BACOLOD City – Councilor Jude Thaddeus Sayson clarified that the city government has no financial assistance extended to Bacolod Yuhum Foundation Inc. (BYFI), the organizer of the MassKara Festival 2022.
This was following the Sangguniang Panlungsod’s (SP) ratification of a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the city and the BYF for the staging of the festival during the SP’s regular session on Sept. 29.
According to Sayson, chair of the SP committee on appropriation and finance, the purpose of the MOA is to authorize the official partner of the city government to run the festival from the period of Oct. 1 to 23, 2022, as well as allow them to collect proceeds from sponsorships, kiosk rentals, and others.
He explained that in the event of a surplus from the collected proceeds, part of it will be remitted to the local government.
Part of the MOA read, “Any revenue generated on behalf of the festival, including any pre-festival activities implemented by the BYFI, should be accounted for with 60 percent of the net profits after deduction of any fees and taxes imposed on the festival shall go to the foundation, with the remaining revenue going to the city.”
Sayson said that after the festival, the city government requires the BYFI to submit their financial report, even though they are not entitled to a liquidation by the office of the Commission on Audit.
The councilor further clarified that the city government directly provided financial aid for the barangays participating in the street dance and arena competition as well as the electric MassKara dance competition.
Each of the 17 barangays joining the street dance and arena competition will receive P200,000, and P150,000 for each of the 13 barangays participating in the electric MassKara./PN
