Iloilo’s Finest - Events, Food, Places

Watch Iloilo’s Dinagyang Festival 201. Nation’s most popular festival, the Dinagyang will fire open it’s opening salvo this Friday, January 14, 2011. This year’s Dinagyang Festival 2011 will have a theme of ‘Iloilo’s Finest, Nation’s Best.” Dinagyang has proven to be one of the best festivals in the country when it won Best Festival for 2 straight years.

Schedule for the Dinagyang main festivities:

January 22, 2011, Saturday
7:00:00 AM Mass for Kasadyahan San Jose Parish Church
8:00 A.M. 2011 KASADYAHAN Competition Freedom Grandstand and other stages
2:00PM SPONSORS MARDI GRAS Judging Area #4 to Freedom Grandstand
7:00 PM LUCES IN THE SKY Part II
7:00 PM Religious Sad-sad to Sr. Sto. Niño San Jose Parish Church

January 23, 2011, Sunday
6:30 a.m Concelebrated high mass for devotees, Tribes, Gov’t. Officials, LOMAS in attendance San Jose Parish Church
8:00 A.M. 2011 Dinagyang Ati CONTEST Freedom Grandstand and other stages
7:00 P.M. Awarding Ceremonies Freedom Grandstand

Watch President Benigno Aquino III State of the Nation Address (SONA) 2010 Live Stream Online. President Noynoy Aquino will deliver his first SONA at the opening of the 15th Congress at the Batasang Pambansa on July 26, 2010. As stated in Article VII, Section 23 of the 1987 Philippines Constitution:

The President shall address the Congress at the opening of its regular session. He may also appear before it at any other time.

For President Aquino’s first SONA, he will discuss his promises to the watchful Filipinos and to the observing foreign countries. His SONA is more expected to be focus on corruption matters among government officials. The Noynoy Aquino SONA 2010 will broadcast live stream over you television and over the internet online. So don’t miss to watch this historic event. Watch Noynoy Aquino SONA 2010 live stream online for free and on pay-per-view subscription on the match event as well as on sopcast channels, justin tv, freedocast for free live stream broadcasting online.

Watch the Noynoy Aquino SONA 2010 Live Stream video.

Watch the Noynoy Aquino SONA 2010 Live Stream video.

The month-long celebration starts on August 1, which has been declared as Family Planning Day pursuant to Presidential Proclamation No. 429.

The celebration will focus on the information, education and advocacy efforts on family planning.

The month-long celebration also calls for Filipino couples to space births of at least 3 years and practice responsible parenthood so that every child born to a family is properly fed, clothed, nurtured and educated.

Family planning issues has been the subject of a heated debate lately between the Catholic Church and proponents of the “free-choice” on family planning methods. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, on the other hand, has reiterated her stand on the family planning issue in her 8th State of the Nation Address (SONA):

The President said: “By promoting natural planning and female education, we have curbed population growth to 2.04% during our administration, down from the 2.36 in the 1990’s, when artificial birth control was pushed.”

“Our campaign spreads awareness of responsible parenthood regarding birth spacing. Long years of pushing contraceptives made it synonymous to family planning. Therefore informed choice should mean letting more couples, who are mostly Catholics, know about natural family planning,” she added.

Both local and foreign tourists had a glimpse of the participating tribes for the 2008 Dinagyang Festival Ati-Competition when the opening salvo blasted off along selected streets of Iloilo City last Friday (January 18). Dinagyang is observed by Ilonggos every fourth week-end of January in honor of Senor Sto. Nino. This year, the festivity revolves on the theme “One heart, one mind for Senor Sto. Nino.”

Ben Jimena, Iloilo City Tourism Officer and Festival’s Executive Director said the participation of the tribes in the opening salvo as well as in other 2008 Dinagyang activities determined by the Dinagyang Foundation is one of the requirements of the competition.

The Dinagyang Ati-Competition is one of the highlights of the festivities where tribes composed of dark-brown colored warriors perform in music dominantly using drums in identified judging areas.

Unlike in the previous years, the 20 competing tribes on Sunday, January 27, will perform in four judging areas instead of five. These judging areas are the Freedom Grandstand, Provincial Capitol, Quezon-Ledesma and Ma. Clara Rotunda.

The 20 competing tribes are Tribu Ivatan, Baryohan, San Pedro, Binhi, Hamili, Paghidaet, Angola, Kalubihan, Molave, Ilonganon, Pag-asa, Silak, Pana-ad, Atub-Atub, Himala, Familia Sagrada, Aninipay, Pari-anon, Ang Taga Jaro and Bantu.

For two years in a row, Iloilo’s Dinagyang Festival had been cited by the Association of Tourism Officers of the Philippines (ATOP) as Best Tourism Event in the country. It has also received international recognitions such as given by the United Nations Development Programme in a CityNet conference in Katmandu, Nepal as Best Practice in the Promotion of the Localization of the Millennium Development Goals and by the Asian Development Bank as Best Practice in Public and Private Cooperation.

Last year, Dinagyang also emerged first runner-up in the Aliwan Fiesta 2007 held in Manila and awarded Best in Music in the Western Visayas Tourism Assembly held in Bacolod City. (PIA)

Next: Sandbar Island Beach Resort in Bolobadiangan Concepcion Iloilo

This year’s observance of the Bonifacio Day, a regular holiday nationwide, remains on Friday, November 30, 2007.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita by order of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on August 6, 2007 per Presidential Proclamation No. 1353 declared Friday, November 30, a regular holiday throughout the country in observance of Bonifacio Day.

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