CEBU Governor Pamela Baricuatro announces a scaled-down Festival of Festivals
CEBU. Cebu Governor Pamela Baricuatro. Photo by Claudine Flores. Published on: Jun 17, 2026, 12:19 pm. Summary: Gov. Pamela Baricuatro announced a scaled-down Festival of Festivals proposal limiting participation to 15 component cities and municipalities on a first-come, first-served basis, with a proposed budget of P20 million. The Capitol will provide a P1 million subsidy to each of the 15 contingents, increasing to P1.5 million for those from Bantayan or the Camotes Islands, to cover logistical expenses. Each contingent must limit its delegation to 60–100 participants, and the proposed event, which is being considered for the Cebu City Sports Center this August, will not proceed if 15 slots remain unfilled.
CEBU Province’s scaled-down Festival of Festivals proposal would limit participation to about 15 contingents to control spending and protect performer welfare, with a proposed budget of about P20 million. Gov. Pamela Baricuatro revealed the participant limit during a press conference Wednesday, June 17, 2026, saying the slots would be given on a first-come, first-served basis to Cebu’s component cities and municipalities. The showdown is being considered for the Cebu City Sports Center as part of the Province’s founding anniversary in August, but Baricuatro’s office has not released a registration date for participating local government units (LGUs).
Baricuatro rejected comparisons to Pasigarbo sa Sugbo, the Province’s former large-scale cultural competition during the term of former governor Gwendolyn Garcia.
Participation cap
The proposed cap was meant to keep spending in check while protecting performers from the strain of a long program, according to Baricuatro. Under the proposal, the festival would not proceed if registered contingents fail to fill the 15 slots. To ease costs for participating LGUs, the governor said the Capitol would provide subsidy support to qualified contingents.
Subsidy plan
The 15 contingents would receive P1 million each for operational expenses. The Capitol would raise the subsidy to P1.5 million for contingents from Bantayan or the Camotes Islands if they qualify and decide to join. “This is not Pasigarbo; they don’t need to start from scratch,” Baricuatro said when asked about concerns that the P1 million subsidy might not be enough to mount a festival performance.
Under the draft guidelines, each contingent must keep its delegation to 60 to 100 participants. “They do not need much because they already have costumes, choreography and props. So, the subsidy will be mostly for logistics. Maybe they can make some enhancements, and that will serve as preparation if they want to join,” Baricuatro said in a mix of Cebuano and English.
Cebu Province has 50 component LGUs under the Capitol’s jurisdiction: 44 municipalities and six component cities. The highly urbanized cities of Cebu, Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu are independent of the Provincial Government. With about 15 slots open under the proposal, less than a third of the province’s towns and component cities could join the showcase.
The scaled-down proposal gained attention on June 1, 2026, after an online discussion on the Cebu Festivals Facebook page. Responding to comments that tourism and health programs could coexist, Baricuatro floated an event limited to existing festival winners to keep costs down and prevent the program from running past midnight.
The previous administration spent P255 million on the 2024 edition of Pasigarbo, including more than P200 million in preparation subsidies and about P55 million in cash prizes. / ZANDY OYAO, CNU INTERN
