Cebu Governor Pamela Baricuatro has proposed a scaled-down Festival of Festivals with a budget of approximately P20 million, limiting participation to around 15 contingents to control spending and protect performer welfare. The announcement was made during a press conference on Wednesday, June 17, 2026.
Participation Details
The slots will be allocated 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 yet 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. Under the proposal, the festival would not proceed if registered contingents fail to fill the 15 slots.
Subsidy Plan
To ease costs for participating LGUs, the governor said the Capitol would provide subsidy support to qualified contingents. 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.
Background
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.
