MANILA – President Benigno Aquino III has declared February 18 a special (non-working) day in the city of Bayawan in the province of Negros Oriental in celebration of the Tawo-Tawo Festival.
February 18 falls on a Monday.
President Aquino issued the declaration through Proclamation 540 signed by Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. on January 28 to give the people of Bayawan City the full opportunity to celebrate and participate in the occasion.
Tawo-Tawo Festival reflects the culture of the city being a rice granary of the southern part of the province of Negros Oriental.
The farmers in Bayawan are using scarecrows or tawo-tawo to drive away the little native birds called "maya" that feed on the ripening golden rice grains. This agricultural method was what led to Bayawan's Tawo-tawo Festival. (Jill Beltran/Sunnex)