Street kids represent city in grand parade

CEBU - As what mayor on-leave Tomas Osmeña and his wife Margot had wished, the Cebu City Task Force on Street Children will represent the City Hall contingent during the Sinulog Grand Parade tomorrow.

Some 60 street children, aged 13 to 18, will perform a dance choreographed by Angelo Manapsal as an offering for the Sto. Niño.

Manapsal, who also happened to be an employee of the City Hall, is also behind the winning performances of the Don Sergio Osmeña Memorial National High School, which won the grand prize for this year and last year’s Sinulog sa Kabataan sa Dakbayan.

He is also the choreographer of the Carmen town contingent that also won last year’s Sinulog sa Kabataan sa Lalawigan that landed second place in the Sinulog Grand Parade in the same year.

Manapsal said it is the wish of the Osmeña couple to have the kids under the foundation perform this year for the city.

“The mayor has requested that this year, the street children would be the participants for their contingent so that the city could help expose the kids’ talents and could help them have an alternate activity,” Manapsal said.

The Osmeña couple together with their son Miguel is currently in the United States for the treatment of the mayor’s cancer in the urinary bladder. Margot is the incumbent chairperson of the CCTFSC and the person behind the several projects of the city on children.

The theme for the street children’s dance offering during the grand parade tomorrow is “globalization” and they will lead the contingents in the free interpretation category.

Manapsal said it was not easy to train the children considering that he also trains other contingents.

There will be 26 contingents performing under the free interpretation category and 16 for the Sinulog-based category during the Sinulog Grand Parade.

Meanwhile, around 500 members of the Anti-Graffiti Task Force yesterday cleaned and painted the parade and procession route for tomorrow’s festivities.

Councilor Richard Osmeña, head of the task force said the rival fraternities were crossing boundaries and are a site to look at as they cooperated in cleaning the streets and walls of unwanted markings.

The “Devotee City” was also formally opened yesterday to the public to cater to devotees from far-flung areas and visitors who have no relatives to stay in the city.

Councilor Edwin Jagmoc, who heads the Devotee City Committee, said there are already more than 20 who had registered as of yesterday afternoon.

By next year, he said they will try to purchase bed mats to be placed in the 72 container vans to make the stay of devotees more comfortable. — Ferliza C. Contratista and AJ A. de la Torre, CIT MassCom Intern/WAB   (THE FREEMAN)