Going into the specifics of the Sto. Niño’s role in the everyday Cebuano life earned for Barangay Labangon the top prize in Sunday’s Sinulog sa Kabataan sa Dakbayan secondary division.
Lively dance steps and an engaging and skillful performance did the same for Barangay Mabolo in the elementary level of the same competition.
Labangon’s presentation featured a wedding with the newlyweds releasing doves in keeping with tradition and accompanied by their retinue of relatives that included a crying grandmother.
A celebration of union and family tradition, with the Sto. Niño as guide, earned Labangon the high school division top prize in Sunday’s Sinulog sa Kabataan sa Dakbayan.The couple opened a gift box that contained an image of the Sto. Niño whom they worshipped and paid tribute to from then on. The Sto. Niño blessed the couple and it continues to play a central role in the couple’s lives including in the baptism of their first child.
Labangon, whose dancers wore Filipinia costumes and did the traditional Sinulog steps, was also picked Best in Costume. The women in the dance alternately carried hoops of red flowers and bunches of yellow ones while the men held Spanish lamplights on pillars.
