FESTIVAL OF THE WHITE HERON

The North Cotabato Airport in M’lang, North Cotabato, my birthplace, will celebrate a unique festival for the first time on Feb. 16 to mark the realization of an ambitious dream which I started to nurture 17 years ago.

The grand event will be called “The Tulabong Festival” or the Festival of the White Heron which is also known as Tsuru in Japanese.

The “Tulabong” in the Philippines is a bird of nature which is often seen in the wide ricefields feasting on insects and small frogs which surface whenever the farmer works in the field.

They also stand on the back of the carabao as the beasts of burden graze.

On Feb. 16, this bird which is considered as a farmer’s friend, will be the center of attention as M’lang celebrates its first Linggo ng Paliparan or Week of the Airport, a celebration of the nearing completion of the Mlang Airport in Hacienda Buenaflor, Barangay Tawantawan.

How did the Tulabong or the White Heron come into the picture? Why was the Festival named after the White Heron?

In my inaugural speech as the new mayor of M’lang in 1995, I talked about my dream of building an airport in my hometown.

My political opponents, critics and detractors scoffed at the idea of an airport in M’lang and called me a fool for even dreaming about building an airport.

As the years passed and the airport remained a dream, they made me a laughing stock during their political campaigns by saying that the Tulabong or the White Heron will be the only ones which will fly from my dreamed airport and not airplanes.

Today, as the M’lang Airport has finally taken shape and going through its last phases of construction with the release of an additional P154-M by President Noynoy Aquino, I convinced my younger brother Mayor Lito Pinol to hold a festival to mark the realization of what many believed was an impossible dream.

This month, the final works in the airport will be started. These will include the extension of the concrete runway to about 2 kilometers from the existing 1.2-km. and the construction of the control tower and the fire station building.

Next year, 2014, the Mlang Airport, officially known as the Central Mindanao Airport, is expected to be fully operational for commercial flights.

The “Tulabong Festival” will be a celebration of a dream which has been realized. It will also be a celebration of the friendly bird which has symbolized perseverance and hard work.

On Feb. 16, two ultra-light planes owned by my friend, Col. Sam Afdal and piloted by Capt. Acosta and Capt. Hamilton, will undertake exhibition flights to be witnessed by young students from the different schools in the town of M’lang.

There will also be a sky-diving exhibition to be performed by two skydivers who will land in the runway of the airport.

At least 2 helicopters, one of them owned by Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao, will also join the celebration.

This air show is mainly for the young people of M’lang because I would like them to understand that dreams do come true and that the dreams that I nurture are for the children of M’lang and North Cotabato.

After the air show, the locals will be treated to a motorcycle and tricycle drag race which will use the stretch of the 1.2-km. runway.

There will be a “habal-habal” division, a tricycle race, and drag race for the known racers in the province.

The Tulabong Festival on Feb. 16 will be a celebration of the flight from hopelessness to hopefulness and of the victory of a dreamer over the skeptics.