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KALIBO, Aklan: The local government of Kalibo has taken measures to
guard tourists and devotees of Señor Santo Niño during the
Ati-Atihan Festival on January 15 to 21, 2007.
Mayor Raymar Rebaldo said the Philippine
National Police (PNP) would deploy 150 policemen from the Regional
Mobile Group (RMG) in Iloilo City and personnel from the Philippine
Army to augment the police force of Aklan.
The additional security forces would ensure the
success of the weeklong festival that attracts tens of thousands of
local and international devotees and balikbayan to Aklan every year,
Rebaldo said.
The Ati-Atihan, now on its 795th year,
highlights the purchase of Panay Island by Bornean settlers in the
13th century in a colorful fiesta in honor of Señor Santo Niño.
“The festival lures thousands of foreign and
local tourists—watching the street dancing of participating
tribes. [But] let’s preserve the Ati-Atihan’s spiritual aspect,
which is thanksgiving to our Señor Santo Niño,” he pointed out.
This January 2007, Rebaldo added, there will be
street dancing to be participated in by 40 tribes, Ati-Atihan Nights
at Kalibo Magsaysay Park, the traditional nine-day novena at the
Saint John the Baptist Cathedral, and Ati-Atihan products showcase.
--Panay News
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