BONTOC, Mountain Province – Two ranking Palace officials and Senator Imee Marcos will grace the highlights of this year’s 56th founding anniversary of Mountain Province and the 16th Lang-ay festival on Wednesday, April 5, 2023.
Undersecretary Joseph B. Sagandoy, Jr., who is a native of Bontoc, will be joined by Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma representing the Office of the President and Senators Imee Marcos and Christopher Lawrence Go during the grand street chanting and streetdancing parade and main program of the province’s 56th founding anniversary and 16th Lang-ay festival.
The theme of this year’s festival is ‘Strengthening Communal Capabilities for Cultural Protection and Appreciating Cultural Richness as Instruments for More Resilient and Peaceful Communities.’
Last March 27, 2023, the celebration kicked off with a civic parade that was followed by a simple program and the opening of the agro-industrial fair where numerous products from the 10 municipalities will be showcased at the provincial plaza.
Also gracing the aforesaid occasion is Police Brig. Gen. David K. Peredo, Jr., the newly-installed regional director of the Police Regional Office (PRO) in the Cordillera, who also hails from Sagada, Mountain Province.
On April 2, 2023, contestants for the Search for Mr. and Ms. Mountain Province will be joining the swim wear competition which will be held in Sagada town while the Lang-ay by the Street will be held along the main thoroughfare of the capital town.
On April 3, 2023, there will be a thanksgiving mass that will be followed by a wreath-laying and candle lighting ceremony at the Governors’ Memorial Monument and will be capped by the Coronation Night and main pageant of the Search for Mr. and Ms. Mountain Province that will be held at the provincial plaza.
A 2- day medical and surgical workshop will be held at the Bontoc General Hospital on April 3-4, 2023.
The traditional tribal dinner or the Governor’s Night will be held at the provincial multipurpose hall in the evening of April 4, 2023.
Aside from the grand street chanting and grand streetdancing parade on April 5, 2023, the main program of the Mountain Province foundation anniversary, cultural showdown and Lang-ay by the Eyeb will be held at the Eyeb grounds which will be followed by the indigenous games in the afternoon and Gansa Night at the provincial plaza that will cap the 2-week celebration as part of the ongoing efforts to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gov. Bonifacio C. Lacwasan Jr. extended the invitation to interested residents and visitors to witness the conduct of the various activities that had been lined up by the organizers for this years founding anniversary and Lang-ay Festival program to help in jumpstarting the recovery efforts that will pave the way for regaining the vibrance of the local economy.
On April 7, 1967, Mountain Province became an independent province with the implementation of Republic Act (RA) 4695 or the so-called Division law that divided the old Mountain Province into 4 independent provinces such as Benguet, Ifugao, Mountain Province and the former Kalinga-Apayao.
