SEN. BONGBONG: SANGYAW FESTIVAL PLACES TACLOBAN
ON TOURIST MAP

Senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, Jr., chairman of the Senate committee on Local Government, commended the local executives of Tacloban City in reviving the Sangyaw Festival and putting the entire province of Leyte back on the tourist map.

Marcos said the annual celebration of Sangyaw which means to herald the news, strengthened the local tourism and preserved the culture and heritage of the province of Leyte.

"We have to congratulate the city government of Tacloban. Ang Sangyaw Festival ay isa na seguro sa mga kinikilalang festival at fiesta sa buong Pilipinas. Magandang bagay ito dahil nakikilala ang Tacloban, nakikilala ang Eastern Visayas at nakikilala ang ating mga tradisyon. Malaki din ang maitutulong nito sa pagpapasigla ng turismo" Marcos said.

The Taclobanons successfully concluded their Sangyaw Festival on June 29, 2011. City Mayor Alfred Romualdez and his wife councillor Cristina, Leyte first district Rep Ferdinand Martin Romualdez and Senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, Jr., all witnessed the street dancing at the major thoroughfares of the city and joined the crowd during the street revelry.

The Sangyaw FestivaL was established by former first Lady Imelda Marcos in 1974, however it was discontinued and replaced by the Pintados festival by the succeeding provincial executives who came from the parties who had opposed the Marcos and Romualdez leadership in the area.

In 2008, the City of Tacloban under the leadership of Mayor Romualdez, revived the Sangyaw festival by mounting the yearly festivities up to the present to commemorate the historical importance of the event to the city and the province.