48th Paraw Regatta Fest rescheduled to April 2020

By Emme Rose Santiagudo

The holding of the 48^th Paraw Regatta Festival has been reset to April 1-5, 2020, Mayor Jerry Treñas announced Wednesday.

“Earlier today, I had a meeting with the festival organizers, and I am happy to announce that the 48th Paraw Regatta Festival will resume in April,” he said.

The mayor said organizers of the event requested the holding of the Paraw Regatta Festival in April after it was postponed in February.

“The chairman of the festival ‘Tiyo Tatoy’ (Honorato Espinosa of Tatoy’s Manokan) and Filbert Wu, executive director of 48^th Paraw Regatta Festival, requested for the sailing event to be moved on April. The highlights of the event will be on April 5,” he said.

The sailing event, dubbed as the oldest in Asia, was initially set on February 23 to March 1 but was postponed by the organizers upon the recommendation of the health officials amid the threats of coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

On Tuesday, the mayor also issued Executive Order No. 038, suspending all major public gatherings in Iloilo City from February to March due to COVID-19.

“There will be no big events in Iloilo City for the whole of February and March. Ginapangabay ta that all Ilonggos will be safe and ginatinguhaan gid nato nga mapunggan ta ang pagsulod sang virus sa siyudad,” he said.

The mayor said the order was made in consultation with the Department of Health (DOH) in Western Visayas which also discourages the holding of public events that can draw a huge crowd.

Aside from Paraw Regatta Festival, the RUN (Revival Unity for Next Generation) for Jesus scheduled on Feb. 27 at La Paz, Iloilo City was also cancelled by the authorities due to threats of COVID-19.