BONTOC, Mountain Province—Thousands of residents and visitors waited for an early afternoon thunderstorm to stop before partaking of the biggest “patupat” and the traditional “sinab-ang,” two of the primary delicacies of the province served to them by local organizers of the province’s 50th founding anniversary and Lang-ay Festival.
The delicacies were served during the “Lang-ay on the Street,” one of the major highlights of this year’s festivities. Residents and visitors already positioned themselves along the 500-meter stretch of the main road in front of the Bontoc public market to await the unveiling of the biggest native rice cakes.
Paulino Tumapang, chairman of the Lang-ay Festival Organization, said over 50 members of the Afeo and Fuyayeng women’s’ organizations took three days to prepare the biggest “patupat” that was six meters long and four meters high.
The ingredients of the biggest “patupat” included 500 kilos of “diket” or sticky rice, 50 kilos of brown sugar, and 360 pieces of grated coconuts.
“We encountered various challenges in our effort to provide a distinct identity for Mountain Province in this year’s Lang-ay Festival, but we were able to hurdle the obstacles through combined efforts of the people and officialdom of the province. We want to sustain our efforts to provide new attractions in future Lang-ay festivals,” Tumapang stressed.
Lang-ay organizers also served to the public some 5,000 pieces of well-wrapped “patupat” to the public.
Gov. Bonifacio Lacwasan Jr. said the successful celebration of the province’s golden foundation anniversary and 13th Lang-ay Festival could be attributed to the overwhelming support of the private and government sectors that pooled their time, effort, and resources to make sure the different activities for the weeklong festivities will be at par with the standards of hosting major events held in the province.
“We should give credit to where credit is due. We were able to successfully hurdle the obstacles that confronted us through our unity, teamwork, and solidarity as well as our love for Mountain Province. We must sustain the momentum established in our future endeavors,” Lacwasan stressed.