Sinulog 2024 to start at 9 a.m., says Cebu City councilor Pesquera

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The suggestion of Cebu City Councilor Philip Zafra to start the simultaneous events for Sinulog at 3 p.m. will not push through, Councilor Jocelyn Pesquera confirmed on Tuesday, November 21, 2023.

Pesquera, who is part of the Sinulog 2024 executive committee, said they already discussed the suggestion during their recent meeting with the executive committee and expressed that “it is not good to start at 3 o’clock.”

“On a perspective of a dancer, kapoy na siya. You know, you prepare as early as 4 a.m. and then mo dance ka at 3 p.m. mas gusto ang mga dancers mosayaw kaysa mag standby,” Pesquera said.

(On a perspective of a dancer, that’s tiring. You know, you prepare as early as 4 a.m. and then you dance at 3 p.m. They’d like it better to dance that to wait.)

Pesquera added that if they start the event at 3 p.m., it would be pitiful to some contingents who might present their performance at a later time just like in Pasigarbo sa Sugbo, which lasted until dawn.

READ: Pasigarbo ‘technical boo-boos’: What we know so far

To recall, Zafra told reporters on November 15 about his suggestion on having the Sinulog parade start at 3 p.m. based on his observation from last year’s event as the chair of the executive committee of Sinulog 2023.

“Grabe ka-init and lahi gyud ang weather karon. So para nako it’s better nga ari ta sa late in the afternoon, maybe at 3 p.m., para padung na sawm ang adlaw,” Zafra said last November 15.

(The heat these days are intense, the weather is really different. So for me, it’s better to start it late in the afternoon, maybe at 3 p.m., so that the sun will be setting.)

READ: Start Sinulog parade at 3 p.m., Cebu City councilor suggests

‘Not healthy’

Pesquera, however, says this won’t be good for the dancers.

“It’s not healthy. You wake up very early on the day of the Sinulog like 4 a.m. to prepare, especially for women, dayon human mosayaw ka the following day na,” she said.

(It’s not healthy. You wake up very early on the day of the Sinulog like 4 a.m. to prepare, especially for women, then you dance on the following day already.)

Recalling her dancing experiences as a student and her early years as a councilor, she said that performing in Sinulog is exhausting.

Moreover, she added that there would also be times when the routes for the parade were clogged up due to the spectators crossing the opposite sides of the streets, and when the floats of the celebrities would stop in the middle of the road.

“Ma problema ang contingent because kung mag hunong ka lang, kapoy kaayo na siya. It’s more tiresome standing than dancing because when you dance, enjoy man ka, and especially ang crowd mo abiba, mo pak-pak, mas mo dasig man ka nga mosayaw,” she said.

(It will be a problem for the contingent because if they’ll stop, it will be tiring. It’s more tiresome standing than dancing because when you dance, you enjoy, and especially if the crowd cheers, it can encourage the dancers.)

If the contingents would stand for a long time, she said they would feel the exhaustion from either the heat or the rain.

CDN Digital has already reached out to Engineer Ricky Dakay, the chairman of Sinulog 2024 executive committee for the final schedule of the program, but he has yet to give his response as of this posting.

/bmjo