BACOLOD City – This city’s signature dish – the chicken inasal – was recognized by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCAA) as Bacolod City’s cultural property.
City Tourism Operations Officer Teresa Manalili shared the good news during the opening ceremony of the three-day Bacolod Chicken Inasal Festival along North Capitol Road on May 24.
This year’s festival with the theme “Inasal Global” culminated on Sunday, May 26, with the arena dance competition at the Upper East-Megaworld.
Manalili said she received the message from the NCCA on Thursday night, May 23.
For his part, Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez said they can now officially claim that chicken inasal is the cultural property of the city, adding that the dish is one of the recognized top foods in the world.
“I think ari ni sa top 500 list sang foods sa bilog nga kalibutan,” he claimed.
The city mayor said he is very proud to have it as a cultural property: “As you know our chicken inasal is the best in the whole country if not in the whole world. As you can see every chicken inasal in the city is made differently.”
In November 2022, the City Council passed an ordinance, City Ordinance 1012-2022, declaring chicken inasal as a cultural property of Bacolod City.
The ordinance, authored by Councilor Em Ang, stated that in October 2022, online food critic TasteAtlas.com ranked chicken inasal as the fifth best chicken dish in the world, describing it as a “unique Filipino grilled chicken which originated in Bacolod City and became the signature dish of the entire Visayas region.”/PN
