ILOILO City – This year’s face-to-face staging of Iloilo Paraw Regatta Festival is also bringing back its popular side event – the lechon contest.
According to John Lex Bayombong, chairperson of the Paraw Regatta Festival, the lechon contest is on March 19 during the highlight day of the regatta, the oldest sailing event in the country.
The annual regatta has become a platform to showcase the lechon of Arevalo (Villa), said Bayombong.
Lechon is a whole roasted adult pig that is slowly rotated over an open charcoal grill to achieve a crisp skin and succulently tender meat.
“Namit ang aton litson diri,” stressed Bayombong.
He played down the ongoing African Swine Fever (ASF) outbreak.
Arevalo is ready to showcase its ASF-free lechon, he stressed.
“Ang aton contest is all about panamit-namit, panama-nami kag pagwapa-gwapa sang lechon,” added Bayombong.
Around 10 establishments within Arevalo will also join a lechon parade, he revealed.
Paraw Regatta is known for its vibrant layag or sails soaring as high as 15 feet, often colorfully painted with images of rural sea life and depicting the culture and spirit of Iloilo City.
Paraws race a course of more than 30 kilometers, traversing the coasts of Iloilo and Guimaras before returning back to the finish line in Villa beach, the journey taking more or less than hour and a half to finish.
This year’s return of the festival is slated on March 12 to 19./PN
