BACOLOD City – A festival with a heart.
Thousands of sticks of chicken inasal were given out to poor locals during the first Bacolod Chicken Inasal Festival, according to Councilor Cindy Rojas.
Residents, top local government officials, and the Russian ambassador to the Philippines, among others, joined the festivity on Saturday.
A total of 3,000 sticks of skewered grilled chicken were distributed to indigent residents and street children, said Rojas, festival chairwoman.
These were cooked in a 300-meter grill set up along Araneta Street, from the Golden Diamond Jubilee Tower at the public plaza to San Sebastian Street.
Twenty-five chicken inasal vendors participated in the large-scale street barbecue party.
Rojas believes the festival will promote food tourism in the city.
“When you say chicken inasal, it’s synonymous to Bacolod City,” said the councilor.
Rojas clarified that the budget allotted for the festival was only P1 million.
“While the ordinance stated a P2-million fund, the city allocated only half. It was all we needed,” she said in a reaction to a Facebook post insinuating that the local government was spending P3 million.
Among those present at the festival opening were Mayor Evelio Leonardia, Russian Ambassador to the Philippines Igor Khovaev, Rep. Greg Gasataya, and some city councilors and city hall department heads.
Leonardia believes the festival will proclaim to the world that chicken inasal is “the original, the best, and it belongs to Bacolod.”
Rojas said the city government will regularly hold the Bacolod Chicken Inasal Festival every first week of May./PN
