ILAGAN CITY, Isabela—Isabela Gov. Faustino ‘Bojie’ G. Dy III and Vice Governor Antonio ‘Tonypet’ T. Abano led the annual Bambanti Festival here over the weekend.
The Bambanti Festival “revealed the best about Isabela, its impressive beginning, intense growth and bountiful harvest,” Dy said.
Albano, as Director General of the festival, said the event capitalized on the province’s gains in agricultural productivity, tourism, and other drivers of the economy.
This year’s theme, “Isabela for the World,” showcased the province’s farming efficiency, tourist industry, cultural potential, different food products of each town, various indigenous world-class products, lifestyle merchandise, and native cuisine, Albano said.
The festival celebrated the province’s triumph “that it proudly shares with the world,” Dy said.
Isabela “aims to become a model for economic expansion and display the natural charms of its local culture, agriculture productivity and disaster preparedness. This is what the province offers to the whole world,” Albano stressed.
“Bambanti” is the Ilocano word for scarecrow, and the festival is Isabelenos’ thanksgiving for their consistently abundant harvests. The event also celebrates the resilience and diligence of the farmers, who fulfilled the province’s vision as the country’s biggest corn and rice surplus producer, said Provincial Administrator Atty. Noel Lopez.
The bambanti symbolizes protection for the Isabela farmer’s crops. Made of straw and grass and wrapped in farmers’ clothes, these scarecrows are positioned in the middle of the field to drive away the birds and ensure a good, abundant harvest, Lopez added.
Jessie James Geronimo, Provincial Information Officer, said Isabela has emerged to reach greater heights as an agro-industrial hub despite the calamities that hit the province.
During the festival, each town and city in Isabela has an agro-ecotourism booth, using only natural, organic and biodegradable indigenous materials and showcasing their creativity in promoting the province culture and products.
Local and foreign tourists witness exciting street dancing competitions every year alongside the parade of scarecrows called Bambanti Kings and Queens, where different groups compete in a colorful showdown and grand fireworks display at the Isabela Sports Complex here.
The weeklong festivity highlighted the opening of the Bambanti Village agri-ecotourism booths. It also features sport activities and medical, dental and surgical missions, the Isabela Inabraw Department of Tourism-Kulinarya Competition, costume competitions, dragon dances, motocross events, hip-hop and B-boy dance-offs, and a “Megasoft” show.
As the official festival of the province of Isabela, the Bambanti Festival was institutionalized on March 14, 1997 during the term of Gov. Benjamin Dy. This was originally celebrated every May 5 to 11 in celebration of Isabela Day, in honor of Queen Elizabeth of Spain as decreed in May 1856.
