CABARROGUIS, Quirino – Literally drenched in rains, street dancers and grand parade participants did not budge but continued their stuffs as they celebrated the main events in Quirino’s Panagdadapun Festival on Wednesday (Sept. 10).
To cap its five-day feast of its foundation as a province, it focused on the theme “Honoring 54 Years of Heritage, Advancing Together as a First-Class Province” which shows the richness of Quirino’s culture and traditions is treasured for the next generations to come, Governor Dakila Carlo Cua said.
“The Panagdadapun Festival, from the Ilocano word panagdadapun, means ‘assembly’ or ‘coming together’ wherein the people, including the indigenous folk, band together,” chief tourism operations officer Aurea Martinez said.
Quirino was founded in 1971 through Republic Act No. 6394 after it was carved out of Nueva Vizcaya and named after the sixth President of the Philippines, Elpidio Quirino.
Aside from the Bugkalots, other Quirino natives include Dumagats, Ifugaos, and Isinays.
The event since Sunday was marked with the drum and lyre competition, agro-industrial and ecotourism booths and trade fair, discount caravan, pregnant women’s congress, bloodletting, waste management plogging, and battle of the bands, among others.
The province’s culture was also promoted in the arts and craft exhibit and the Dapun art showcase, Quirino Got Talent (Season 12), bike fun ride, circumcision operation, Tupad payout and distribution of livelihood assistance and tools, including bakery equipment, cattle, and protective gears for disaster response volunteers.
Local artisans also put live demonstration on transforming wood, fiber, and canvas into “innovative works that bridge tradition with modern design,” provincial administrator Carmelita Jimenez said.
The Dakilang Pamana Awards later honored outstanding Quirinian graduates while arnis competition and indigenous games later followed.
The culinary competition with coffee fusion and latte bar competition also took centerstage.
Tree planting, job fair, distribution of senior citizen kits, and the inauguration of the PSWDO staging and repacking area was also done.
The Binibining Quirino 2025 pageant, Rigodon de Honor, farm family day, ecumenical thanksgiving, floral opening, fun run, grand parade, and street dancing, aside from the sportsfest and Project Layag on education, capped the week-long events.
Quirino is located along the upper floodplains of Cagayan River. Its neighboring provinces are Aurora, Isabela, and Nueva Vizcaya. All of these provinces are part of the Cagayan Valley Region alongside Batanes and Cagayan.
Quirino was named after the Philippine president Elpidio Quirino and consisted of forested of then Nueva Vizcaya. It was the homeland of the Negritos, the aboriginal group of people who lived in and subsisted on sustenance offered by the forest. Then it became a sub-province of Nueva Vizcaya when Republic Act No. 4734 was approved on June 18, 1966. It was composed of the towns of Aglipay, Diffun, Maddela, and Saguday. Then the municipality of Cabarroguis was carved from a part of territories comprising the town of Aglipay through Republic Act No. 5554 that was approved on June 21, 1969.
The province became an independent province when it ceded from Nueva Vizcaya by virtue of Republic Act No. 6394 that was approved on September 10, 1971.
By VILL GIDEON VISAYA
