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Tafter Journal scritto da Narcisa Paredes-Canilao il 30 Luglio 2014 The Panagbenga: Ethico-Political Issues, Contestations, and Recommendations on the Cultural Sustainability of a Festival Introduction The Panagbenga is a four-week cultural festival celebrated annually in February since 1995, in the popular tourist destination of Baguio City, Philippines. Through the years, the festival has been a working coordination between the City Government, private sectors, and the Baguio Flower Festival Foundation, Inc. (BFFFI). Based on its recent enactments, the festival’s mandated objective has become more coherent, which is “to promote the city’s culture, unity among its people, tourism and economic industries and [to showcase] Baguio as a City of Flowers” (AO No. 008-S. 2014). The integration of environmental concerns, are indicated in some specific environmental policies and the designation of an environment/technical committee as one of the support committees. Examined literature, and documents plus oral interviews for the study, commonly trace the origins of Panagbenga to a Baguio direly needing to reclaim a sense of place, to reaffirm solidarity among its people, and, to prove it has risen anew as a worthy tourist destination, all after its devastation by a 7.7 magnitude earthquake (on the Richter Scale), in 1990. Many of its tourist attractions, hotels, schools, government buildings, and art centers were either leveled to the ground or structurally damaged, and many lives perished, turning the city into a veritable ghost town. Baguio’s status as a Northern hub of government, commerce, culture, and tourism was adversely affected. Baguio’s history of development from a pre-colonial settlement of Ibaloi families (Bagamaspad and Hamada-Pawid, 1985), into a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural city, consists of several milestones (see also, Fry, 1983; Reed, 1999; Scott, 1974, 1981; Tolentino, 2007). First, its original Ibaloi settlers, were among the seven major ethno-linguistic groups and indigenous peoples, generically called the Igorots, inhabiting the region across the Gran Cordillera Central, who resisted subjugation by the Spanish Empire, for three centuries (Scott, 1974: 2). Only between the 1820s to 1899, were they colonized, due to the Spanish missionary zeal and more mundane pursuit of gold. Second, under American colonization, Baguio became a convenient point of entry for the American gold rush, and was developed into a well-designed and planned colonial hill station. It was declared as the Philippines’ Summer Capital in 1903. Third, Baguio recovered from the ravages of WWII to become “one of the most highly urbanized areas in northern Luzon” in the 1960s, and now, in the earthquake aftermath, it has transformed into a “modern metropolis bursting at the seams” (Tolentino 2007:6). Tafter Journal - All Rights Reserved | Pagina 1 di 11 Tafter Journal scritto da Narcisa Paredes-Canilao il 30 Luglio 2014 Entry of a local computer college to the Panagbenga Float Parade, the most awaited event consisting of a parade of floats showcasing the best of local and imported flowers. Taken in February 2010 by Charmaine Liberato. Baguio has many perennial attractions. It has a naturally temperate weather that turns really cold from December to early March. Abundant here are pine trees and pine-scented air, earning for Baguio the appellation, “City of Pines” (Reed, 1999). It has parks, notably Burnham Park named after the great Chicago architect, Daniel H. Burnham, who designed it, and the comprehensive city plan, and Wright Park where tourists enjoy horseback-riding. The city market and satellite markets offer many varieties of temperate or indigenous vegetables, fruits, flowers, rice (notably the native kintoman and ballatinaw), all supplied by farmers from nearby Benguet towns. Baguio is home to artists (native and non-native Cordillerans), who gravitate around avant-garde centers for aesthetes, such as the Tam-awan, VOCAS (Victor Oteyza Community Arts Space), and the BenCab Museum. Examined written sources and interviews of management, residents, business entrepreneurs, volunteers, tourists, and other stakeholders to the festival agree that initially Panagbenga was a celebration, and enhancement of all the above-mentioned historical, socio-cultural, economic, and environmental assets of Baguio. But the festival has not been spared observations and comments doubting its sustainability. Jumping off from issues and contestations on the sustainability of Panagbenga, this descriptive-normative study argues for an ethics of sustainable cultural festivals, with focus on the difficult concept of sustaining culture. Difficult, because if sustainable development is defined as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (The Brundtland Report,in Adams, 2009/1990), what then are the cultural needs of the present and those of the future? Can culture be sustained without falling into the functionalist and humanist essentialisms of culture as noted by Parodi (2011)? The study’s main question of how cultural festivals become virtual and actual spaces for cultural sustainability is its original contribution. “Cultural sustainability” or how cultures are dynamically engaged is posited upon the more realistic concepts of cultural complexity and fluidity. The free-for-all painting event, another much awaited segment of the Panagbenga festival. Picture taken in February 2014. 19 Years of Panagbenga: From Cultural Festival to Festivalization? Tafter Journal - All Rights Reserved | Pagina 2 di 11 Tafter Journal scritto da Narcisa Paredes-Canilao il 30 Luglio 2014 Getz (2010) defines festivals as “themed, public celebrations” of “community values, ideologies, identity, and continuity” and are occasions where “cultural elements are displayed which can educate an observer about the host culture and community” (2). In effect Getz considers all festivals as cultural festivals. The same is true for Presbury and Edwards (2010) who defined festivals as “generally cultural celebrations” for “community pride, cohesion, fun, and relaxation,” in the form of “carnivals, religious events, parades or heritage commemorations,” and are educational opportunities where people learn about arts and crafts, music, drama, sports, and culture (5). Panagbenga started off as a well-meaning cultural festival. The festival was initially attended only by Baguio residents, but as years passed it turned into a big spectacular attraction. People would flock from different places (Philippines and abroad) to join the celebration, making it the most visited festival in Northern Philippines. Panagbenga ranks seventh among the top ten festivals in the Philippines http://www.thetoptens.com/festivals-philippines/panagbenga-festival-492839.asp . Panagbenga has become a way of promoting tourism through economic means, inadvertently resulting in uneven distribution of benefits and costs. In a word, Panagbenga has succumbed to “festivalization”, a trend worldwide, which is the “over-commodification of festivals exploited by tourism and place marketers” (Getz, 2010: 5). Generally, tourism and other developmental changes, have often led to the widening, rather than closing in of gaps or disparities between elites and non-elites. The reality that benefits as well as costs of development have been distributed unevenly against poorer countries, women, and indigenous culture-bearers has spurred development ethics, an inter-disciplinary field integrating philosophy, the social sciences, and economics. Development ethics is the reflexive examination, weighing and prioritization of value choices behind development (Crocker, 2008; Gasper, 2004; Schumacher, 1989/1973). Management, funding and audience strategies The first Baguio Flower Festival was launched in February 1996, or five years after the earthquake. It was a long-drawn idea proposed by Atty. Damaso Bangaoet, of the Camp John Hay Development Corporation (formerly an American airbase in Baguio). The timing in February was strategically chosen, because it is the coldest time of the year, it boosts tourism during the lull moments, between the peak seasons of Christmas (December-January) and summer (particularly, the Holy Week). In 1997, per suggestion of Baguio archivist/curator Ike Picpican, the festival was renamed Panagbenga, a Kankana-ey word of Malayo-Polynesian origin, for “season of blooming”. Thus Panagbenga not only conjured the blossoming or coming to life again, of a stricken city, but also the dozens of flower varieties produced by big flower farms and small backyard plots (spread in 7 hectares) employing about 5,000 contract flower growers in Baguio and nearby Benguet municipalities (Gentolaza, 1999). From a nine-day event in 1996, it has evolved into a month-long celebration. The major events and minor events vary from year to year, but proven crowd-drawers are: the Grand Street Dancing Parade, Flower Float Parade, Market Encounter to include a Landscaping contest, Session Road in Bloom, Fluvial Parade, and the Grand Fireworks Display. Minor events include pony boys’ day, variety shows, concerts, golf tournaments and other sporting events. The city’s different Barangays regularly compete thru their own landscaped gardens, and business establishments are encouraged to compete by sprucing up their facades with flowers and greens. For the past fourteen years, the BFFFI in partnership with government and private sectors have strategized ways and means of

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