Capital Park
Negros Oriental Capitol Building
San Sebastian Cathedral. June 2016
turning around perceptions
Bacolod was my first solo trip to the Visayas. I had been to Manila and Boracay with Brian and even continued on my own to Davao. Before I hit more known parts of the country, I had even already traveled to remote General Santos City with my friend Gene [see: General Santos City]. A year or so later, I made a very dubious friendship with a guy named Gil in an online chatroom. He seemed just the most sincere person EVER, so I was off to Bacolod to meet him and his world. In fact, on my first visit to the city, Gil was quite kind to me and introduced me to his family and friends - all who treated me amazingly well. Unfortunately, it was very apparent that Gil thought he had landed a fat white fish and our friendship was his pot of gold. I wasn't so naive to think there wasn't some aspect of that, but he was so up front about it when we met in person that I found it shocking. I mentally salvaged the time in Bacolod and luckily his entourage were genuinely nice people (he did seem to be the worst of the lot). In spite of the situation, Bacolod had made a great first impression on me. It was not as overwhelming as Manila, easier to get around than Davao, and most importantly, it was one of the "foodie" capitals in the Philippines!
On a subsequent visit to Bacolod (part of a larger trip), my avaricious friend Gil stepped over several lines and I just severed all ties. Even if he had transgressed, I still felt badly. I was washing away my bad feelings with coffee and an "old fashioned" at Dunkin Donuts where I ended up meeting JRC who was to become my best friend in the country. J was everything Gil was not and after an appropriate period of waiting to see if J was just after financial gain, I came to find out that he was actually just a normal guy. Relieved, we struck up a true friendship. Had it not been for Gil, I would have never met JRC, so I have to remain thankful to Gil for that.
Bacolod is the commercial capital of Negros Island and lies across the Tañon Strait from Iloilo on Panay Island [see: Iloilo Riverwalk]. Bacolod's colonial and post-colonial fortunes were made on sugar cane which still is planted across the island on the lush plains below occasionally active Mt. Canlaon. For the Philippines it is a rather new city and even San Sebastian Cathedral on the old city square is only late 19th century. Iloilo over on Panay was much older and more important historically, and Cebu in the opposite direction even older and MORE significant (Magellan stopped there). Nonetheless, Bacolod was a dynamic city and a pleasant place to hang out - mainly for the food.
One of the most famous Filipino dishes is chicken inasal and it was created in Bacolod. In fact, it was specifically created in a row of restaurant stalls called Manukan Country. No one can say they have been to Bacolod if they have not knocked back a few San Miguel beers over some chicken inasal and freshly steamed oysters in that downscale row of flimsily built restaurants. The place looked sketchy on that first visit with Gil, but I never became sick. In fact, the highlight of my future visits to Bacolod was always visiting Manukan Country (at least once). Prior to Bacolod, I was actually down on Pinoy cuisine since I hadn't had a proper introduction. Gil and later JRC saw to it that I ate "good" food in Bacolod and soon I forgot ever complaining about Filipino food. In fact, I came to love it - it was simply a matter of knowing where and what to eat. My friends Gene and Mike in Davao had only led me to places they thought a foreigner would like - and I didn't. Gil and JRC took me to THEIR favorite restaurants and I loved everything!
Bacolod is also famous for its MassKara Festival (which I have never attended):
The word "Masskara" is a portmanteau, coined by the late artist Ely Santiago from mass (a multitude of people), and the Spanish word cara (face), thus forming MassKara (a multitude of faces). The word is also a pun on maskara, Filipino for "mask" (itself from Spanish máscara), since it is a prominent feature of the festival and are always adorned with smiling faces, giving rise to Bacolod being called the "City of Smiles".
The Festival first began in 1980. The province relied on sugar cane as its primary agricultural crop and the price of sugar was at an all-time low due to the introduction of sugar substitutes like high fructose corn syrup in the United States. This was the first MassKara Festival and a time of tragedy; on April 22 of that year, the inter-island vessel MV Don Juan carrying many Negrenses, including those belonging to prominent families in Bacolod City, collided with the tanker Tacloban City and sank in Tablas Strait off Mindoro while en route from Manila to Bacolod, which resulted in 18 lives lost, and 115 missing.
In the midst of these events, the local government then headed by the late Mayor Jose "Digoy" Montalvo appropriated a seed fund and enjoined the city's artistic community, civic and business groups to hold a "festival of smiles", to live up to the City's moniker as the "City of Smiles". They reasoned that a festival was also a good opportunity to pull the residents out of the pervasive gloomy atmosphere brought by the Don Juan Tragedy. The initial festival was held during the City's Charter Day celebration on October 19, 1980 and was steered by an organizing committee created by City Hall which was headed by the late councilor Romeo Geocadin and then city tourism officer Evelio Leonardia. It was a declaration by the people of the city that no matter how tough and bad the times were, Bacolod City was going to pull through, survive, and in the end, triumph.
The festival has evolved into one of the major annual tourism attractions of the Philippines over the next four decades. Held in typical Oktoberfest and Mardi Gras fashion, the MassKara Festival served as a catalyst for far-reaching growth and development of the city's tourism, hospitality, culinary, crafts and souvenirs and services sectors.
(Wikipedia)
Much to Gil and JRC's disappointment, I never showed too much interest in MassKara simply because it was just too big and too overwhelming. During the festival it is difficult to find transport to Bacolod and a hotel room - the main things I like about Bacolod are that it is so easy to get to and its abundance of good, cheap hotels. Nonetheless, everyone in the city is quite proud of their festival which was born out of tragedy. Maybe one of these days I will break down and attend. It does look like a fun time and Filipinos are a joyous people..
Out of poor judgement I made one poor friendship that led to another steadfast one. After deciding that Filipino food was the worst, I found out I actually loved it. From feeling frustration in getting around an urban area in the Philippines, I finally felt comfortable taking public transport. Bacolod ended up totally transforming how I viewed the country and I ended up returning repeatedly - to the Visayas (my favorite part of the country), to Negros (one of my favorite islands), and to Bacolod (a city I felt comfortable in).