‘Higalaay Festival, OKK to boost Oro’s tourism, trade rep

LAST month’s successful turnout of the annual Higalaay Festival and the completion of the new Operation Kahusay Og Kalinaw (OKK) center are seen to boost Cagayan de Oro City’s status as a tourist and investment destination in Mindanao.

During Wednesday’s edition of the program, ‘Ang Inyong Konseho Karon’ hosted by the City Information Office, Vice Mayor Jocelyn Rodriguez said the large influx of visitors to the city’s annual Higalaay Festival will go a long way in augmenting City Hall’s efforts to sustain the city’s economic recovery as the Covid-19 pandemic continues to wind down.

While thanking Cagayan de Oro City Mayor Rolando Uy for his administration’s support and hosting of the city fiesta events—including a program to welcome visiting Kagay-anon expatriates or balikbayans—Rodriguez said the Higalaay Festival’s successful outcome sends a positive message to the city’s neighbors and other local governments across the country.

“It shows that Cagayan de Oro City is a safe place to visit and stay in,” she said.

Vice Mayor Rodriguez graced the launching of the first Mindanao Coffee Festival during last month’s prelude to the Kumbira Food Festival, one of the core events of the city’s fiesta calendar.

The Mindanao Coffee Festival is one of the key events for the main Kumbira Festival scheduled at the city’s Limketkai Mall Atrium on Oct. 11 to 13.

The Coffee Festival is seen to draw participation from the city’s 230 coffee shops along with coffee growers, sellers, and producers in the neighboring provinces of Misamis Oriental and Bukidnon.

Aside from the Higalaay Festival, Rodriguez said the recently opened new OKK center will serve as a vital ‘convergence point’ for the public to run to for assistance from the city police and other City Hall agencies.

“That the OKK houses not only the city police but other departments like social welfare, traffic, and disaster response (is advantageous to the public),” she said.

In opening a new, expanded OKK center at Magsaysay Park in Divisoria, Mayor Uy said his administration wants to revive Divisoria as a convergence area for business and leisure, especially for the city’s senior citizens and youth. (Stephen Capillas of City Information Office)