Domogan urged residents to plant flowers

March 4, 2017 Metro BLISTT

With the closing of the successful 22nd edition of the Baguio Flower Festival or the Panagbenga 2017, Mayor Mauricio Domogan urged the residents in the city to proactively plant flowers.

“Start planting flowers in your backyard so that when the time comes for us to have such a parade of float, we could easily make our float,” he said, it is also to “sustain our flower industry and make the market grow.”

He said this year’s Panagbenga with the theme “Inspired by beauty, nurtured by nature” was witnessed by more than 900,000 visitors, which is more than the number of people who watched the grand floral float parade last year.

He also explained the meaning of the city’s float which “symbolizes the concern in the hands of the city calling all our constituents regardless of our tribal origins and religious beliefs to continue to teamwork and cooperate to protect the environment.”

“Our Flower Festival is our tribute to our flower farmers who are the ones providing us with adequate supply of flowers that we showcase our local residents and visitors who want to visit our city and appreciate the beauty of nature,” Domogan stressed.

Tons of varieties flowers were used to build the floats which are judged based on creative design, floral craftsmanship, artistic merit, presentation, and dramatic impact. The flowers used can be dyed, but artificial materials including the wheels must not be visible, making the creation of such floats challenging and masterful.

Primary flowers like Malaysian mums, orchids, roses, daisies, chrysanthemums, Alstroemeria flowers and sphagnum moss were the most prominent in the parade. The everlasting is also commonly used in the floats.

Meanwhile, during the Kapihan at top Session Road last March 1, 2017, co-chair Anthony De Leon explained to the media some criticism of the activities and programs of the Baguio Flower Festival Foundation Inc. (BFFFI). He said it not easy to build or run a festival in a few years, “we do this for the sake of development and to have income and livelihood for our constituents, and increase the level of tourism.”

De Leon said despite all the efforts of the executive committee of BFFFI, some criticisms circulate through social media but he said this will not be a reason for the foundation to give up. He invited the critics to instead participate in the meetings of the committee. ABN