- GILBERT BAYORAN
More than two years since the COVID-19 pandemic, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. yesterday declared that the country is now ready for “normalcy”.
Marcos, who spoke at the culmination of the MassKara Festival at the Paglaum Sports Complex in Bacolod City after attending a series of activities in Talisay and in Bacolod, said “we feel that not only Bacoleños, but all of us Filipinos, are ready to get back to normalcy, to improve our lives and the whole Philippines”.
The president also cited the successful staging of the MassKara Festival.
He said that the pandemic has started to be reduced as Filipinos already know how to manage it.
Marcos also congratulated Mayor Alfredo Benitez for holding what he described as the “most successful festival in the history of Bacolod City”.
“After two years, we will now open our doors to all visitors, not only from other areas in the country, but all over the world,” the president said.
In his speech during a working lunch in Talisay City, Marcos said, “It is a good thing to remind people that the pandemic may have been difficult, the pandemic really put us through the wringer. But we are back”.
The president said that the MassKara Festival signaled not just the opening of Bacolod City to tourists, but also to the entire country.
Despite the festival being born out of “a very sad period in the history of Bacolod”, Marcos said it also symbolizes Filipinos’ reemergence from a crisis.
“That is what we celebrate today and that is what we see that people are feeling…and that is the feeling that we want to continue to encourage within our people because that is what’s going to lead us to success,” he said.
Founded in October 1980 by the late Bacolod mayor Jose “Digoy” Montalvo Jr., the MassKara Festival was first held following two major tragedies that befell Negrenses – the collapse of sugar prices in the international market, and the sinking of the Negros Navigation ship M/V Don Juan.
Marcos also lauded the Benitez’s administration for the launching of BacCHP (Bacolod Comprehensive Healthcare Program), which provides free hospitalization and annual consultation, and the soon-to-be launched social pension program for senior citizens.
Before gracing the culminating activities of the MassKara Festival, Marcos attended the inauguration of the 34-hectare The Upper East of Megaworld Corporation and unveiled the township marker.
He also led the distribution of P88 million worth of checks to nine farmer-organizations that will benefit 1,835 farmers, and palay seeds and equipment in Negros Occidental./GB
