1st TULABONG FESTIVAL A STUNNING SUCCESS! AIRSHOW, SKYJUMPING AND DRAG RACE DRAW 20,000

The 1st Tulabong Festival, a thanksgiving celebration for the resumption of the work to finally complete the Central Mindanao Airport in Barangay Tawantawan, M’lang, North Cotabato turned out to be the biggest gathering of people in the province in recent memory as an estimated 20,000 came to witness the activities Feb. 16.

“I have never seen so many people in my lifetime,” said 15-year-old Jenny Echona, a 3rd year high school student, who in the evening of Feb. 16 was crowd as the first Lakambini of the Tulabong Festival.

People stood eight to 10 deep both sides of the 1.2-km. runway and witnessed the Cessna plane which carried three sky jumpers land and take off.

The day started with a dawn watch prayer and a parade towards the airport followed by a mass presided by Rev. Fr. Rey Salvador, a young priest who was born and grew up in the farm near the airport site.

Then the crowd applauded wildly when Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao’s Bell helicopter flew in from Gen. Santos City and picked me up and two others in Midsayap then landed in the airport runway.

Later, two students and a teacher boarded Pacman’s helicopter to drop petals of flowers on the big crowd that gathered in the tarmac and in the runway.

They applauded wildly as the three sky jumpers made two jumps from about 6,000 feet and landed in the runway of the airport and thanked God when one of the sky jumpers escaped a certain death by opening his reserve parachute when his main chute got entangled.

Then from the blue skies, the Ultralight plane piloted by Capt. Rey Acosta flew in to the delight of the crowd.

Later, Capt. Acosta flew a few selected people, the first of whom was the daughter of Barangay Tawantawan Chairman RingRing Buenaflor, Dorina Buenaflor, and later a student and the Bangsamoro Barangay chairman of Gaunan, M’lang.

The flights were later aborted as Capt. Acosta complained that people were already crossing the runway even when the plane was landing and that it became very dangerous.

The motorcycle drag race in the afternoon also proved to be a hit as thousands stood under the heat of the sun just to witness the race of the fastest motorcycles.

Later in the night, the first Lakandula and Lakambini of the Festival were chosen, Pinoy Got Talent finalist Buildex Pagales performed and a 15-minute fireworks closed the events at about 11 p.m.

The 1st Tulabong Festival will be written in the history books of of the town of M’lang and the Province of Cotabato as one of the biggest gatherings of people to celebrate the blessings in their lives.

(Photo caption: This photo, taken by Kabacan’s Raffy Abellera, through the wings of the Cessna plane which carried the skyjumpers, shows the long lines of people 8 to 10 deep, witnessing the take-off of the sky jumpers for their second jump.)