PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte will grace the 40th MassKara Festival of Bacolod City for the fourth consecutive year.
This was confirmed by Bacolod City Mayor Evelio Leonardia on Monday, October 1, after his meeting with Duterte for the League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP) National Executive Board Meeting in Davao City on the weekend.
Leonardia, who is the president of LCP, said that after their meeting, he asked the President if he can come for the city’s MassKara Festival.
“Without batting of an eyelash he said yes. He said, ‘I’m going to show my support for you,’” he said.
Leonardia added they already sent their official invitation to Duterte and that he could come in Bacolod anytime.
The President has graced the MassKara Festival since he was elected in 2016. Leonardia said Duterte has attended the festival for three consecutive years.
"It’s three years straight and anything beyond that is a bonus," he said.
In 2018, the President's daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, also witnessed some of the festival's highlights.
The 40th MassKara Festival, themed “Bacolod City of Smiles”, will open on October 7 at the Bacolod Public Plaza.
This year’s festival will be celebrated from October 7 to 27.
Leonardia said he’s thankful to the President for showing his desire to come back, which only means that Bacolod is a very special to him.
“So we should be happy with that. He’s a President having a popularity rating unprecedented and I’m sure outside of Davao. We are the only one city or the only festival that he has attended three times straight, and this year will be the fourth or his perfect attendance in Bacolod,” he said.
He added, however, there’s no final schedule yet for the arrival of Duterte because of his busy schedule.