Dinagyang Food Fest
City designates kiosk area for frats
The committee on kiosk of the Dinagyang 2008 decided to situate the kiosks belonging to fraternities along Iznart Street, City Proper. They will not be situated near the food fest area occupied by members of the Iloilo Hotels Restaurant and Resorts Association (IHRRA) along Delgado Streets.
Engr. Ely Bagtasus, chair of the committee on kiosk, said they decided to allocate portion of Iznart Street to fraternities to enable the police to immediately identify the areas of concern. The police will have to guard major streets in the city during the festival.
Bagtasus explained that they have to exercise extra measures to prevent disruption from any warring fraternities during the food festival. Once they are holed out in one particular place, the police could monitor the area and make quick response during a call, he said.
If they are scattered in the different sections of the city, the police will find difficulty in tracing these fraternities. Bagtasus said he does not intend to insinuate that all members of the fraternities are unruly especially when drunk but being the head of the kiosk committee it is his responsibility to thwart any untoward incident caused by fraternity or even gang war in the food festival area.
The designated food festival areas are in Delgado, Valeria, Solis, Iznart and corner JM Basa Guanco streets. The Delgado area is allocated to the IHRRA members. They started their food festival yesterday. Some 34 IHRRA members joined in the weeklong food festival.
Moreover, Bagtasus stressed they will implement the “no bottle, no pointed barbecue sticks” policy among the non-IHRRA members in the food festival area. Beer bottles are not allowed in the table. If purchased in the bottle, the kiosk owner must transfer it in a pitcher.
The pointed portion of the barbecue sticks should also be cut-off by the kiosk owners before they serve the food to the customers. They must also have their own garbage bag and should clean the area before 6 in the morning, said Bagtasus.