ILOILO City – The 2019 patronal fiesta of Jaro district will not have a fiesta queen, a break from the yearly tradition of feting an appointed “queen” in a lavish coronation ceremony on fiesta night, Feb. 2.
According to Jerel Agilles whom Mayor Jose Espinosa III appointed to manage the Jaro Agro-Industrial and Charity Fair, there was not enough time to select this year’s fiesta queen.
The Jaro fiesta queen must, by tradition, have roots in Jaro and have some formidable financial resources.
“Ngaa ang queen sang Jaro pirmi lang gina-appoint? Daw para lang sa maka-afford. Why not have a search? Beauty with brains ang labanan,” said Agilles.
Thus this year, said Agilles, instead of appointing a fiesta queen, a beauty pageant for the “Carnival Queen of Jaro” would be staged.
“Bisan imol ka kon gwapa ka kag alam ka, pwede ka gid nga queen sang Jaro,” said Agilles.
He, however, made it clear that contestants must be residents of Jaro.
The 42 barangay councils of Jaro were already informed of this, said Agilles. They were asked to come up with their respective candidates.
Agilles said a pre-pageant would be held to trim down the number of final candidates to 10 only.
“This innovation gives Jaro maidens equal chance to become the Carnival Queen of Jaro,” he stressed.
The Carnival Queen of Jaro 2019 will take home a P20,000 cash prize; P15,000 for the first runner-up; and P10,000 for the second runner-up, said Agilles.
There will be special awards, too, with corresponding cash prizes, he added.
The Jaro district patronal fiesta every Feb. 2 honors Nuestra Señora dela Candelaria (Our Lady of Candles), one of the honorific titles of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Roman Catholic religion.
The Jaro fiesta will officially open with a parade on Jan. 19 at 2:30 p.m./PN
