Candoni's Fiesta

The last 3 days were days of revelry in Candoni, as they commemorate their 48th town patronal festival in honor of Our Lady of Lourdes. I was personally excited to be there in the fiesta considering that last year, the barangay captains decided to forego with the Streetdancing Competition (formerly known as Pabalhas sa Tablas). This year, the Mayor insisted of re-including the Streetdancing Contest but this time under a new name: Dinagyaw sa Tablas. Dinagyaw has been commonly used the last few months especially under this present administration of Mayor Borromeo. Dinagyaw invokes a sense of "bayanihan", or community spirit. In fact, the history of Candoni, which was then formerly known as Tabla Valley Settlement, is rich with episodes of Dinagyaw. When the early settlers decided to build 30 kilometers of roads from the Tabla Valley to Dancalan, Ilog, without the support of government, it was perhaps unparalleled in the history of the Philippines, to quote former President Manuel Quezon. With the new theme, the Mayor and the entire municipality would want to inculcate in the hearts and minds of its people the sense of Bayanihan as fostered by the founder Santiago Diego. February 11, 2009 was indeed historic for it gave birth to the First Dinagyaw sa Tablas Streetdancing Competition.




To start off the highlights of the festivities, the municipality held its annual Civic Parade in the Poblacion area, participated by all municipal offices, civic groups, government agencies, barangays and schools. Of course, the municipal health office participated as well along with our Candidate for the Annual Lin-ay Sang Tablas 2009 (Ms. Tabla Valley). The night earlier, the staff were busy preparing the float which would carry our Candidate during the Civic Parade.





In the middle of the parade, the medical staff had to run all the way to the Main Health Center to attend to injuries of a vehicular accident. A huge truck carrying cases of beer turned to its side near Barangay Caningay hurting one passerby and the driver. I had to accompany the victims to the nearest hospital after stabilizing them. The driver had multiple fractures, including fractured ribs. The passerby had multiple lacerations in the head and extremities.




That evening, I watched the pageant for Lin-ay sang Tablas 2009, rooting for our candidate, Ms. Charice Maulit. She was sponsored by the Municipal health Office and the Municipal Treasurer's Office. During last year's pageant, our candidate won 1st runner up and since the reigning Lin-ay sang Tablas 2008 was dethroned due to some technicalities, she had to assume the throne even for just one night.





Fortunately, we won the search, with our Candidate winning almost all the minor and special awards, including Ms. Photogenic, Best in Interview and Best in Talent. The following day, during the Streetdancing Competition, I asked Charice if she could attend our culminating activity for the Heart month on the 27th.

The feast day of Our Lady of Lourdes started with the usual morning procession followed by the Holy Mass which was attended by all municipal employees and the faithful. After the mass, all the department heads went to the newly constructed police station for the blessing and dedication of the facility together with the Mayor and Congressman Alvarez. The newly constructed Boxing Gym was also dedicated. After the blessing, all department heads went to the Municipal Hall for a luncheon meeting with the Congressman.

At around 1:00 pm, we all went out of the streets to witness for the first time the Dinagyaw Festival.












After the Arena Competition, I went to my DOH rep's house, Mrs. Manzano, for afternoon snacks, had dinner in my midwife's house, Mrs. Siervo, and was supposed to have dessert in other midwife's house, Mrs. Pioquinto. But I had to refuse the latter. Instead, my "dessert" was sent to me packed here in Bacolod.

It was a fun fiesta and my congratulations to the Mayor and the entire workforce behind this success.