BACOLOD CITY — Singer-songwriter and sugar baron Jose Mari Chan has been named honorary mayor of Bacolod for the city’s celebration of the Chinese New Year on February 15 to 18.
Mayor Evelio Leonardia on Tuesday issued Executive Order No. 6 declaring that Chan shall be accorded all honors, full respect, and honorary privileges inherent to the honorary position.
On January 24, the City Council named Chan as adopted son of Bacolod by virtue of Resolution No. 81, Series of 2018.
“Chan is a Bacolod resident who has sustained and kept alive the sugar industry in the Province of Negros Occidental amid the hardships and challenges of time when the industry was in peril,” the mayor said in his order.
Due to Chan’s efforts to engage and support the sugar industry in the province, Bacolod as the capital city also benefited from it, he added.
“The City of Bacolod and its constituents recognize Chan as a businessman who has contributed to the economic well-being of Bacolod and Negros Occidental due to his engagement in the sugar industry,” Leonardia noted.
The mayor also cited Chan as a nationally-known recording artist, singer and songwriter and the biggest selling recording artist in the history of Philippine pop music, with more than 43 platinum sales.
“As an artist of his caliber, he has performed in major cities all over the Philippines and was awarded in 1974 the Ten Outstanding Young Men of the Philippines,” the mayor added.
Leonardia said the City of Bacolod and its constituents acknowledged Chan as an artist who had brought music as an art to its highest level.
The Bacolaodiat Festival, this city’s celebration of the Chinese New Year, will be held on February 15 to 18.
The name of the festival, now on its 13th year, was coined from the words “Baco” for Bacolod and “Lao Diat,” a Fookien word for celebration.
The Year 2018 or “Year of the Dog” would highlight the Foo Dogs as symbol of loyalty and protection, organizers said.
Activities will be held at South Capitol Road and Lacson Tourism Strip from February 15 to 17; Bacolod City Government Center, February 17 and 18; and Yuan Thong Temple, February 15. (Nanette Guadalquiver/PNA)
