BACOLOD City – Believing in the income-generating power of festivals, Councilor Em Ang wanted to create another annual celebration to be held less than two months after the world-famous MassKara.
Ang proposed an ordinance seeking the creation of the “Bacolod Festival of Lights” every first Saturday of December.
The councilor said she was inspired by a parade that the STI-West Negros University has been doing for 22 years already wherein students, faculty members and staff bear lighted Christmas lanterns.
“I want to institutionalize it,” said the chairwoman of the Sangguniang Panlungsod committee on tourism.
Ang believes this new event will bode well for the local government and industries economically. The festival tourism, she claimed, is the biggest income-generating industry right now.
The city council approved the proposed ordinance on first reading in October. A public hearing on the measure was held on Oct. 29.
Aside from bringing in revenue, Ang said, the “Bacolod Festival of Lights” is also an effort in the preservation of culture and tradition.
It will “sustain the spirit in celebrating the birth of [Jesus] Christ,” said the councilor. “Parading with lights and music around the city will [show] a symbol of hope for the Lord’s coming.”
She cited Section 16 of the Local Government Code of 1991, which states that “local government units shall ensure and support, among other things, the preservation and enrichment of culture.”
“Lantern-making, as part of the observance of Christmas, is one of the traditional Filipino practices unique to our people and culture,” Ang said.
Moreover, the celebration will not only “promote the spirit of Christmas” but also “provide a wholesome outlet for artistic expression, creativity and enjoyment for all students of Bacolod,” stated the measure./PN
