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BY MAE SINGUAY
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Friday, June 16, 2017
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BACOLOD City – A House bill seeks to declare June 18 of every year the Bacolod City Charter Day and make it a special nonworking public holiday in the city.
Rep. Greg Gasataya filed House Bill No. 5875 on June 13 to amend Republic Act (RA) 7724, which placed the Charter Day every Oct. 19.
Gasataya said he was heeding the request of political ally Mayor Evelio Leonardia, who said the 1994 law “created the legally unfounded belief that the Bacolod Charter Day is on Oct. 19.”
“We hope that you will expedite the filing of the bill to amend RA 7724 and clearly declare that June 18 is the Bacolod Charter Day and that this day is a legal holiday in consonance with the clear and unmistakable letter and intent of CA (Commonwealth Act) 326,” Leonardia wrote the congressman.
Commonwealth Act 326, which turned Bacolod into a city, was signed by then President Manuel L. Quezon on June 18, 1938, the mayor insisted.
Gasataya agreed with Leonardia. According to the lawmaker, RA 7724 was enacted on May 19, 1994 “for the purpose of having the Charter Day coincide with the festivities of MassKara Festival.”
“Bearing with it the misconception that the city was created on the day of its formal inauguration and the first assembly of the city council on Oct. 19, 1938,” the law “caused several problems,” said Gasataya.
The now world-famous MassKara has “overshadowed” the Charter celebration.
And having to hold the two events in the same month caused “struggle” in scheduling the highlights of the festival, “resulting in indirect limitations to its potential for tourist attraction,” Gasataya said.
House Bill No. 5875 “seeks to commemorate the Charter of the City of Bacolod on its day of creation, address the problems presented by RA 7724, and honor those who took the necessary steps to lead Bacolod into its cityhood status on June 18, 1938,” he explained.
“It is high time to have a separate celebration of the Bacolod City Charter Day on the 18th of June of every year in lieu of its commemoration coinciding with the MassKara Festival every 19th of October,” he added./PN
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