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Fragments of a Bright Christmas
By Gabriel Millado
davaotoday.com
DAVAO CITY -- By the first week of December, the whole stretch of Rizal Park was already a pleasant sight with lanterns and Christmas lights wonderfully arranged. Christmas was finally here.
By nighttime, all decorations were in full light, the sight giving passersby a magnificent feel of the holidays. City Hall also placed several Santa Claus statues; on top of the City Hall building, Christmas lights formed Santa figures riding on a pick-up truck, a motorbike, and an airplane. Perhaps a reminder of Mayor Rodrigo Duterte’s favorite modes of transport?
Truly, Christmas was just around the corner.
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As an expression of their own Christmas spirit, members of the urban-
poor organization Kadamay headed the hanging of black lanterns in various communities in the city as a form of protest.
This was in reaction to the declaration of the city’s Traffic Management Center that there would be no letup in the demolition of sidewalk stalls and stores even during the holiday season. Kadamay considered this a “cosmetic scheme” in preparation for the Asean Tourism Forum scheduled here in January next year.
The city had to make a good impression, said Kadamay chairperson Inday Duterte. She said the government considered the sidewalk vendors as eyesores.
With Christmas looming, vendors could not do anything but to take the government’s action bitterly. They would have to bear this burden as City Hall failed to present any clear alternatives for them.
Kadamay said it understood the need for development. “We’re not against development,” Inday Duterte said, only that “it shouldn’t be at the expense of the people.”
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As part of celebrating Christmas, the city government organized the “Pasko Fiesta sa Dabaw 2005: Pahalipay ni Mayor sa Pasko,” a series of events designed to entertain Davaoeños, as well as to give them a venue to show their talents and promote their barangays.
Pasko Fiesta is a month-long Christmas celebration. According to the news release of the Philippine Information Agency, these activities are said “to foster unity, promote happiness and nurture a culture of peace among local residents and visitors.”
The city government designed two major categories for the said activity which are open to contest for barangays, the “Pahiyas” and the “Pasundayag.”
Pahiyas contests are competitions all about Christmas decorations, such as belen- making and Christmas tree and lanterns-making. As such, barangay folks are having their hands full this yuletide to make it for the best “Dayan-Dayan” or Christmas effects.
The city government whipped up contest activities to spice up the season with merriment from the downtown streets to the barangay grounds through the category called “Pasundayag,” an all song and dance competition, both city-wide and district level, called “Hugna sa Kadalanan” and “Hugna sa Distrito,” respectively.
Street bands are also set to fill up streets during the holidays as drums and lyre/bugle corps, including bands that utilize either brass and indigenous instruments, will compete for “Baktas Karakas.”
Streets will also liven up with cheers and dances for the “Dasig Sayaw” cheer dance competition category. There will also be a category for rondalla music playing and dance showdown competitions in the category called “Rondalya sa Kalsada.”
Meanwhile, the barangay level competitions include Christmas folk caroling contest which elders over 30 years old can join in. The competition is dubbed “Panayegon sa Kanhiay.”
There will also be a caroling competition for the young. Called “Panayegon sa mga Bata, this will be participated in by children from 7-13 years old. A category is also set for 14-29 year-olds in the category “Panayegon Binatan-on.”
There will also be a whole lot of dancing – the “Sayaw Inidaran” dance competition for the oldies and “Sayaw Binatan-on” for the young ones. Even children aged 7 -13 years old have their own modern dance category called “Sayaw sa mga Bata.
And of course, the show will not be complete without amateur singing contests that teens and adults can join in like the “Kanta Pasko sa mga Hamtong” and “Kanta Pasko sa mga Bulilit” competitions.
And also a beauty search. This time, it will not be for the young, but the oldies. Dubbed as “Bituon sa Banagbanag: SCQ Senior Citizens Quest,” senior citizens will compete for talent, wit and personality.
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The malls will also be staging their Christmas events to regale Davaoeños. SM City will hold its Annual Mindanao-Wide Chorale Competition, which will be open to all chorale groups in the entire island. They will be singing either of the following contest pieces: "For Unto Us, A Child is Born [[”]] and two warm up songs of their choice, [[“]] Pasko Fiesta Concert with Cueshe and Sheree of Viva Hot Babes [[”]], and “Halad sa Pasko: Christmas Concert of 300 voices.”
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Rizal Park also brightens up this season with the “unveiling” of the Holy Family, a gigantic statue created as the city’s official entry to the Lady’s Choice Christmasterpiece Contest, the first inter-town landmark-making contest sponsored by Unilever.
The 12-foot high image of the Holy Family, placed at the left side corner of the park, is a refreshing reminder of Christmas. It was designed by artist Kublai Milan.
James Zimmerman, head of the General Services Office, said the making of the Holy Family symbolizes the sense of bayanihan among the Davaoeños. “Lots of people were involved in the construction. One barangay made the fence, another donated the clothes, another worked on the design,” Zimmerman said.
The Holy Family is made out of various donated materials, such as Lady’s choice empty bottles, most of which were recycled ones that came from different groups and offices in the city. As a requirement for entering the
contest, the entry must have at least 100 bottles of Lady’s Choice sandwich spread.
The city’s entry has somewhere around 130 bottles, said Zimmerman “We even had to ask our teachers and government employees to donate” some of the materials, Zimmerman said. Entries from other cities have as many as 500 bottles, with Tagum City’s entry reaching 1,038. (Gabriel Millado/davaotoday.com)
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