Lang-ay Festival activities slated

By Juliet B. Saley

BONTOC, Mountain Province – Aside from street dancing featuring cultural norms and traditions, a trade fair, medical mission among others, are part of this year’s Lag-ay Festival of this capital town.

The Department of Trade and Industry and the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist are inviting interested exhibitors to the Lang-ay agro-industrial fair on April 2 – 9 at the provincial plaza here.

The event which provides opportunity for local manufacturers and entrepreneurs to sell and promote their products as well as boost the local tourism industry, is one of activities of the Mountain Province foundation anniversary and the Lang-ay set first week of April.

Based on the guidelines prepared by DTI and OPAG, to qualify for the week-long agro-industrial fair, exhibitors must be firms owned by persons from Mt. Province in the Cordillera with preference to firms located in the province and must have good products that are locally manufactured.

For guest exhibitors, they must have endorsements from their respective DTI and department of Agriculture offices.

Exhibitor/ participants are required to submit duly accomplished and signed application form to the Fair Secretariat together with the health permit for the food sector and business registration for other sectors; applicants with varied product coverage shall be allowed at most three per booth provided these are considered allied varieties.

The fair will cover products which include furniture, garments, gift, toys and house wares, fresh and processed foods, fashion accessories, novelty items, ornamental plants, herbal plants, agricultural facilities and others.

Exhibitors are required to pay participation fees of P3,000 for the furniture sector and P1,500.00 for the other products.

Miscellaneous fee of P200 shall be collected for other fees and collection from booth lighting shall be based on electric consumption.

Booth allocation and assignment shall be based on sectoral categorization/floor plan. Each booth is provided with one chair, one table and name signage.

It is also provided in the guidelines that participants/applicants should not use banned species in manufacturing products, should not sell products that are not specified in their application.

Participants found displaying such products will be required to pull them out.

Guest exhibitors shall only be allowed to sell their specialty products.

The exhibit committee reserves the right to exclude, at any time, exhibit items that do not conform to the product coverage and products that are not allowed (using banned species, counterfeit, substandard, products that are not actually produced by the exhibitor, products of non-participants brought in during the fair). Failure of the exhibitor to conform shall be a ground to disqualify them from participation in the provincial local government unit future fairs.

Meanwhile, in her report during the monthly Provincial Health Board meeting this week, Bontoc General Hospital chief nurse Alfaretta Yampan said the hospital will be conducting a medical and dental mission on April 2-4.

She urged participation of municipal health officers of the province to help during the event.

Yampan reported that a surgical team from the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center headed by Dr. Jimmy Cabfit will be coming for a surgical mission on April 9-10. Screening and listing of patients started in March 1 and ends on March 31, Yampan added.

Aside from these two activities, there will be also a free endoscopy to be administered by Dr. Rommel Palaganas at the Bontoc General Hospital on April 10.

Yampan said screening for the endoscopy is on going at the Bontoc General Hospital which is being conducted by Doctors Marceline Bacwaden and Guillermo Subala.

Another activity is operation “Tuli” at the Bontoc General Hospital on April 11-13.