Welcome to Bacolod City!

Published by the Visayan Daily Star Publications, Inc.

NINFA R. LEONARDIA Editor-in-Chief & President

CARLA P. GOMEZ Editor GUILLERMO TEJIDA III Desk Editor PATRICK PANGILINAN Busines Editor NIDA A. BUENAFE Sports Editor RENE GENOVE Bureau Chief, Dumaguete MAJA P. DELY Advertising Coordinator

CARLOS ANTONIO L. LEONARDIA Administrative Officer

To the mayors from all over the country, and to the visitors who have come to our city for this weekend of our MassKara Festival, we say: Welcome! Esta us su casa (This is your house).

We are happy to see you all, and we know our celebration will be all the more successful and enjoyable because of your presence that will further inspire us to do our best so that you will enjoy your visit and bring home happy memories of your stay.

To the mayors, members of the prestigious League of Cities of the Philippines, we would like you to know that we appreciate and acknowledge what you have been doing to enhance the lives and conditions of our fellow Filipinos. We also want you to know that we recognize what you have been doing to protect the rights of our local government units, particularly by the relentless way that you have tried to stop the illegal conversion of undeserving towns into cities, that has resulted in the deprivation of what our cities deserve by way of the Internal Revenue Allotment.

Because of the dynamism and purposefulness that you have shown, even tangling with the Supreme Court in your drive to set things right, you have proven to us how committed you are to the goals of your league.

To our visitors, and our Balikbayans, who have traveled long distances to come and join us, especially those who have been coming regularly for the MassKara Festival, we open our hearts to you and assure you of our readiness to help you make the most of this visit. To the friends you have brought along, tell them we welcome them, too, and hope they will come again and again in the coming years.

Meanwhile, we wish the League of Cities a successful National Executive Board Meeting as well as an enjoyable and memorable stay, so this will not be a gathering of all work and no play.

To everyone who was come to our city: Have fun, enjoy what we have to offer, and in line with typical Filipino customs, we say, feel a home, and collect memories!*