DAGUPAN CITY, Feb. 8 (PNA) — The 100 Ways to Cook Bangus, a regular feature of the Dagupan Bangus Festival set on April 28 at CSI Stadia, will go international with the participation of foreign students studying in various educational institutions in the city.
This was bared by Mayor Belen Fernandez, honorary chairperson of the 2014 Bangus Festival, after meeting with the heads of colleges and universities in the province affiliated with the Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities (PACU) headed by Gonzalo T. Duque, president.
Duque, who is president of Lyceum Northwestern University (LNU), endorsed the event, saying this is one way of showing the importance of the city’s bangus (milkfish) industry internationally.
In her talk with educators, Mayor Fernandez laid down the plan for the holding of Bangus Cuisine International, or “Bangusine” for short, to showcase bangus cooked in different gustatory delights based on the traditional menu of each foreign participant.
She urged the officials of colleges and universities to send their foreign students to participate in the event that will give them (students) a chance to showcase their own native cuisines out of Dagupan’s tasty milkfish. .
“We are encouraging educational institutions to join us in this endeavor because we are not just promoting our bangus, where every foreign student will prepare dishes out of our native fish according to their traditional way of cooking x x x but also we are promoting our place as one of the best venues for education,” Fernandez said.
She expressed hope the event can help add international flavor to the city’s milkfish, which in the short or long terms can contribute a lot in perking up the local economy.
At the same time, she said that the event is also part of the preparations of Dagupan to meet the challenges that will be posed with the implementation of the country’s free trade agreement with other nations starting 2016.
Among the schools that expressed their support and cooperation to the project are Lyceum Northwestern University, University of Luzon, University of Pangasinan, Pangasinan State University–Binmaley, and AMA Computer College in Dagupan.
Among the other exciting features of the 2014 Bangus Festival set for the whole month of April till May 1 are a a triathlon, the “Festivals of the North” and the “Gilon-gilon:” (bangus harvesting) street dance. (PNA)