LETTERS FROM THE AGNO

March Fianza
A Panagbenga story

Once upon a time in a city known to lowlanders as a mountain paradise, a former American military rest and recreation base was taken back by its host country, the Philippines, by virtue of a treaty agreed on by both countries in 1947.

To maintain the splendor of the former American base, the host country mandated a newly created agency to change its former status into a business domain consisting of restaurants, hotels, other commercial establishments and a golf course.

The demolition of decades-old American houses made of Benguet Pine commenced, followed by the construction of new buildings and businesses that were slowly taken over by investors, bankers, cafeterias with foreign-sounding names, and some dummies of the country’s leading politicians.

A big chunk of the reclaimed property was eventually leased to pseudo-realtors and land developers, some of whom did not have enough capital to back up their ambitious projects.

A few years later, the new business and recreational hub was opened to the public. But the government agency that oversees its operation observed that the modern commercial center cum golf course was not being patronized as much as necessary and did not attract enough customers as well as new investors.

On top of the government agency tasked to manage the camp was private citizen Mr. Milrovik, a professor from one of the best schools of management in the country and a brilliant corporate man.

Chairman Milrovik took note that with a very slow economic activity inside the camp, the government and its leaseholders will not gain back their investment earlier than the 50-yr lease they got.

The wise businessman that he is having trained in a school of management that looks for solutions to tight business situations, Milrovik called for a board meeting and proposed that they create an event in the nearby city that they can support.

Milrovik said the event that will look like an annual festival can be spearheaded by their group (and which they actually did), and it must be something that can catch the attention of more visitors to the city.

Milrovik knew that if his proposal for the city pushed through, then the former US military base turned business zone will also have more customers. So they allotted some funds for the research and sent one Midas Bantiwag to a trip to Pasadena , Texas and observe that city’s famed “Tournament of Roses,” a festival held every January.

The name “ Pasadena ” means “land of flowers.” While it claims to be the “strawberry capital of the world,” Pasadena boasts of its roses and other flowers. The Tournament of Roses is now on its 118th year. It was first organized in 1890 and was held each year thereafter – never interrupted except that certain attractions were added, removed or changed every year, depending on the theme.

The Pasadena flower festival is highlighted by a float parade and includes ballgames and other sports events that the organizers could think of such as the selection of festival prince and princess, country music band competitions, etc.

Midas Bantiwag came home from Pasadena and made his report to Chairman Milrovik and the agency’s board of directors. After his report, Milrovik conceived of a strategy on how to apply a festival similar to what Bantiwag saw in Pasadena .

Their next move was to copy Pasadena ’s parade of roses which gave birth to the first flower festival in the city of Pines in 1995. Of course, the flowers that were displayed in the festival were bought mostly from the nearby towns of Benguet Province . Knowing that, Milrovic and Bantiwag took advantage of it. The truth is, the idea was first offered to La Trinidad, Benguet which boasts of its strawberry and flower gardens.

True to expectations, thousands of visitors trooped to the city to participate in Milrovik’s brainchild, the annual flower festival. But most important for the organizers is that the tourists find their way to the business establishments in the former US military rest and recreation camp, do shopping or play golf.

The rest is history. But 14 years later, Panagbenga or the Baguio flower festival, based on what we the audience see, has transformed itself into an extension of the market or the divisoria in Manila .

The events in the whole project have become too boring and commercialized in the sense that we see sapatos and tsinelas vendors from Manila, pasalubong chicheria from Laguna, a cigarette company, b-b-q, yellow corn, and fast food stalls lining the streets, side by side the flowers and orchids. Apparently, the commercial stalls were not assigned to particular zones.

In the street dancing, most presentations were copy-cats or duplications of what the fiestas have in the lowlands. If there was any dancing depicting Cordillera culture and dances, it was unnoticed. This, according to a former member of the organizing committee in the early stages of Panagbenga, was the original idea. To encourage the participants to do so in the future is okay.

Btw, there was this “nakakahiyang TV episode” where a legitimate news outfit that was out to cover the on-going public event was told to stop its coverage. Where in the world can one stop a legit news organization from doing its mandate? Only in the Panagbenga!

If the Panagbenga men, women, guys and gays have a contract which authorizes a chosen TV outfit to do a live coverage and documentation of the event, that is their own risk. So be it. But they go out of bounds if they stop others from doing their job which is to cover a public event participated in by no less than the government sector.

With what has been, it is incumbent upon our local authorities to consult the public and ask how future Panagbengas can be improved. Early ideas that came in through the grapevine suggested that a simple yearly selection of people who will be tasked to organize the incoming year’s flower fest be held immediately after one staging, so that everyone – not only a few hands, will have a chance to be involved.

Another wino suggested that while the street dancing and float parade of “real” flowers remain as the highlights of the event, additional attractions relative to Baguio’s culture and character should be added if only to educate the tourists, and eventually do away with the divisoria and market extension mix-up at Session road. After all, Panagbenga is not about money as some gays think of. It is about flowers. – marchfianza777@yahoo.com