Culture pearls

Creative works and exceptional services and its cause are not going to be ignored or taken for granted but instead should be noticed and recognized and will be publicized to provide visibility and recognition as rewards for such noble deeds.

Ormoc’s Nelson Alindogan and Jame Monren Mercado (center) receiving the Best Tourism Research award. Mon Mercado

The Pearl Awards of the Association of Tourism Officers in the Philippines (ATOP), which celebrates “the best in the tourism industry that each one of us is collectively doing and contributing to the society at large,�? has reinvented itself this year, focusing on culture.

The recent awards night was held in front of the Unesco World Heritage site San Agustin Church in Paoay, Ilocos Norte.

Most of the previous categories were scrapped and replaced with culture-based award classifications this year and stringent processes of picking the winners for each category were held at the University of Santo Tomas College of Tourism and Hospitality Management, ATOP’s new partner for the awards.

Started in 2005, the ATOP-Department of Tourism (DoT) Pearl Awards is also called as the ATOP-DoT Best Tourism Practices of the Philippines Award.

“Creative works and exceptional services are not going to be ignored or taken for granted but instead it should be noticed and recognized and will be publicized to provide visibility and recognition as rewards for such noble deeds,�? notes ATOP in giving the awards.

The Best Tourism Event (Festival) was divided into six categories — nature worship/or myths and legends, thanksgiving for a bountiful harvest, as a commemorative to historical events, a religious practice to honor community saints, showcase of productivity and trade and contemporary/non-traditional expression.

Other categories include Best Tourism Event (Sports), Best Tourism-Oriented Local Government Unit (LGU), Best Tourism Month/Week Celebration, Best Outstanding Tourism Officer, Best Outstanding Tourism Officers Club/Organization/Association, Best Practices on Community-based Responsible Tourism (Community-based Tourism Enterprise and/or Services and Community-based Heritage Conservation Project/Program), Best Program for Culture and the Arts, Best Tourism Research, Best Tourism Program Integrated Routes, Best Event Hosting(Local/International), Best Tourism Promotion (Video) and Best Tourism Promotion (Collaterals).

The first category for the tourism event was won by the Balamban Dance Festival of Santiago City, Isabela, with the Pintaflores Festival of San Carlos City in Negros Occidental placing second while the best tourism event as a thanksgiving is Isabela’s Bambanti Festival with Pangasinan’s Pista’y Dayat and Pulilan’s Kneeling Carabao Festival bagging second and third places, respectively.

Anilao, Iloilo’s Banaag Festival, won the historical events category with Malabon’s Tambobong Festival and Malolos’ Fiesta Republica: A Festival of Filipino History placing second and third.

The best tourism event as a religious practice was won by Lumban, Laguna’s Paligong Poon: Sa Lupi ng Kapistahan ni San Sebastian Martir followed by Pakil’s Turumba Festival and Saad Festival of Leganes, Iloilo.

Under the category of productivity and trade, Liliw’s 17th Gat Tayaw Tsinelas Festival bagged first place while La Trinidad’s Strawberry Festival 2018 and Biñan’s Puto Latik Festival won second and third.

Nabunturan Independent Film Exhibition 6 (Nabifilmex 6) of Nabunturan, Compostela Valley, won the non-traditional category followed by Carmona, Cavite’s Sorteo Festival and Agew na Pangasinan of Pangasinan.

The best tourism research went to the city of Ormoc for the paper entitled “Ogmok: Developing Sustainable Tourism Development Plan Using the Stakeholders Perspective Approach, The Case of Ormoc City, Leyte, Philippines,�? written by Jame Monren Mercado.

The paper, “Prehistory of Mindoro: Technology, Paleoecology and Maritime Interaction in the Upper Pleistocene and Early Holocene of the municipality of San Jose, Occidental Mindoro,�? placed second while Bataan’s “Enhancing the Cultural Experience of the Former Philippine Refugee Processing Center in Morong, Bataan�? placed third.

The best tourism officer went to Bryan Jayson Borja of Biñan, Laguna.

This year’s other winners, arranged based on their places, are as follows:

Best Tourism Event (Adventure/Sports) Municipality: Palompon’s Abre-Grande-Lawig 2018 (first place and a Hall of Fame awardee); Rurumba Adventure Race of San Jose, Northern Samar (second) and Mawab, Compostela Valley’s Caving in a Changing Climate (third).

Best Tourism Event (Adventure/Sports) City: 7th Burangoy Tourism Kite Festival of Sipalay, Negros Occidental (Hall of Fame awardee); Iloilo City’s Paraw Regatta Festival and Tunaman Triathlon of General Santos City.

Best Tourism Event (Adventure/Sports) Province: Quirino’s Motorismo Festival; Visit Davao Summer Festival of Compostela Valley; and Lakbike Turismo 2018 of Bulacan Province.

Best Tourism Event LGU (Municipality): Tanay, Rizal (also Hall of Fame awardee); Guiguinto, Bulacan (City): Alaminos, Pangasinan; Bacoor, Cavite; and Ilagan, Isabela (Province): Samar, Misamis Oriental, Ilocos Norte.

Best Tourism Month/Week Celebration (Municipality): La Trinidad, Benguet; Bayambang, Pangasinan; Guiguinto, Bulacan (City): Antipolo, Cadiz, Negros Occidental (Province): Capiz (Hall of Fame); Compostela Valley; Guimaras.

Most Outstanding Tourism Officers Club/Organization/Association: Iloilo Tourism Officers Association (also a Hall of Fame awardee); Rizal Province’s Association of Tourism Officers of Rizal; and Benguet Tourism Officers Association.

Best Practices on Community-based Responsible Tourism Enterprise: Samar’s Sohoton Cave and Natural Bridge; T’boli, South Cotabato’s Kule (Lake Holon) Community-based Tourism; Taklong Island National Marine Reserve Eco Tour of Nueva Valencia, Guimaras.

Best Practices on Community-based Heritage Conservation Project: Bayambang Cultural Mapping Project of Bayambang, Pangasinan; Lyurot Festival of Mabini, Compostela Valley; Hanas Kina-Adman Duenasanon sa Paghabol 2018 (Skills Training on Duenas Loomweaving 2018) of Dueñas, Iloilo.

pocket of white sand beach in the Hundred Islands (top) and a local guide at the Sohoton Caves and Natural Bridge Park, Samar (bottom). EA Sembrano

Best Program for Culture and the Arts: Tayuyon, The Culture, Arts and Heritage Program of the Province of Capiz; Kagikan, Kabilin, Katigaunan: Tagum City’s Culture based Governance for Social Cohesion; Preserving the Culture and Arts of the People San Jose, Occidental Mindoro.

Best Tourism Program Integrated Routes: Pasyar Pangasinan: Faith, Farm and Food Tours (Pangasinan).

Best Event Hosting (Local/International): 6th ASIAN Scout Jamboree of Tagum City; City of Bacoor International Music Championships 2018; First International Conference on Pangasinan Studies (ICPS 2018).

Best Tourism Video: Beyond Bataan Pocket Film of Bataan province; Capture Capiz of the province of Capiz; and San Fernando, La Union’s Create Your San Fernando Tourism Video.

Best Tourism Promotion (Collaterals): Cavite Coffee Table Book and Gabay sa Kasaysayan at Kultura ng Kabite, Antipolo City Inter-Active Brochure; Create Your San Fernando Travel Brochure of San Fernando, La Union.

ATOP national president Arwin Paul Lingat said the shift to a more culturally-focused awards is important since the basis of tourism promotion is culture.

This is very significant because “you do not promote what you don’t have,�? he said.

He also explained this is in line with the Seal of Good Governance of the Department of the Interior and Local Government in which tourism, culture, and the arts is one of its seven governance areas “to optimize tourism potential, and enrich cultural heritage and community.�?