Masskara mania and sugar industry tribute

The signs are unmistakable. This time, with the silver anniversary celebration of the Masskara festival, Bacolod folk have excitedly plunged into the Masskara celebration with a sort of vengeance. Making it doubly meaningful is that it is also a celebration of the sugar industry.

Although initially low key, the sugar festival show opened Saturday at the St. Francis Building in Araneta Street, Singaang with an exhibit of a wide array of sugar products. Lectures were also been scheduled throughout the week.

Bacolod City Mayor Evelio Leonardia said the sugar show aims to emphasize the main source of income of the capital city and Negros Occidental.

Bacolod City Rep. Monico Fuentevella stressed that it’s time for the sugar industry be given a play at the Masskara festival to reflect that "whether we like it or not, no matter how we diversify, Negros Occidental will always be synonymous with sugar."

He urged schools to send their students to view the Sugar Show "to learn more about the sugar industry and the history of the province."

The show opened with the cutting up of a large piaya and reflexology massage by Sugar Industry Foundation Inc. (SIFI)-trained felexologists.

SIFI president Edith Villanueva was elated that many have availed of the head, neck and arm massages offered by the reflexologists for P200 an hour. A foot massage cost P100.

Lectures

A series of lectures were also held at the St. Francis Center as part of the Sugar Show.

This started off at 10 a.m. with a lecture on ethanol production by Greg Lopez of the Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Actually, it was Lopez, former Philippine Sugar Technologists president, who maintained over the years his advocacy of ethanol as a viable alternative fuel.

Meanwhile, Dr. Ramon Cu, deputy director general of the Philsurin, discussed at 3 p.m. the geographical information system as a management tool on a variety of features, soil fertility mapping, and acidity indicator.

Today, Florence Logronio of the Sugar Regulatory Administration, will discuss edible mushroom production utilizing sugarcane by products as substances. Later, Lourdes Bacanilla will tackle the production of bio-organic fertilizer.

There are many other talks scheduled until Saturday including the lecture of Deona Rae Fornis chair of the management department of the University of St. La Salle, who will discuss food preparations using sugar.

Of particular interest will be the Wednesday afternoon lecture of Jun Dingcong, a Bio-INS technician, who will discuss profitable sugar farming in the face of rising fertilizer cost and low sugar prices. This is a topic close to the heart of sugar farmers.

What is most important is that the sugar industry has been gradually integrated into Masskara, giving it an added dimension – the economy and culture of the province of Negros Occidental.

Chicken inasal

Chicken inasal is another symbol of Bacolod. The Manokan Country at the Bacolod Reclamation area has become a favorite destination of many visitors to the city. Among these are the visiting Rotarians from Zamboanga who invariably consider it a "must destination."

On Sunday, Oct. 16, ABS-CBN is staging the "Chicken Inasal Carnival" at the reclamation area to highlight the Silver Masskara Festival.

Leilani Salem-Alba, the network’s regional manager, said the carnival will bring 200 entries from all over the province. They will put up their grills from the entrance of the reclamation area up to the Breddo Fort and display their cooking skills aiming to come up with the tastiest grilled chicken for the judges, who are mostly food connoisseurs.

The network hopes to mount the longest chicken grill exhibition in the world that could possibly land it in the Guinness Book of Records.

But it will already get national and international coverage. Studio 23, ABS-CBN’s Regional News Network and The Filipino Channel will bring chicken inasal to the living rooms of people all over the world.

Project coordinator Virginia Gasataya-Fernandez and Mayor Evelio Leonardia will lead local officials in the ceremonial lighting of the chicken grills at 2 p.m. on Oct. 16.

There will be big prizes, Fernandez said. The first prize will be P10,000 while the second and third prizes will be P7,000 and P5,000, respectively. Five consolation of P1,000 each will also be awarded.

Actually, Bacolod is considered the home of chicken inasal. Almost every successful eatery of the city serve chicken inasal as piece de resistance. And Manokan Country is the principal locus of these luscious grilled chicken. For that matter, chicken inasal has already invaded Metro Manila where chicken inasal eateries have sprouted in several malls, including the Robinsons in Malate.

Rio’s ashes here today

A pall of gloom temporarily descends over Bacolod and Negros Occidental today when the ashes of the late Rio Diaz-Cojuangco arrives here today from Manila.

Ely Tajalanlangait, communications consultant of 4th district Rep. Charlie Cojuangco said the lawmaker will escort her ashes here at 10:30 a.m. on board a private plane. But the plane will land at the Cojuangco hangar at the Bacolod airport.

The Cojuangco family will then escort Rio’s ashes to the St. Michael’s Church in Pontevedra where she once served as vice mayor.

There will be a Christian service at 3 p.m. This will be followed by a public Mass on Thursday.

Rio will be interred in Hacienda Balbina after a private funeral service at the hacienda’s chapel.

Rio’s ashes were brought home on Saturday from the US by Cojuangco. It was brought to the Sanctuario de San Antonio Church in Forbes Park accompanied by her children, Claudia, 9;and Jaime, 7.

Rio was diagnosed with colon cancer in December 1998 but had lived for six years despite the initial prediction by her physicians that she will live for only four months.

Lions induction galore

Two Lions clubs of Bacolod had their inductions over the weekend, a penultimate climax to the many inductions of Lions clubs in the city.

Lions District 301-B Felipe Lim basked in the limelight as leader of the service organization in the Visayas. His message is a call to service.

The Mt. Kanlandog Lions Club, however, featured Minority Floor Leader Francis Escudero as guest speaker. Escudero deplored the present situation and called on the Leos to join the crusade to clean up the political process.

Past district governor Pompeyo Querubin inducted the Leo officers while PDG Pedro Lansangan of District 301-D1, PDG Gelomino Lim, and PDG Junio Jacela charged the new members and inducted new members. Jacela inducted the Leo officers.

Lawyer Restituto Villanueva is the new president while Blanquita Lemonsito is the secretary and Norma Veniegas is the treasurer.

The Leo officers include Leo Aloisius Ledesma, president; Leo Merryle Chat Castillo, vice president; Leo Bailly Ong, secretary and Leo Herome Luaga, treasurer.

The most animated induction was that of the Bacolod Sampaguita Lions Club, the all-women’s lions clubs.

The well-attended affair saw Myrna Servando, MJF, inducted as president. The secretary is Mary Grace Reyes with Victorias Ledesma, as assistant secretary, Ma. Cecilia Smith is treasurer and Ramonita Torrejon is asst. treasurer.

List vice president is Ma. Vicenta Bonnin, second VP is Lourdes Dadivas, and Perla Kohen is third vice president.

On Sunday, members of the Bacolod Capitol Lions Club, headed by president Kaye Slinkert, staged a Christmas in October program for the inmates of the Home for Blind.

Not only did they distribute food and clothes packets, the Capitol members also vowed to reactivate the deep well pump they had turned over to the home during the presidency of the late William Tan together with the Mikawa Lions Club.

The pump was dismantled because the city government had reduced the subsidy for the home to only P500 a month.

Home for the Blind officer-in-charge Isidro Bicho said it was simply impossible to continue with the electrically-driven water pump with the P500 budget allotted by the city government.

Slinkert said the club will study how to restore the water pump.