MAMBAJAO, CAMIGUIN – Despite the threat of the coronavirus disease and the scarcity of the sweet lanzones fruit, the provincial government opened the annual Lanzones Festival here via online on Sunday October, 24, 2021.
Camiguin Governor Jurdin Jesus Romualdo said they celebrate the event “to show the people of Camiguin that there is still hope amid the pandemic and low harvest. Even if we have a scant lanzones yield, the spirit of the Lanzones Festival will still be there to keep the morale of the Caminguingnons.”
The Lanzones produced decreased due to the intermittent weather but they expect an abundant harvest by December or January in 2022.
Camiguin’s lanzones is considered as the sweetest among all varieties because of the island’s volcanic soil.
“We will still celebrate it to show the people of Camiguin that there is still hope amid the pandemic and low harvest. Even if we have a scant lanzones yield, the spirit of the Lanzones Festival will still be there to keep the morale of the Caminguingnons,” Romualdo told reporters.
This year marks the 42nd Lanzones Festival 2021, it will end on October 31.The activities can be viewed online.
Among this year’s activities include special votive mass for all parishes in Camiguin, Oct. 24; TikTok dance challenge, Oct 24-30; online agro-tourism trade fair, Oct. 25; “paksoy” or costume design competition, Oct. 26; festival king and queen contest, Oct. 28; and inter-municipality cooking contest, Oct. 29.
The festival coincided with the reopening of Camiguin tourism industry.
Romualdo said the provincial government had to order the temporary closure of resorts and tourist destinations as the cases of coronavirus disease increased.
Before the declaration of the national health crisis, Camiguin used to record an arrival of more than 800,000 visitors per year.
The number of visitors usually peak during Lenten season and Lanzones Festival.
Except for the suspension of operations of tourism sites, Romualdo said the economic activities of the island has been sustained with stores and food establishments still open to local residents.
“Our economy was not at all crippled by the pandemic. Our local government-initiated infrastructure projects have continued, and inflow of basic commodities from the mainland has not been hampered,” he said.
The governor added it was a good thing that small- and medium-sized resorts have no outstanding bank loans so they were spared from having to suffer from debts and financial burdens.
Candice Naomi Dael, the provincial tourism officer, said that from their estimate, the island’s tourism sector has lost around P2 billion in a year starting March 2020 due to the pandemic.
She said the figure was based on the daily expenditures of a tourist while staying in Camiguin before tourism activities were suspended.
These expenses include souvenir items, food, rentals, transportation fares, entrance fees, hotel and other accommodations.
Romualdo said the reopening of the island to tourists can be seen as a return of the people’s livelihood and income.
