Gwen dances to honor the Santo Niño by protecting nature

Cebu Gov. Gwen Garcia dances with the Siloy Festival of Alcoy, a guest contingent in the Sinulog 2020 grand parade held at the Cebu City Sports Center on Jan. 19, 2020. |Capitol Photo/ Tonee Despojo

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Honor the Santo Niño by protecting nature.

This was the message conveyed by the Siloy sa Alcoy contingent as they performed as guest contingent, with Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia, some Provincial Board Members and Capitol department heads among the dancers during the opening of the Sinulog 2020 at the Cebu City Sports Center on Sunday, January 19.

During the seven-minute presentation, Garcia, who played as a deity of the forest, wore two gowns.

She first came out in an aqua gown dancing like she was saving the forest from a logger, when the forest caught fire while the logger was cutting down trees. In return for saving the life of the logger who was also hurt by the fire, the deity Garcia ordered the man to replenish the trees he cut by planting more trees.

The storyline of the presentation was based on the performance of Siloy sa Alcoy in the Pasigarbo sa Sugbo festival of festivals in August 2019, where they finished fourth.

Garcia’s second entrance in the presentation was introduced by a colorful smoke emissions from the backstage. This time, she wore a black and white dress with the bottom design resembling a siloy or Black Shama, a bird that is endemic to Cebu, particularly in the town of Alcoy in southern Cebu.

Provincial Tourism Officer Maria Lester Ybañez said Garcia’s gown was inspired by the gown of Pasigarbo sa Sugbo’s first festival queen in 2008 who was from Alcoy.

Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella was supposed to join Garcia in the dance presentation but later begged off because he had to attend to the preparations for the arrival of President Rodrigo Duterte, who has accepted the mayor’s invitation to grace the Sinulog 2020 grand parade.

Victor Hao Cuenco, the creative director of the Capitol’s presentation, said Labella was supposed to play the role of the village chieftain who offered the image of the Señor Santo Niño to Garcia, the forest deity, as a thanksgiving for saving their forest.

Sixth district PB Member Glenn Anthony Soco, who also participated in the dance, took on Labella’s role.

Garcia said she understood Labella’s decision to withdraw from the dance presentation as he is more needed in the preparation for the presidential visit./elb