Quincentennial countdown in Lapu-Lapu City may kick off without Duterte

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Although President Rodrigo Duterte is the expected guest of honor in the 500-day countdown to the quincentennial celebrations that will center in Lapu-Lapu City on Saturday, December 14, 2019, his attendance isn’t assured yet.

The President is expected to deliver a 15-minute message during the kick-off of the countdown at the Hoopsdome in Lapu-Lapu City but Tourism Officer Ed Mendez told CDN Digital said the plans might change.

“Duha ang atong invitation nga gisend: (We sent two invitations) One is for PRRD, and another is for Secretary [Bernadette Romulo-Puyat]. We know that the schedule of our President is erratic. On the program, he is set to deliver a message but just in case the President won’t come, it will be Secretary Puyat of the Department of Tourism (DOT) who will give the message,” Mendez told CDN Digital.

The city government, Mendez said, also invited some stakeholders in the activity.

“We have yet to see this Thursday (December 12) on who will confirm to attend,” Mendez said on Wednesday, December 10.

Mendez said the National Quincentennial Committee (NQC) handled the invitation for the President and the cabinet members while the DOT sent out invitations for the private sector, religious groups and the academe.

In the NQC’s Facebook page, the committee announced last December 4 that President Duterte has officially designated Puyat as his representative to the event.

Lapu-Lapu City is the center of the country quincentennial celebrations as it also marks the 500th anniversary of the Datu Lapulapu’s victory against the fleet of Ferdinand Magellan in the Battle of Mactan this April 2021.

The Battle is the first known resistance of the Filipinos against foreign invasion.

Cultural performances showing “the world of our ancestors” will be one of the highlights of the program as it depicts “Mangayaw,” the folkloric origin of the Visayas; “Bangka,” the maritime world of the pre0-historic Visayans; “Sandugo,” early society and political system; “Taboan,” the local and international trade; “Likha,” the sophisticated art of our ancestors; “Dungan,” or their spirituality; and “Pagdumala” which depicts how ancient spiritual leaders prophesized about the changes in social and political order that will be brought by foreign intrusions.

Medez said the performers, who come from different areas in the Visayas, have been practicing in Hoopsdome in the last two weeks.

Aside from the celebration in Lapu-Lapu City in Cebu, the cities of Manila and Davao will also have their kick off of the quincentennial countdown with the lighting of their national landmarks.

DOT Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat will mark the start of the landmark lighting as she will strike the agung, a native percussion instrument of the Filipinos, in Hoopsdome.

Meanwhile, the Catholic Church in the country, especially in Cebu, has also kicked off activities leading to the quincentennial anniversary of the arrival of the Christian faith here.

The Augustinians center their celebration on the arrival of the image of Santo Niño through Magellan’s voyage while the Archdiocese of Cebu anchors their activities on the first baptism which also happened in Cebu. /bmjo