By Mary May A. Abellon
DIPOLOG CITY – The city government here on Friday opened the 16th P’gsalabuk Festival at the city boulevard.
In her message during the opening program, Mayor Evelyn T. Uy said “P’gsalabuk, which is a Subanen term for ‘gathering’ or ‘togetherness’, is one way to show that Dipolog is a place where peace quietly intermingles despite bad publicity that rocks Mindanao.”
This year’s P’gsalabuk centers on celebrating the value of coconut as the “tree of life.”
According to Mayor Uy, coconut was chosen as the theme because of its abundance in the city and the benefit it offers to the people.
“This year is quite special because we are recognizing the importance of coconut. In fact, there’s already a company that will establish a biomass plant as a source of energy using ‘palwa’ (coconut frond) for fuel,” Mayor Uy said.
Several activities were lined up to make the celebration more lively and exciting to all especially the tourists. These include visual art exhibit, triathlon competition, road bike and mountain bike challenge, football festival, coco challenge, concerts, Santa Cruzan, live band and many more.
A day before the city fiesta on May 17, there will also be street dance presentation and showdown, highlighting the 2014 P’gsalabuk Festival.