Tanduay’s Rum Fest Joins the Roster of Major Festivals in Bacolod

Held from Aug. 17 to 24, the week-long event is the first of its kind in the country. Known as the Tanduay Rum Festival, the event paid homage to the humble sugarcane as well as celebrated the Filipinos’ skill in the visual arts, culinary arts, mixology, dance, and music. For eight days, Bacolodnons participated in the Barrel Art Painting contest, basketball court painting, Culinaria and Mixology competitions, 5K Rum Run, float parade, street dance contest, and a concert headlined by iconic rock band Sandwich.

The City of Smiles headed by Mayor Evelio “Bing” Leonardia now has six major festivals in its annual roster with the recent inclusion of the Rum Festival sponsored by Tanduay. This makes Bacolod the city with the most number of major festivals in the Philippines.

“Fortunately for us, Tanduay really invested into this. It made the Rum Festival a reality and a big success, judging from its initial staging. It started with a big bang, and this big bang would resonate for sure in the years to come. For our other festivals, it was a case of holding the festival first, testing it, then later on legitimizing it through the legislative process,” Mayor Leonardia said. “This one (Rum Festival) was an ordinance before it became a festival. I consider myself an accidental politician. It all started when I got involved with the Masskara Festival. I was the one who drafted the constitution and by-laws of the Masskara Foundation. When I received invitations to run, I decided to join, run like it was another student council election. Even if you don’t have much money, if the people want you, you could become mayor. When you’re in tourism, you have to be people-oriented. You also go to a lot of places, your horizons get widened, your views become broader, and you get insights. You learn to think of the total development of the community and society. If you think about it and look back, we should be asking ourselves why we haven’t done this earlier. When you talk of rum, you talk about it being a derivative of sugar, and Bacolod is a city that has developed and prospered because of the sugar industry. It made us so rich, and it has also made us poor. It had its ups and downs. The Bacolodnons are the kind of people who are basically happy. We enjoy life. We know how to celebrate. We know how to spend our money. It’s a natural habitat for festivals, and this is the right place to hold the Rum Festival.” ~Mayor Evelio “Bing” Leonardia , Bacolod City Mayor

Mayor Leonardia was president of the Student Council when he was studying Law at the University of Negros Occidental. he had specifically included a provision that said the chairman of the Masskara Foundation should not hold an elective position. Later on, Mayor Leonardia would come to the realization that the kind of involvement he had with the Masskara Festival was something that he was inclined to do.

The Rum Festival was staged after an ordinance was passed declaring the third week of August as the date for holding the Rum Festival. In the ordinance, its author, former City Councilor Em Legaspi-Ang cited how Bacolod has been dubbed as the “Sugar Capital of the Philippines” and is the “home of the world’s largest selling rum.”

The Rum Festival joins Bacolod’s major festivals that include the Masskara Festival in October, the Bacolaodiat in January, Diwali in November, Chicken Inasal in May, and Halandumon in June.

Hosting festivals is not something new for Mayor Leonardia, who has been involved with the ini-tial staging of the Masskara Festival—Bacolod’s most popular cultural celebration. He used to head the Masskara Foundation, and he has also worked for the Department of Tourism before running for public office after the EDSA Revolution.

When he finally threw his hat into the political arena, he emerged as the number one councilor in his first try. He received a record number of votes, even more than those of the mayor or vice mayor during that time.

In the next election, he won again, this time as vice mayor. When he finally decided to run for mayor, he successfully toppled the ruling dynasty in his city. Heading the dynamic city of Bacolod, Mayor Leonardia cited his experience working in the Tour-ism Department as a factor in helping him deal with people and visitors.

In staging the first Rum Festival in the country, Mayor Leonardia it’s only fitting that it should be held in Bacolod.

Mayor Leonardia likewise pointed out that Bacolod is a good place to hold festivals because of its people.

Tanduay Now Available in Singapore, Partners with Octopus Distribution

Present during the rooftop launch in Singapore were (from left) Mr. Paul Lim, SVP for Marketing, Tanduay Distillers Inc.; Mr. Marc Ngo, Senior Brand Manager, Tanduay Distillers Inc.; Mr. Daniel Schwalb, Chief Commercial Officer, Octopus Group; Ms. Dato Elaine-Teh, Executive Chairman, Octopus Group; Mr. Lucio K. Tan Jr., President and COO, Tanduay Distillers Inc.; Mr. Matthew Ruscoe, Managing Director, Octopus Group; Ms. Karlu Tan-Say, Director of Eton Properties; Ms. Jane Ong , AVP for Exports, Tanduay Distillers Inc.; and Mr. Roy Sumang, Asst. Manager for Business Development, Tanduay Distillers Inc.

To celebrate the deal, it held a rooftop launch at the Octopus Building in Ubi Road 3 in the Lion City. With the theme "Tanduay Sunset Party", the event was attended by Tanduay President Lucio K. Tan, Jr., the executives, and staff of the Octopus Group, F&B directors, restaurant owners, bar managers, and members of the media. Tanduay's resident mixologist, Dondz Bolante, served high-end cocktails such as the Guava-Basil Mint, Tanduay Negroni, Manila Mule, and Basil Mojito.

After the party, the Octopus Group held a trade launch at El Mesa in Clarke Quay. Attendees enjoyed free-flowing mojitos, Dondz special macadamia sour as well as Lechon while being entertained by El Mesa's in-house bands.

“Partnering with the Octopus Group is part of our effort to bring Tanduay to the global market. We are glad to finally make our products available to our kababayans in Singapore and at the same time introduce them to the Singaporeans.” ~Tanduay President and COO Lucio K. Tan, Jr

Mr. Lucio K. Tan Jr., President, and COO, Tanduay Distillers Inc.

Tanduay Distillers, Inc. recently entered into a partnership with Octopus Distribution Networks, the leading distributor for both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages in Singapore, to further its international expansion plan.

Tanduay increased its market share abroad by expanding its distribution networks. It is currently available in the USA, Germany, China, UAE, Guam, and Australia.

In 2017, it further amplified its marketing initiatives. From that year, it experienced a two-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 86.25% in its export business.

Tanduay’s international marketing initiatives include creating a presence in both sports and entertainment. It has a partnership with the Golden State Warriors, making it the first Philippine brand to sponsor an NBA team. It has naming rights to the Tanduay Club in the Oracle Arena, and Tanduay Rum can be found at retailers in the Golden State Warriors’ blue and gold “Strength in Numbers” collectible boxes in California.

Tanduay is also the official rum of the Barclays Center and the Brooklyn Nets. It has been a Presenting Sponsor of the 40/40 CLUB and an Associate Sponsor of the arena's Brooklyn Show platform.

Tanduay has also previously sponsored and will continue to sponsor the Emmy Awards this year.

Declared the World’s Number One Rum by Drinks International for two consecutive years, Tanduay has received numerous awards from international bodies, the most recent of which were from the 2019 San Francisco World Spirits Competition (SFWSC).