PUGO, La Union – It is all systems go for the various activities lined up by the organizers and the local officials for the 1s Tinungbo festival that will coincide with the town fiesta on January 20-22, 2017.
The Tinungbo festival took its name from the local dialect tinungbo, an indigenous way of cooking rice, fresh water fish and other local delicacies using light young bamboo internodes, locally called as tubong, grilled over charcoal or low fire.
See also: Pugo town launches Tinungbo Festival
With its vast plantation of light bamboo locally called bolo along river banks and in the mountains, the old folks of Pugo during the ancient times traditionally used available raw materials for cooking. This had been carried on through generations although it is no longer widely practiced because of the presence of modern cooking utensils, gas, and electric stoves.
On January 20, the day-long activities will start with a mass at around 6:30 am followed by the grand civic parade at 8 am.
At around 10 am, the opening rites will be highlighted by the drum and lyre competition among participating elementary and secondary schools from the town. The night will see more entertainment with the Hataw Sayaw Barangay whereby all the 14 barangays participate with their contingents.
The highlight of the festival is the Tinungbo cookfest to be done on Saturday, January 21, followed by indigenous games such as palo sebo, patentero, kadang-kadang relay, breaking the pot, sack race, in addition to a fun run, paragliding, kite flying contest, mountain bike race and chess for enthusiasts. The evening will see the Pugo Got Talent grand finals that will be complimented by a concert.
On January 22, visiting and local contingents will entertaining the public with their own version of the streetdancing competition and dance showdown followed by the silent drill exhibition of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) at around 4 pm. Balkbayans will entertain the locals during the Balikbayan Night at around 7 pm followed by the awarding ceremonies for the winners in the various competitions of the festival.
Mayor Priscilla M. Martin underscored reviving the tinungbo and celebrating the life and memories it evokes in the present time, a tradition of family love, camaraderie and gratefulness for God-given treasures to the people of Pugo.
In the olden times, the main livelihood of the people in the locality was farming and farmers used to go to the mountains or forests to forage for food or cultivate plants along the vast forest lands of the town. After being done with their work on the mountains, they go down to the rivers to take a bath and while in there, they eventually have their picnic by catching fish.
Since they do not carry with them any kitchen utensils, the old folks used the light bamboo to cook their food and it turned to be a delicious indigenous way of food preparation.
Martin is inviting the public to join the people and officialdom of the municipality in the celebration of the town fiesta and the 1st Tinungbo festival.
By HENT