CHABACANO POETRY CONTEST. Xyrell De Guzman of Sangley Point National High won 1st place in the Senior High and College Division first Chavacano de Cavite Spoken Poetry Competition held at the new Montano Gymnasium on Thursday.
Also in photo are Cavite City Mayor Denver Chua (3rd, right), Vice Mayor Raleigh Rusit (2nd, left) and city councilors. Photo by Dennis Abrina
Cavite LGU revive’s Chabacano dialect
CAVITE CITY – To save the almost ‘dying’ dialect in the city, the local government has taken actions to revive Chabacano little by little with the help of the City Tourism Office, barangay officials, and the Department of Education.
Last Thursday, the first Chavacano de Cavite Spoken Poetry Competition was held at the new Montano Gymnasium.
Nine schools took part in the field of pronunciation of their own dialect as part of the celebration of National Arts Month.
Among those who competed in the Elementary Division were Bagumbuhay Elementary School, Dalahican Elementary School, Garita Elementary School, Julian Felipe Elementary School, San Lorenzo Elementary School, St. Joseph College of Cavite Inc., and Sta. Cruz Elementary School.
In the High School Division, Cavite National High School, Sangley Point National High School and St. Joseph College of Cavite Inc..
For the Senior High School and College Division – Cavite National High School, Sangley Point National High School and St. Joseph College of Cavite Inc..
The winners were: Grade School Division – Shan Christian Garcia of Garita Elementary School (1st place); Rielle Mariz Guevarra of Joseph College of Cavite (2nd place); and Maria Ava Verniz of Julian Felipe Elementary School (3rd place).
In the Junior High Division – Yohan Fernandez of Cavite National High School clinched the 1st place; Celestine Reyes of St. Joseph College bagged the 2nd place; and Jordan Lee Gaviola of Sangley Point National High School on the 3rd place.
For the Senior High and College Division – Xyrell De Guzman of Sangley Point National High won 1st place; Jul Sim Tebangin of the Cavite National High School, 2nd place, and Justine Pierre Corra from ST. Joseph College, 3rd place.
The winning students received a cash prize and a plaque from the local government unit.
The holding of the contest was part of the efforts of the LGU to “save” the “slowly disappearing” dialect inherited from the Spanish ancestors called Spanish creole.
Only three places in the Philippines use the dialect including Cavite City and Ternate in Cavite, and Zamboanga City.
A data from the Cavite Tourism Office showed that only six percent of the population in Cavite City know how to speak Chabacano.
“The local government is fully supporting this project so that we don’t lose our own dialect, our city still has programs lined up for this, with the help of our Tourism chairman councilor Nash Aguas,” Mayor Denver Chua said.
