The crowd-drawing agal-agal festival remains a highlight activity of the annual celebration of the province’s kamahardikaan. In this year’s 38th founding anniversary, influx of domestic visitors has been noted. There were people from Manila, Cebu, Davao and Zamboanga who came just to witness the festival, which showcased the prime marine industry of Tawi-Tawi.
The provincial government in its effort to boost the industry has indeed strengthened its campaign to promote this festival in its eye-catching theme of celebration, “Promoting Tawi-Tawi as Tourism Destination through Seaweeds Industry.
“We only need a serious and aggressive promotion of our tourism attractions, destinations, and potentials, and add more colors to the celebration to get the much-needed boost in the tourism field,” Sahali pointed out earlier.
In this year’s celebration, delegations from the island municipalities, except for Tandubas, have contested all categories in the agal-agal festival. From costumes and props, choreography and music to float designs have made the contesting municipalities exhaust their imaginations to produce better if not best presentation to capture judges’ appreciation.
Panglima Sugala has bested all other participating municipalities. It got the most impressive performance to outsmart all other contestants. Their presentation, street dancing, costumes, props, music, and float enthralled the judges and the watching crowds.
Green gold
Tawi-Tawi’s agal-agal in a lesser extent is comparable to Saudi Arabia’s vast oil reserve or a “black gold” as it is known in the corporate circle. Tawi-Tawi is likely parallel to Saudi Arabia’s economic history. If oil is black gold to Saudi Arabia, seaweed (agal-agal) is green gold to Tawi-Tawi. For many Tawi-Tawians, this income earner has become the legendary “pot of gold at the end of a rainbow” for them.
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