DAVAO CITY – The Davao City council are now preparing for the upcoming Kadayawan Festival on August 17 to 23.
Davao City Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte has issued an executive order (EO) which will create an executive committee (Execom) that will plan, organize, manage, and implement the activities for the Kadayawan festival.
Lisette Marques, the OIC of the City Tourism Office (CTO) said that they will allot P15 million for the event.
The city government will be in partnership with the Kadayawan sa Dabaw Foundation, Inc. for this annual event.
Mayor Duterte will head the executive committee, while Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte and Rollie Dumalag of the Kadayawan sa Dabaw Foundation, Inc will act as vice chairpersons.
Marques said that some councilors are willing to assist in the preparation and the event proper itself.
“We will have Councilor Mabel Sunga-Acosta for the opening of the Indak-Indak sa Kadalanan, while Councilor Myrna Dalodo-Ortiz will be the one who will assist in the opening ceremony of Kadayawan proper,” she said.
The Kadayawan Foundation will head the ways and means of the event, while the City Tourism Office will be in charge of the communication and secretarial committee.
Councilor Al Ryan S. Alejandre, the spokesperson of the Execom, said that the city will celebrate the 30th Kadayawan this year.
Marques added that “there will be five major events, consisting of the Pamulak sa Kadayawan, which consists of the traditional and non-motorized categories; Hiyas ng Dabaw; Sayaw Mindanao; Tunog Mindanao; and Indak-Indak sa Kadalanan.”
She also added that they have set contest prizes for the different events.
“In Sayaw Mindanao, the first prize will be P500,000, while the second prize will be P400,000, third prize will be P300,000, fourth prize will be P100,000 and fifth prize will be P50,000. For the consolation prize, we will give P15,000,” she said.
Marques said the Pamulak sa Kadalanan traditional category, P500,000 for first prize, P300,000 for second prize, and P150,000 for third prize. For the non-motorized category, first prize will be P150,000, second prize will be P100,000, and third prize will be P75,000, she added.
“All the funds we have are coming from the trust funds of the government, and we have the needed documents for the liquidation of the expenses this year,” Marques said.
“We will look for sponsors, so we could lessen the expenses of the government and we could spend for whatever needs we would have in the future,” she added.
Marques said that the festival aims to promote tourism in Davao City.
“We also need the help and support of the private sector for this event since this will be a much bigger event than the usual Kadayawan in the past years,” she added.
There will also be events such as Kadayawan sa Lumadnong Katilingban, which includes the Davao River Festival, Panagtagbo, Lumadnong Bantawan, Lumadnong Dula, and Hiyas sa Kadayawan.
The Kadayawan Festival will also coincide with the Indigenous Peoples’ Day in August.(davaotoday.com)
