STI-College takes top honors in 2nd Piña Festival

ORMOC CITY, Philippines — STI-College won this year’s crowns in the Ritual Showdown and Street Dancing competitions of the 2nd Piña Festival, which was among the events highlighting the Ormoc City fiesta, in honor of Sts. Peter and Paul, last June 29.

STI-College was an early crowd favorite with their colorful and lighted costumes, to win as champion in the Ritual Showdown taking home P500,000 cash prize, and in the Street Dancing that earned it P50,000 cash prize plus another P50,000 from Festival guest Rep. Zajid “Dong” Mangudadatu (2nd district, Maguindanao).

In the Ritual Showdown, 2nd placer was Ipil National High School, which got P 400,000, followed by Eastern Visayas State University-Ormoc Campus with P 300,000.

In the Street Dancing, Ipil placed 2nd for P40,000 prize, and St. Aloysius Institute of Technology placed third for P30,000 prize.

EVSU-Ormoc took other special awards, Best in Costume and Best in Choreography, and the P50,000 and P40,000 cash prizes, respectively.

Crowned this year’s Festival Queen was Western Leyte College’s bet Charybel Faith Dizon, who bested nine other candidates, for the P35,000 prize from the LGU, and P50,000 from Mangudadatu, who incidentally admitted publicly that he was sent around the country by President Rodrigo Duterte to announce his senatorial bid.

The 2nd Piña Festival was a revival of the first festival of the city in 2003, organized by the Ormoc Festival and Cultural Foundation (OFCF), led by this year’s chairperson, Estrella Serafica-Pangilinan.

Jude Abenoja, chair of the Ormoc City Fiesta 2018 executive committee, in his speech said: “The sweet queen pineapple is one of the most important crops of Ormoc City. It symbolizes intangible assets we appreciate in a home: warmth, welcome, friendship and hospitality.”

Abenoja said the Piña Festival “celebrates the bountiful harvest of pineapple, a product of distinction for Ormoc, the ‘City of Beautiful People.’”

Representative Lucy Torres Gomez (4th dist., Leyte) said Ormoc City is “like a pineapple.” She added: “We may be a small city, but we are beautiful, resilient, warm, friendly, and sweet on the inside.”

It was also noted that the Piña Festival celebration was generally peaceful and orderly. Senior Superintendent Ramil Ramirez, Ormoc City Police director, said about 1,000 policemen and multiplier forces were deployed along the festival route and showdown venue, with beer and liquor only allowed after the event and the fireworks.

Meanwhile, the Miss Ormoc 2018 crown was won by Alexa Marie Matuguina. 1st runner up was Princess Paraiso, 2nd runner up was Micah Abarquez, 3rd runner up was Allyza Bartolini, and 4th runner up was Maria Nathalia Parrilla Veloso.

Mayor Richard Gomez, in his speech, said the festival is the city government’s dream: to make Ormocanons happy. “I love collaborating with people,” he said as he announced his administration’s achievement in peace and order that “make Ormoc drug-free, and the safest city in the country today.”  (FREEMAN)