1st Southern Leyte Arts Festival

Guided by the theme "Protecting Children: a Shared Responsibility" with the advocacy on Child Protection through Arts, Plan Philippines in cooperation with the Southern Leyte Provincial Government launched its very 1st Southern Leyte Arts Festival last month where a series of competitions staged in different key areas of the province.

This included a song writing competition, where ten composers vied for the plum prize last June 26, 2006 at the Sunken Garden, Provincial Capitol, Maasin City in celebration of the 46th Southern Leyte Founding Anniversary. Hearthrob singer Christian Bautista graced the occasion as a guest judge.

The launching of the cultural competitions was held at the Southern Leyte State University in Sogod, Southern Leyte on the next day (July 27). Teen idol Heart Evangelista was the segment emcee of the affair.

Contested events were dance theater, an adventurous use of dance music, text and song to expand literary texts, weaving seemingly disparate sources as art forms into a seamless theatrical piece; choir, a musical ensemble of singers; folk dance, town's/province's indigenous dance to include Inday Nakunday, Pitik Mingaw and Jota de Maasin; Acoustic guitar solo;Sayawit, an acronym for sayaw and awit, a blended melody of dance in songs; Balitaw, portrayal of Filipino courtship in dance and song; Tigmo, riddle in Cebuano that has imagery; Balak, an arrangement of words with rhymes at the ends; Harana/Kansyon, a Filipino tradition of expressing love through a rendition of love songs; and, Diskurso, creative expression of thoughts, ideas and opinions.

Competitors were segregated and grouped into five Integrated Areas of Development (IAD) namely IAD 1 - towns of Macrohon, Padre Burgos, Limasawa and Malitbog, IAD 2 - Tomas Oppus, Bontoc, Sogod and Libagon, IAD 3 - St. Bernard (rings a bell?), San Juan, Anahawan, Hinunduyan, Hinunangan and Silago, IAD 4 - Lilo-an, San Francisco, Pintuyan and San Ricardo, and IAD 5 - Maasin City.

Winners for the Folk Dance competition, Sayawit and Dance Theater (the categories where this writer was invited to judge) were as follows: Sayawit - IAD 2, Dance Theater and Folk Dance competition - IAD 5.

Special thanks to Mr. Nestor Galvez for the invitation and accommodation.