Experience All of Negros Island in One Place - The Panaad Festival

The Panaad sa Negros Festival, also called the Panaad Festival, is a festival held annually during the month of April in Bacolod City, the capital of the province of Negros Occidental, Philippines. Panaad is the Hiligaynon word for “vow” or “promise”; the festival is a form of thanksgiving to Divine Providence and commemoration of a vow in exchange for a good life. The celebration is held at the Panaad Park and Stadium, which also houses the Panaad Sports Complex, and is participated in by the 13 cities and 19 towns of the province. For this reason, Negros Occidental dubs it the “mother” of all its festivals.

The theme for this year is “Organik na Negros: Rising to the Challenge of Globalization in 2015″.

The first Panaad sa Negros Festival was held at Capitol Park and Lagoon in a three-day affair in 1993 that started April 30. The festival was held at the lagoon fronting the Provincial Capitol for the first four years. As the festival grew each year, it became necessary to locate a more spacious venue. In 1997, the festival was held at the reclaimed area near where the BREDCO Port is located today.

The construction of the Panaad Park and Stadium paved the way for the establishment of the Panaad Park as the permanent home of the festival.

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Discovering "Millionaire's Row" In Bacolod City

Wander in the part of Bacolod City which is not usually written about in tourist guidebooks or travel blogs and discover the charm of Old Negros Island.

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Experience All of Negros Island in One Place - The Panaad Festival

Monday, April 13, 2015 City-Bacolod, Festival-Panaad, Festivals, Province-Negros Occidental

Why Bacolod Golf Club (Binitin) is not in Bacolod

Someone asked on FB, "Why is Bacolod Golf Club (Binitin) not in Bacolod but in Murcia?". 

The answer...because the original Bacolod Golf Club was in Bacolod.  It just moved to Murcia close to 50 years ago.

Meet Joe Rates.  He was a stowaway from Iloilo.  Upon landing in Bacolod in the 1960s, his uncle who was the bartender at  the original Bacolod Golf Club in Mandalagan, recommended him to the club management to be an assistant.  Assistant bartender Joe Rates became.

Knowing nothing about golf, Joe started practicing and eventually learned and played the original Bacolod Golf Club course during caddies' days which were Monday and Friday.  Those days, Joe would regularly lose to the caddies and the caddies who won bets over Joe, would be eagerly waiting for him during the 15th and 30th of the month to collect their winnings when Joe got his salary.

Joe was unfazed.  He kept on practicing and eventually started winning.  Sooner than later, Joe was in the company of the greats - Arda, Tugot, you name them.  He traveled abroad to play and even played the Old Course at St. Andrews!

Why am I telling this story?  Well, just to let you know that we're hearing this firsthand from a native of the original Bacolod Golf Club.  The Bacolod Golf Club which was in Bacolod - not the one currently in Binitin, Murcia (the transfer will be another story on this blog).

So, where was the original Bacolod Golf Club?  What is it today?  Two questions answered by one word.

Capitolville.

Related Post :

Revisiting Cuadra Street : The Street Which Made Bacolod Chicken Inasal Popular

Bacolod City's famous chicken dish inasal (barbecued chicken) has spread far and wide across the globe reaching not just the United States of America but also the Middle East.  Unknown to many is the fact long before it reached foreign shores, inasal's humble beginnings are traced back to a small street in Bacolod known as Cuadra......Read More

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Why Bacolod Golf Club (Binitin) is not in Bacolod

Wednesday, April 01, 2015 City-Bacolod, Golf, Golf Courses, People

DOT Uses Bus and Taxi Ads to Promote Philippines in London

If Out-Of-Home Media is the second top awareness builder here in the Philippines (next to TV), imagine how it ranks in the City of London where most people are pedestrians and are highly engaged by posters, bus ads, and Tube cards.

For this reason, Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez, instructed sales and promotions officer of the Department of Tourism at the Philippine embassy in London, Richard de Villa, to implement a massive outdoor campaign which employed 25 London buses and 110 black taxis for the entire duration of 2015.  The strategy used for “Visit the Philippines Year 2015” is very sound given that most high street retail brands also employ OOH for their launches.

Over the past few years, the UK has been the highest source of tourism arrivals from Europe.  Last year, the UK registered one of the highest growth rates.

The branding featured multiple Philippine destinations: Vigan, Banaue, Siargao, Boracay, Palawan, Cagayan de Oro, Albay, Bohol and Davao. It was the largest outdoor advertising effort initiated by the country in London so far.

Click here for OOH Marketplace:

DOT Uses Bus and Taxi Ads to Promote Philippines in London

Wednesday, April 01, 2015 Advertising, Business, Business Activities, Marketing

Bacolod City Will Be First In Using Hummers as Jeepneys

Hummer Jeepney : Ready for rollout in Bacolod City by end of 2015

The Filipino Jeepney has for many years been a symbol of Filipino ingenuity being the most popular means of public transportation in the country.  Often known for their kitsch decorations, which have become a ubiquitous symbol of Philippine culture and art, jeepneys are now ready for a new image in Bacolod City.

Originally made from U.S. military jeeps left over from World War II and improvised and refitted through Filipino resourcefulness, the jeepney will take on a new shape this year when ingenuity meets the legendary decadence of Negros Island. 

Bacolod City will be the first city in the Philippines to see the rollout of the new generation of jeepneys using GM Hummers as its platform.  The project is spearheaded by a visionary from Bacolod who requests to be made anonymous at this time. 

The visionary sugar baron relates, "There is really nothing new about this except the new platform using Hummers.  Jeepneys are here to stay.  The "Humjeep" project is faithful to the original intentions of the of the jeepney, and that is to convert a military transport vehicle into a form of public conveyance".  He adds, "My close friends who know this project tell me I'm nuts, but I tell them that you're the ones who don't know what legacy is all about. Years from now, tourists in the Philippines will go to Bacolod just to ride one of the five Hummer jeepneys I'm deploying by end of the 2015".

"Love it or hate it, the Jeepney will never go away.  All that's needed is a new platform for which the Hummer is perfect.  The fact that the Hummer was also a military vehicle adds to the novelty". 

A look at the current "Humjeep" hidden in a Negros gamefarm shows that it has been modified by eliminating the rear side doors and creating a single rear door which is typical of regular jeepneys.

The Bacolod-based visionary adds, "For the additional Humjeeps, we will be sourcing two more from Port Irene and we are eyeing to buy Piolo Pascual's H3 and Angel Locsin's H2."

Soon, riding a jeepney will really be more fun in Bacolod.

Visual peg of the interiors of the Bacolod "Humjeep" project (source : PDI)

Bacolod City Will Be First In Using Hummers as Jeepneys

Wednesday, April 01, 2015 City-Bacolod, Province-Negros Occidental, Visions