Pinoys and Tsinoys

BACOLAODIAT 2013: Binding Cultures and Opportunities. This is good and we are expecting good things to happen. We want to see a clear scenario that the Pinoys and Tsinoys are going together and working together. We want to view the mingling of cultures in one community. We hope to see One Negros, One Bacolod and One Bacolaodiat Festival.

We yearn that the Year of the Snake will not just start with firecrackers and the dance of the dragon and lion but with good will and cooperation.

In the past, the Tsinoys were just comfortable with going to their own temple, their own Catholic Church, their own business district and they were even fielding their own Tsinoy candidates for the elections. Bacolaodiat 2013 could be a new beginning and a realization.

This is a tourism event and a tourism event means business. We hope that business will just be secondary and our primary concerns will be the binding of cultures and opportunities. The Pinoys are the consumers and the Tsinoys are the businessmen. Pinoys could be drivers, waiters, household workers, construction workers and janitors. The Tsinoys are the investors, the masters and the business magnates. With Bacolaodiat concept, we hope to narrow down the differences. The Pinoys and the Tsinoys cannot interchange their roles but something wonderful could be done.

The Tsinoys could be outstanding employers who are very satisfactorily treating their employees with utmost human consideration. Those who work with them are managed as partners with attractive salary, better housing facilities, work incentives and other fringe benefits. Our heart bleeds and our blood boils if we see social injustice in our midst.

The Pinoys could have renewal of commitment in serving their Tsinoy employers. They could be very effective and efficient workers. They will not neglect the trust and confidence afforded to them by the Tsinoys. They should not be working for salary only but for their love of work and commitment to the firm. Pinoys are not just names in the payroll but a force to be reckoned with in the business community.

Negrosanons and friends will be at downtown Bacolod to appreciate snake lanterns, eat Chinese food, see dances of the children of the Tsinoys and spend money to buy souvenirs and crafts. Last year, we were looking for authentic Chinese food. My friends ended up eating in Chow King. Atty. John Orola assured me that there will really be food just like what Marco Polo tasted when he was in China. "John, we believe you." Activities at Shopping Center could be in the drawing board. Former Mayor Montelibano dreamed of having a China Town there... not at 888.

We request Senior Superintendent Edgardo Ordaniel to give Negrosanons and visitors a safe and peaceful climate for Bacolod during the festival. We will have that positive impression of him if snatchers, hold uppers and other criminals will end up in his minority report. We also expect that our Tourism Office in Bacolod will have a round-the-clock information centers in strategic places. Tour operators and travel agencies want precise information from the right agency.

We wish that the show will not just be dominated by the Tsinoys. We want to see Pinoy number in the program. We look forward to see a clear dramatization on stage of how we merge our two cultures without losing our identity as Filipinos. Let's give Chairman LeonitoLopue a chance to prove that Bacolaodiat is not a business pancit canton or a political lomi.