By Danilo P. Padua, PhD
For the last two years, the Strawberry festival in La Trinidad had attained a bit of recognition from locals and tourists alike. It was poised to burst triumphantly into the festival scene in the country. Hopefully, this, 2018 version will build on the last two year’s achievement.
Well, I have seen some of the activities already completed related to the festival. Maybe the festival is really attracting more people. A case in point is the participation of a Briton tourist, Mr. Jimmy Ruffles, in the table tennis competitions. According to Mr. Orlando Pacya, a municipal official and member of various committees overseeing events, the tourist came to know about the tourism-oriented event thru the internet. That’s a good sign.
The job fair was “well-attended” considering that there were at least 25 local and foreign employers, and more 800 applicants participated. Unfortunately, I was told that there were no on-the-spot hiring as it served only as a preliminary screening. There will be follow-up interviews shortly. Better thaN no opportunity at all!
The battle of the bands was fairly attended. And the participating bands were surprisingly good. Many of them could compete anywhere, as far as I am concerned. If there were scouts around, I think they were also pleasantly surprised there are such talents in this not so obscure town.
For the first time, indigenous (but not so indigenous) games were included: Salikawkaw, kadang-kadang, tug-of-war, bunong braso. According to Mr. Pacya, this serves as an experiment, and it will be improved next year.
The civic parade was not as participatory as I expected. I expected more participation from outside the town but only a few delegation came such as those of Sagada, Bauko, and Kapangan. Of course, Guam is again represented. This time, the town of Liliw, priding itself as the shoe capital of Laguna, was in harness. The town is set to become the next sister municipality of La Trinidad.
Although it is supposed to be a fixture of the celebrations as envisioned by the above-c’mentioned ordinance, the strawberry cake was nowhere in sight. Not even a little whiff of its smell is in the air. People were asking, and loudly wondering why there is none. Why is it absent, indeed! Even the art and photo exhibit was absent, prompting local artists to register some “complaint”
What could be a saving grace is the Strawberry Lane. My, there are now more strawberry-based product on display and on sale. Never mind if some of them may not be as attractive as they should be. Take your pick among these mouth-watering choices from the usual wine, breads, cakes and pastries to pizza and meals:, Choco strawberry delight, strawberry ice cream cake, cookies, nachos with strawberry dip, strawberry oatmeal bar, sautéed pork and strawberry relish, Chick n’ berry, pastillas flower, brownies with strawberry, chili strawberry smoothies, yoghurt, strawberry tart, strawberry rice, strawberry moist cake, cream pop, muffins, strawberry yoyo, shake, strawberry mammon, chiffon, chorros in strawberry dip, bread roll with ham and cheese, pastillas in strawberry flavor, strawberry pizza, wine, Chilli strawberry, etc. It is a feast of the palette. Go and try them if you have not tried them yet. I did not describe them but I can assure you, you will be satisfied, and maybe inspired to replicate them or make them as part of your business.
Don’t miss also strawberry-inspired decorations. Unfortunately, the major event of float parade will take place on March 17, or after this piece is submitted.
A talk with some municipal officials paint something that is worrisome to me, in so far as improvements to the festival are concerned. Planning for the event was so short. It started in earnest only last January although initial planning begun last December, 2017. With such little time for planning, you can only do so much. Only token participation will be expected. The best possible output that one can churn out will hardly be expected. Spectators will then be treated to a collective spectacle of mediocrity, a reality that can never add to the prestige of the event.
When the financing aspect is considered, one can see why planning is like the “last two minutes” in basketball. Mr. Francis Lee, a former councilor and now serving as assistant to mayor Romeo Salda, said that per DILG policy, LGUs are not allowed to fund festivals from their regular budgets. In the case of La Trinidad, it has to rely on what it can source out from the various stalls for the trade fair. Add whatever could be derived from the stalls in the strawberry lane. The executive committee which is tasked to plan for the event, had to wait how much could be obtained from those stalls. For this 2018, the amount totaled only about PhP4.5million. Am not sure if the PhP160,000.00 given by Talk and Text (TNT) or the festival is already included in the amount cited. The amount is a pittance really. With such an amount, we can not imagine great expectations for improvements to materialize.
The Strawberry Festival was institutionalized through Municipal Ordinance No. 5-2011, authored by Councilor Roderick C. Awingan. It was envisioned to be conducted for the whole month of March, every year. Among others, it aims to encourage activities and programs which promoted tourism and preserve the municipality’s attraction as the Strawberry capital of the Philippines. It is also to commemorate and celebrate the Guinness Book of World Record award of the municipality for the largest strawberry shortcake, garnered in 2004.
The mentioned Municipal Ordinance there governs the conduct of the strawberry festival. Thanks by the way, to Ms. Brilyn Antero for graciously providing me with a copy of the said ordinance. The major activities for the festival are specifically cited there. It likewise states the composition of the executive committee that will plan for the event. If you care to know it, this is the composition of the committee: mayor, as chairman and two co-chairmen; the vice mayor, the SB chairman, committee on tourism special events. All councilors are members, together with the chairman of the municipal tourism council. The municipal tourism officer serves as the secretary.
With such composition, it is clear to see that important sectors such as the business sector are not even represented. What I am saying is that, bright ideas coming from non-political members are not properly included in the equation. This is a reason why improvements to the festival are long in coming. Maybe the ordinance could be amended to include an inclusive membership of the executive committee. It may exclude the mayor, and only a few councilors should be members. Sangguniang Bayan itself and the mayor should just serve as consultants.
As things are at present, some local businesses are involved only in sponsorship of specific events, mainly shouldering the cost of awards. They could be asked to help defray expenses but giving them some incentives of whatever form that the local SB can conceive.
Improving the festivities was always a consideration in the past, according to Mr. Valred Olsim, the municipal tourism officer. He said that privatizing the event was mulled before but the decision of the executive committee was not favorable. It’s because the people, they say, like the festival to be run by the LGU. This was not of course backed up by any formal survey.
If the strawberry festival is to gain more recognition, more time should be given to how it should be improved, including amending the relevant ordinance.
For the moment, and despite shortcomings, maybe we can still clap our hands to the planners for making this 2018 festival a reality.**
