‘ALL SYSTEMS GO’: City now ‘100 % ready’ for Dinagyang comeback

By Joseph B.A. Marzan

The excitement gets higher for the 2023 Dinagyang Festival this weekend, with Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas saying on Monday that they are completely prepared for the festival’s physical return.

In his regular press conference, Treñas said that they will retain restrictions including anti-smoking, as evidenced by anti-smoking signs posted on major thoroughfares today, particularly at Ledesma Street and the Iloilo Convention Center, to name a few.

As to the curfew for minors, he said he would have to make consultations first.

Treñas is also planning to ease the liquor ban by moving the restriction time from 4 a.m. to 6 a.m.

Personnel are also ready to ensure that streets in festival areas will be cleaned up and remain clean.

“We will retain our anti-smoking [regulation], [but] for the curfew, we will see if there is a request to suspend it to allow youngsters to go around. For parking, we will still look into it given that roads are now cramped,” the mayor said.

Classes on all levels will be suspended on Jan 21 and 23 as mandated by Executive Order No. 008 series of 2023 which Treñas issued on Monday.

Traffic in the city has been heavier, with the intersection of Quezon and Ledesma Streets and nearby portions closed to vehicular traffic to give way to the stages for the parades and tribal competitions.

Treñas also addressed a rumble early Sunday morning involving groups of youngsters, saying that the local police are on alert in case something similar happens during the festival.

“The persons have been identified, and I think proper cases will be filed against them. It was unfortunate that it happened after 4:00 [a.m.], but the [police] has been arranging that they will be on alert until the early morning,” he remarked.

Treñas hopes that with all the preparations by the city government and its partners, the Iloilo Festivals Foundation, Inc. and the San Jose Parish Placer, the festival’s physical comeback will be successful.

“We are looking forward to a very successful Dinagyang 2023. We are at all systems go, with more guests coming over. We expect 30 people from foreign embassies,” he said.

Ambassadors and embassy and consular representatives from Bangladesh, Hungary, Indonesia, Japan, Nigeria, Norway, Poland, Romania, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and the United States are expected to attend.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is not expected to arrive due to his attendance at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, but the First Family will be led by his wife, First Lady Marie Louise Araneta-Marcos, and their children.

Senators JV Ejercito, Risa Hontiveros, Imee Marcos, and Francis Tolentino, and some members of the House of Representatives, as well as celebrities and influencers, are also expected to attend the festival.