600-T Folks Attend Bangus Festival 2023

 By Mortz C. Ortigoza

DAGUPAN CITY – There were roughly 600,000 spectators that attended the iconic Bangus Festival held recently in this coastal city.

Dagupan City Chief of Police Lt. Col. Vicente P. Castor, Jr. told Northern Watch Newspaper that in the two kilometer stretches of the De Venecia Highway Extension, the police computed one –square meter with four people inside on the 1.5 kilometers to get the 600,000 revelers who came in and out of the city.

THE MULTITUDE (left photo and clockwise) who hail from Dagupan City and her outside towns and cities patiently wait for some of the national bands and actors that would entertain them in the final leg of the Bangus Festival last April 30 held at the two – kilometer stretch of the De Venecia Highway Extension; grilled bangus (milkfish) being prepared by the revelers, and; one of the guests Department of Interior & Local Government Secretary Benhur Abalos (extreme left front row) in a huddle with host Dagupan City Mayor Belen T. Fernandez (2^nd from left) during the  Buhay Ingatan, Droga'y Ayawan (BIDA) Fun Run held in the morning of April 30, 2023.

He said they deducted half kilometer of the highway occupied by the array of grills in the two-kilometer length in their computation.

Mayor Belen T. Fernandez lauded Secretary Benhur Abalos of the Department of Interior & Local Government (DILG), his Undersecretaries and the DILG regional top brass for a successful Buhay Ingatan, Droga'y Ayawan (BIDA) Fun Run held earlier but on the same day of the Festival.

“Very challenging itong Bangus Festival ako’y nagpapasalamat po sa DILG Secretary Benhur Abalos, alam ninyo for the first time four events in one day,” Fernandez crowed to reporters in a press conference she called held in the family owned Canadian franchised coffee house’s Tim Hortons.

The chief executive expressed gratitude to the police, the various departments of the LGU, the sponsors like Gatorade and Milo for the resounding success of the festivity.

The mayor told this writer that countless bands and actors like the casts of television series Voltez V, Sam Concepcion, DJ Inna Gita, Ely Buendia of the famed Eraserheads, Bloomfields, Sponge Cola, Five Play, Ralp Mariano and the Band, Chewthecud, Headrush Band, Dogz Insekto Pares, Gigi de Lana and the GG Vibes and others graced the street party.

The local government unit did not spend a single cent for these performers who entertained the ecstatic masses until the wee hour in the eight stages as they were sponsored by the business sector.

It was not surprising to show case for gratis those celebrities because the family of the mayor owned the big retail stores’ CSI Group of Companies that operate in Northern Luzon. CSI is the version of Gaisano Malls in the Visayas and Mindano.

She told this newspaper that sponsors generously offer to her the names of actors and the bands she wanted to grace the street party.

"Iyong mga lumang banda hindi na namin pinili," she quipped.

Each of some of these bands cost more than a million pesos to play for several songs in the night of the festivity.

  “Iyong mga bisita natin hindi basta-basta na tao. Diplomats, Senator Imee (Marcos), DILG Secretary Abalos. Pati sikat na blogger Small Laude,” Lt. Col. Castor cited the personalities that attended the affair.

The top cop said there was no untoward incident caused by criminal elements who wanted to exploit the sea of humanity that attended one of the famous cultural events in Northern Luzon.

“Probably the criminals were preoccupied watching the concerts,” a reporter joked in the vernacular to the still speaking Castor.

Castor extolled the all -out support to the police given by Mayor Fernandez to make the endeavor successful.

Before the “D-Day” in April 30, the chief of police said the personnel from the law enforcement, public safety & order (POSO), city health and City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (CDRRMO)  did a group discussion and simulation here to protect and escort the members of the diplomatic corps, government and other very important people (VIPs) to knife their way to the multitude and reach their destination.

Castor said there were 476 policemen who secured the mammoth activity. 164 of them came from the city while the 312 were provided by the regional and provincial offices under the commands of Regional Police Office Director Brig. Gen. John Chua and Provincial Police Office Director Col. Jeff Fanged, respectively.

“Every VIP may corresponding motorcycle escort, merong dalawang mobile cars as security, meron tayong protocol officer who always monitor iyong whereabouts ng ating VIP, may mga traffic (cops) deployed aside from the security”.

 Bangus Festival is a yearly cultural and food festival celebrated in this burgeoning city held every April 30. It celebrates the city’s production of its distinctive tasty bangus (milkfish) and many of its related products. A month-long festival, it positioned the city as the bangus capital of the Philippines, a tribute to the residents’ resilience and source of livelihood.