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[av_heading heading=’Duterte to grace MassKara’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY MAE SINGUAY
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BACOLOD City – President Rodrigo Duterte will be present at the opening of this year’s Masskara Festival, a Bureau of Internal Revenue official said.
“The President committed that he would be there on Oct. 1 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.,” Deputy Commissioner Jesus Clint Aranas told reporters in a phone interview on Monday.
From Vietnam, Duterte will head straight to Bacolod only for the festival, Aranas said.
Duterte will not be present at the oath-taking of new Partido Demokratiko Pilipino – Lakas ng Bayan members in Negros Occidental on Sept. 30.
Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III and House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez will lead the induction rites, Aranas disclosed.
“It is overwhelming. … (MassKara) will be the first festival the President will open,” Mayor Evelio Leonardia said of Duterte’s impending visit. “By his mere presence, we can say that the 2016 MassKara Festival is off to its greatest start.”
Leonardia said he already asked Chief Superintendent Renato Gumban and Senior Superintendent Flynn Dongbo, police chiefs of Negros Island and Bacolod City, respectively, to ensure tight security.
The mayor proposed that the opening be held at the public plaza to allow more people to see Duterte but said the city government and the organizers are also considering factors like security and weather.
Two venues will be readied for the opening — the public plaza and the New Government Center (city hall) — and the Office of the President may choose which they prefer, said Leonardia.
He said the opening, which will “probably be the most exciting the city ever had,” was scheduled at 6 p.m. but may start whenever Duterte is ready.
“Bacolod is ready for the world and for Duterte,” festival director Eli Tajanlangit said. They are very proud to have the President as guest, he said.
Tajanlangit said Duterte will see a run through of the world-famous festival through “teasers” from the MassKara dancers and costumes, drumbeats, and Electric MassKara floats, among others./PN
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