As simplified as this year's celebration of the Sampaguita Festival was due to the ongoing energy crisis, one thing is certain: the talent and creativity of the San Pedrense will blossom like the Philippines' national flower.
That was the united message of city officials of San Pedro City, Laguna as they officially kicked off the weeklong celebration of the Sampaguita Festival last May 22.
San Pedro City Mayor Art Mercado and Vice Mayor Nina Almoro led the Opening Salvo at the San Pedro City Plaza, along with other local officials, heads of local city departments, civic society groups, and ordinary San Pedrenses who once again gathered to celebrate the city's rich cultural, historical and economic heritage.
The central focus of the Sampaguita Festival is the promotion and revival of the city's traditional sampaguita-planting and sampaguita garland-making industry, an important item under Mercado’s administration since he took over the helm as the city’s executive in 2022.
However, the occasion has also served to display the blossoming talent and the dynamic culture of each and every San Pedrense.
Among the lineup of activities for this year's Sampaguita Festival include the much-anticipated Disenyo Sampaguita Competition and the Padyak Para sa Turismo: Sampaguita Pedicab Float Parade; the "Pintura ng Pamana" Sampaguita Watercolor and Poster Paint Competition, and the Sampaguita Kite-Flying Contest.
This year's festival also featured the city's efforts to rekindle interest in the city's history and heritage with the "Tertulya: San Pedro Heritage Conference" on May 25, with prominent historian Dr. Xiao Chua as one of the main guest speakers.
Unity and creativity amid crisis
In his message during the Opening Salvo, Mercado acknowledged that this year’s celebration of the Sampaguita Festival will be marked by simpler, scaled-down events due to the ongoing energy crisis and the challenges the city and the nation had faced in the past months.
However, the city executive emphasized that the ongoing crisis does not mean San Pedrenses will not have the opportunity to celebrate, promote and rekindle the energy and resilience that had enabled them to weather the challenges of the past.
“Ngayong gabi, nais nating patunayan na ang tunay na diwa ng Sampaguita Festival ay hindi lamang nasusukat sa laki ng entablado o dami ng mga ilaw,” Mercado asserted.
“Ang tunay na diwa nito ay matatagpuan sa ating mga tao - sa bawat magsasampaguita na patuloy na bumabangon araw-araw, sa bawat pamilya na patuloy na nangangarap, sa bawat kababayan na handang magtulungan para mapanatili ang kultura, kasaysayan at pagkakakilanlan ng San Pedro.”
Mercado also noted that this year’s theme for the Sampaguita Festival: “Pamana ng Nakaraan: Kahusayan at Kaunlaran,” is a reminder for all San Pedrenses to cherish their unique cultural and historical heritage not as a novelty but as an asset in pushing forward for their united goal of becoming “Una sa Laguna.”
“Ang tema natin ngayong taon ay paalala na ang ating nakaraan ay hindi lamang alaala. Ito ay pundasyon ng ating kahusayan at gabay tungo sa kaunlaran,” he added.
Honoring the ordinary San Pedrense
For San Pedro City Tourism, Culture and Arts Office (CTCAO) Officer-in-charge Jhe-rico Sam Colina, the Sampaguita Festival is also a unique opportunity to highlight the individual and collective role of the ordinary San Pedrense in shaping its past, present and future.
"Ngayon pong nahaharap po tayo sa energy crisis at iba pang mga hamon, napili po ng ating city government na ipagdiwang ang isang mas mahalagang bagay. Ito ay ang pagkakakilanlan ng ating kasaysayan at ang mga taong bumubuo sa industriya ng sampaguita," Colina related in his message during the event.
Colina also exhorted San Pedrenses to emulate the virtues of industriousness, humility and resilience that has marked the city’s traditional sampaguita-rearing and sampaguita garland-making industries for decades.
“Ang sampaguita ang naging puso ng San Pedro, ito ang kwento ng ating mga ninuno…at habang pinapangalagaan natin ang ating kultura at tradisyon, ay patuloy din nating isinusulong ang isang modernong lungsod na may malasakit sa mga tao, sining, turismo at kabuhayan.”
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