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LGUs
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2016 mst.daydesk@gmail.com
22ND PANAGBENGA FESTIVAL TO BE LAUNCHEDNOVEMBER 14
Local Gov’t Units
KOREA’S PRODUCTS ON DISPLAY AT SHANGRI-LA
By Dexter A. See
B
aguio City— The Baguio Flower Festival Foundation Inc. (BFFFI) will be launching various private sector-led and government-supported activities for the 22nd staging of the month-long Panagbenga on Nov. 14, 2016, during the regular flagraising ceremony at the city hall grounds.
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LIGHT IT UP. (From left) Bb. Pilipinas 1st Runner-Up Angelica Alita, Bb. Pilipinas 2nd Runner-Up Jehza Mae
Juelar, television and movie celebrity Vice Ganda, Ms. Universe Philippines Maxine Medina, BPCI Chairperson Stella Marquez Araneta, Bb. Pilipinas Intercontinental Jennifer Hammond and Bb. Pilipinas Globe Nichole Manalo grace the lighting of the giant Christmas Tree at the Araneta Center in Cubao, Quezon City recently. Sonny Espiritu
Anthony de Leon, general manager of the Baguio Country Club and co-chairman of the Panagbenga Executive Committee, said the launching of the city’s premier crowd-drawing event will help promote the flower festival as a must-see event among foreign and local tourists come February and early March next year. The traditional events for next year’s flower festival include the grand opening parade on February 1, the market encounter that will run for the whole duration of the festival, the grand street dancing parade, the grand float parade, the week-long Session Road in Bloom and the grand closing ceremony and fireworks display. The BFFFI official claimed organizers are inclined to invite diplomats from various countries to help promote the annual flower festival in their respective countries and to attract more foreign visitors. He added that the grand opening parade, the grand street dancing parade and the grand float parade as well as the closing ceremony and fireworks display will all be held at the Melvin Jones grandstand instead of the Baguio Athletic Bowl. By inviting diplomats to attend the main events of the flower festival, he said it will provide an opportunity for the festival to be given sufficient international exposure that will translate to more foreign visitors to the city. Organizers will continue to introduce the needed innovations to the major events to help attract more people from different parts of the world to watch the activities lined up for the month-long festival. The flower festival was named Panagbenga, a Kankana-ey term for the blossoming of flowers, because the festival is held right in time for the blossoming of flowers being produced by local flower growers in the nearby towns of La Trinidad, Itogon, Sablan, Tuba and Tublay. Organizers are spending close to P12 million annually to bankroll the various activities lined up for the festival with P4 million to be spent by the local government for the prizes of the winners in the different contests of the festival.
Korean Ambassador Kim Jae Shin (5th from left) leads the ribbon-cutting ceremony of ‘K-Ribbon Selection’ exhibit last Nov. 2, 2016.
THE Shangri-La Mall Plaza Grand Atrium in Mandaluyong City hosted the launching of the “KRibbon Selection” Exhibit last November 2. The exhibit was organized by Korea's Ministry of Culture. Sports and Tourism, the Korean Embassy and the Korean Cultural Cente to increase Korea's brand and cultural awareness among Filipinos. The products displayed at “KRibbon Selection” are brands recognized by the Korean government for its premium quality. The K-Ribbon Selection is also the Korean government’s flagship project to showcase the excellent cultural products that carry the cultural value of Korea. Gracing the opening of the exhibit is Korean Ambassador Kim Jae Shin together with Lee ChilYong, Korean Royal Craft Culture Association chairman; Mina Gabor, chairperson of the Philippine Small & Medium Business Development Foundation, Inc. (Philsmed); and Marline Mualan, Marketing Division manager of Shangri-La Plaza Mall. In his welcome remarks, Ambassador Kim said he hopes that more Filipinos will take an interest in Korean culture and products through this exhibit. He also noted that the K-Ribbon selection exhibit is a good opportunity to showcase the premium Korean products and generate sales for Korean businesses here in the country. Gabor, on the other hand, expressed her willingness to partner with Korean businesses here in the Philippines. Gabor expects that through this exhibit Korean and Philippine businesses will have joint business ventures in the future. Various Korean cultural products including cultural contents, (animation and comic characters), hanbok (Korean traditional clothes), Korean Fashion, Korean traditional handicrafts, and Korean cuisine
SAN PEDRO CITY RECEIVES DILG SEAL By Roy Tomandao FOR the fourth time, the City of San Pedro in Laguna received the annual citation given by the Department of the Interior and Local Government to local government units for good governance standards. As a municipality, then under the leadership of former Mayor Calixto R. Cataquiz, San Pedro was awarded the 2013 Seal of Good Housekeeping by then DILG Secretary Jessie Robredo. The award was renamed Seal of Good Governance and was awarded to San Pedro by then Secretary Mar Roxas in 2014. In 2015, San Pedro City Mayor Lourdes S. Cataquiz received the Seal for San Pedro as a high-performing city, also from Secretary Roxas.
Last October 27, 2016, Secretary Ismael Sueno handed the Seal to Mayor Lourdes S. Cataquiz during an awarding ceremony held at Sofitel Philippine Plaza Hotel in Pasay City. The Seal is conferred to cities and municipalities which have measured up to performance standards on financial administration, social protection, disaster preparedness, business friendliness and competitiveness, peace and order, and environmental management. In exhorting the winning LGUs to sustain its high performance, Secretary Sueno said: “If you have received the award, do not relax, do not be complacent, do more, do not stop. Instead, engage more. Interact with the public and other sectors and listen to their concerns, find ways to improve services. Level
up to make this nation great again. The password today is change. Make change happen.” Keynote speaker Senator Loren Legarda encouraged the awardees to continue implementing the laws that are passed by the Senate, saying “no matter how useful the laws that we enact, if we do not implement it effectively, it is just ink on paper.” She reiterated that the LGUs are responsible for implementing the policies and programs under those laws. During the event, Secretary Sueno and Undersecretary Austere Panadero urged the LGUs to support genuine local autonomy through federalism, which is part of President Rodrigo Duterte’s program of governance. Senator Sonny Angara and Secretary Sueno presented the Seal to the recipients.
San Pedro City Mayor Lourdes Baby Cataquiz
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