THE City Government of Bacolod has postponed the 83rd Charter Day celebration on June 18, 2021.

Mayor Evelio Leoardia in a statement said early planning and preparations were made to celebrate the city’s Charter Day as practiced and mandated by City Ordinance No. 616 entitled "Mga Adlaw Sang Paghanduraw."

“ In anticipation, we had already invited Presidential Legal Adviser Secretary Salvador Panelo to be our honored guest and speaker. However, because of our present Covid-19 figures, we made another assessment of the situation,” he said.

“Our Bacolod Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF), headed by Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran, and Emergency Operations Center, under City Administrator Em Ang, recommended that it is best that we postpone the event until better times come,” he added.

The mayor expressed his gratitude to Panelo for graciously accepting their decision even if he had already set his schedule to come to Bacolod.

“We wish to assure our fellow Bacolodnons that we will continue to give due honor and respect to the observance of that historic day of June 18, 1938, when President Manuel L. Quezon signed Commonwealth Act 326 which created the City of Bacolod. We believe that singular event was a major factor that catapulted Bacolod to where it is today,” Leonardia said.

He said the postponement of the city’s celebration is indefinite until better times come.

“We hope for the understanding of our people as this is a move to contain Covid-19,” he added.