In time for the nine mornings or Misa de Gallo, the Siyam ka Kadlawon Christmas Food Bazaar officially opened on December 16 offering churchgoers with warm Filipino delicacies.
Maximo Macalipes Jr., Economic Enterprise Manager of the Davao City Economic Enterprise (CEE), said the stalls offering Filipino delicacies like puto maya, bibingka, kutsinta, and cassava cake are set-up just outside Rizal Park near the San Pedro Cathedral.
The food bazaar opens as early as 1 a.m. until 7 a.m. from December 16 to December 24 with 20 stalls selling assorted kakanin.
Macalipes also shared that they chose to put the stalls near the Rizal Park instead of right in front of the church to ensure the comfort and safety of churchgoers.
“For the comfort pud ni sa atoang churchgoers para pud dili sila magdasok atbang sa San Pedro. Karon man gud ang number sa churchgoers naga-increase man gud siya (We did this to ensure the comfort of our churchgoers so that they won’t be crowding outside the cathedral. This is because we noticed that the number of churchgoers increased),” he said.
He added that the current location of the food bazaar is better than its previous location as it is well-lit and well decorated.
To also ensure that the vendors selling in the food bazaar were the ones who won the stalls during the raffling that the enterprise conducted, personnel from CEE distributed Identification Cards and checks the attendance as early as 12:30 a.m.
The CEE also conducts monitoring activities to ensure peace and order as well as the cleanliness in the area from 1 a.m. to 7 a.m. on December 16 to 24. CIO
