Buglasan is not just about aspiring for excellence; it is also a vivid image of the pain and perseverance that goes with one's passion in pursuit of personal glory as well as pride and prestige for Bayawan City. Against a strong field of contenders considered as the very best, being champions from their respective LGUs, every competition is hard fought and certainly winning is never easy. Bayawan City's triumphs in this yearly cultural event have carved her niche of supremacy in culture and the arts.

Erwin Dianson's championship win in the Minus One Singing Competition Senior Division is dramatic because he not only did it at the expense of a seventeen-man and woman select field, but also in doing so notched Bayawan City's second win since 2005 when Efremar Jones Adarna won it last. Moreover, this is his 2nd effort after an average performance in 2007, but giving up was farthest from his mind, and after seven years of diligent practice achieved what many thought was impossible.

Saint Augustine Academy's double championships in the folk dance and marching band secondary division parade competitions obviously put SAA Folkdancers new choreographer Irwin Ingan in the limelight and being a first timer all the more makes this triumph significant. On the other hand, the storied career of veteran choreographer and musical arranger, Manuel Entac for SAA Marching Band, who steered the band to a grand slam win from 2007 to 2009, is certainly not over despite working as a part time band trainer.

In a closely contested fight against Sibulan's Yagyag Festival, the City's Tawo-tawo Festival represented by BNHS garnered 2nd place in the Festival of Festivals and also adjudged as Best in Street Dancing and Best in Festival Costume with Mr. Vince Yurong winning the Buglasan King title. Questions have been raised, "What went wrong?"

In my opinion, there was an ingredient lacking in the Tawo-tawo's smorgasbord of pageantry, color and brilliant choreography, which ultimately became the bone of contention in the contest, is what festival aficionados call the "element of surprise." While the Tawo-tawo's "maya" stopped short of laying eggs, where hatchlings would have emanated and accomplish this requirement, Yagyag had a realistic and totally unexpected spawning sequence, where young land crabs emerged from the mud in the latter part of the performance. That short sequence was decisive in changing the tide of the contest in favor of Yagyag.

Our traditional Balitaw and Balak participation yielded 2nd places with the balak almost making it to the championship via the slimmest of margin of 0.50 point according to Dr. Henry Sojor, Judging Panel Chairman. Had we made it in the balak, using this writer's original work titled "Panaw", Erwin Dianson would have made unprecedented double championships in the Buglasan.

Special mentions are for our 3rd place wins in the Kumparsa, Rap Competition and Duet-Bulilit represented by Francheska Kazandra Benedian & Francheska Alezandria Benedian of BCSTEC trained by Mr. Erwin Dianson.

Aside from the performing arts, Bayawan City garnered 2nd place in the Heritage of the Place, Sidlakang Negros Booth Awards. In the Cleanest and Greenest School Campus, Villareal Elementary School also placed 2nd in the Elementary Category with Bayawan National High School placing 3rd in the Secondary Category.

Our diverse triumph was an effort for self promotion that complemented our drive towards making our City to become an investment destination in this part of our province, and what a better way to do it than in a bigger stage like the Buglasan. Congratulations!