NOTHING will stop the celebration of Saulog Tagbilaran in Tagbilaran City, Bohol, but security will be tight.
The 2017 Grand Street Dancing Competition will push through on May 1 and will kick off the monthlong fiesta in Bohol province, said Tagbilaran City Bohol Administrator Leonides Borja.
“We have augmented more than 300 security officers from Tagbilaran and neighboring towns,” Borja said.
He added that there will be police officers throughout the parade route.
Policemen will also be inside the malls and the CPG Sports Complex Grandstand for the final showdown.
“During the event, we discourage the spectators to bring bags so that we check them faster. Just bring bottled water and enough money,” Borja said.
“Sub-sub ang atong checkpoints nga gipanghimo aron malikayang makaipsot ang duha nga nahabilin nga Abu Sayyaf,” Borja said.
(We have intensified our checkpoints to make sure that the two remaining Abu Sayyaf members cannot escape.)
“The Abu Sayyaf threat is contained in two towns,” he added.
But he called on the public to remain vigilant at all times.
“We need the help of the community,” he added.
Tourism
The recent bloody encounters between the government and members of the Abu Sayyaf group in the towns of Inabanga and Clarin have affected tourism in Bohol and Cebu.
Two Abu Sayyaf members are still unaccounted for.
Clarin, which is now under a state of calamity, is at least a one-hour bus ride from Tagbilaran City.
Borja said the travel advisories released by some countries did not “necessarily” affect tourism in Tagbilaran.
“There are cancellations of flights (especially from countries that released travel advisory), but not worse,” he said.
Borja said that their tourist arrivals were mostly Chinese and Koreans.
“Our hotels were fully-booked especially during the Holy Week and the recently concluded Asean Summit Meetings, and our beaches have many tourists,” he said.
Saulog Tagbiliran
Jeanette Busano, head of the Tagbilaran City Media Bureau, said that Saulog Tagbilaran is an offshoot of the Sinulog Festival of Cebu City.
“We are really impressed by how you handle Sinulog (Festival), so in one way or another we can have the same in Tagbiliran, then it would be good for us,” she added.
Saulog started in 2013 to honor and celebrate their patron saint, St. Joseph.
Saulog Tagbilaran 2017 celebration is in its fifth year. The theme this year is “Life is a fiesta.”
“Saulog is our way to revitalize the cultural consciousness of the Tagbilaranans,” Busano said.
Among the activities for this year’s Saulog is a cooking competition named Ikumbira sa Tagbiliran City where home cooks from 15 barangays of the city will compete in cooking iconic dishes like humba and inun-unan.
“We do not invite professional chefs. We invite those people who cook during their fiesta,” Busano said.
This year, they will have to coke three main ingredients such as fish, crab and shrimp in a Tagbilaranon way.
“After that, there will be a feast at the central market where all the dishes are served for everybody,” she added.