ROADS in the vicinity of the Mandaue City Hall will be closed from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. today for the Panagtagbo Festival which is the reenactment of the religious event Traslacion wherein members of the Holy Family meet.
Traslacion in Mandaue is held a day before the Sinulog in Cebu City. On that day, the images of the Sr. Sto Niño and the Our Lady of Guadalupe travel from Cebu City to Mandaue’s National Shrine of St. Joseph in Mandaue City.
However, the city government wants the panagtagbo or meeting of the Holy Family to be part of the fiesta activity, so the festival was created. This is the first Panagtagbo Festival held as part of the fiesta celebration.
Unlike the purely religious rites in the Tranlacion, the Panagtagbo Festival will have street dancing and a dancing showdown in the Mandaue Sports and Cultural Center in the evening.
It is Mandaue’s way of honoring its patron saint, St. Joseph, one of the mainstays in the traslacion.
Mayor Jonas Cortes, who just arrived from the Unites States, said, “The Panagtagbo Festival is not only a cultural event but it gives us a sense of religious direction by emulating the religious value practiced by the Holy Family which is obedience to God, which also gives us a sense of identity and promotes unity in our purpose of making Mandaue City truly our home, our pride and our future.”
All 27 barangays of Mandaue were clustered into six competing groups for today’s showdown.
The assembly will be at 3 p.m. along A.C. Cortes Avenue.
Roads closed off are: S.B. Cabahug Street to corner A.C. Cortes Avenue; A. Del Rosario Street to corner B. Ceniza Street; Gomez St. to corner A. Soriano Avenue; C. Ouano Street to corner Plaridel Street; Gomez Street to corner P. Burgos Street; Zamora Street to corner P. Burgos Street; UM Seno Street to corner Burgos Street; M. Sanchez Street to corner of S.B Cabahug Street.
Street dancing will start 3 p.m. from S.B. Cabahug street to the Mandaue City Sports and Cultural Center, the venue of the showdown which will start at 8 p.m.