Placer, Masbate delegates join FI, Sinulog-based categories

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

SINULOG 2012 free interpretation champion Placer, Masbate returns to the competition not only to defend their title but to join the Sinulog-Based category as well.

Placer will be the first contingent to join both categories, said Sinulog Foundation Inc. executive director Ricky Ballesteros.

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It was after a dream that Mayor Joshur Lanete decided to join the Sinulog-based category, after winning back-to-back in the free interpretation category in the three years the fourth-class municipality of Masbate joined the competition.

Sun.Star Cebu chanced upon Lanete, who was overseeing Placer’s practice in the festival queen presentation yesterday.

Lanete shared that last year, on the eve of the Sinulog grand parade, he had a dream that he was polishing the blocking of his contingent for the Sinulog-based category.

He thought nothing of it until it became a recurring dream for a couple of months.

That was when he decided to join the Sinulog-based category as well.

Not an option

Backing out of the free interpretation category in favor of the Sinulog-based was not an option.

“It would have been cheaper, but it wasn’t an option,” said Lanete, who kept mum on the amount he spent to join the Sinulog, which is shouldered by the family and other relatives in honor of the Holy Child.

The Lanete family attributed to the Sto. Niño a miracle that saved the mayor from a fire when he was two years old.

Lanete’s dream last year was reminiscent of how he enlisted Placer to join the Sinulog competition.

In late 2008, the Sto. Niño made him realize that he has forgotten about his devotion to the Sinulog.

The Lanetes have a home in Sto. Niño Village in Barangay Banilad, where it is a tradition to hold a Sinulog a week after the grand parade in Cebu City.

Active participants

Lanete remembered that he and his entire family were active in participating in the village Sinulog, but when his dad died in 2006, the mayor said he stopped participating.

In 2008, the Sto. Niño reminded him of the devotion.

Another realization was in 2009 when the contingent first joined the competition.

Lanete said he was a mere spectator that time, and Placer did not take home any prize, which he took as a sign that the Sto. Niño wanted him to actively participate in the competition.

While other mayors and officials carry the banner of the contingent during the presentation, Lanete is just among the props men, making sure that all the props are in place and the right person is holding the right prop.

Lanete, who used to be Jonjit Primor’s star dancer in the Sinulog-based category from years back, is now using his background in dancing to help his contingents polish their steps.

This served as a motivation and inspiration for dancers to see their mayor doing the dirty work.

“I do it because of my devotion... We’re not in it for the win. We only want to offer the best that we can for the Niño. If we can perfect it then that’s my offering and I’ll try to do that,” said Lanete.

The dancers are 80 percent ready and will use the remaining days to achieve 100 percent.

TV broadcast

On Sunday, the entire Placer, Masbate will be glued to their television sets to watch the Sinulog.

“Everything stops in Masbate. It’s like a (Manny) Pacquiao fight where crime rate is zero,” Lanete said in jest.

Placer will also feature eight-year-old Louie Osable, their youngest dancer, who will play a monkey.

It will be the first time that Osable will dance on stage with thousands of spectators.

Placer shipped about 900 people to Cebu City for the Sinulog with two contingents.

Their participation may be expensive, but Lanete said the return of investment is in the form of tourism influx in Placer that trickles down to the entire Masbate because of their Sinulog-winning dance.