Tangalan’s Ati Bantiling is Higante’s Hall of Fame
BY BOY RYAN B. ZABAL

KALIBO, Aklan – Ati Bantiling of the town of Tangalan was officially declared winner of the 2010 Higante contest sponsored by the provincial government of Aklan on Wednesday at the Kalibo Pastrana Park.
Winning the Hall of Fame, the town of Tangalan bested other Higante entries in the province for the third consecutive year. The Higante contest attracted nine municipalities depicting the “Modern Tribal Ati” theme of the festival.
Aklan Governor Carlito Marquez, Aklan Vice Governor Gabrielle Calizo-Quimpo and Aklan Rep. Florencio Miraflores awarded the P40,000 grand prize to Tangalan mayor Gene Fuentes and vice mayor Jed Tirol.

‘Bantiling was followed by the Higante entry of Nabas ‘Calachuchi’ and the town of Kalibo ‘Datu Boyet’ which placed third. Nabas mayor Romeo Dalisay received P35,000 and Kalibo mayor Raymar Rebaldo also received P30,000.
‘Batangnon’ of Batan, ‘Mother Earth’ of New Washington, ‘Kiroroy’ of Malay, Datu Hangoe of Ibajay and ‘Eskubro’ of Malinao took home P5,000 each for the Higante consolation prizes.
Apart from the feat, Tangalan also romped away with the Biggest Group special award while the town of New Washington won the Best in Uniform and earned P5,000 top prizes, both were received by New Washington town mayor Edgar Peralta and Tangalan Gene Fuentes.

The Ati performers of Malinao also outperformed all other entries for the Best in Festival / Cultural Presentation. The P7,000 cash prize was received by Mayor Dominador Ilio, Jr. followed by the town of Nabas for P5,000 and third-placer Tangalan for P3,000
The Higante and Aklan Festivals Parade, witnessed by thousands of tourists and devotees, coincides with the weeklong 798th Kalibo Ati-Atihan Festival celebration in honor of Señor Sto. Niño.

The criteria for judging of the Higante entries are relevance (25%), creativity (30%), artistry (30%) and over-all impact (15%).

The board of judges of the Higantes and the performances were Aklan Provincial Tourism Council co-chairman Vicky Ramos-Antonino, Albert Menez, Dr. Ambrosio Villorente and Dean Erlinda Wilson, board of directors of the Aklan Provincial Tourism Council and Manolita Acevedo of the Provincial Tourism Office.