Laurel Strengthens History and Culture in its 42nd Foundation Anniversary

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Yesterday, June 21, marked the 42nd Founding Anniversary of the municipality of Laurel.

Gerlie and I went to Laurel with Ms. Jaide Luistro of Provincial Tourism and Cultural Affairs Office and the people of Media K (the production outfit of NBN’s magazine show, Beautiful Batangas) headed by Ms. Emelie Katigbak. It was a long drive from the Provincial Capitol but it was worth it. At least Gerlie and I were able to set foot on this town for the first time.

We arrived there exactly at the moment when Mayor Randy James Amo was delivering his speech. Mayor Amo talked about how the local government is determined to push its tourism projects, the reason why they came up with the Bay-ongan Festival, in the first place. The festival was derived from the local town product “bayong” – made out of palm leaves woven into a bag which is popular among rural folks.

But we fail to witness a street dance competition which highlights bayong. I guess you, too, had observed that most of the time, a street dance competition is being held to showcase a town festival. But it was still an entertaining program we witnessed there. Here’s what happened…

History, culture, arts, and identity — these are the four significant aspects of Laurel, Batangas that its people are aiming to either discover or enhance, as mentioned by Vice Governor Mark Leviste in his speech.

The foundation anniversary program was filled with performances from various sectors of the municipality. The DepEd group and female senior citizens performed folk dances while some male senior citizens and representatives of the Samahan ng Magsasaka at Mangingisda rendered a couple of the famous kundiman songs.

But what delighted the audience the most were the members of the Bughaw Folkloric Dance Group the event’s guests who are resident performers in Residence Inn. They wowed the crowd with their line-up of native dances which originated from different parts of the Philippines such as Samar, Cavite, and the Cordillera Region. It was a good 30 minutes or so of colorful costume changes and calculated dance moves which, when summed up, depicts how rich our country is when it comes to cultural dances.

A magic show followed the cultural dance presentation of the Bughaw Folkloric Dance Group.

Mayors of different municipalities of Batangas arrived on the venue in preparation for the Mayors League meeting which transpired an hour after the program. Governor Vilma Santos-Recto and Vice Governor Mark Leviste also graced the event and injected enthusiasm and positivity to the local people of Laurel who also suffered from the unfortunate fish mortality in Taal Lake.

With all that has been reported about the massive fish mortality in Taal Lake and despite being one of the affected municipalities, Laurel was able to celebrate its 42nd Foundation Anniversary. All for the essence of unity and great hopes among the Laureños.