BACOLOD City – Why were some local government officials not invited to the 300-meter chicken barbeque festival on May 5, Councilor Ricardo Tan asked.
Tan said he wanted Mayor Evelio Leonardia to explain the lack of “official” invitation for some local officials, himself included.
In a proposed resolution, Tan also demanded the special committee that took charge of the Bacolod Chicken Inasal Festival to liquidate the P2-million budget for the local celebration.
The proposed resolution, however, was voted down during the city council’s regular session on Tuesday. Only Tan and Councilor Jesus Claudio Puentevella voted in favor of it.
Councilors Sonya Verdeflor and Wilson Gamboa Jr. were not in the session while the rest voted “no.”
Tan said the organizers of the festival “discriminately” failed to invite him, the No. 1 councilor of Bacolod City.
He added that he was also not invited to several other occasions in the city.
According to Tan, such “intentional lapse” must not be tolerated.
It is tantamount to disrespect to an elected public official, especially to a member of the city council which is a co-equal body of the executive, he added.
Tan also questioned the expenses during the festival, which Councilor Cindy Rojas said will promote Bacolod’s food tourism.
A total of 3,000 sticks of chicken inasal were cooked on the streets during the celebration. Fifty of these were given to street children, guests and local officials. The rest were distributed to locals.
Tan said one stick costs P75, which would mean that 3,000 of these will only cost P225,000 and not P2 million.
For her part, Rojas – the festival chairwoman – said Tan’s claims were “purely malicious.”
“He (Tan) keeps on insisting that we are politicizing the event when he is the one giving malice,” Rojas added.
She also said Tan is only attacking her political party, Grupo Progreso, which is accused of making the festival a “feeding program.”
“This is an insult to all the guests. The objective of the event was to show the world our famous chicken inasal as well as to promote food tourism,” Rojas said.
The lady councilor also denied that the event was not properly organized.
“How can he (Tan) say that when he was not even there at the festival?The Bacolod Chicken Inasal Festival was featured in so many national news (outlets) and for me that is a sure sign that the festival was highly successful,” Rojas added./PN
