Media groups join forces anew

CEBU, Philippines - For the second time, The Freeman has partnered with two trusted organizations - philSTAR.com and Skycable - in bringing to Cebuanos and Filipinos worldwide a comprehensive and interactive coverage of the country's grandest festival.

With the latest content from Cebu City via The Freeman, phil.STAR.com has once again created a special microsite that serves as a go-to portal on everything about this year's festivities. In the site are stories, photos, and real-time updates from social media.

Simply visit www.philstar.com and click on the Sinulog 2014 banner on the top of the main page. The banner will lead to the Sinulog 2014 microsite.

On the day of the Grand Parade on Sunday, January 19, netizens can interact with everyone taking part in the revelry by posting their thoughts, photos, and even videos and using the hashtag #Sinulog2014 on Twitter. All posts that use the hashtag will go straight to the Live page in the microsite, which will be visible to all that visit the site.

They can also interact via The Freeman's and philSTAR.com's Facebook pages.

At 7:30 p.m. today, Friday, Skycable will stream the search for this year's Sinulog Festival Queen live from the Cebu City Sports Center, which can be viewed on the microsite's Live page.

On Sunday, Skycable will provide viewers the best non-stop video coverage of the Grand Parade straight from streets of Cebu City and from the Cebu City Sports Center, the venue of the final showdown. Skycable's live coverage will be backed up by up-to-the-minute reports on developments from the field from The Freeman news team.

The better news - the coverage will be in high definition.

"The Skycable coverage of the Sinulog Festival this year is a testament of its continued commitment to provide the highest level of excellence in its service, manifested in various platforms. For the first time, the Live Coverage of the Festival on January 19 at the Cebu City Sports Center will be in High Definition. The same HD signal will be streamed on www.sinulogsasky.com powered by Sky Broadband. In the spirit of true Cebuano partnership, Skycable once again partners with The Freeman and philSTAR.com to reach out to Filipinos all over the globe. Both companies bring into this meaningful collaboration their specific areas of competencies, stoking the spirit of religiosity that brings Filipino families closer to each other through festivals like the Sinulog," says Glynda Descuatan, Skycable's Area Manager for Airtime Sales (Visayas).

Rose Anne Belmonte, Chief Operating Officer of philSTAR.com, says the special project is meant to provide Filipinos all over the world a taste of home.

"This is the second year we have covered this significant event. We want to continue to delight our global readers by bringing Philippine festivals like the Sinulog wherever they may be. We want to thank our sister company, The Freeman, for its coverage of the event," she says.

"For two consecutive years of partnership with philSTAR.com and Skycable, we are able to share with the whole nation, as well as with the world, what the Cebuano is all about. I thank philSTAR.com and Skycable for a great partnership and I wish that it will continue for many years. Viva Pit Señor," says Melandro Mendoza, The Freeman's General Manager.

With their partnership, The Freeman, philSTAR.com and Skycable yearn for only one thing - to bring to every Filipino household, wherever it may be in the world, the kind of experience Sinulog is known for - a true feast for the senses. /JMO (FREEMAN)