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BY RESEL JOY TIANERO
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Friday, January 27, 2017
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ILOILO City – This city is celebrating Chinese New Year today. There are no security threats, according to the Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO).
It was unclear as of this writing if telecommunications companies will temporarily shut down their mobile phone services like they did during the two-day highlights of the Dinagyang Festival on Jan. 21 and 22.
This morning, a food festival on Iznart Extension Street opens at 8 a.m. sponsored by the Iloilo Hotels, Resorts and Restaurants Association.
Iloilo City’s annual celebration of the Chinese New Year is one of the biggest outside China town in Metro Manila. The city government started it in 2002 in recognition of the vital role the Chinese-Filipino community in Iloilo play in the city’s progress.
A grand parade this afternoon begins at 4 o’clock from Bonifacio Drive to Plazoleta Gay (intersection of Iznart JM Basa and Ledesma streets) where the Chinese-Filipino Friendship Arch is located. This is where a cultural program will be held. Participants are mostly Chinese-Filipino schools in this city.
At 8 p.m., Ilonggos will be treated to Chinese New Year fireworks display.
Through the years, this city’s Chinese New Year celebration has become a tourist attraction celebrating the cultural diversity of the Chinese Ilonggos. Its underlying message of unity, peace and happiness is beyond politics, religion, family or business association, or racial roots.
Yes, there will be a gun ban, said Senior Superintendent Remus Zacharias Canieso, city police director.
His men will also be thoroughly inspecting backpacks for deadly weapons.
This year’s cultural show will be an eclectic mix of Chinese traditional and modern performances from participating schools (Sun Yat Sen High School, Hua Siong College of Iloilo, Ateneo de Iloilo, and Iloilo Scholastic Academy, among others).
The celebration’s theme is “One Community, One Direction, One Goal.”
The Iloilo Chinese-Filipino Cultural Association and Chinese-Filipino Community of Iloilo have teamed up with the city government for this affair./PN
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