Simple rites up for Bacolod Charter Day celebration

By Dolly Yasa

BACOLOD City – Mayor Evelio Leonardia said the City of Bacolod will celebrate its 82nd Charter Day on June 18 with a simple ceremony in the light of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

“In the midst of COVID-19 pandemic, the celebration of the 82nd Charter Day shall still be very special but it will be subject to the health protocols issued by the Department of Health and the guidelines set by the national government,” Leonardia said in Executive Order No. 40 series of 2020.

The mayor said this is now the second year that the City is celebrating its Charter Day on June 18, after celebrating the occasion every October 19 in the past 80 years.

Bacolod held its first June 18 Charter Day anniversary celebration last year, after President Rodrigo Duterte signed Republic Act 11146, or the new “Bacolod City Charter Day Act.”

In the same executive order, the mayor also created the Support Committee for the 82nd Bacolod City Charter Day.

The committee is chaired by the mayor, with Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran as senior co-chairman, Councilor Archie Baribar as co-chairman, and City Administrator Em Ang and Secretary to the Mayor Atty. Edward Joseph Cuansing as executive directors.

The Charter Day celebration is one of the major activities of the “Mga Adlaw Sang Paghanduraw,” the city’s annual commemoration of history, arts and culture, from June 12 to 20 as provided in City Ordinance No. 616.

The ceremonies will be held at the Bacolod City Government Center lobby. It will start with a mass at 1:30 p.m.

Bacolod Rep. Greg Gasataya will deliver an inspirational message, and Leonardia will give his Charter Day message.

Leonardia said the city will also honor outstanding individuals in the Mayor’s Special Citation awardees.

The guest of honor and speaker is Dr. Dolores Rommela Tiples-Ruiz, a fellow of the Philippine College of Physicians and the Philippine Society for Microbiology and Infectious Diseases.

Ruiz worked as Infectious Disease Physician in Botswana, Southern Africa, and Saudi Arabia.

She was a member of the National Rapid Response Team Ebola Preparedness Program of the Botswana Ministry of Health.

She is a consultant on Infection Control in Bacolod and Silay Cities, president of Pula Negros- HIV Advocacy Group of the Philippine College of Physicians and the Philippine Society for Microbiology and Infectious Diseases.