New Year celebrations wow crowds, but….

In Bacolod and Iloilo, the celebration of the Chinese New Year brought crowds to the streets Saturday and Sunday. In Iloilo, Sunday was also the day of the Paraw Regatta, a colorful celebration of the traditional Chinese New Year.

In Bacolod, the more impressive celebration will fall on Feb. 23 and 24 – the Bacolodiat Festival. This year’s theme is "Harmony in Diversity."

What makes it colorful is the fact that Ambassador Li Jin Jun of the People’s Republic of China and Chinese consul general Cui Luosheng in Cebu will join Bacolod City Mayor Evelio Leonardia and Vice Mayor Renecito Novero as well as members of the Sangguniang Panglunsod and other key city officials in gracing the opening ceremony of Bacolaodiat.

The affair will be marked by the opening at 10 a.m. on Feb. 23 of a photo exhibit showcasing the cultural and Olympic photographs of China. This will be held at the Robinson’s place.

There will also be night market and a chopsticks alley will be put up at the Bacolod City Plaza.

On the other hand, Iloilo’s Chinese New Year celebration is considered the biggest outside Metro Manila. The Iloilo Chinese Filipino Cultural Foundation handled this year’s impressive festivities.

Henry Chussey, chairman of the ICFCI, said various Filipino-Chinese schools had prepared presentations "tailored after the Year of the Fire Pig."

Last Friday evening, the fireworks display drew big crowds. Mayor Jerry Treñas thanked the Filipino-Chinese community in Iloilo City for making the Chinese New Year celebration here a tourist attraction.

Tourism Regional Director Edwin Treompeta fired off the 35th Paraw Regatta, consideed the rave among native outriggers and the premier sailing event in the Philippines. What makes it more interesting is that the Paraw crew allowed their outriggers to race through the glistening waters of the Iloilo strait between Panay and Guimaras until they reach the finish line.

Political brickbats

Despite the colorful celebration of the Chinese New Year, political brickbats continue to attract the attention of the crowd. Not even the most impressive performances nor the most succulent dishes could distract the average Filipino from political tidbits.

But before that, there was the celebration last week of the 21st birth anniversary of former Antique Gov. Evelio Javier, who was assassinated by a group of armed men just a few days before the people power revolution at Edsa.

Javier’s death became the battlecry of the EDSA masses, who ousted from power the late President Ferdinand E. Marcos. Javier had become a national hero, although the regionwide observance of his assassination is confined to Panay.

Antique Gov. Sally Zaldivar-Prez said Undersecretary Margarita "Tingting" Cojuangco lectured on the life of Javier to students at the CAP Auditorium in San Jose de Buenavista. This was followed by former Philippine Ambassador to Brunei Enrique Zaldivar, a former partymate of Javier. The latter succeeded Javier as governor of Antique in 1980. Javier served the province as governor from 1971 to 1980.

But before I forget, the Iloilo Chinese New Year celebration had Teresita Ang-See, head of the Filipino-Chinese anti-crime task force, as guest speaker. She was accompanied by ICFCI vice president Roland Uy and by ICFCI president Chuseuy.

Mayor Jerry Trenas lauded the Filipino-Chinese contribution to the growth of Iloilo and paid special tribute to their cultural contributions to the Ilonggos, which he described as partly responsible for the institutionalization of pancit molo, siopao and batchoy among others.

Ang-See, CAAC head, expressed her amazement at the synergy of the Filipino-Chinese in Iloilo with Ilonggos.

Anyway, that’s just an eye-opener to a celebration that is bound to attract more attention and visitors next year.

Kampi rejoinder

Assistant Transportation Secretary Ricardo "Cano" Tan remains chairman of the Kabalikat ng Mamayang Pilipino (Kampi) of Bacolod City. This was the clarification made by Rep. Ignacio Arroyo, regional chair of the President’s own party.

The confusion was caused when Kampi Negros Occidental chairman Melvin Ibanez announced last week that a new chairman has been appointed – Councilor Al Viktor Espino of Bacolod.

As of yesterday, Arroyo said Tan remains chairman of the Kampi in Bacolod as Espino, whom Tan himself had recommended, has not yet taken his oath.

News for joy

After exchanging potshots against each other for almost one month, Bacolod City Rep. Monico Puentevella and former Mayor Luzviminda Valdez seem to be on each other’s side now as Puentevella recently eclared that he is supporting Valdez for mayor of Bacolod City.

That clarified once and for all the position of Puentevella on the mayoralty issue.

Puentevella raised the issue of performance by Leonardia as the crux of the campaign as well as the controversial government center project. The city government had borrowed P400 million from the Land Bank of the Philippines to fund the project, which reportedly would cost a whopping P395-million.

Puentevella said he will first hold a consultative dialog with all the bidders for the government center contract and other concerned national officers on Friday. He gave assurances that there will be transparency.

"I want everyone in Bacolod to know what exactly happened to the bidding process and why there was only one bidder which qualified for participation and why only one party won the bidding," Puentevella stressed.

But there was also a riposte from provincial board member Emilio Yulo III, chairman of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan committee on education. Yulo said he will probe the allegedly poor rehabilitation of the Paglaum Sports Complex that was undertaken without the required public bidding.

This anomaly reportedly involves the Bacolod lawmaker who headed the Bacolod Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee (BASOC).

The rehabilitation work reportedly had an outlay of P19.2 million and was supposed to have a time frame of 150 calendar days from March 15 to Aug. 13, 2006.

The Asian Football Federation Group, led by executive secretary Dante Yap, examined it and declared it unfit for the international competition.

Puentevella said it was former public works secretary Hermogenes Ebdane who asked the contractor, Dynamic Builders and Construction Company, to rehabilitate the stadium since there was no available fund yet. Until now, they still have to pay the contractor, the lawmaker claimed.

GMA visits Negros Oriental

President Arroyo appears unfazed by the turmoil among her loyal followers on the local level. Actually, Leonardia had supported Fernando Poe Jr., the President’s rival in the last election. His wife, Susan Roces, is from Negros Occidental and is a graduate of the La Consolacion College.

But the President has flown to Dumaguete City to inaugurate the P137-million Convention Center there. This also marked the opening of the 2nd International Rondalla Festival.

The President was also scheduled to inaugurate the public market of Bais City and other local projects. She also distributed certificates of land titles with Vice President Noli de Castro.

The President will likewise inaugurate the new TeleTech Building and officiate the groundbreaking of the Dumaguete City business center and Robinson’s Mall.

At 4:30 p.m., she will open the 2nd International Rondalla at the new 1,000-seat Negros Oriental Convention Center near the provincial capitol in Dumaguete City.