(September 21, 2011) The city of goodwill froze to witness the spectacle of the annual Talakudong Street Dancing and Field Demonstration Competition held at the City Hall Grounds on September 18.
To lift the spirit of unity of not just the participants but of the whole city, Davao City Mayor Sara Z. Duterte gave her message as a guest of honor in this year’s Talakudong Festival.
“Ayaw mo’g kalimot nga sa usa ka siyudad, ang iyahang bahandi, anaa sa katawhan. So importante nga kamo mga katawhan, kamong mga opisyales sa syudad, isa lang ang inyuhang direksyon. Maghugpong mo padulong sa usa ka direksyon alang-alang sa kaugmaon sa inyuhang siyudad,” Mayor Duterte said.
Valenzuela City Mayor Sherwin Gatchalian, one of the guests of honor of the festival, also conveyed his support and admiration in the way Tacurongnons celebrate the Foundation Anniversary of the city.
Five groups displayed TacurongCity’s rich culture as they filled the day with vibrant and lively costumes, props and astounding tune of musical instruments. The participants included the Tribu Manubiao from Central Tacurong District; Tribu Katubuhan from East-West Tacurong District and San Emmanuel High School; Tribu Kudong from North Tacurong District and VF Grino Memorial National High School; Tribu Salakot from Tacurong National High School; and Tribu Kadsaya from South Tacurong District, Apolinario S. Bernardo Memorial National High School and Rajah Muda National High School.
Tribu Manubiao was declared Best in Street Dancing. Best in Street Showdown award was bagged by Tribu Salakot while Best in Field Demo/Headgear Exhibition was garnered by Tribu Kudong.
The over-all result declared Tribu Salakot as the 3rd runner up who received Php 85,000; Tribu Manubiao received Php 100, 000 as the 1st runner up; and Tribu Kudong went home with Php 130, 00o for being the Champion of this year’s Talakudong Street Dancing and Field Demonstration Competition.
The event successfully ended with Mayor Lina Montilla’s vision of a unified community not just in trying times but most of all, in festivity and celebration.
The Talakudong Street Dancing and Field Demonstration Competition culminated the week-long celebration of the city of Tacurong’s 11th Foundation Anniversary.
Nine stunning damsels representing different organizations vied for the title of this year’s Search for Mutya ng Lungsod ng Tacurong in the hope of becoming the city’s most beautiful woman.
In spite of the downpour, people from different places came in the big affair held at the NDTC gymnasium on September 16.
Councilor Joselito Cajandig Sr., the chairperson of the event, welcomed the guests and audience at the start of the pageant. Mayor Lina Montilla as well gave her message as a symbol of her undying support in upholding not just Tacurongnons’ beauties, but also their wit, intellect and talents. Sponsoring the event was Sagittarius Mines Incorporated.
Among the prestigious panel of judges were Nelly Nita Dillera; Noel Garovillo; Lech Walesa Ong; Richelle Valerie Pailden; Nephlida Gonzales.
The competition was tough, but at the end, it was no surprise that Precious Pearl Tadena, the tall and sweet lass of Sultan Kudarat Educational Institute and Sultan Kudarat Doctors’ Hospital owned the title Mutya ng Tacurong. She also took the Best in Modern Filipiniana Gown award, and was chosen as the Darling of the Crowd.
Campus Art’s Anna Joy Noto was first runner-up and Mutya ng Tacurong Tourism while NDTC’s Darlene Joy Salazar was second runner-up and Mutya ng Tacurong Culture and Arts. Julie Ann Narcilla of Magnet Distributor and Stephanie Mae Cubita of ABC were third and fourth runners up respectively.
The Mutya ng Tacurong 2011 is one of the highlights of Tacurong’s 11th Cityhood Foundation Anniversary celebration.
Igpat sang Kamera announces the winners of the 1st City of Tacurong Photography Contest with the theme: “Capturing the Beauty of Tacurong”. The judging was held at City Hall Building, Alunan Highway, Tacurong City. All 84 photo entries were printed on 8”x12” digital paper. All entries were judged according to the following criteria:
The Regional Council for the Welfare of Children has chosen Tacurong as the most child-friendly city in Region XII under the component cities category, a proof of the city’s seriousness in putting children’s welfare to the fore of its priorities.
In a letter sent to the office of Mayor Lina Montilla last week, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Regional Director Bai Zorahayda Taja officially informed the mayor that Tacurong satisfactorily passed the regional evaluation conducted last month.
Director Taja added that by becoming the region’s most child-friendly city, Tacurong will receive a child-friendly seal plus a fifty thousand pesos cash prize. Further, the city becomes the regional entry for the National Search for the Most Child-Friendly City to be launched this month.
The city was evaluated based on its child-friendly policies and programs particularly in the areas of survival, protection, education, and development. Representatives from the Department of Health, Department of Interior and Local Government, Department of Education, and DSWD composed the regional evaluation team.
During the validation on July 27, the evaluators checked various pertinent documents such as the annual budget of the city to determine how much funds go to programs that promote the welfare of children. Evaluators also paid a visit to the police station and inspected the latter’s Women and Children’s Desk along with its records.
Three out of the twenty barangays were also subjected to ocular inspection to know the functionality of each of its Barangay Council for the Protection of Children (BCPC). The City Council for the Welfare of Children (CCWC), being allowed to submit one barangay for inspection, chose Barangay Buenaflor, which has the most functional BCPC in Tacurong. The other two barangays, Tina and Calean, were selected by the evaluators in random.
Since the education aspect of the children were given equal consideration, evaluators also inspected one of its public schools, the Tacurong National High School, to determine how far did the City Schools Division go in terms of providing quality education for all.
After a whole day validation, the evaluators and members of the CCWC headed by Mayor Lina Montilla, sat down for an exit conference. The evaluation team declared that except for some minor comments, the city had done well in almost all areas, highlighted by the education sector getting relatively the highest rating.
Nearly a month after the validation, Tacurong got the official word that it passed the evaluation and declared as the regional winner.
Mayor Montilla, who also sits as the chairperson of CCWC, hopes that the city will be able to get the national award despite strong competition anticipated to be presented by other regions.
CCWC Action Officer Nancy Bawe said that the council is making improvements based on the feedbacks offered by the regional evaluation team. “Before the national evaluation team visits our city for the validation, we hope to already make enhancements to boost our chances in the national search’, Bawe said. [Allan S. Freno]
More than two hundred youths trooped to the city gymnasium of Tacurong on August 28, 2011 to take the entrance examination of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA).
The entrance examination, the first ever to be conducted in the city, was the initial stage in the arduous process an applicant has to hurdle to enter the most prestigious military academy in the country.
Many of the applicants who took the exam were from Tacurong City but a sizable number also came from other municipalities of Sultan Kudarat and neighboring provinces.
Before the written test, examiners from the PMA checked first the exam permits of the applicants and subsequently conducted a limited physical test, which included height measurement among others. For males, an applicant must not be less than 5 feet and four inches tall, while a female applicant must reach at least 5 feet and two inches limit.
The examiners also accommodated a number of walk-in applicants with complete documentary requirements.
Major Edgar Catu, Senior Tactical Officer of PMA and team leader of the examiners who arrived in Tacurong, said that most of the applicants passed the limited physical test but there were some of them who failed to reach the height requirement.
One hundred ninety-nine applicants who passed the physical test were eventually allowed to take the written test.
Joining Major Catu in the team of examiners were Technical Sergeants Adelino Lomibao and Joel Tongawan. Two Cadets 1st Class, Bryan Vingno and Alvin dela Cruz, also were part of the five-man team. Vingno and dela Cruz, both residents of Barangay San Pablo, Tacurong will graduate in the PMA next year.
Residents of Tacurong and neighboring municipalities were excited upon hearing that the PMA selected the city as one testing centers in Region XII.
Mayor Lina Montilla said that the city government is grateful to the effort of Major Catu who personally recommended and lobbied to the PMA to add Tacurong as another testing center in the region.
In an interview, Major Catu said that in years that he has been conducting entrance tests, he observed that many applicants from Tacurong and neighboring towns were flocking to the testing centers in General Santos City and Cotabato City.
“I saw how difficult it was for them to go to far testing centers”, Major Catu said. “I recommended Tacurong to be a testing center and I am grateful that my recommendation solicited a positive response”.
He also stated that Tacurong has been a familiar place since he spent three years in the city when he was still with the 301st Infantry Brigade, Philippine Army, which was formerly based in Barangay Kalandagan.
With the number of examinees who took the entrance test last Sunday, Major Catu is confident that the PMA will make the place a permanent testing center in the years ahead.
Mayor Montilla also hopes that with this recent development, the city will start producing a number of PMA graduates every year. [Allan S. Freno]
The photo contest is open to all hobbyists, non- professional and professional photographers.
There are two categories which are the following:
1. Discover Tacurong Category
2. Talakudong Festival Category
For the Discover Tacurong Category, entries must have been taken within the City of Tacurong. Entries must depict the beauty of and what is uniquely Tacurong.
For the Talakudong Festival Category, entries must be taken during the festival celebrations – streetdancing & field demonstration and other festival highlights and must conform to the festival theme. Entries must have been taken during the 11th Foundation Anniversary and Talakudong Festival on September 12-18, 2011.
Prizes are: Discover Tacurong Category Talakudong Festival Category
First prize P8, 000 & certificate P8, 000 & certificate
Second prize P5, 000 & certificateP5, 000 & certificate
Third prize P3, 000 & certificateP3, 000 & certificate
For “Discover Tacurong Category”, there will be a one-day photo tour** on August 26, 2011.
Entries must be accompanied by the official entry form with the title and brief description of the picture, name and signature of the photographer, address, date the picture was taken and place where the picture was taken.
Entry forms are available at the Tri-Media Room (2nd floor of city hall building) or download from this website.
Nudity, vulgar, obscene, scandalous, gruesome, and violent photos are automatically disqualified. Photos should focus on the theme.
Entries should be in 8” x 12”, in color prints, unmounted and taken in either film or digital format.
Photos must be in their original form, not super-imposed or retouched or edited in any photo editing software. Manipulated photos will NOT be accepted. Only basic enhancements like cropping, resizing, and minor adjustments in brightness and contrast will be allowed. Entries must be accompanied by negatives. In the case of digital photos, they must be written to a CD which properties must contain the information about the camera used and settings for the photo. The original file must be submitted together with the enhanced file.
Printed photos must not have any identifying marks that would indicate its owner.
In each category, participants may submit as many entries but not less than three (3) in a category he or she wishes to join. Should an entry be less than three, it shall be disqualified.
One photographer can only win one prize in each category.
All entries for the Discover Tacurong Category must be submitted on or before September 6, 2011 with duly accomplished entry forms to the Tri-Media Room (2nd floor, city hall building), City of Tacurong. Discover Tacurong Category entries will be displayed in a Photo Exhibit at the lobby of the city hall from September 12-18, 2011.
The city government of Tacurong reserves the right to cancel the contest in the event that an insufficient number of entries of suitable quality are submitted.
All entries maybe reproduced and/or reprinted into any size for exhibition and use by the city government. Proper credit shall be given to the photographer.
All entries shall be the property of the City Government of Tacurong after the competition. The city government reserves the rights to use winning photo entries for any printed materials and advertisements to further promote the city and the festival.
Judging for the Discover Tacurong Category will be during the duration of the festival. Deadline for the submission and judging of the Talakudong Festival Category will be announced during the awarding of prizes for the Discover Tacurong Category on September 18, 2011.
The decision of the Board of Judges is FINAL.
For more details please contact: Mobile phone nos. 09067315203; 09393562151.
