Town official seeks to stop Panay Christmas Village

By Felipe V. Celino

ROXAS CITY, Capiz – A Sangguniang Bayan (SB) member in Panay town is planning to temporarily stop the operation of the Christmas Village because of the garbage scattered by visitors.

A proposed resolution authored by SB Member Paolo Bigcas Besa will be presented to the Sangguniang Bayan in their next session asking Panay Mayor Felipe Barredo to temporarily stop the operation of the attraction.

Besa said the measure is the answer to the request of some residents that the opening of the Christmas village was ill-prepared because of the garbage.

He said visitors lacked discipline in properly disposing their garbage.

One of the serious problems in Panay is the disposal of garbage. For several years, the town lacked a dumpsite or sanitary landfill.

According to a local environmentalist, Panay is not fit to have its own dumpsite because of its ecological situation.

Dumpsites threaten to affect the town’s main sources of livelihood which are agriculture and fishponds.

Besa is also worried that the town could not meet the so-called herd immunity as per report from the Provincial Health office last Nov 19, 2021 because of the unabated COVID-19 cases.

He said the local government had not prepared for the influx of people who visit the Christmas village.