"The Man Who Never Ran Out of Ideas"
It all began when lawyer, Damaso Bangaoet Jr., John Hay Poro Point Development Corporation (JPDC) Managing Director, presented to the Board of Directors of JPDC the idea of their spearheading the holding of a flower festival in Baguio City.
The Panagbenga is among his ideas that he loved the most. Its celebration has been successful over the past years in bringing in tourists. Bangaoet, otherwise known as "Dammy", is known as the "Father of Panagbenga" which he found in 1995, but to some, he is more than just that.
Along with other like-minded people, Bangaoet's love for Baguio City had a corresponding passion not only in making it the beautiful Baguio that we have, but in making it as a tourist destination. His thoughts have always been about how history, culture and nature could be used in tourism which will make other people appreciate them. For the people of Baguio, as long as the flowers bloom and this season is annually celebrated through the Panagbenga, the spirit of the man behind it will always be there.
" The man behind the name "Panagbenga". His little contribution to the festival itself has made it famous for several years."
He is currently a city tourism officer who has helped in the Flower Festival since 20 years ago until now. His first involvement was when he was part of the city government that coordinated the participation of the city employees in the Panagbenga. And ever since then, he has helped Baguio in celebrating its beloved festival.
Mrs. Rebecca Nulud is probably one of the most influential people in Baguio. Her involvement in Panagbenga as a committee member and as a participant is worth admiring. In this interview, we explore how she managed the street dance competition and experiences in the past and this year’s Panagbenga.
She is the current band master of the SLU college band and SLU-LHS band, which are both active participants in the festival. She participated during the first Flower Festival as the very first female band member under the tutelage of Professor Macario Fronda. With her talent and skill, she established the SLU-LHS Marching Band.
One of the people who contributed to the success of Panagbenga 2015 is Mr. Zaparita, an active participant of the festival and a fellow Baguio citizen. As said in the interview, his father was part of several landscaping competitions, but back then, there were only two categories, the open category and the Cordillera themed category. As of now, some changes have been made, so the open category, vertical landscape and the carpet of flowers took place over the two earlier categories.
Honorable Atty. Mauricio G. Domogan is a man full of determination and perseverance. He is a servant leader type of politician and has been serving from 1988-1992 as a Councilor of the city of Baguio. Impressed by his humility, honesty, and genuine service, the people of Baguio elected him Vice-Mayor in May 1992. Being barred by the constitution to run for a fourth consecutive term in the Congress, he served as the Mayor of Baguio City since 2010
As the mayor of Baguio City and head of the organization for the Panagbenga festival, we asked him questions about his opinions and involvements in the city festival. He answered with great enthusiasm and has provided us information that we cannot find in books and news articles.
