TANAUAN, Leyte -- This coastal town is stepping up the promotion of its local culture through the Pasaka Festival.
Mayor Pelagio Tecson Jr. said the thrust now is to develop the local festival instead of joining regional and national competitions.
Tecson said during Sunday’s 25th Pasaka Festival, locals were made aware and familiar with their culture.
Pasaka, a local term for progress, is a festival presentation depicting farming, fishing, weaving and pottery.
The festival won the Kasadyaan Festival and used to be a representative of Leyte province to the annual Aliwan Festival in Pasay City, which was sponsored by the Manila Broadcasting Corporation.
“This shows how we appreciate and value our culture here in Tanauan. We are happy and we wanted to continue this and bring this to a much higher level every time we celebrate,” Tecson added.
For this year’s showcase, seven contingents from schools competed in elementary and secondary categories.
For the elementary division, Tanauan District 1 bagged the championship and won P15,000.
Among secondary schools, the Tanauan School for Craftsmanship and Home Industry (TSCHI) was declared as winner and won P30,000.
TSCHI also bagged best in choreography, best in musicality, best in costume, best in street dancing and best in float awards.
Department of Tourism (DOT) Regional Director Karina Rosa Tiopes, chairman of the board of judges for 2016 Pasaka Festival, observed that this year’s presentation has been improved, comparable to contingents joining Leyte’s Kasadyaan Festival.
The DOT official also appealed to local officials organizing festivals to make them an advocacy of storytelling for the deeper understanding of their culture and way of life.
“For us in the DOT, we would want to see more than just the festival presentation. We are looking for the why. We hope that in the coming years, they will take a look at their storylines and narrate their stories in a simpler way, easy, understandable and, within that story, we can see the advocacy,” Tiopes added.
Tanauan is one of the oldest towns in Leyte with a population of more than 55,000. The second class town is 18 kilometers south of Tacloban City. (PNA)