Hello Iloilo: Celebrating Local Stories and Talents

SMART Communications launched their Doon Po Sa Amin program at Bavaria Restaurant, Jaro, Iloilo City last night November 6. Doon Po Sa Amin, now on its 7th year, is designed to uncover the best and most unique stories about Philippine culture and heritage.

Few local guests were invited to share stories about Iloilo. Mr Ben Jimena, the city tourism officer, opened the floor by sharing about the upcoming Dinagyang 2015. It banners the tagline "Sum It Up To The Top". He shared that Dinagyang will be less noisy and with less props. The 2015 edition will feature innovations in dance steps. Dinagyang Festival is also growing as their will be a National Festival Costume Expo and the Kasadyahan Festival will become the Kasadyahan National Cultural Contest.

Next, the Iloilo Provincial Tourism office presented the many tourist destination in the province of Iloilo. New destinations, is the highlands of Miagao which has a cold climate and also bore rice terraces, 

Inday Joy was the next to share about Ilonggo Markets and Food. She shared that Ilonggo prehispanic cuisine is the precursor of the south beach diet. Ilonggos lived a healthy diet and they like their food as Sinugba(grilled), Kinilaw (cooked in vinegar) and Binuro (salted). The availability of various food sources also enables the ilonggos to have varied food dishes.

Professor Anabelle from the University of San Agustin shared her childhood experiences on history and culture. She shared that Iloilo City Proper has a lost tradition known as "Viva Parol" where houses were decorated with Parols. The Drilons and Tans were the huge patrons of this tradition. I remembered that similar to this we have the Bombo Parol contest held at Marymart Mall in the 1990s.

The DPSA video contest was introduced after the sharing of experiences. It has two divisions: the student and the open category. Participants should be 8-10 members. The entry should be in the following categories: Activities to enjoy, Food to eat, History to uncover, People to meet, Places to go, Plants & animals to discover and Community products to support. The entry could be an animation, documentary, music video or a short film. The length should be from 5-8 minutes. Deadline will be on November 20, 2014.

SMART is also holding the 11th SWEEP Innovation and Excellence Awards. It is open to Electrical Engineering or Information Technology students. Students will compete in making a mobile app.

Hello Iloilo Participants. Photo by Bert Andone