Negros Occidental’s Panaad fest opens amid criticism over P50-M budget

NEGROS OCCIDENTAL, Philippines – Billed as the “mother of all festivals” in Negros Occidental, the Panaad sa Negros Festival opened Monday night, April 13, amid surging prices driven by an oil crisis linked to continuing tensions in the Middle East and rising temperatures taking a toll on the local agriculture sector.

The festival kickoff at Panaad Park and Stadium in Barangay Mansilingan, Bacolod City, was festive and grand, with all 32 local governments participating. But criticism mounted over the provincial government’s P50-million budget for the festivities.

The annual Panaad sa Negros Festival gathers people from the province’s 13 cities and 19 municipalities to showcase local food, agricultural products, handicrafts and cultural presentations. The festival’s trade fair has been a major feature and an additional revenue source over the past 29 years.

One of the critics was Reverend Father Arman Onion, convener of the One Negros Ecumenical Council (ONEC). He said the capitol’s budget for the Panaad this year could have been used instead to aid Negrenses, particularly drivers of public utility vehicles (PUVs) and farm workers, struggling to make both ends meet amid rising costs.

Onion said Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson should have exercised prudence by suspending the week-long celebration.

“In the case of Panaad Sa Negros Festival, prudence is not an option, but an obligation that should have been done by the governor himself,” Onion told a press conference on Monday, April 13.

The Catholic priest, who also serves as an adviser to the Council of Concerned Citizens (C3) in Bacolod, said it was “ill-timed” to hold the festival amid widespread transport protests in Bacolod and neighboring Talisay City over the government’s failure to address rising fuel prices and cushion its impact.

The General Alliance of Workers Association (GAWA) in Negros Occidental also criticized the staging of the week-long Panaad Festival.

GAWA secretary general Wennie Sancho cited President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s executive order which placed the country under a state of national energy emergency in March which calls for austerity measures.

“The governor… should have avoided the holding of this year’s Panaad,” said Sancho, adding that the P50-million budget would have been appreciated more if it was used to help farm workers.

Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz II, meanwhile, said the festival had to push through because many contracts in relation to the annual festival had already been signed.

Cancelling this year’s Panaad would cause significant financial “damage to the provincial government and even the towns and cities participating,” he said.

Diaz also pointed out that many festival sponsors had also made commitments.

Meanwhile, the United Sugar Producers Federation (UNIFED) called for government intervention rising temperatures have started to affect sugar plantations in Negros Occidental.

UNIFED president Manuel Lamata called on the government to consider cloud seeding operations to mitigate the impact on farms of the threat of the looming El Niño phenomenon.

Lamata said the Negros sugar industry, including hundreds of thousands of farmers and workers, were already in need of government assistance. – Rappler.com