By Danilo P. Padua, PhD
Compared to most known festivals in the Philippines such as the Sinulog, Ati-Arihan,and Dinagyang, Panagbenga is a babe. Yet, it is now ranked as one of the 10 major festivals in the country.
Considering that there are more festivals than the total number of our municipalities, that rank is nothing to sneer at. Definitely, this is mainly a result of the laudable cooperation among the private sector, the local government officials, and the local community at large.
Panagbenga had come a long way, indeed. Ironically, there are some locals who are aching to have it cancelled. They must have seen compelling reasons why they are thinking of such.
Consider this. Vice mayor Olowan suggested that locals should just walk and let the visitors drive through the streets of the city during the Festival. Although that was apparently suggested to show the city’s hospitality to visitors, it did not sit well with them.
That is certainly a negative side of our own brand of hospitality; give the best to our visitors at the expense of our own comfort. In things like a festival, the thinking should be: show your best to others but make sure that you are not discomforted yourself.
Panagbenga was established to have the city and its residents rise from a devastating earthquake in 1990. That was the same idea of the MassKara Festival of Bacolod city when outlook was gloomy as a result of the sudden crash of their sugar industry in late 1980’s. Now that Festival had also become one of the 10 major Festivals in the country.
Panagbenga had dutifully fulfilled its initial purpose. Now that the city had risen, shall it treat its citizens as second class during the festivities? That is a nagging question to some, in addition to their query of what benefit does Panagbenga provide to the locals. Besides, according to them, it is diluting the local culture.
The holding of festivals, to my mind, is like investing for the future, not only for the present enjoyment. But for whom? Since it is an investment, its immediate benefit is not easily discernible. But even then, the surge in hotel occupancy is an immediate source of income. Correspondingly, there is also a surge in income in the food business like in restaurants. So with the mall businesses, souvenirs, transportation, etc. In short, there are a lot of immediate benefits that could be derived from the holding of a festival like Panagbenga.
The greater the number of visitors spending their money in the city, the more income accruing to business people, and to the local government.
The long-term benefit is that the place gets a lot of media coverage-mainstream or social-that could reach the world. It is a promotion for possible activities like national or international conventions, meetings, etc. The cost of holding it may appear to be large in the eyes of many, but the return is surely much more, money spent properly. Almost unquantifiable.
The officials should patiently explain how local residents could benefit from the festival. This is on condition that money is spent wisely, and accountability is clear.
The negative feedbacks should of course be addressed by local officials in planning for future editions of Panagbenga.
And here are more feedbacks for considerations.
The street dancing with barefoot needs to be reconsidered as many people especially children experienced foot blisters which is quite painful for a few days or even weeks. Its too hot for feet that are normally clad with shoes or sleepers during normal days.
The street dancing and float parade are re really head turners. They continue to improve every edition and people gawk in awe. But I think, the Session Road in Bloom is the main attraction. Imagine the road fully packed of thousands of enthusiastic people every day for 7 days, especially at night time. Got there myself for 3 nights, and found people enjoying it. The various “concerts” or palabas held in those 7 days glitter and amusement for those in attendance.
The packed situation actually added fun for those in Session as most of them seem to be visitors or tourists. But maybe, traffic should be like those of cars. One lane going up and another going down for smoother flow of human traffic. At the sidewalk, traffic could remain two-way.
Festivals as big as Panagbenga are good events to also promote products from other places to benefit both the locals and the visitors. The presence of Marikina shoes, is a good example. A reciprocal way could be arranged for Baguio products in that shoe town. It might be a good idea to hold a special one-week every year for a trade fair in the city to promote other products (e.g. Marikina shoes, marble from Romblon, abaca and pili products from Bicol, etc). Again, this should be done in reciprocity for Baguio, and perhaps together with other Cordi products.
Applause to the planners and those who ran the whole Panagbenga Festival 2026.
