BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya—Provincial officials here today opened the three-day 9th Grand “Ammungan” (Gathering) Festival of the province, starting with the Agri-Trade Fair at the provincial capitol grounds in this town.
Gov. Carlos Padilla, Vice Gov. Lambert Galima Jr. and the provincial board members led the ribbon cutting of the Agri-Trade Fair participated in by more than 40 local product exhibitors of the province.
“This is an opportunity for our local entrepreneurs to showcase and market their products so they will benefit from this celebration,” said Maybelle Dumlao-Sevillena, provincial administrator and director-general of the festivities.
She said local entrepreneurs have not maximized the previous celebration of the festival, because most of the exhibitors who were put in the frontline came from other provinces.
More than 500 tilapia fingerlings were also handed to the province’s mayors to help their respective fisherfolk earn more income.
Among the local products exhibited were furniture, wood carving, handicrafts and souvenir items, soft brooms, organic fruits and vegetables, ornamental plants, home decors, landscaping models, bonsai varieties, processed foods and cultural products, among others.
Padilla and his wife Ruth, a former governor, visited the exhibitors’ booths with other provincial and municipal officials.
Various tribes in their cultural attire also swarmed the provincial capitol with the celebration of the Indigenous People’s Day, which featured the cultural and traditional songs, dances and rituals of the Isinai, Gaddang, Ifugao, Ibaloi, Kankanaey, Kalanguya and Bugkalot tribes, among others.
The cultural program was highlighted by a boodle fight with the IPs and lowland Novo Vizcayanos.