Aloguinsan launches "Sound Day"

CEBU, Philippines - Music and arts will showcase the rich and unique heritage of the town of Aloguinsan in their weekly Sunday program dubbed "Sound Day."

This fourth class municipality found southwest of Cebu City recently held one of its many cultural events in celebration of National Heritage Month. The Filipino Heritage Month was institutionalized under Presidential Proclamation 439 issued by President Gloria Arroyo, declaring the month of May as the National Heritage Month in recognition of the "need to create among the people a consciousness, respect, and pride for the legacies of Filipino cultural history, and love of country."

Sounday (a play on the words sound and Sunday) is Aloguinsan's contribution to the national celebration. The concept was to use Aloguinsan's historic Baluarte (a 19th century Spanish fort, now a heritage park) as a tool for economic advancement through cultural tourism.

Every Sunday, there will be musical performances of much-loved Cebuano music from classics to Bisrock. Local groups and bands have been tapped to provide the performances. During the launch, serenades from the groups Cultural Heritage for Aloguinsan Tourism (CHAT) and from the Bojo Aloguinsan Ecotourism Association (BAETAS) were witnessed by guests.

Led by Aloguinsan's outgoing Mayor Cynthia Moreno, local folks and visitors were entertained to an afternoon of music, art, food delicacies and accessories fashioned from recycled materials. This was the local government's way of encouraging the people of Aloguinsan to appreciate and get interested in their culture and artistic talents.

The highlight of Sounday's recent launch was the silent auction of children's art organized by Boboi Costas, Aloguinsan's Consultant for Tourism Development and Communications. Costas had flown in all the way from New Zealand to start the town's ecotourism program.

He gathered art mentors Radel Paredes of USC Fine Arts and Mai Lorilla of UP Diliman Fine Arts to teach the children of fisherfolk. The recycled paper craft session was handled by Ofelia Panganiban, a trainor based in Manila.

A total of 35 young eager artists aged 7 to 17 underwent a four-day workshop, which included lessons on glass plate and discarded bottle painting, how to turn old newspapers and magazines into fashion accessories, how to make woodcut and rubbercut prints, plus basic carving and drawing. The workshop resulted to more than 30 glass paintings and relief prints.

The artworks, with subjects mostly about nature and depicting Aloguinsan's cultural heritage, were put up for display in the ruins of a watchtower inside the Baluarte. 

During the auction, 11 paintings were sold to art enthusiasts. After they were transferred to the community museum, the paintings were then transported to the art fair held at the Sacred Heart Parish in Cebu City for this year's "Gabii sa Kabilin". Two paintings were sold in the nighttime heritage tour.

Proceeds of the auction will fund community heritage projects, while a portion goes to the artist who made the artwork.

"Our long term goal is to make Sounday sustainable," Costas said. "Every Sunday, local residents and visitors would have the chance to see how one town uses its cultural resources as tools for economic development."

According to Costas, in the pipeline is the formal organization of the participants of the art workshop into one artists' group that will advance the culture, arts, and tourism of the municipality. He also plans to put up their own art fair, and have a whole street lined up with young local artists and their works for the "Kinsan Festival" this June 13th. The yearly celebration is in honor of the town's icon, the kinsan fish.

What's more is that Costas hopes to go one step further to truly make the town's programs sustainable.

"We’re also planning to teach Facebook to fisherfolk and their families as a marketing tool for their ecotourism venture," said Costas. (FREEMAN NEWS)