Cyril, Rafael, and Rico were very excited about plans to travel to Cebu for the first time to dance in the January 18 Sinulog grand parade.
It would be the first time as well for Catbalogan city in Samar province to join the Sinulog.
But the three boys died when a landslide covered houses in barangay Mercedes o n Dec. 30, 2014 during typhoon Seniang.
“I spoke to their parents and they wanted us to continue (with our Cebu travel) kay grabe ka excited ang mga bata sa Sinulog,” said Catbalogan Mayor Stephany Tan.
Performers from Catbalogan’s Manaragat Festival will arrive in Cebu City on Sunday to join the Sinulog grand parade on Jan. 18 as a thanksgiving for their safety.
It also honors the memory of the three young male dancers.
“We are not giving up. We will still be joining the Sinulog. We have so many reasons to thank God, the Sto. Niño, and our patron saint San Bartolome for,” Tan said.
Tan said that while their group is a new entry in Cebu’s grand parade, one of the biggest and most colorful festivals in the country, her performers are well prepared to dance the Sinulog with veteran contingents.
Her only advice to the group is to do their best and enjoy their effort.
“This is not a competition for us. We are doing this as an offering. Para ipakita lang ug unsa ang Catbalogan and not to win,” Tan said.
Sinulog Dream
Tan, a first term mayor, said she thought of forming the Manaragat Festival dance troupe shortly after her election in 2013 to help in their tourism promotions.
Their festival dancers joined the Pasalamat Festival of the Samar provincial government on Aug. 24, 2014 and won third place.
Since then, Manaragat festival dancers have been asking her to allow them to join the Sinulog grand parade in Cebu City.
The children’s request became even more deafening after they saw the Lumad Basakanon of barangay Basak San Nicolas, Cebu City perform as a guest contingent during the Manaragat festival held in Catbalogan City on Aug. 30, 2014.
The Lumad Basakanon won the Free Interpretation (FI) category championship in the 2014 Sinulog grand parade.
Before the Manaragat festival ended, Tan announced the dancers’ participation in this year’s Sinulog.
The performers aged 14 to 17 years old started their Sinulog dance rehearsals in October 2014 with Cebuano choreographer Jannel Mainar.
“The children were very happy. They were very excited to be in the Sinulog,” said Tan.
The Manaragat festival core group has 500 performers including dancers, propsmen and instrumentalists.
Cyril Jigs del Rosario, 14, Rafael Tafalla, 16, and Rico Carcellar, 17, were as excited as the other performers to come to Cebu City for this year’s Sinulog grand parade.
The Manaragat Festival troupe from Catbalogan City, Samar led by its Mayor Stephany Tan (below) will join the Sinulog Grand Parade on Jan. 18.
(Catbalogan City Facebook page)
Seniang’s Wrath
They were among 22 people who died in a landslide during typhoon Seniang on Dec. 30.
Tan said that because of the boys’ camaraderie, Tafalla and Del Rosario made it a habit to sleep in Carcellar’s house after their daily practices that would end at midnight.
On Dec. 29, Sinulog practice was cancelled because of heavy rains brought by Seniang.
While the children were sent home at 2 p.m., Tafalla and Del Rosario opted to still sleep in Carcellar’s house like they would always do.
The landslide happened early morning the next day.
In their funeral wake, the boys’ parents would always speak about how their sons looked forward to dancing in the Sinulog festival.
Fulfillment
Tan said that after their burial on Wednesday, she would have wanted to just cancel their trip to Cebu.
She said the city also needed to recover from the storm.
Many of her critics questioned the city government’s P2.5 million allocation to fund their out-of-town Sinulog presentation. They said the amount would be better spent on Catbalogan’s typhoon rehabilitation efforts.
In her consultation with the boys parents, they insisted that Catbalogan go ahead with the trip to Cebu to fulfill their son’s dream.
Other city officials and her department heads agreed.
“So I decided not to give up. I’ve said to myself that the P2 million that we are allocating for the Sinulog was already replaced by an even bigger amount which we received as relief and cash donations from other Local Government Units and private sector donors,” said the mayor.
Tan said she also realized that if she backed out, she would frustrate the 500 other performers and support staff who helped prepare for their big debut in Cebu.