BAGUIO CITY – The Baguio Flower Festival Foundation, Inc. (BFFFI) welcomed the reported move of the Liga ng mga Barangay–Baguio City chapter to work out the return of the barangay beautification contest during the annual celebration of the month-long flower festival to add more attractions for both residents and tourists alike right at the start of the year.
BFFFI president Freddie Alquiros said that the active participation of the barangays in the traditional barangay-based beautification contest in the past had been instrumental in shaping the annual conduct of the crowd-drawing event as a community effort that contributed in bolstering the local tourism industry.
He added that the decision of the barangays to be part of the annual flower festival in the future is a welcome development and will surely help in putting up more flower attractions in the city’s 128 barangays that will add up to the city in bloom during the celebration of the various activities lined up for the upcoming festivals.
Earlier, the barangay-based beautification contest was transferred by the local government to September in time for the annual celebration of the city’s Charter anniversary after the PhP4-million subsidy that the city was providing was scrapped way back in 2020 considering that the foundation is capable of organizing the festival in a purely private arrangement.
For his part, BFFFI Chairman Emeritus lawyer Mauricio G. Domogan pointed out that the previous subsidy provided by both the national and local governments to the foundation was exclusively used for the prizes of the different competitions of the flower festival that included the barangay beautification contest which encouraged the barangays to actively join the contest with the establishment of their respective roadside beautification, vertical gardens, among others, that contributed in beautifying the city during the month-long flower festival.
Domogan claimed that the return of the barangay-based beautification contest during the Panagbenga will have to be carefully studied and evaluated because of its projected impact to the foundation’s financial position that is why aside from returning the contest to February, it is important also to consider the source of funds for the prizes of winners in the different contest categories.
According to him it is best if the city will take care of the prizes for the barangay-based beautification contest so that the foundation will not be heavily burdened in raising the needed budget to defray the prizes once the said contest will be returned to the original schedule of February.
During the recently concluded grand streetdancing parade of the 29th edition of Panagbenga, the city’s 128 barangays actively participated in the parade by sending their delegations per district to showcase various performances that contributed in thrilling the crowd that gathered along the parade route.
BFFFI officials expressed hope there will be increased participation of the community in the 30th edition of the flower festival next year which promises to be much bigger, better and more entertaining considering the expected line up of government-supported and community-led activities. By Dexter A. See
