Bacolod’s Chicken Inasal has not been recognized as the city’s cultural property yet.
Bacolod City tourism officer Ma. Teresa Manalili has apologized for the premature announcement, admitting she misinterpreted an Email from the National Commission on Culture and Arts (NCCA), Caesar Distrito, spokesman of Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez said on Thursday, May 30.
Manalili apologized for the announcement she made during the opening of the Bacolod Chicken Inasal Festival on March 24, he said.
Distrito said what Manalili received on May 23 was a Certificate of Compliance from the NCCA Philippine Registry of Heritage.
The Certificate of Compliance refers to the registration of Bacolod’s Chicken Inasal as a local cultural property under the Philippine Registry of Cultural Property, and this is the first step prior to the granting of such recognition/declaration, he said.
He said Manalili’s “intention was purely to share the news which is a significant and meaningful step in preserving the cultural of our beloved iconic food, Bacolod Chicken Inasal. Her sharing was to acknowledge our efforts in cultural preservation”.
When news reports came out that Bacolod Chicken Inasal’s had been recognized as Bacolod’s cultural property, the NCCA then clarified to Manalili that there was misunderstanding, Distrito said.
Upon the request of NCCA, she then made the necessary correction that the COC is for the registration of the cultural property issued by the Philippine Registry of Heritage and not yet a recognition/declaration from the NCCA, he added.*