Over 1,000 students to form human flag in Bacolod

More than 1,000 students will form a human flag in Bacolod City in Negros Occidental to mark the country’s 113th Independence Day, a report said Saturday. The human flag will include about 170 students from the Visayan Maritime Academy who will wear their white uniforms and about a thousand summer jobbers and Philippine Employment Office Scholars, the Visayan Daily Star reported. “We are expecting a bigger human flag to parade down the city’s main thoroughfares Sunday. Several roads in Bacolod will also be closed starting noon for the parade," said Homer Bais, chairman of Independence Day celebration in Bacolod. The evolution of the human flag will be shown during the parade, he said, adding that more than 2,000 city employees and residents will join Sunday’s activities. Capping the parade is the wreath-laying at the monument of the unknown soldier at the Bacolod Public Plaza, to be led by soldiers from the 303rd Infantry Brigade. War veterans will take part in the ceremony, Bais said. Sen. Francis Escudero will be the guest speaker at the city’s Independence Day rites, the report said. A tableau presentation on the evolution of Philippine flag to be performed by the MassKara theater ensemble of the University of St. La Salle will highlight the province’s Independence Day celebration. It will be followed by the Governor’s 3-K and 5-K Freedom run which will go through Lacson Street up to Bata area. There will also be a cultural show at 6 p.m. at the Bacolod Government Center grounds featuring the Pilipinas Kaanyag Dance Company, West Negros Chorale, and Rondalla. Meanwhile, Bacolod City police chief Senior Superintendent Ricardo de la Paz said portions of Lacson Street in front of Business Inn up to the Capitol Lagoon will be closed to traffic starting at noon Sunday. Also on Sunday, the Negros Occidental provincial government will give P450,000 in checks to beneficiaries of the Barangay Insurance program. Gov. Alfredo Marañon Jr. and Vice Gov. Genaro Alvarez will lead the giving of the checks at the capitol. — JE, GMA News