MassKara gun ban? City council says ‘no’

The term “MassKara” is a coined word that means a multitude or mass of happy faces. SIGRIDSAYS.COM
The term “MassKara” is a coined word that means a multitude or mass of happy faces. SIGRIDSAYS.COM

BACOLOD City – Mayor Evelio Leonardia and Police Colonel Henry Biñas, the director of the Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO), agreed there is a need to impose a total gun ban during the MassKara Festival month of October.

However, the Sangguninag Panlungsod disagreed.

In an approved resolution authored by Councilor Al Victor Espino, it stressed that while “it is the policy of the State to maintain peace and order and         protect people against violence, the State also recognizes the right of its qualified citizens to self-defense through, when it is the reasonable means to repel unlawful aggression under the circumstances, the use of firearms.”

Also, according to Espino, a gun ban “does not diminish the actual threat or imminent danger on the life of a person permitted by law to carry a firearm…”

The gun ban, according to the SP resolution, only restricts gun-licensed citizens and not those who illegally possess or carry firearms.

It also stressed that it is easier to tract and apprehend gun-licensed citizens than those who illegally possess or carry loose firearms.

The 40th MassKara Festival will open on Oct. 7.

This year’s festivities, with the theme “Bacolod, City of Smiles,” will run until Oct. 27.

Festival sites include the Bacolod Public Plaza, the Lacson Tourism Strip and the Bacolod Government Center.

The word “MassKara” is a portmanteau, coined by the late artist Ely Santiago from mass (a multitude of people), and the Spanish word cara (face), thus forming MassKara (a multitude of faces).

The word is also a pun on maskara, Filipino for “mask” (itself from Spanish máscara), since it is a prominent feature of the festival and are always adorned with smiling faces, giving rise to Bacolod being called the “City of Smiles.”/PN

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