Carcar City Mayor Nice Apura hoist the trophies won by their respective contingents in the awarding ceremony held at the Cebu City Sports Center.
There were no expectations from the Tribu Kandaya contingent of Daanbantayan town to win in this year’s Sinulog Grand Parade.
“The feeling is overwhelming. We did not expect to win. We came here to offer and not to compete. The mindset we had for our dancers is they should dance from the heart,” Daanbantayan Mayor Vicente Loot said.
“For us, there’s only one judge actually and that is who we are offering to – Señor Sto. Niño. If we please the other judges, that’s a bonus for us. We are so elated that we were rewarded by this offering,” he said.
Right after yesterday’s Sinulog awarding ceremony, the contingent went to the Basilica Minore del Sto. Niño to offer their thanks.
Provincial Board (PB) Member Sun Shimura said there are plans for the Daanbantayan contingent to represent Cebu in the nation’s festival of festivals, the Aliwan Festival.
Tribu Kandaya won the Free Interpretation and Best in Costume categories.
For their part, the Carcar City Division got their first taste of victory in over a decade of joining the event by winning the Sinulog-Based (SB) category.
They bested 11 other contingents in the category with their theme that revolved around rivalry and envy.
Their presentation depicted the story of a contestant who resorted to witchcraft to harm a rival.
But with the protection of Sto. Niño, the winner was saved.
“For me, this was based on my personal experience. I experienced barang (black magic) before,” said Kathryn Estenzo, the contingent’s main choreographer.
She recalled three years ago that she saw her picture with her name and address placed inside a human skull in a bone chamber.
Her family suspected it to be an attempt to inflict a curse on her but it failed.
Estenzo, who works as a senior education program specialist of the Department of Education Carcar City Division, has been the group’s choreographer for 11 years.
Carcar City Mayor Nicepuro Apura also said he was happy with the results.
“Every year we join, we always try our best to grab the championship. Now, it is a big challenge for us to sustain this,” he said.
The group plans to set aside a portion of their P1 million cash prize to host a party for their dancers and support staff.
They also plan to use the other portion as funds for next year.
For this year, the Carcar City government set aside P4 million for their expenses.
Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III said he is considering to give rewards and recognition for province-based contingents who bested other performers during yesterday’s Sinulog Festival.
Meanwhile this year’s street dancing champion Tribu Buyoganon Festival of Abuyog, Leyte will be skipping next year’s grand parade.
“It would be difficult for us to join every year. Maybe the year after because the budget is our problem,” Abuyog Mayor Gin Traya said.
The group’s main choreographer Victor Cuenco said they upgraded their concept this year taking cue from the wildfires that hit Los Angeles late last year.
“We came up with this concept because of global warming and climate change,” he said.