ILOILO City – Dropped from the roster of Dinagyang Festival delegates who were flown by the city government to the US for a performance in New York, award-winning choreographer Rommel Flogen announced he won’t be choreographing Dinagyang tribes in the January 2019 edition of the festivity.
He admitted being hurt over his non-inclusion in the Dinagyang delegation to the US.
Flogen had been choreographing Dinagyang tribes for 28 years, bagging 12 championships in the ati-ati competition and six in the Kasadyahan cultural contest of the annual festivity.
“Affected ako sa ila decision nga wala ako nila gindala,” he said.
According to Flogen, he was recently offered a “big opportunity” in Manila and accepted it.
A “blessing in disguise” was how he described the offer.
Flogen, who steered to several Dinagyang championships Tribu Panayanon of Iloilo City National High School, said a private company tapped him for three conventions that would be held in the nation’s capital between November 2018 and January 2019.
He said he never received an invitation from the city government or the Iloilo Dinagyang Foundation Inc. (IDFI) for the US trip and there was no explanation, he lamented.
As the 2018 Dinagyang champion, Flogen’s Tribu Panayanon was invited to perform on June 3 in New York for the advance celebration of the Philippine Independence Day.
“Okay lang tani kon nagtawag sila sa akon, na-lay-down nila ang reasons kay ako hapos man lang hambalon,” said Flogen.
He learned about his non-inclusion only from Iloilo City National High School principal Blessilda Forro, tribe manager of Tribu Panayanon.
Flogen had been at odds with the city government and the IDFI on the weeks leading to the 2018 Aliwan Fiesta staged in Metro Manila in April for the delayed release of the budget for Tribu Panayanon’s preparations as the Dinagyang Festival representative to the yearly competition among the best Philippine festivals.
Panayanon failed to bag the Aliwan championship; it settled for a second runner-up finish.
“Okay lang kon nagsunggod sila sa akon. Indi ko man ina makontrol. Pero gin obra ko man ang tanan for the good performance of Panayanon sa Aliwan. It was a competition, indi mo ma-sure kon madaog ka kon indi,” said Flogen.
The choreographer said the city government and IDFI were offended by his explanation why Panayanon did not win Aliwan’s top prize this year – budget constraint.
“Budget issue ang ginhalinan nga napirdi…na-offend daw sila,” said Flogen.
But it was his honest assessment, he stressed.
“Indi ka gid ka-come up with a very good production kon wala ka kwarta,” said Flogen. “Nag-try best ang mga bata to perform pero kulang gid production design, props.”
The city government allotted P2 million for Dinagyang’s Aliwan participation. It was released late, according to Flogen’s co-choreographer George Susvilla.
“Our limited budget limited our creativity,” said Flogen.
A bigger budget would have made a big difference in Tribu Panayanon’s presentation, he stressed.
“Wala kita sang wow effects bala, wala spectacular parts nga mapa-wow ang tawo,” he said.
Flogen was referring to arresting props that could have given Panayanon what he called “visual magic.”
“This was what we heard from the audience after our performance at the Quirino Grandstand. Kulang. Kun sa cake pa, kulang icing ang Dinagyang,” Flogen told Panay News.
Preparation time was also short because the budget was released late, he lamented.
The dance routine was finalized for only 10 days, Flogen revealed.
In previous Aliwan participations of Dinagyang that he also choreographed, he said he had over a month to prepare.
Of the P2-million budget, Susvilla said, a considerable amount went to the following expenses: food, travel fare and accommodation (estimated at around P1.2 million). What remained (around P800 thousand) was used for the “production”, he said.
“Sir Romel had lots of plans to enhance the production but we had a limited budget. Te gin-make use na lang namon kun ano ara da eh,” said Susvilla.
Tribu Panayanon brought some 300 people to Manila for the Aliwan, according to Susvilla. These included 110 dancers and 60 drummers. The rest were props men and other staff.
Flogen lamented the indecisiveness of the city government in deciding whether to participate in the Aliwan.
“Kay nagaduha-duha pa if ma-intra ang Dinagyang or indi,” he said, and this resulted to the delayed preparation.
It was previously reported that Tribu Panayanon was asking for an additional P1.4 million but Mayor Jose Espinosa III’s special assistant for special events Ben Jimena asked pointed questions.
“Te ngaa dakuon gid (Why further increase the budget)?” asked Jimena, former city tourism officer.
“We won Aliwan without unnecessarily spending a lot in the past,” said Jimena.
Dinagyang Festival had been the Aliwan Fiesta champion six times – 2017, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, and 2014.
In a previous interview, IDFI chairperson Ramon Cua Locsin said the budget for the city’s Aliwan participation must come from the city government.
“Ang kulang ginatabunan namon,” he told Panay News.
IDFI apparently had not released any to add to the P2-million city government budget.
In the 2017 Aliwan, Dinagyang Festival was represented by the festival’s champion that year, Tribu Salognon of Jaro National High School. Iloilo City was declared the Aliwan grand winner./PN
