and shifted to a digital celebration of the Kadayawan.
Duterte-Carpio led the opening of the festival, along with the representatives of the 11 tribes, marking the three-day celebration.
The mayor said the online celebration is a reminder of the city’s resilience amid the current struggles caused by the pandemic restrictions.
“Let this year’s online Kadayawan, which we are currently celebrating for the second time without the customary festivities and gathering, be a testament to our resilience amidst adversities to our unity as one multicultural community despite the challenges we faced,” Duterte-Carpio said.
The mayor also said the recent virtual celebration highlights the city’s abundance of cultural traditions, and talents of Dabawenyos like “we are not in a pandemic.”’
She also recognized in her speech the city’s culture and contribution of its people in its progress throughout the years.
“It is only fitting that we continue to honor the wealth of our culture and recognize the numerous contributions of our people for generations from the comfort of homes,” Duterte-Carpio said.
She also encouraged everyone to continue to nurture and respect the environment and the city’s culture and roots.
In a separate video message, Davao City Vice Mayor Sebastian Duterte also encouraged unity among Dabawenyos for the city to overcome the struggles and challenges.
“Atong hinumduman sa kanunay nga ang atong panaghiusa isip mga Dabawenyo maoy usa sa atong mga kusog aron makab-ot ang mga kadaugan para sa dakbayan,” Duterte said.’’
The vice mayor also urged the public to help one another in overcoming the pandemic so that the city can once again celebrate the festivity outside the streets.
This year’s Kadayawan festival capped off on Sunday, August 22.
Among the highlight activities during the three-day fest were Tunog Kadayawan, Tribu Kadayawan, Sayaw Kadayawan, Indak Indak sa Kadayawan and Habi Kadayawan.
City Tourism Operations Office (CTOO) Head Generose Tecson said in a recent interview that the city scrapped the “hybrid” celebration or the mixture of live and online activities due to the continuing threat of the Covid-19, especially the recent detection of six Delta cases in the city.
The Delta variant is a highly infectious variant, which experts say can transmit to more individuals and result in a surge of cases and overwhelming hospital and treatment facility capacity.
The City Government is currently boosting its targeted vaccinees from 10,000 to 15,000 a day to achieve the targeted 1.2 million vaccinated population and herd immunity before the end of 2021.
Duterte-Carpio said the city is ramping up its vaccination rollout in a bid to revive economic opportunities for the city.