Some 613 personnel of the Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO), other uniformed service units, and emergency response teams have been deployed on Thursday to secure the three-day Bacolod Chicken Inasal Festival which starts on Friday afternoon.

The security forces were dispatched during a ceremony held at the BCPO gymnasium.

The send-off was headed by Lt. Col. Edel Jose Manzano and Lt. Col. Ronnie Brillo, deputy city directors for administration and operations, respectively, on behalf of Col. Noel Aliño, acting city director, together with Pastor Joelan Toribio, who led the prayer and blessing of the troops.

Aliño told reporters on Wednesday they have already initiated skeletal deployment before the actual event and aside from the personnel that will be assigned to the festival sites, a reactionary support force will also be on standby. “We will do a team work for this,” he added.

The personnel of BCPO will be joined by members of the Philippine National Police Regional Mobile Force Battalion, Bureau of Fire Protection, Philippine Coast Guard, Bacolod Traffic Authority Office and City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office.

They will be assigned to various festival sites, including the North Capitol Road, Manokan Country, SM City Bacolod, Ayala Malls Capitol Central and Megaworld’s The Upper East.

At 5 p.m. on Friday, the Bacolod Chicken Inasal Festival opening ceremony will be held at the North Capitol Road to be followed by a beer tasting and pairing of chef’s inasal versions.

On Saturday, the Barangay Inasal Cook-Off will be held at the Manokan Country and SM City Bacolod while the Chicken Inasal Awards will follow at the SM Atrium.

A live cooking demonstration of celebrity chef Jose Sarasola will also be featured at Ayala Malls Capitol Central.

The last day of the festival will be highlighted by the longest chicken-grilling event at the Megaworld’s The Upper East. (PNA)