Pop culture-savvy Panagbenga true to roots in glaring sunshine and bothersome cold

BAGUIO CITY — Baguio during the morning of the Panagbenga’s Grand Float Parade Competition is like a can of multi-flavored ice cream: numbingly cold, but bursting with color.

 

Hours before the parade began on Sunday, Feb. 23, the sidewalks were brimming with people who had to cordoned off from the road, which was lined with parked floats of all shapes and sizes seemingly in bloom.

 

The procession of 21 floats, which was interspersed with the Saturday Street Dance Competition winner Mabini Elementary School and other marching bands and entries, was to wind for some two hours from Session Road to the Athletic Bowl, where the floats would park for an all-day photo- and public-friendly exhibit.

 

But one is sorely mistaken if one is under the impression that the cold will last the entire day as well. It will feel like the body is the battleground of a war between the mid-morning sun and the fresh mountain breeze. In fact, two or three festival-goers collapsed and had to be carried out on stretchers.
 

And afterward, when the last float has driven past, imagine the traffic both human and vehicular clogging up Baguio’s smooth, narrow roads.

 

Yet in a press conference at The Manor Hotel in Camp John Hay on the same day, Panagbenga Co-chairman Freddie Alquiros said that he has heard people say: “We don’t mind coming here despite all the traffic and everything just to take photograph after photograph for Instagram because there is nothing like the Float Parade of the Panagbenga.”

 

Indeed, teenaged couple Gian Repoledo and Rosabel Lebarejos came all the way from Pangasinan with some friends to see the Panagbenga for the first time. “Naiinitan [kami] pero okay lang po,” said Rosabel. “Pero worth it kasi maganda yung mga napapanood.”

 

Reasons to be
 

Flora aside, this year’s Panagbenga Grand Float Parade Competition was full of Minions, dancing zombies, cosplayers, animatronic dinosaurs, a Pegasus, a train chugging on actual steam, characters from popular animated movies, and the local celebrity or three.

 

Baguio City Mayor Mauricio Domogan said in the same press conference that there were four reasons for the Panagbenga’s existence, although he mentioned only three: to thank the Lord for the flowers and stewardship of the environment, to sustain the tourism industry, and to show the unique culture of the Cordilleras.

 

“No matter what tribe you are from, in Baguio, you are part of the family,” said Domogan.

 

However, the float designs may sound foreign for a parade that aims to promote Cordillera culture. Domogan countered that “the float is a modern concept.”

 

“You cannot construct an entire float for Cordillera culture [only],” said Domogan. “Culture is the Igorot, the bahag—how can you make a float out of that? We must integrate with the modern. But to be sure, each float has a Cordillera motif incorporated.”

 

Alquiros chimed in, saying, “The culture is also evident in the street dances. The floats highlight the flowers.”

 

The Cordillera provinces, particularly Benguet and La Trinidad, are famous for their flowers. Domogan said La Trinidad’s governor told him the January frost really did harm the flower fields—but evidently, not enough to curtail their use as the main material for the Panagbenga floats.

 

Panagbenga Chairman Anthony de Leon said the floats are made in a freestyle manner, but the elements of the theme—which is the protection and preservation of the environment—are still incorporated. These are even included in the criteria.

 

Alquiros added the organizers decided to split the parade in two, as opposed to the all-day combination of street dances and floats. This was due to the unpredictable weather, the crowd size, and the number of entries.

 

Notable floats

 

This year, SM Baguio, the Baguio Country Club, and International Pharmaceuticals, Inc. had the biggest floats.

 

SM’s float boasted of three majestic Pegasii perched atop two exquisitely-detailed Taoist temples.
 

Baguio Country Club went for a theme centered on the 2013 animated movie "Epic." Their goregeous float also included characters from the movie, both props and people in costume.

International Pharmaceuticals, Inc., which originated in Cebu, brought up the rear of the parade but would not be outdone with their Egyptian motif—flower basket-laden statues of the jackal god Anubis flanked the float, which boasted of a woman inside the body of an animatronic snake, a pharaoh and a queen, and the piece de resistance: a pyramid, atop which stood a statue of the Sto. Niño. The top of the pyramid eventually opened as the Sto. Niño sank back inside amid billowing white smoke.

 

The City Government of Baguio, though not officially a part of the competition, fielded a float full of Minions big and small, pink and yellow, from the Despicable Me movies.

 

GMA Network’s entry was a simple float with the title card of the teleserye “Carmela” done up in blooms. The clincher was that stars Marian Rivera and Alden Richards were riding the float as well, to the delight of many screaming, waving fans.

 

It was thought at first that MLhuillier’s steam train float would have only beauty contest winners riding the back—until Ogie Alcasid suddenly climbed out, beaming and waving.

 

Telecommunications company SMART also had a simple float surrounded by bulbous balloons of blue and white, but their draw was Cosplay Queen Alodia Gosiengfiao.

 

Time management and puzzle game Plants vs. Zombies also made an appearance as an NLEX float loaded with its many of its well-known characters—but with an environmental twist.

The float was titled Plants vs. Pollution, and its Zombies, Sunflowers, and Pea-shooters delighted the crowd with an acrobatic dance number.

 

Two-year-old hotel Le Monet’s entry was a huge float consisting of giant butterflies flapping their wings while perched atop humongous flowers jostling for space with equally humongous bumblebees. A single gardener stood atop the float, spade and potted plant at the ready.

 

Goldust Creations had a royal theme to their float, adorning its pillars and riders in yellow, deep pink, and purple hues. The back even had a Cinderella-esque horse and carriage with a single princess in a frilly white gown inside.

 

Environmentalists need not worry about how the flowers are disposed of afterward. Domogan shared that SM, Baguio Country Club, and Le Monet will be displaying their floats in front of their respective premises until the flowers wilt.

Other float owners will be using the flowers for compost or for decorating altars and other arrangements. — JDS, GMA News