BACOLOD CITY -- The City of Bacolod observed "Thanksgiving Day" for the first time on Friday, with Mayor Evelio Leonardia and religious and sectoral leaders coming together for “oneness in prayer”.
"This is something overwhelming because we have seen for ourselves that we are indeed a mixture of culture, customs, traditions, and even religion,” Leonardia said.
Leonardia issued Executive Order No. 34, creating the committee for the celebration of "Thanksgiving Day" in support of City Ordinance No. 09-17-819.
The ordinance, authored by Councilor Sonya Verdeflor, declares the fourth Thursday of November of each year as a "Day of Thanksgiving" here.
The City Council also passed Resolution No. 1285 enjoining all Bacolodnons, through the Office of the City Mayor, to celebrate "Thanksgiving Day" pursuant to the city ordinance.
Those who offered thanksgiving for the city's blessings were Fr. Farley Ray Santillan of the Diocese of Bacolod, Pastor Jessie Albestor of the Bacolod Evangelical Church, Pastor Gaudencio Buque Jr. of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, Pragat Singh of the Punjabi of India, Ramai Das of Hare Krishna, and Imam Omar Betita of Islam.
“It is not so often that we have these ‘holy men’ with us and it is amazing to think that although we differ in so many ways, somehow we have proven that, as said in the (Diwali) festival, there can be unity in diversity,” Leonardia said.
The mayor said the messages in the prayers focused on "oneness", being part of humanity.
“We (can say that we) are just one family in this world. I believe that the charter of Bacolod, becoming a city, was the single significant event that catapulted Bacolod to where it is today,” Leonardia added.
Prayers of thanksgiving were also offered by Councilors Cindy Rojas and Ana Marie Palermo while Councilors Renecito Novero and Wilson Gamboa Jr. also graced the occasion.
Leaders of business and socio-civic groups said prayers as well.
City Council Secretary Vicente Petierre III read City Ordinance No. 09-17-819 declaring the fourth Thursday of November of each year as a Day of Thanksgiving in the City of Bacolod.
It stated that the City of Bacolod, since it became a Chartered City in 1938, has become a progressive and fast-developing highly urbanized city in the Philippines, even in the midst of several crises, natural calamities, and disasters.
Divine blessings sparing Bacolod City from the worst kinds of calamities and destructions and the Bacolodnons’ resilience in times of adversity paved the way for Bacolod to rise into a livable and prosperous metropolis where its constituents enjoy the fruits of economic development, for which the people should be thankful for, it added. (PNA)
NOVEMBER 2017
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