For city government: Sinulog ’25 a learning experience

CEBU, Philippines — Following the recently-concluded Sinulog 2025 celebration, the Cebu City government said it is open to adjustments, recommendations, and improvements, marking the recent event a “learning lesson.”

Cebu City Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia said he is pleased with the outcome of the Sinulog celebration, highlighting that it was generally peaceful with no untoward incidents recorded. He added that this peace continued even after the alcohol ban was lifted.

As Garcia already stated that it was the "biggest" Sinulog in the history of Cebu City, he admitted that it wasn’t perfect as there were unforeseen circumstances not anticipated.

"But we always look at it as a learning experience kay para by next year... we will have a lot of changes and improvements," said Garcia.

He said among the areas that need improvement are the adjustments to the rules and guidelines, specifically for the contingents. For one, Garcia said that they may have to limit the number of propsmen, after assessing that some contingents had more propsmen than dancers, which could lead to congestion along the parade route.

Garcia also said they may have to limit the number of contingents. He said that just for Cebu City alone, 18 participated when it was supposed to be the top 10 qualifiers of the Sinulog sa Dakbayan.

"Pero nihangyo man g’yud sila nga halad ni Señor Santo Niño," said Garcia.

Next year, he added, they will have to be strict about these guidelines.

This year’s Sinulog also gathered a larger number of floats, totaling 60. According to Garcia, this was also one of the contributing factors to the delays, with some floats even malfunctioning in the streets.

"Ang problema, unsaon man nimo pagdala og mekaniko didto nga di man makasud ang mekaniko? Nga sirado naman dalan," said Garcia.

To address this, Garcia said they may have to station tow trucks along the parade route to ensure immediate response.

Some floats even got stuck on overhead wires during the parade. Garcia clarified that there was a specified float size, but some floats did not comply with these requirements.

To resolve this, Garcia said they may need to implement a mechanism where the sizes of floats are checked before entering the parade route.

To fully address these specific adjustments, Garcia said they will hold a debriefing among all the committees involved.

Among the biggest challenges of this year's Sinulog was the influx of the crowd, which resulted in congestion and led to three dancing contingents backing out from continuing the street dancing right after performing at the Cebu City Sports Center (CCSC). Garcia argued that no mayor in Cebu City’s history has had full control of the crowd during Sinulog.

"It's always like that; the problem is always the crowd control, and di sad tingali ko makatawag ana nga it was a lapse on our part," said Garcia.

As it was reported that the overall Sinulog celebration gathered around four million people, Garcia said this could be attributed to the large influx of people eager to re-experience the Sinulog back in the original venue after it was held for two consecutive years at the South Road Properties.

He called this the "revenge Sinulog." He added that the four million crowd estimate was more than what they had anticipated.

Despite these challenges, Garcia said that he still believes in the feasibility of the CCSC for the Sinulog celebration unless he finds a more suitable area.

"If you take the Sinulog in the heart of the city, it is like taking a soul out from a human being. Ang fiesta man gud naa man na kung asa naandam," said Garcia. (CEBU NEWS)