Two towns cancel fiesta celebrations
THE fiesta celebrations of Bayambang and Calasiao towns this year will be cancelled and instead simply hold religious and charitable activities amid the threat of COVID-19.
Calasiao Mayor Joseph Arman Bauzon said he agreed with the recommendation of the Senior Tesoro Association to forego the usual festival mode and observance be done along religious forms of activities.
“Due to the popular Covid-19…the board of trustees decided to comply with the directives issued by the higher authorities and the recommendations of the Department of Health; avoiding the attendance, participation, organizing of public events that draw a huge number of attendees. Furthermore, big social events and gatherings such as a concert or live bands are canceled for this year’s town fiesta to avoid eventualities such as the possible occurrence of local transmission of the virus,” he said.
In lieu of usual festivities, a nine-day novena will be observed in honor of Senior Divino Tesoro until May 2 and will be concluded with a procession and fireworks display. On May 3, there will be a Eucharistic Celebration and to be followed by a whole day medical mission.
On the other hand, the Bayambang Pista’y Baley 2020 committee also decided to cancel all the activities for this year’s town fiesta and the P5 million donated by the Kasama Kita sa Barangay Foundation, Inc for the celebration will be used instead as seed money to start a fund for the Bayambang Poverty Reduction Plan’s projects to further strengthen the town’s “revolution against poverty.”
In an advisory issued on March 2, the committee said the decision was made in serious consideration of the local government’s concern for the health and welfare of Bayambangueños.
“We are assuring everyone that there are no recorded cases of COVID-19 here in the municipality and the LGU is doing everything in its power to stay that way,” it said.
“We have been preparing for this for months, so it is with a heavy heart that we have to come to this decision,” the committee said.
The town will celebrate its 406th fiesta celebration in honor of its patron, St. Vincent Ferrer on April 5. (Helen Martin/PhilStar Wire Service/ECV)
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