Fine weather, traffic mark Garbo sa Lapu Festival

Barangay Babag won the Pasahalad and Search for Garbo sa Lapu-Lapu Festival Queen categories after besting six barangays.
CDN Photo/Norman Mendoza

Day-long traffic congestion and fine weather marked the Garbo sa Lapu-Lapu Festival and Civic Military Parade that began at the public market early morning and ended up at the Hoops Dome yesterday.

All roads leading to the civic military parade route at S. Osmeña and GY Dela Cerna Streets were closed off resulting in traffic buildup that began at 10 a.m. The event was generally peaceful, police said.

About 6,000 people watched the showdown of the street dance contingents at the Hoops Dome while 5,000 people watched the contingents perform on the streets, said Supt Elmer Lim, deputy director for police operations.

Gun-ob Barangay Captain Jose Dungog, who chaired the festival committee, thanked the contingents for their performances and the police for securing the event.

“Atong paningkamutan sa matag tuig nga mas makalingaw ang atong mga presentasyon sa Garbo sa Lapu-Lapu Festival (We will do our best each year to make Garbo sa Lapu-Lapu Festival more fun),” said Dungog who is also president of the Association of Barangay Captains (ABC) in Lapu-Lapu City.

This year, bleachers were mounted at the vacant space beside the Hoops Dome to give more spectators a better view of the presentation.

Barangay Babag won the P50,000 top prize for the Pasahalad category or the Ritual presentation as well as the P5,000 top prize for the 17th Garbo sa Lapu-Lapu Festival Queen.

The P30,000 top cash prize for the float category was won by Barangay Mactan while Barangay Gun-ob won the Street Dancing category and the P10,000 cash prize for their “Lechon and Puso (roasted pig and hanging rice)” presentation.

The P20,000 top cash prize for the Higante (Giant) category was won by Olango Island Group 2 for their marine sanctuary-themed Higante.

Barangay Buaya won the P40,000 and P5,000 top cash prizes for the Drum and Lyre Corps Elementary Palabas and the Drum and Lyre Corps Little Majorette, respectively.

There were 10 float participants and 12 Higante (Giant) participants. Meanwhile, six barangays joined the Pasahalad, Search for Festival Dance Queen and Street Dancing categories.

The Garbo sa Lapu-Lapu Festival event began in 2001 and was intended to foster rapport and camaraderie among the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) chapters in each barangay in Lapu-Lapu City.

Dungog said the festival also promotes Lapu-Lapu City’s tourism attractions and products to visitors and residents alike.