Most people may have been wondering why the Celebration of the Charted Day of Bacolod was moved to June 18 instead of October 19 which was done for the past 72 years. Fellow Skyscrapercity forum member, Dominic Alojado, MD, researched on this matter and shared the chain of events which lead to the inauguration of Bacolod City on October 19, 1938.
Bacolod City was declared as a chartered city by virtue of the Commonwealth Act No. 326 in June 18, 1938 as signed by Pres. Manuel Luis Quezon.
An inauguration was set by virture of Proclamation No. 322 signed in Sept. 23, 1938 declaring September 30, 1938 as the Inauguration of Bacolod City and was declared a special holiday for the province. However, on September 30, 1938 torrential rains poured over the city and province, thus was postponed.
The inauguration was moved to October 5, 1938 but due to a typhoon it was moved to October 12, 1938. But still due to the threat of typhoons and persistently heavy monsoon rain, it was also postponed.
By October 14, 1938 the weather improved so it was decided to set the inauguration on October 19, 1938. Despite of a few showers and passing rain, Bacolodnons were geared up for the inauguration of the city.
Scheduled to arrive at 2PM in Pulupandan via a cutter named “Arayat”, Pres. Quezon instead arrived around 3:30 PM via the presidential yacht “Casiana”. The presidential enourage then went to Bacolod joining the motorcade starting from Negros Occ. High School (NOHS). The president also dropped by Palacio Episcopal and met with Bacolod Bishop Msgr. Casimilo Lladoc.
Assemblyman P. Hernaez (the author of the city charter) read the presidential proclamation followed by the oathtaking of Hon. Alfredo Montelibano Sr. of Hda. Binitin, Murcia as Bacolod’s first city mayor.
Gov. Valeriano Gatuslao then introduced president Manuel Luis Quezon as the speaker. After his speech a light rain again fell but the president was surprised that the crowd at the city plaza never ran and took shelter. A scene that made him say that people of Bacolod were the happiest people in the country that day.
So from then on Bacolod celebrated its inauguration every October 19, 1938.
In 1976 President Ferdinand Marcos, thru the Ministry of Tourism directed every province in the Philippines to have their own distinct festival to support the tourism slogan “Philippines The Smile of Asia”. With that, in 1977 Bacolod artists and politicians organized a “Sugar Festival” following Iloilo’s renaming of its ten-year old “Iloilo Ati-Atihan” to the current “Dinagyang” by one of its famous media personalities. The “Sugar Festival” still being slowed down and dragged with the ongoing sugar surplus and drop of sugar prices in 1978 until 1979, the festival never took-off.
By early 1980, the province and the city was geared-up for the 1st Sugar Festival with the sponsors and activities slated in May. But in the early morning of April 23, news broke out that Bacolod-bound MS Don Juan collided with a tanker and sunk off Mindoro Oriental with almost 200 dead and missing. The fatalities and the missing includes illustrious families and family members of politicians of Bacolod and Negros Occdental. Most famous were the family of the current mayor Jose “Digoy” Montalvo (bodies of his family members still remain missing up to this day)
The organizers found it devastating and planned to scrap off the Sugar Festival, but later the Art Association of Bacolod (AAB) headed by famous cartoonist Ely Santiago, decided to go with the festival. He conceptualized a colorful festival to bring Bacolod City and Negros Occidental back to smiling faces. Thus MassKara was born…meaning “many smiling faces”…smiling masks will be worn to uplift the sad Negrense spirit. With not much to argue when to celebrate, they placed it the week nearest October 19 to coincide with the city’s Charter Day Inauguration Anniversary…further giving the reason to celebrate
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