The air was filled with music and dances from more than 4,000 participants from eight municipalities and one city of the province all vying for the P1 million prize awarded to the best performance.
Tulunan emerged as the lucky winner bagging a whopping P1 million prize. Pikit came as 1stRunner-up with P700,000 prize, and Kidapawan City National High School as 2ndRunner-up with P500,000 prize. Participants from the other five municipalities including Kabacan, Libungan, Carmen, Midsayap, and Arakan received a consolation prize of P100,000 each.
The participating groups also received a surprise gift from Governor Emmylou “Lala” Taliño-Mendoza when she announced the granting of a P5million worth of infrastructure project to each of the participating local government units (LGUs) in the street dancing competition to thank them for their efforts.
"The strength of the province lies in every single Cotabateño,” Mendoza said in her message.
She also encourages each Cotabateño to be the eyes and ears of the province to ensure the fulfillment of all her projects and programs for those who most need them.
Meanwhile, food galore also closed the festival.
Thousands of Cotabateños who attended and joined the culmination of the Kalivungan Festival 2023 shared 20,000 free packs of meals provided by the provincial government as gratitude for the blessings of Cotabato province.
Celerina Balan, a 35-year-old vendor of Kidapawan City in a chance talk said, she never misses attending the Kalivungan culmination to forget her problems even just for a while. “Ga attend gyud ko basta last day sa Kalivungan kay bibo kayo maayo nalang kalimot ta kadali sa atung mga problema, unya makakaon pa gyud ta ug libre,” she said in the vernacular.
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