Sagay
City celebrates the good life
By DANNY B. DANGCALAN
SAGAY City -- This city celebrates its 14th
Sinigayan Festival (from March 12 until today), as a testament
to the good life it enjoys through the years.
Sagay City Mayor Alfredo Marañon Jr.
said, “Sinigayan Festival is an expression of the blessings
of our race and our unique culture (that) we proudly share
to everyone.”
Marañon, who is running for governor
of Negros Occidental this May, is considered the “Father
of Sagay.” He is largely credited for its improvement
in his 43 years of public service in various elective posts.
With the theme, Sagay: Kahapon, Karon, kag
sa Palaaboton (Sagay: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow), the
weeklong activities collectively aim to reminisce the past
and move on to the present, to see how Sagay is today, and
how much progress it has made to reach its goal in the last
few decades.
At 10 a.m. today, there will be a Concelebrated
Mass at the St. Joseph Parish for the late Gov. Joseph Marañon,
brother of Mayor Marañon, and for the people of Sagay.
At 6 p.m., there will be an Artists Night
at the Dagway Sagay Village, while at 8 p.m. there will be
an Association of Barangay Captains and People’s Night
sponsored by Globe Telecom at the public plaza. There will
also be a Ratsada sa Kalsada at 10 p.m.
Sagay City became one of the highly progressive
cities in Negros Occidental under the leadership of Mayor
Marañon. Presently, this city is positioning itself
as an agri-economic zone in the goal of ensuring food security
and alleviating poverty.
The construction of a P160-million AAA slaughterhouse
is ongoing in Brgy. Paraiso. Marañon said it is expected
to be finished this March.
This abattoir of international standards is
being built on a 150-hectare agro-industrial zone and is envisioned
to be the home of industries that will process marine and
agricultural produce of the city for export.
Marañon said Sagay is currently developing
25 hectares of its 150-hectare agro-industrial zone property
for the first phase. To support the zone, a P200-million Free
Port is being built in old Sagay, expected to be completed
by June. It will enable the direct shipment of goods from
Sagay to Batangas.
Other projects of the city government:
• the P33-million Corn Post Harvest Processing and Trading
Center
• Swine Breeding Center that produces piglets for dispersal
to residents for breeding or fattening; and
• Materials Recovery Facility in Brgy. Rizal that produces
fertilizer for the school vegetable raising program, among
others.
Sagay is also famous for river cruising along
Himoga-an River, and the Carbin Reef — part of the 32,000-hectare
Sagay Marine Sanctuary.
The preservation of the marine sanctuary has
been beneficial for Sagaynons. They have been enjoying the
abundance of marine resources for more than 30 years now,
said Marañon./PN
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