The Diwali Festival of Lights 2014 is proof that the Indian community is being honored and respected by the people of the City of Smiles, Ram Prasad, First Secretary Consular of the Embassy of India to Manila, said during the official opening of the festival at the Bacolod City Government Center Saturday.

Diwali is an ancient Hindu festival celebrated in autumn every year.

Prasad said he is proud of the achievements and contributions made by the Indian community in Bacolod City.

He said there are many things they can learn from the people of Bacolod which is known as the City of Smiles. And a smile is the best way to resolve any kind of problem, he said.

“Keep smiling. I think that is something we must learn from you,” he said.

Asked for his reaction on the murder of an Indian national in Silay City, Prasad said they have left the investigation of the crime to the police.

He said crime is everywhere and he believes that it is not specific to the Indian community.

They have no specific reports from the Indian community in Bacolod that they are being targeted by lawless elements, Prasad added.

Bacolod Mayor Monico Puentevella said “It is very coincidental and very providential that during the opening of Diwali a lot of prayers were sent to the goddess of health, peace, progress and prosperity and it fell on a day wherein the miracle of Typhoon Yolanda fell on Bacolod.”

Puentevella said everyone in Bacolod should remember that Bacolod was spared by a miracle during Yolanda’s onslaught in the country last year.

“Many people could have died on that day. But because of our prayers we were spared by God Almighty,” he said.

Puentevella said they attended a mass at the Bacolod San Sebastian Cathedral Saturday and all the prayers they offered were thanksgiving for sparing the people of Bacolod from Yolanda.

November 8 will always be commemorated as a day of prayer in Bacolod, he added.*CGS

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