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[av_heading heading=’PEOPLE POWWOW | Bracing for this week’s Tatusan Festival’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY HERBERT VEGO
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Tuesday, May 16, 2017
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AS WE celebrate the Tatusan Festival for three days this week (Thursday to Saturday) in Caluya, Antique, we doff our hats off to its lady mayor, Genevive Lim Reyes. Having been elected president of the League of Municipalities, Antique chapter, she has already proven her worth as an emerging provincial leader.
It is her hope to cooperate with another woman leader, Governor Rhodora “Dodod” Cadiao, in developing the province into a tourist mecca. In fact, she has invited both Cadiao and Congressman Paolo Javier to come for the Tatusan Festival.
As an Antiqueño myself, I hope the three of them – regardless of political divisiveness — could unite in boosting the potentials of the province’s tourist destinations.
Mayor Reyes and the Tatusan Festival emerged into regional consciousness in 2015 when the town’s Tatusan Tribe bagged the championship of the “Kasadyahan” component of Iloilo City’s world-famous Dinagyang Festival, replicated the same feat in 2016 and placed 1st runner-up in January this year.
The word “Tatusan” sprang from the word “Tatus,” referring to Caluya’s indigenous blue-streaked crab that feeds only on coconut meat. It takes somehow like coconut meat, which is not surprising because it feeds on coconuts that richly abound the island.
The island municipality of Caluya and some of its island barangays are tourist destinations that ache for the “tender loving care” of the provincial government and the Department of Tourism. (Paging Regional Director Helen Catalbas…)
Already, despite its isolation from the mainland (three to four hours by boat from the port of Libertad town) it is the top income-generator among 18 municipalities of the province – no doubt because of the Semirara Mining and Power Corporation (SMPC) that mines coal in Semirara, one of its island barangays. It is from this corporation that Caluya gets the lion’s share of its annual income, now more or less P500 million.
Mayor Reyes would like to see tourism duplicate the success of coal mining. After all, most of the eight islands of the isolated municipality have tourism potentials. Since it is near the famous but now congested Boracay Island, the “spillover” tourists could enjoy snorkeling, diving, boating or swimming alongside playful dolphins off the barangay island of Sibato.
A dot in the map in the northernmost tip of the province of Antique, Caluya has a population of 30,000 spread across the cluster of eight islands.
This year’s Tatusan Festival is expected to be the grandest, showcasing both the traditional and hitherto unseen presentations. The opening day on May 18 will kick off with an inaugural mass, inauguration of circumferential road, parade of “warriors” and other participants, opening ceremony, photo-art exhibit, agro-industrial fare, “hurma-baras” (sculpting white-sand beach) and the “Battle of the Bands”, a band-music competition for amateur bands.
The second day will be as pleasantly audible, what with ten elementary schools from different Caluya barangays competing in the “Drum and Lyre Corps Competition”. A day-long beach party awaits natives and visitors alike.
The festival climaxes on its final night (Saturday, May 20) with “Laugh Out Loud (LOL)” – an extravaganza of songs, dances and comedy skit – starring entertainment celebrities led by “Kapuso” star Rodjun Cruz and Miss Tres (an all-women trio of “Asia’s Got Talent” fame) at the Tatusan Gymnasium. The other singing sensations coming are Liza Martinez of “The Voice” fame and Dante Beriong, the Antiqueño singer-composer behind the original songs “Kruhay,” “Mauli Gid Ako sa Antique” and “Hala Bira Iloilo.” (hvego31@gmail.com/PN)
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