MP Lang-ay fest set with exciting events

Palace declares holidays in Mt Prov, Pangasinan 

By Pamela Mariz Geminiano

BONTOC, Mountain Province – This province is set to showcase its culture , tourism come-ons and exciting events  as the Lang-ay Festival is set this week which is expected to draw once again crowds of tourists and sell-wishers. (See page 2 for list of activities).

This, as Malacañang has declared special non-working holidays for Pangasinan and Mountain Province.

By authority of the President, Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea signed on March 13 Proclamation 696 declaring April 5 a special non-working day in Pangasinan.

The holiday will allow residents to celebrate the province’s 439th founding anniversary.

Two days after signing the Pangasinan holiday, Malacañang issued Proclamation 698 declaring April 8 a special non-working day in Mountain Province to observe its founding anniversary and Lang-ay Festival.

Mountain Province will celebrate its anniversary on April 7, which falls on a Sunday, prompting the local government to request Malacañang to declare the following day a holiday. 

This, as the provincial government of Mountain Province expects the annual Lang-ay Festival to further boost the tourism industry of the province. "We are optimistic that the Lang-ay Festival will be an avenue through which we could showcase our tourist spots, culture and, of course, our beautiful Mountain Province as a whole," Gov. Bonifacio Lacwasan said in a recent telephone interview.

Lang-ay is a native dialect of the Bontocs meaning to share happiness, wisdom, promote family solidarity, hospitality, peace and nurture friendship with partaking of native rice wine and food.

This year’s Lang-ay Festival, which is now on its 15th year, runs from April 1 to 7 with the highlight of the festival on April 6.

It coincides with the 52nd Foundation day of Mountain Province on April 7.

The activities are held at the capital town of Bontoc, which is one hour away to the famous tourist destination Sagada.

He also said they have to work closely with the Lang-ay Cultural Festival steering committee, partner agencies and the private sector for the preparations.

The provincial government has allocated P4 million for the twin events in April.

The governor said tourism is an economic driver and they want Mountain Province to benefit from it.

In 2018, the provincial government through the tourism office started the validation of the different tourist attractions in the whole province and conducted a profiling and data collection needed for the tourism guidebook.

All these, Lacwasan said are part of the crafting of the five-year Provincial Tourism Development Plan, which was already approved by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan.

Also part of province’s tourism preparation is the holding of tourism-related seminars, training and workshops for the stakeholders.

Lacwasan also reported that 96,857 tourists visited and stayed in the different accommodation establishments in the province from January to September 2018.

Out of the number, 8,146 were foreigners, the governor said.

The province's Tourism office also shows that the top five foreign visitors are from France, United States of America, Germany, South Korea and Japan.

Mountain Province also recorded 337,858 day-time tourists in the province during the same period. -- PNA