BONTOC, MOUNTAIN PROVINCE – Gov. Bonifacio C. Lacwasn, Jr. expressed the province’s sincerest gratitude to all the public and private donors who contributed their time, effort and resources that resulted to the resounding success of the province’s 51st founding anniversary and 14th Lang-ay festival.
Lacwasn underscored the importance of true partnership between the public and private sector in ensuring the successful staging of major crow drawing events geared towards improving the local tourism industry and entice foreign and domestic tourists to frequent the province because of its increasing scenic destinations.
Contrary to the notion that private sectors did not participate in the just concluded Lang-ay Festival, many groups and individual personalities donated money to augment prizes for the various events during the week-long Lang-ay Festival.
Provincial Director Allen S. Ocden of the Philippine National Police donated a total cash amount of P 166,000.00 for the prizes in the Drug Free Choral Competition, street dancing, and Miss Mountain Province competition while HEDCOR- Sabangan, Inc. donated P25,000.00 for the 2nd prize for Igorot Showdown and DPWH- 2nd MPDEO personnel gave P20,000.00 for 3rd prize for Street Dancing Competition.
Other donors include Philex Mining Corporation- 20,000.00; Mountain Horizon Builders- P20,000.00; Eng’r Constito Masweng- 15,000.00; Balaan-Bo-en Construction- 10,000.00; Sumag Builders- 10,000.00; DD Likigan Construction- 10,000.00; Tepanlu Consdtruction- 10,000.00; CFB Marketing- 10,000.00; Enclean Gas Station- 10,000.00; Batakagan Construction- 10,000.00; Jairus Dale Builders- 10,000; Rio Chico Marketing- 7,000.00; Bence Enterprise- 6,000.00; Sunrays Gen. Mdse.- 5,000.00; MOPRECO- 5,000.00; Iyaman Enterprise- 5,000.00; JBA Construction & Builders- 5,000.00; Baguio City Congressman Mark Go- 5,000.00, Mr. Winston Calde- 5,000.00; Highland Villa- 4,000.00; Sadlan Construction- 4,000.00; Mr. Francisco Balisong- 3,000.00; Ridgebrook Hotel and Restaurant- 3,000.00; Valley Inn and Restaurant-3,000.00; BKA Construction- 2,000.00; Mr. Antonio Camarillo- 1,000.00; Mr. Jillian Clyde Bacayan- 1,000.00; and Bontoc Arts- 1,000.00.
As of this writing, there are donors who still committed to donate financial assistance to Lang-ay Festival to augment other expenses incurred during the event. These include LBP-Bontoc Branch employees- 50,000.00 plus; Atty. Pooten and family- 10,000.00; Lepanto Consolidated Mining Company- 10,000.00; and SMART Company- 20,000.00.
Aside from cash donations, there were also business sectors, groups and individuals who offered free foods, brewed coffees and fermented drinks while others provided promotional materials like tarpaulins.
The Police Provincial Director Ocden and Dalog families, in their private capacities, also hosted some events such as the PRO-COR Band Performance and Matagoan Caravan Fund Raising Activities respectively.
It is to be noted that prizes for the various competitive events was not included in the Lang-ay budget due to the limited amount.
The bulk of the budget went to the financial assistance of ten municipalities of the province to augment their transportation allowance, foods and snacks, and other related expenses incurred in their preparation for their respective contingents and the last three days performances during the festival.
The Lang-ay Committees express their heartfelt gratitude to the generous donors during the events. Committee Chairperson and Board Member Tomas A. Tawagen said that the success of the festival could not have been possible without the participation and support of everybody most especially the private sectors.
By Alfred Macalling
