DAVAO CITY — The 75th Leyte Landings commemoration in Leyet this year will be highlighted by the display of local wines dubbed as ‘Oktubafest’ which is scheduled on October 18.
‘Oktubafest’ was conceptualized by a local party-list group An Awary, the celebration has been consistently held during the last eleven years, it is the brainchild of An Awary party-list Representative Florencio Noel
This year, tourist and guests will have a glimpse of locally produce wine concocted from coconut, which will highlight the gulf landings.
The gulf landings and ‘Oktubafest’ will be held at the Leyte Academic Center.
An Waray party-list , giving people in coconut wine production a venue to promote their products.
Tuba or coconut has been part of the FIlipino celebration but was overtaken by the entry of brewery and alcohol companies making it an old folks favorite especially in the Visayas and Mindanao where coconut trees are mostly found.
“Bearing the theme One Eastern Visayas, the festival aims to uplift the tuba industry and tuba wine enthusiasm so that it continually receives its well-deserved national accolades,” An Waray party-list said in a statement Wednesday.
Highlighting the event are various competitions like the on-the-spot Kawit painting contest illustrating heroism of World War II veterans.
Winners of the competition will receive PHP5,000 for the first prize, PHP3,000 for the second prize and PHP2,000 for the third prize.
Another category is the Siday (poem) contest where participants must compose an original free-verse or rhyme poem with the theme “Tuba ngan mga Hugot ha Gugma” (tuba and genuine love) and deliver it in local dialect for three minutes.
Winners will also receive PHP5,000 for the first prize, PHP3,000 for the second prize and PHP2,000 for the third prize.
The Tuba Cook-off challenge, which highlights tuba as the main ingredients of the dish, is divided into two categories– professional and amateur.
Winners in the cooking contest will receive PHP20,000 for first prize, PHP15,000 for second prize, and PHP10,000 for third prize.
For the best bahal (old tuba) and bahalina (aged tuba) categories, the competition is open to mananguete (tuba gatherers) endorsed by the local government units to represent their town or city.
Cash rewards at stake are PHP20,000 and PHP1.5 million worth of projects for the first prize, PHP15,000 for the second place and PHP10,000 for the third place.-ezc with PNA report
