Bacolod postpones public celebration of Charter Day

By Dolly Yasa

BACOLOD City – Mayor Evelio Leonardia said the City of Bacolod has “postponed indefinitely” the public celebration of its 83rd Charter Day supposedly set today, June 18, 2021.

Leonardia said in a statement late Wednesday afternoon that because of the present COVID-19 figures, city officials have decided to postpone the celebration “until better times come.”

Leonardia said the decision was upon the recommendation of the Bacolod Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) chaired by Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran, and the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) led by executive director and City Administrator Em Ang.

“The postponement of our celebration is indefinite until better times come. We hope for the understanding of our people as this is a move to contain COVID-19,” the mayor said.

Leonardia added that the city had made early planning and preparations for the public celebration of the 83rd Charter Day, as practiced and mandated by City Ordinance No. 616 entitled “Mga Adlaw Sang Paghanduraw.”

“In anticipation, we had already invited Presidential Legal Adviser Secretary Salvador Panelo to be our honored guest and speaker. However, because of our present COVID-19 figures, we made another assessment of the situation. Our IATF and EOC have recommended that it is best that we postpone the event until better times come,” the mayor added.

“We thank Secretary Panelo for also graciously accepting our decision to postpone the event.” (With a report from City PIO)