Ati incentives for release, Kasafi told tribes
BY BOY RYAN B. ZABAL

KALIBO, Aklan – The municipal government of Kalibo will release the incentives to the participating tribes of the 2011 Ati-Atihan festival.
This was revealed during the committee meeting of the Kalibo Sto. Nino Ati-Atihan Foundation, Inc. (Kasafi).
Group participation committee Dennis Dalida said the incentives will be distributed to the 15 tribal and Balik-Ati groups on Friday.
The incentives will be taken from the P500,000 excess funds of the disbanded Kalibo Ati-Atihan Management Board (KAMB).
Dalida said those qualified to get the incentives are competing tribes that had been participating for five consecutive years in the festival.
Not only that, tribal groups – big, small, modern and Balik-Ati – will also received their Ati-atihan subsidy the soonest to defray their expenses for uniforms and allowances of tribe members.
Kasafi chairman Albert Meñez said the local government of Kalibo is proposing for a 20 percent increase in the subsidy of competing tribes.
Meñez said the foundation has allocated P1.2 million for the prizes and subsidy for the participating tribes. Festival organizer Kasafi, he stressed, will have to raise P4 million to finance the Kalibo festival slated two months from now.

Although, Kasafi already entered into a memorandum of agreement with big companies, the foundation is also depending on the support of elected local and provincial officials to manage the festival.
Last July, in response to the public clamor for transparent operations and management of the Ati-Atihan festival, Kalibo mayor William Lachica has tasked the Kasafi to handle the activities of one of the grandest and oldest festivals in the country in honor of Señor Sto. Niño.
The Ati-Atihan festival next year, which is scheduled from January 10 to 16, is expected to draw thousands of tourists and devotees all over the world. The festival kicks off with the traditional novena and paeapak at the St John the Baptist, tamboe salvo at the Kalibo Pastrana Park and the Search for Mutya it Kalibo Ati-Atihan at the Gov. Augusto B. Legaspi Sports Complex.

Other activities include the spiritual street dancing, Higante parade, Barter of Panay re-enactment, visual art exhibit, Kaean-an sa Plasa, Ati-Atihan product showcase, Day of the Drums, Aklan Festivals showdown, contest for Balik-Ati, Tribal Modern and Individual, fireworks display, pilgrim's mass, religious procession, Hornada, Ati-Ati it mga Higante it Kalibo and the dawn penitential procession.
On the other hand, the Kasafi is now accepting applicants for the 30 stalls inside the Kalibo Magsaysay Park, the venue of the Hala Bira Ati-Atihan nights. Applicants for the flea market are also advised to apply in the Office of the Kalibo Mayor for the 120 stalls available along Veterans Avenue.