THE Mandaue City Government will hold the Panagtagbo Festival on Friday, January 19 in honor of the feast of Señor Santo Niño.
The Panagtagbo is the meeting of the Holy Family. On the same day, the Santo Niño and the Our Lady of Guadalupe will be transferred to the National Shrine of Saint Joseph for the Traslacion.
There will be eight contingents that will compete in the street dancing and in the ritual showdown at the Mandaue City Sports Complex.
Josephus Bihag, officer-in-charge of the City Tourism Office (CTO), said these contingents come from the 27 villages of Mandaue.
“Ang ato tribute ni nato sa Holy Family and camaraderie sa matag (We are doing this as tribute to the Holy Family and to promote camaraderie in every) barangay,” said Bihag.
He said a subsidy is given to each contingent.
The City Government through the CTO coordinated with the Taga-Mandaue Inc. (TMI) for the Panagtagbo Festival.
In a press conference Monday, TMI announced that they will give VIP pass for free to all the “balikbayans” in Mandaue.
Gwynn Christine Tianero, secretary of TMI, said they would want to accommodate as many balikbayans as possible.
The balikbayans will only have to register themselves at the City Tourism Office.
The city sports complex will be open for the people who would like to witness the Panagtagbo showdown at 8 p.m.
Glenn Antigua, chief for operations of Team, said the A. del Rosario Street will be closed at 1 p.m. for the street dancing.
Bruce Bullozos, festival overall director, said a Food, Beverage, and Lifestyle bazaar was opened last Saturday at the City Hall grounds until January 20.
As part of the feast of Señor Santo Niño, an exhibit of religious icons was also opened last Friday in Parkmall. (FMG with Andy Nichol M. Borbon, USC AB Communications Intern/VoxPop Cebu)
