BEHIND the colorful and peculiar masks are beautiful faces of Negrenses, who celebrate the 'Masskara Festival' every 3rd week of October.

Tourists flock to Bacolod City, the City of Smiles, for the renowned Masskara parade, where dancers in colorful costumes and charming masks collectively sway to the Latino beat.

It is indeed a tribute to Bacolodnons and to the Negrosanons in general, who survived the crises, foremost of which, are hunger and poverty in the '80s, from which came about pictures of malnourished children called "Batang Negros."

As the Masskara Festival enters its 23rd year, the City Government of Bacolod and the Provincial Government of Negros Occidental have, little by little, eradicated the gloomy faces of lonely and afflicted citizens.

Under the administration of incumbent Mayor Luzviminda Valdez, the city was chosen by the Asian Institute of Management as the Second Most Livable City in the country and the Cleanest and Greenest Highly-Urbanized City for two consecutive years already by the Gawad Pangulo sa Kapaligiran.