The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
By Himaya Perez
Call it the Philippines’s definitive beach party.
For the past decade, tens of thousands of party lovers from all over the archipelago have been trooping to Sarangaine province for the annual Sarangani Bay (SarBay) Festival, regarded as the country’s biggest beach party.
And just like the mouthwatering tuna that has found its way from the bay to countless dinner tables around the world, Gumasa Beach in Saragani’s Glan town sizzled once more during the festival’s 11th edition, which ran on June 3 and 4, but with a unique twist.
With the hashtag “#SarbayEvolution” as its theme, this year’s SarBay Festival celebrated the innovations it has embraced through the years, most notably its advocacy for environmental sustainability.
Sarangani Provincial Tourism Council President Michelle Lopez-Solon, wife of Gov. Steve Chiongbian Solon, said this year’s edition was more than the usual beach party, which, more often than not, harms the coastal ecosystem.
According to her, the third day of the SarBay Festival was devoted to coastal cleanup activities and environmental projects.
Five civic organizations joined the “I Love Clean SarBay” program this year to help maintain the ecological balance of the bay’s coastal ecosystem.
Some 100,000 bangus (milkfish) fingerlings were released at the bay after the two-day festival in cooperation with Spectrum, the Conrado-Ladislawa-Alcantara Foundation Inc., and Smart Communications.
Also part of the festival’s environmental advocacy this year were the e-trash bags given as part of the environmental fee given to attendees upon entrance. Every kilogram of garbage gathered and submitted by every person has an equivalent token given by SarBay corporate partners Globe, Talk N’ Text, 2Go, and Coca-Cola.
The Bay Bodies 2016 competition turned on the evening heat as attractive men and women strutted down the catwalk in their swimwear, while the Talk N’ Text-sponsored Foam Party wrapped up the first night, which featured the sultry duo of Natalia Moon and Luane de Lima, jointly known as DJ Lunatics.
Day Two began with the SarBay Swim-Bike-Run for the Environment, a triathlon that tested the mettle of local “Iron Men.”
Both days included beach volleyball and football; skim-boarding; an Ultimate Frisbee competition; firedancing exhibitions; and a Zumba session with the Legendz, General Santos City’s homegrown league of dance instructors.
Curtains drew to a close, so to speak, with a Globe Telecom-hosted evening party with DJs Cathy Frey, Jennifer Lee, Ron Poe and Italo, and the band Franco rocking the night away.
Local stakeholders also launched the cruise tour of the Bangsi Watercraft Service, which sailed around the coastal towns around Sarangani Bay.
Once a best-kept secret of Sarangani, Gumasa has become one of the country’s most sought-after destinations because of its unspoiled talcum sand and the absence of crowds found in popular beaches.
A Best Tourism Event Awardee from the Association of Tourism Officers in the Philippines for several years now, SarBay Fest is organized by the Provincial Tourism Council and supported the provincial government, the Department of Tourism in Region 12 and the municipality of Glan.