After being dubbed as "the biggest culture and arts festival in Eastern Visayas this year," the Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges (PASUC-8) Regional Culture and Arts Festival 2023 culminated after its four-day affair at the Visayas State University (VSU), from October 17 to 20.

The whole event featured a creative expression through arts and culture as delegates from all over Region 8 competed in the fields of literary arts, visual arts, music, dance, and performing arts.

Day 0: PASUC-8 Culture and Arts Fest commences

Hailing from different parts of Eastern Visayas, delegates from 10 participating State Universities and Colleges (SUCs), viz., Biliran Province State University (BiPSU), Eastern Samar State University (ESSU), Eastern Visayas State University (EVSU), Leyte Normal University (LNU), Northwest Samar State University (NwSSU), Palompon Institute of Technology (PIT), Samar State University (SSU), Southern Leyte State University (SLSU), University of Eastern Philippines (UEP), and VSU gathered at the VSU Gymnatorium as the opening ceremony unfolded with VSU President Dr. Edgardo E. Tulin officiating the start of the festival, October 17.

“As a State University and College, we must give due importance to our culture and arts through any means of creative expression. So it is indeed our utmost pleasure at VSU to host the biggest culture and arts festival in Eastern Visayas this year. And I hope that we will continue to work together by uplifting each other by complementing the strengths of one another through culture and arts quality higher quality education in Region 8,” Pres. Tulin said in his welcome speech.

Day 1: Delegates show prowess in Literary Arts

Right off the bat, VSU earned its first-ever delegate to be sent to the National PASUC as Ciena Olimberio (BS Met - 1) nabbed the gold in the Extemporaneous Speech contest.

Further, Cyril Bocar (ABELS - 3) and Jash Diaz (BSED - Filipino) also bagged awards as they took second place in Essay Writing and fourth place in Pagsulat ng Sanaysay, respectively.

Day 2: Visual Arts, Music, and Dance takes the spotlight

The visual arts category earned VSU a placement in one competition as Kyle Gamboa, a second-year from BCAED clinched the silver title for the On-The-Spot Acrylic painting contest.

Meanwhile, the music category introduced the talent Joshua Dayandayan, a DevCom sophomore, as he exhibited his vocal skills in Vocal Solo and Vocal Duet pairing with Nathanie Jade Estrera (BECeD - 1). Said competitions earned him second place in the former and 1st place with his partner in the latter.

Additionally, the 20-member VSU Chorale Ensemble, showcasing a Kalinga Folk Song, landed as the third-placer as they competed in the Choral Music category. Meanwhile, with a focus on OPM-Reggae, the musicians composed of seven individuals representing VSU for the Live Band competition secured a fourth-place finish. Vocal Solo (Kundiman) bet Rapunzel Angelie Malalis and Instrumental Solo contender April Pearl Chiong were also included in the top five placements in their respective categories.

Day 3: Performing Arts closes the curtains

As the biggest culture and arts festival of Region 8 for this year comes to its finale, two delegates from VSU secured places in the top five spots for the contests during the Performing Arts category.

A quintet of BS Development Communication students secured fourth place in the Radio Drama competition while the Tabing-VSU Theatre Organization gracefully took the fifth spot in the Short and Sweet Play.

Further, the four-day event then ended during the closing ceremony as VSU’s Vice President for Administration and Finance Dr. Daniel Leslie Tan officially declared the PASUC-8 Regional Culture and Arts Festival 2023 over.

During the closing ceremony, VSU Culture and the Arts Center (CAC) Director Dr. Jude Nonie Sales expressed his gratitude for the success of the event and for the participation of other State Universities and Colleges (SUCs).

“We hope that this event has fostered deeper appreciation in understanding of the culture and the arts of our country,” Dr. Sales said.

Overall, LNU claimed the most titles with ten medals—five of them being first places in the categories of Literary and Visual arts as well as Music category. EVSU collected the second-most number of medals with three golds out of the nine awards earned. UEP and VSU tied for the same number of medals, garnering six awards each; the former nabbed three golds while the latter got two first places.

Contenders declared as champions in their competitions will be Region 8’s delegates to the National PASUC Culture and Arts Festival which will be held in Laoag City, Ilocos Norte in February 2024.

[All photos are courtesy of Amaranth]

 

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