BAYOG, Zamboanga del Sur – The
municipality of Bayog marked its 46th founding anniversary on
Tuesday featuring street dancing competition locally known as “Palad-Palad
Festival 2013.”
In his welcome address, Mayor Leonardo Babasa Jr. said
“this annual Palad-Palad- Festival is our way of expressing our thanksgiving to
the ‘Most High’ for all the blessings we have received for the past days,
months and years.”
He also urged his constituents “to always cooperate and
support the programs and projects that will help us push forward our cause for
development, peace and order in our municipality.”
The town’s 28 barangays, which are grouped into seven
clusters, actively participated in the annual festival with each cluster
depicting the culture, tradition and the way of life of a certain tribe living
in the municipality through dances.
“The blessing of peace and prosperity that this
municipality has received in the past years is the main reason of this
celebration today,” said Zamboanga del Sur second district representative
Aurora Cerilles who served as the guest of honor and speaker.
“We acknowledged the continuous efforts and dedicated
service of our local officials headed by Mayor Babasa for the people by
implementing the programs and projects that bring development to the
municipality,” the lady legislator continued.
“With the theme, ‘Basura Atras, Bayog Abante sa
Serbisyo ug Asenso (Fight off Garbage: Onward Bayog for Services and Progress),’
cleanliness is important to prevent diseases and epidemics,” Cerilles said.
“We should also conserve our natural resources and
maintain the balance in our eco-system if we want to prosper. The environment
is all we have to live in this struggle against poverty, sickness and poverty.
For this reason we have to protect and take care of it,” Cerilles emphasized.
Meanwhile, Cluster 7 representing the lone barangay of Poblacion won the first prize of P50,000 in the street dancing competition, followed by Cluster 5 composed of barangays Salawagan, Lamare, Balumbunan, San Isidro and Depase with P30,000 cash prize, and Cluster 4 consisting of barangays Dimalinao, Pulangbato, Dipili, Depore and Damit with a cash prize of P20,000. Non-winners were each given P10,000 as consolation prizes. (PIA9)