The financial report of the Bacolod Yuhum Foundation Inc. for the MassKara Festival 2023, which was submitted to the City Council, still showed a deficit in its collections, an official of the city said Monday, March 4.
Councilor Jude Thaddeus Sayson, chairperson of the City Council committee on finance, said that based on the report of the Bacolod Yuhum Foundation Inc., they earned at least P70 million, but their expenses reached at least P80 million and the mayor still paid for other expenses.
Sayson said they held a hearing with the officials of the Yuhum Foundation on Monday, March 4, after Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez requested an authority to sign a contract with the Yuhum Foundation for the 2024 MassKara Festival.
“Part of the approval of the 2024 contract is the 2023 financial report. They submitted the documents, but it’s still not complete and we are asking for an audited financial report,” he said.
He added they expect that the foundation will submit the documents by next week.
Sayson noted that it’s the early preparation of the City Government for the 2024 MassKara Festival celebration in October.
He recalled that in 2023, the City Council approved the authority to sign the contract with the foundation in August and they only have two months of preparation for the festival.
“So this time, the City wants them to prepare early for the festival, especially for the sponsors. We are hopeful that the mayor will not pay the expenses of the foundation this year,” Sayson said.
Once they granted the authority to sign to the mayor, he said the foundation can start their preparations.
He said there’s also a possibility to reduce the festival activities to lessen the expenses including the festival sites this year.
“We will try to limit the festival sites,” he added.
In the 2022 MassKara Festival, the Bacolod Yuhum Foundation Inc. earned at least P80 million, but they were short of at least P6 million, with the mayor also paying for the other expenses.*