CEBU CITY – Two parades were slated for this year’s Sinulog Festival – one organized by the city government of Cebu and the other put up by the provincial government of Cebu.
The Cebu province-initiated parade on January 14 will be held at the traditional venue at the Cebu City Sports Center (CCSC) while the Cebu City-led parade on January 21 will be at the South Road Properties (SRP).
Mayor Michael Rama here and Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia had conflicting choices on the venues of the grand parade.
The mayor wants it at SRP, the same venue of last year’s Sinulog, while the governor prefers to have the event at the CCSC.
After a series of meetings, local officials agreed that the Cebu provincial government “level up” the pre-Sinulog parade through the Sinulog sa Lalawigan.
Garcia said mayors chose the CCSC as the venue of the province-led grand parade.
"For the first time we will be spending for the subsidies (for the Sinulog sa Lalawigan)," Garcia said.
Unlike before when the Sinulog sa Lalawigan was organized only by schools from the different towns in Cebu, the event will now be participated in by contingents representing the province’s municipalities.
The provincial government is allocating more than P45 million to fund the parade.
The Sinulog sa Lalawigan will have 16 contingents that will receive P2 million each as a subsidy from the province.
The Cebu City-led Sinulog Grand Parade is the highlight of the entire cultural festivities here. It will be participated by at least 18 dancing contingents.