By Alma L. Tingcang
SAN MIGUEL, Zamboanga del
Sur - “Pigumpungan Festival,” celebrated for the first time
in this peaceful town of Zamboanga del
Sur in keeping with the 53rd Araw ng San Miguel.
“It is the first time that
we celebrated this festival. Pigumpungan
is a Subanen word which means unity as we have seen through the cooperation
and support of the people during the previous and the present administration,”
says San Miguel Mayor Angelito L. Martinez II.
Mayor Martinez said plans
have long been prepared to come up with the celebration of the Pigumpungan
Festival. “It is only during my administration that those plans were
materialized and I am deeply grateful to the people of San Miguel,” he pointed
out.
“We will make this a yearly activity since the
launching was very successful. One of the highlights of this four-day festival which runs from Aug. 29-Sept. 1 is the
school-based dance extravaganza participated in by 18 elementary schools and
four national high schools,” he explained.
The folk dance
competition, ethnic and team ballroom competition wowed the audience showcasing
the myriad talents of the students in the elementary and high school.
The 18 barangay Indigenous
Peoples (IPS) representatives also elected their officers with Timuay Priscilla
Buay Marquiala as president, to comprise
the San Miguel Tribal Council of Elders.
Although the Subanen
people comprise only 5-10 percent of local folks, and a minority, the good
mayor who was born and bred in this town never forgot that they were the first
settlers of San Miguel. “Later, Christians have come to settle in this peaceful
town but let us never forget that it was the Subanens who first tilled our soils
and made them productive.”
“I would say that the
people’s support was so amazing, even during the opening, I never expected that
the response would be so overwhelming. I was thinking only the highway
barangays would participate but to my surprise, even the far-flung barangays
joined. In fact, many of them cried, and I was one of them. I practically had
goose bumps,” the mayor said in the vernacular.
Mayor Martinez expressed
his gratitude to his lovely and ever-supportive first lady, Ms. Vida Belle
Althea T. Martinez, Tourism Officer and chairperson of Ms. Teen San Miguel 2013
and the cultural extravaganza, to Vice Mayor Celso T. Otero, Sangguniang Bayan
members and barangay officials.
Mayor Martinez reiterated his wholehearted thanks to
all the people of San Miguel, the working committees and everyone else who
contributed to the success of the 53rd Araw ng San Miguel. He then
encouraged everyone to sustain the momentum to achieve the municipality’s long
cherished dream of progress and development. (PIA9)