Mindanaotoday.com | Misamis Oriental’l Kuyamis Festival 2023: ‘History in the making’
By: Jigger Jerusalem
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – “This will be history in the making. [Misamis Oriental and Cagayan de Oro] working together for the first time.”
This, in a nutshell, was how Misamis Oriental Gov. Peter Unabia summed up the direction the province is going as it celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Kuyamis Festival.
Unabia was referring to the involvement of Cagayan de Oro in said festival – of the Kuyamis firsts under his governorship.
For the first time since it was founded a decade ago, the Kuyamis Festival has brought together Misamis Oriental and Cagayan de Oro – unheard of in the past – and collaborating under the leaderships of Unabia and Mayor Rolando Uy, respectively.
The weeklong festival, celebrated this year from Jan. 9 to 13, is named after the golden coconut that is abundant in Misamis Oriental, and was established by then Gov. Yevgeny Vincente Emano – now the province’s second legislative district representative – during his first term in 2013.
With Unabia and Uy at the helm of power, the cooperation between the province and the city is slowly taking shape.
Soon after they assumed office this year, Unabia and Uy met on several occasions and promised to work together.
The 10th run of the Kuyamis is the first fruit of that mutual commitment as the organizers added the Paglaum MisOr-Rise CDO Cup, a sporting event that would involve Cagayan de Oro in the festival, to the list of activities.
Paglaum (“hope” in English) is the acronym of Unabia’s seven-point agenda, while Rise CDO is Uy’s program of governance.
Paglaum stands for participatory approach, agriculture as the priority, goal-oriented tourism, livelihood, aggressive programs for the youth, unified approach for health and social services, and mobilization of resources through equitable sharing
Rise CDO means regional leadership, metropolization, connectivity and accessibility; institutional development and participatory governance; safety, security, and social development; and economic recovery. CDO is the abbreviation of Cagayan de Oro.
“This will be history in the making. MisOr and CDO working together for the first time,” Unabia said in his message during the festival’s opening ceremony at the Misamis Oriental Integrated Sports Complex (MOISC) Monday, Jan. 9.
Another move that is seen to further cement Misamis Oriental and Cagayan de Oro’s multi-faceted partnership is the use of the MOISC as Kuyamis Festival’s venue for most of its major events.
Significant
According to lawyer Jeffrey Saclot, Misamis Oriental’s tourism officer, the holding of almost all of the Kuyamis activities at the MOISC is significant considering the sports complex is jointly owned by the provincial and city governments, and the Department of Education.
“Gov. Unabia has welcomed the Misamis Oriental-Cagayan de Oro collaboration in the Kuyamis 10th edition, especially in sports where Cagayan de Oro is very involved. The provincial government also wants to make Cagayan de Oro feel that they are part of the 10th Kuyamis Festival celebration,” Saclot said.
He said the venue for the street dancing competition, another Kuyamis major event, will also be at the MOISC.
“The highlights will be held at the MOISC to signify that we are now back to normal and to show that our street dancing competition is comparable to the major festivals in the Philippines,” Saclot added.
He said this year’s street dancing contest has 15 groups participating.
“That’s [15] a very good number from out of 25 LGUs,” the provincial tourism official said.
Except for the Miss Kuyamis pageant, most the festival’s core events such as the booth competition, dance craze, “laro ng lahi” (traditional sports), battle of the bands, and the Paglaum MisOr-Rise CDO Cup are held at the MOISC.
Economy and tourism
For his part, John Venice Ladaga, the provincial administrator, said Unabia has emphasized the theme “Paglaum sa MisOr” and considered tourism as one of the drivers of the local economy.
“Gov. Unabia has green-lighted initiatives for the province’s tourism projects. In fact, our engineers and architects have started to establish ‘tourism loops’ in Misamis Oriental,” Ladaga said.
Included in the plan is to convert the MOISC and make it a high-standard sports venue, he noted.
“We have private investors willing to develop MOISC to and make it a world-class facility. The details are in the works and the governor has also formed a core group to focus on the MOISC project,” Ladaga said. (MT)
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