THE Mandaue City Government has set aside around P3 million worth of funds to support its official contingent for this year’s Pasigarbo sa Sugbo on August 28, 2022.
Mandaue City Councilor Marie Immaline Cortes-Zafra, who chairs the committee on tourism, told reporters on Tuesday, August 9, 2022, that the budget comprises P2 million from the city government and P1 million from the provincial government.
Back in July, Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia promised to give P1 million in assistance to those joining the competition except for towns in Bantayan and Camotes that will have P1.5 million.
Cortes-Zafra said the budget would suffice for the costumes, props, and the dancers’ other needs.
A total of 100 dancers and 60 props men will represent Mandaue in the competition. All of them are students from different schools in the city, such as Mandaue City School for the Arts, Mandaue City Comprehensive National High School and Mandaue City Central School, among others.
The dancers went through auditions, and the proper rehearsal started in the last week of July, Cortes-Zafra said.
She said rehearsals are now in full swing as the contest draws near.
She added that they aim to make Mandaue’s Pasigarbo sa Sugbo presentation a “grand one” without sacrificing the enjoyment of their participants.
Pasigarbo sa Sugbo, known as the Festival of all Festivals, is set to return on August 28, at the Cebu City Sports Center grounds, after a two-year break due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Admission will be free.
Fifty local government units in Cebu are expected to participate.
Cortes-Zafra said Mandaue will showcase its “Panagtagbo Festival,” or the reenactment of the meeting of the Holy Family where Sto. Niño de Cebu and Our Lady of Guadalupe will meet St. Joseph, Mandaue’s own patron saint.
They hope to defend the title, “Best in Andas,” that they won during the last staging of the Pasigarbo competition in 2019.