Good news to the people of Lucban specially to those who will participate and compete in this year’s Timpalak Pahiyas, the yearly competition for the best Pahiyas-decorated house. Owners of a well-known restaurant is giving away twice as much as what the Pahiyas Organizing Committee is giving for the grand prize – a whooping P100,000.
Decorating houses with Pahiyas decoration such as kiping, fruits and vegetables and other ornaments cost house owners a fortune but the prizes given by the Lucban Municipal Government, the coordinating agency for the Pahiyas do not even add up to half of the decorating expenses. For the past years, many participants are becoming tired and displeased by the lack of financial gains from the Lucban Municipal Government, headed by Mayor Moises “Bonbon” Villasenor, who runs the Pahiyas and collects millions of pesos from sponsors. The biggest prize awarded so far for the best decorated Pahiyas is Php 50,000.
With renewed efforts by some generous Lucbanins to spruce up the Pahiyas, this year’s Pahiyas Festival may soon become one of the grandest Pahiyas Festival ever in its almost 50 years of celebration as a tourist attraction.
No doubt it is more fun in the Philippines particularly in Lucban.