Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña (CDN file photo)
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña is now eyeing to extend the coverage of Sinulog party ban beyond the usual 300-meter radius from the routes of the Sinulog Festival grand parade.
Osmeña said the Cebu city government wants to discourage activities that may be used for distributing drugs.
“It’s not an isolated incident. This has happened in the past. We’re going to discourage this kind activity,” said Osmeña at the sidelines of the awarding ceremony today of the Sinulog grand parade winners at the Cebu City Sports Center.
The “not an isolated incident” case the mayor was referring to was the reported death of an 18-year-old girl who died allegedly after ingesting a drug-laced drink during a pre-Sinulog party in uptown Cebu City.
A similar incident was also reported during a Sinulog Festival party in 2016, although the allegation was never substantiated.
When asked if he were considering to include business establishments beyond the 300-meter radius under the party ban, the mayor said “yes.”
Reports of an 18-year old female who reportedly died after she overdosed on ecstasy, a prohibited drug that is notorious in large party events, has been making the rounds on social media today, Monday (January 21).
According to the unofficial reports circulating online, the incident happened last Saturday, January 19, 2019.
Cebu Daily News Digital is withholding the name of the victim, and the event where it reportedly happened pending further details from investigators./elb