BACOLOD City Mayor Evelio Leonardia designated Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran as acting mayor effective September 28.
Familiaran said on Monday, October 1, he received the memorandum on Friday to take over the mayor's post while is he is travelling abroad.
He said Mayor Leonardia along with Councilor Em Ang and MassKara dancers were in South Korea to attend and perform at the ongoing Andong Mask Dance Festival.
"It's a Mask Festival and all the expenses of the city officials were paid by the International Mask Arts and Culture Organization (Imaco)," he added.
Familiaran noted that the MassKara Festival dancers are a crowd favorite and the most photographed at the Andong Mask Dance Festival.
Imaco is a group of international festivals that use masks, with 131 individual and group organizations from 56 countries.
Imaco is based in Andong City, South Korea, a sister city of Bacolod. The sisterhood agreement was forged in September 2008, when Leonardia was on his third term as mayor of Bacolod.
Familiaran said Andong City Mayor Kweon Young-Sae is also the president of Imaco and they will be in Bacolod on October 25 and 28 for an Imachoconference.
"We will host the conference and Imaco will also bring their K-pop band here," he said.
Familiaran added that all the hotels in the city are now fully booked because of the MassKara Festival and other meetings and conferences here.
