School activities other events cancelled over COVID-19 jitters

By Emme Rose Santiagudo 

Moving up ceremonies of daycare schools in Iloilo City including all other events sponsored by the city government have been called off amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) spread.

Mayor Jerry Treñas announced on Saturday the cancellation of the scheduled events in the metro as the city government beefs up its preparedness measures against COVID-19.

“Due to the present situation on the coronavirus in the country and the fact that the President has already approved the declaration of the country under code red, I have decided to call off the moving up activities of the daycare program of the city. All the certificates of the children will be released directly by the daycare teachers to the parents,” Treñas said.

Two other big festivals in the metro supposedly scheduled in April were also cancelled again amid threats of COVID-19.

Treñas said he directed the organizers of the Iloilo Summer Arts Festival and the Paraw Regatta Festival to reset the staging of the activities until the concerns over COVID-19 have subsided.

“I am hereby directing that the Iloilo Summer Arts Festival be transferred to October of this year. By then the situation would have already improved and concerns with COVID-19 would hopefully have diminished. The Paraw Regatta Festival will have to be postponed for the same reasons. I will sit down with the organizers to discuss what date is most feasible under the circumstances,” he announced.

Treñas issued an executive order cancelling all major events in the city from February to March.

The annual Paraw Regatta Festival was initially scheduled in February but was moved to April.

Meanwhile, the first-ever Iloilo Summer Arts Festival was supposedly scheduled to start on April 3 and will run until May 17.

“The safety of all Ilonggos is the paramount consideration for all our decisions. We will do our best to make Iloilo safe for everyone. We request for the utmost cooperation of everyone as we experience this medical issue which requires the cooperation of everyone,” the mayor said.

Treñas said he has already instructed Dr. Roland Fortuna the city’s focal person for COVID-19 to conduct a series of conferences for the various cleaning procedures and medical protocols for the city hall, markets, hotels, health centers, transport terminals, and other commercial establishments in the metro.

The mayor added that he will be sitting down with the school authorities to discuss what best should be done about scheduled baccalaureate masses and graduation ceremonies.

The initiatives done by the city government were commended by the Department of Health (DOH) in Western Visayas.

“It’s a good move and initiative of our LGUs because their primary role is to really protect their constituents,” Dr. Jane Juanico head of the Infectious Disease Division of DOH 6 said.

Juanico advised organizers and other LGUs in the region to limit the staging of huge gatherings in their localities especially that it can potentially be a source of transmission.
“They should limit ang pag-conduct sang big gatherings kon sa diin kon indi ma-implement ang precautionary measures naton possible dira maghalin aton paglapta sang transmission,” she warned.