By Glazyl Y. Masculino
BACOLOD CITY — The city government will verify 11,034 of the 12,500 food vouchers used during the four-day extension of the 45th MassKara Festival last month before releasing funds.
Mae Cuaycong, special assistant to the mayor, said in a media interview that kiosk tenants who were given special permits to accept food vouchers from October 28 to 31 must obtain certification from the MassKara Festival 2024 organizer, Bacolod Yuhum Foundation Inc. (BYFI), to confirm the legitimacy of their contracts.
“This is to ensure that the vouchers were not photocopied,” she said.
Each voucher, valued at PHP200, was redeemable for a chicken inasal meal and used a QR code system for verification.
The redeemed vouchers included 7,486 at the Bacolod public plaza, 670 at the Bacolod City Government Center (BCGC), and 835 at Megaworld’s The Upper East.
Cuaycong noted that an additional 2,043 vouchers were redeemed at various kiosks to support the deployment of manpower, including police, at festival sites and strategic locations.
Mayor Alfredo “Albee” Benitez previously donated PHP2.5 million in assistance to kiosk tenants at the three festival locations to boost sales affected by heavy rains during Typhoon Kristine, which impacted business during this year’s festival.
Cuaycong said she expects to submit a report on voucher verification by next week, enabling the release of funds to kiosk tenants. The funds were personally sourced from Benitez.
She added that the 1,466 unused vouchers are now considered forfeited, as they were valid only during the specified period.
