PAGANA 2023 highlights Halal food awareness to biz owners
In order to promote business and tourism in Koronadal, the City Tourism and Cultural Affairs Office, in collaboration with the Department of Tourism Region XII, organized this year’s PAGANA: The Entrepreneurial Mindset. This event was held in celebration of the 23rd Charter Anniversary and 13th Negosyo Festival, which took place at Cinco Niñas, October 20th.
This year’s PAGANA is the second conduct, inspired by the successful activity last year. While the focus of last year’s event primarily revolved around the thanksgiving aspect, this year, it took its route to raising awareness on Halal food. This is to pave the way for food stalls and businesses in the city to consider a Halal food business. According to Regional Director of Department of Tourism Region XII Nelia Arina, considering a Halal food service is beneficial to food business venturers especially that Koronadal City is home to different cultural groups, including that of Maguindanaos, Maranaos and Iranons, to name a few. Furthermore, she also stipulated that, “Halal is no longer confined to food, we still have cosmetics. Kumbaga, Halal is already a way of life.” And so, to leverage an A+ game in the food business, Regional Director Arina encourages businesses to venture into Halal Food Industry. However, she also emphasized that this transition should be taken gradually. There will be hindrances along the way, especially that the majority of people enjoy non-Halal food services and that should also be taken into consideration, but that is something that the Department of Tourism Region XII foresees and is trying to address.
With these rationale at hand, the program kicked off by the opening message given by City Vice Mayor and Festival Director Erlinda P. Araquil, pointing out the need for an entrepreneurial mindset. “We all need an entrepreneurial mindset because it will help us to approach challenges with innovation, fostering a willingness to explore new opportunities,” said Vice Mayor Araquil. She further said that the event, PAGANA 2023, is just right for the Charter Anniversary’s theme which was personally picked by City Mayor Eliordo Ogena – embracing innovations and creating business opportunities. And true to the theme’s mandate, the Vice Mayor informed the guests that during the Investment Forum activity last October 13th, there were already investors who are willing to invest in the city. This not only provides an avenue to big companies but so does to the economy of Koronadal and to create job opportunities for Koronadaleños.
With the advent of new and foreseen businesses in Koronadal, there arises a need for inclusive products and services to all. With this, the event continued with the presentation of DOST Region XII focal person on Halal industry Maritzu P. Salipada-Sinolinding, RCh, tackling about Halal Food Awareness. In her speech, she stated that “Halal” is an Arabic word which means permitted, lawful and allowed. Opposite to it is the term “Haram” which means forbidden, unlawful, and not allowed such as intoxicants and eating of pork. The whole presentation opened up a new perspective to the attendees, especially food business owners because in contrast to the general knowledge that the only Haram food are those with pork and alcoholic beverages, there are actually a lot of specifications underlying it. For example, all food that you are uncertain if it is pork or not is considered Haram. Therefore, a “gelatine” is Haram because one is unsure if it contains pig skin, fish skin, or other skin of animals.
Of course, one of the program’s highlights is the message of support from the Undersecretary of Tourism, Usec. Myra Paz Valderrosa-Abubakar, who emphasized her advocacy for Mindanao Halal culinary. In her speech, she stated that, “food has transformed from just an essential part of the itinerary to being the itinerary itself. We call this culinary tourism.” It is not just about eating anymore, but more so on understanding one’s culture, history, and identity of a place through its cuisine.
The PAGANA 2023 concluded with a closing message rendered by the City Mayor Atty. Eliordo U. Ogena, saying that although Koronadal is a small city, it has big dreams and visions for his people. Following his speech, attendees enjoyed a thanksgiving banquet while watching performances by the Koronadal Hinugyaw Cultural Dance Troupe and the Marbel Youth Choir.