The Cebu Daily News dance troupe wins the dance competition among local print and broadcast news organizations that was staged Sunday as one of the opening events of the 22nd Cebu Press Freedom Week (CDN PHOTO/LITO TECSON).
CEBU Daily News won the grand prize in the dance competition during the opening program of the 22nd Cebu Press Freedom Week held yesterday at the University of San Carlos North Campus in Cebu City.
It was the first time the Siloys bagged the recognition since the annual contest of Cebu media dance troupes began in 2006.
The Freeman bagged the second place while Sun.Star Cebu and the Kapisanan ng mga Broadkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP) finished third and fourth, respectively.
CDN brought home P20,000 cash.
“It was a very fulfilling moment. Looking back and knowing how hard we worked for this — the late night practices that ended at 2 a.m., going to school or working the next day, all the muscle pains and the misunderstandings — make this victory even sweeter,” said CDN reporter Jose Santino Bunachita, one of the group’s lead dancers.
“We’re very thankful for the support of our editors and the rest of the CDN family. This is more than enough for us because we just wanted to enjoy and make our colleagues proud. The strong bond we formed as a group is more valuable than the cash prize we received. Winning is just the cherry on top of the cake!”
Fellow scribe Nestle Semilla said the group aimed for the top prize but didn’t expect to make it after technical glitches disrupted the dance presentation.
“We just continued dancing and enjoyed every moment. Win or lose, our goal was to make our CDN family proud. But God is good. He gave us the victory. Cheers to us,” she said.
The group, composed of 13 dancers, were trained by veteran hip-hop dancer and choreographer Junex Montinola based on the concept that today’s millennials must always be reminded that there was once a period in Philippine history when the country was under Martial rule, which curtailed press freedom and other freedoms they now enjoy and often take for granted.
Cebu Daily News received an average score of 96.67 from the three judges, while the Freeman got 96.33. Sun.Star Cebu earned 85.67. KBP, on one hand, got 76.33.