• Start year:
• Type: Awareness-raising / Promotion
• Status: In operation

The MANARAGAT FESTIVAL is a tribute to the fishermen of Catbalogan celebrated every whole month of August. It is a festive dance characterized by varied movements and intricate steps of the different fishes and shells inhabiting Maqueda Bay and beautifully presented by the dancers in fantastic and colorful costumes. Mainly religious and cultural, the celebration of the month-long Manaragat Festival is aimed at celebrating the unique culture and tradition of Catbaloganons, to pay homage to the Creator through the intercession of Patron Saint, Señor San Bartolome, and as a call for the protection of the environment. While Manaragat Festival is Catbalogan City’s official festival, Tribu Katbalaugan is its official festival contigent. “Tribu”, which means “group” or “clan”, “Katbalaugan" was taken from the original name of Catbalogan City originating from the name “balaug”, a shrub that thrived along Catbalogan's seashore and sandy banks of the Antiao River, which later described the whole community renaming to “Katbalaugan” or “Kabalaugan”, a place where seafarers, fishermen or sailors take shelter or protection. Despite being a first timer in the 2015 Sinulog, Tribu Katbalaugan placed 3rd RUNNER-UP in the Free Interpretation (FI) Category while in 2016 and 2017; it placed 1st RUNNER-UP and bagged the CHAMPIONSHIP title in the Street Dancing competition in 2017. Sinulog Festival is the annual cultural and religious festival of Cebu City that pays homage to the little child Jesus or the Señor Santo Niño. Considered as the grandest and most distinguished festival in the Philippines, Sinulog gathers millions of tourists and pilgrims to Cebu and generates millions of income while offering international mileage to participating contingents. Despite the hardships and trauma that the group undergone with the disasters that happened during the preparation for the said event losing four (4) members due to a landslide in 2014, it further inspired and motivated the group to continue what they have started, which is a manifestation of their resiliency amidst all odds.

• Start year:
• Type: Awareness-raising / Promotion
• Status: In operation

The City of Catbalogan traces its roots to a small community formed near the Antiao River, greatly influencing the Catbaloganon culture, particularly their form of livelihood. It is because of this history that the Catbaloganons have decided to adopt “manaragat” as their identity, their brand. They have also made manaragat – which means “people of the sea” in English – the central theme of the city’s annual fiesta celebration, especially its main highlight the Manaragat Beauty Pageant. It was only in 2007 when the annual beauty pageant was officially called as Miss Manaragat: The Search for Miss Catbalogan City. In 2014, the beauty pageant gave way to another facet and this time for the male ambassador dubbed as Mister Manaragat: The Search for Mister Catbalogan City. On that same year as well was the birth of Queen Manaragat: The Search for Miss Maqueda Gay, a province-wide beauty pageant that advocates for the protection and preservation of the precious Maqueda Bay alongside gender equality promoting gay pride among the society. During the pageant nights itself, various competitions highlight the unique advocacy of the pageant. Specifically, the Eco-Filipiniana Terno and the Eco-Barong Competitions were included into the pageant to bring attention to the advocacy. It is a competition about filipiniana gowns and formal wears made of various scrap materials and one of the criteria for choosing the winner is creativity and resourcefulness in incorporating them into the gown. Since the competition was included in 2010, it has successfully merged advocacy and entertainment. The resulting creations show the audience that old, used up and ready-to-throw items may still be transformed into something of higher value if viewed from a fresh perspective. Aside from being one of the highlights of the city’s month-long fiesta celebration for its entertainment value, it was also realized that the pageant could be used as an effective tool for raising public awareness about serious issues facing the locality. Among these issues is the serious environmental degradation that is slowly taking its toll on the very seas that have provided Catbaloganons with their livelihood and cultural identity.

• Start year:
• Type: Strategy / Policy
• Status: In operation

he National Greening Program (NGP) is a massive forest rehabilitation program of the government established by virtue of Executive Order No. 26 issued on Feb. 24, 2011 by President Benigno S. Aquino III. It seeks to grow 1.5 billion trees in 1.5 million hectares nationwide within a period of six years, from 2011 to 2016. Through the effort of Mayor Stephany Uy-Tan and the rest of the City Council, and City Environment and Natural Resources Office with the financial assistance coming from Department of Envrionment and Natural Resources - the said project was made possible for the two located coastal barangays (Barangay Pupua and Pangdan) for mangrove rehabilitation and reforestation projects with the proposed 30 hectares coverage. This project is currently particiapted by various sectors, from Non-government organizations to community organizations and private individuals, thus, promotes not only on the act of conservation of natural resources but it also transpires for the contituents to take responsible action towards preservation. Presently, a multi – sectoral collaboration focused on the protection and management of the coastal and marine resources. The coastal ecosystem has each role that needs to be managed specifically the mangroves that serves as spawning ground of fishes and other marine organisms. Currently, magrove reforestation project is now increase into approximately 36 hectares magroves trees planted.

• Start year:
• Type: Research
• Status: In operation

In 2015, the entire world came together in a single agreement to tackle climate change. At the Paris Climate Conference, nearly 200 countries signed the Paris Climate Accord pledging to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. These countries have agreed to meeting the long term goal of preventing global average temperature from rising another 2°C. The idea of conducting a Carbon Inventory for Catbalogan City was set. Regardless of whether or not our country decides to follow through with this agreement, the City of Catbalogan decided to reduce the City’s footprint to meet these standards. And while doing so, we are also challenging our neighboring municipalities and cities to do the same. Catbalogan City is also looking forward to the idea of Carbon Trading. Given enough time, the Carbon Inventory Team aims to conduct a more holistic and robust report

• Start year:
• Type: Awareness-raising / Promotion
• Status: In operation

The MANARAGAT FESTIVAL is a tribute to the fishermen of Catbalogan celebrated every whole month of August. It is a festive dance characterized by varied movements and intricate steps of the different fishes and shells inhabiting Maqueda Bay and beautifully presented by the dancers in fantastic and colorful costumes. Mainly religious and cultural, the celebration of the month-long Manaragat Festival is aimed at celebrating the unique culture and tradition of Catbaloganons, to pay homage to the Creator through the intercession of Patron Saint, Señor San Bartolome, and as a call for the protection of the environment. While Manaragat Festival is Catbalogan City’s official festival, Tribu Katbalaugan is its official festival contigent. “Tribu”, which means “group” or “clan”, “Katbalaugan" was taken from the original name of Catbalogan City originating from the name “balaug”, a shrub that thrived along Catbalogan's seashore and sandy banks of the Antiao River, which later described the whole community renaming to “Katbalaugan” or “Kabalaugan”, a place where seafarers, fishermen or sailors take shelter or protection. Despite being a first timer in the 2015 Sinulog, Tribu Katbalaugan placed 3rd RUNNER-UP in the Free Interpretation (FI) Category while in 2016 and 2017; it placed 1st RUNNER-UP and bagged the CHAMPIONSHIP title in the Street Dancing competition in 2017. Sinulog Festival is the annual cultural and religious festival of Cebu City that pays homage to the little child Jesus or the Señor Santo Niño. Considered as the grandest and most distinguished festival in the Philippines, Sinulog gathers millions of tourists and pilgrims to Cebu and generates millions of income while offering international mileage to participating contingents. Despite the hardships and trauma that the group undergone with the disasters that happened during the preparation for the said event losing four (4) members due to a landslide in 2014, it further inspired and motivated the group to continue what they have started, which is a manifestation of their resiliency amidst all odds.

• Start year:
• Type: Awareness-raising / Promotion
• Status: In operation

The City of Catbalogan traces its roots to a small community formed near the Antiao River, greatly influencing the Catbaloganon culture, particularly their form of livelihood. It is because of this history that the Catbaloganons have decided to adopt “manaragat” as their identity, their brand. They have also made manaragat – which means “people of the sea” in English – the central theme of the city’s annual fiesta celebration, especially its main highlight the Manaragat Beauty Pageant. It was only in 2007 when the annual beauty pageant was officially called as Miss Manaragat: The Search for Miss Catbalogan City. In 2014, the beauty pageant gave way to another facet and this time for the male ambassador dubbed as Mister Manaragat: The Search for Mister Catbalogan City. On that same year as well was the birth of Queen Manaragat: The Search for Miss Maqueda Gay, a province-wide beauty pageant that advocates for the protection and preservation of the precious Maqueda Bay alongside gender equality promoting gay pride among the society. During the pageant nights itself, various competitions highlight the unique advocacy of the pageant. Specifically, the Eco-Filipiniana Terno and the Eco-Barong Competitions were included into the pageant to bring attention to the advocacy. It is a competition about filipiniana gowns and formal wears made of various scrap materials and one of the criteria for choosing the winner is creativity and resourcefulness in incorporating them into the gown. Since the competition was included in 2010, it has successfully merged advocacy and entertainment. The resulting creations show the audience that old, used up and ready-to-throw items may still be transformed into something of higher value if viewed from a fresh perspective. Aside from being one of the highlights of the city’s month-long fiesta celebration for its entertainment value, it was also realized that the pageant could be used as an effective tool for raising public awareness about serious issues facing the locality. Among these issues is the serious environmental degradation that is slowly taking its toll on the very seas that have provided Catbaloganons with their livelihood and cultural identity.