CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Department of Education (DepEd) announced to indefinitely suspend all national and regional events, except for two, as precautionary measures against the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).
DepEd has issued an official statement on March 8, directing organizers of all gatherings and competitions, including Palaro Regional Meets such as the Central Visayas Regional Athletics Association (CVIRAA), that involved students to postpone them until further notice.
DepEd, however, gave exemptions to two ongoing activities.
“We are proceeding with the NFOT (National Festival of Talents) and NSPC (National Schools Press Conference), since participants are already at the venue,” DepEd said.
They added that ‘heightened precautions’ were being implemented at the twin events that covered all of their segments.
CVIRAA serves as the selection tournament for representatives of Central Visayas to the Palarong Pambansa.
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The event, expected to take place in Dumaguete City, was supposed to kick off last February but was postponed due to the threats of COVID-19. It was rescheduled to be held on March 21 to 28, 2020.
In fact, the late Mark O. Ladaran, the Abellana National School teacher who died in a motorcycle crash on March 5, 2020, was attending the final CVIRAA preparations meeting in Dumaguete City prior to his fatal accident.
He died in a motorcycle crash in Barangay Balud, Dalaguete town in southern Cebu. He was then driving home from the CVIRAA meeting when he met the fatal accident.
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Meanwhile, DepEd also said they might issue more announcements on Monday, March 9, pending consultation from the government’s Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Disease (IATF – EID)./ with reports from Mars A. Alison/dbs