A fiesta was reportedly organized in Barangay Basak San Nicolas last June 27, 2020 | CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Department of Interior and Local Government in Cebu City (DILG – Cebu City) has summoned the village chairperson of Basak San Nicolas to explain why an unauthorized fiesta celebration took place there last Saturday, June 27.
DILG-Cebu City issued a show-cause order addressed to Barangay Basak San Nicolas Captain Norman Navarro on Monday, June 29, to explain, within 48 hours, the incident. This is on top of the show-cause order that the Cebu City Legal Office has issued to the village official last Sunday, June 28.
READ MORE: Cebu City Legal summons Basak San Nicolas officials
Lawyer Ian Kenneth Lucero, officer-in-charge of DILG- Cebu City, confirmed in a phone interview with CDN Digital that they had received orders from DILG’s central office to look into the matter.
“He (Navarro) is given 48 hours to respond to our show-cause order. As the village chairperson and the local chief executive of the barangay, he needs to explain why and how it happened under his watch,” Lucero said in Cebuano.
“The directives came from Secretary (Eduardo) Año and were sent to our regional director who, through a memorandum, instructed us to issue a show-cause order,” he added.
Lucero said Leocadio Trovela, DILG-Central Visayas director, and Alexander Macario, DILG Assistant Secretary, were also present when the show-cause order was served.
CDN Digital tried to reach Navarro for his comments multiple times but to no avail.
Photos showing a Sinulog dance performance being held during a fiesta celebration in Sitio Alumnos, Barangay Basak San Nicolas went viral over the weekend.
Mass gatherings, including fiestas within sitios, are strictly prohibited during enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).
READ MORE: Police prepare charges vs Basak San Nicolas brgy captain, 13 others
The village is among those being considered by the national government’s anti-coronavirus task force to be placed under hard lockdown due to its high number of active coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases.
Data from the Cebu City government showed that they had recorded 90 active coronavirus cases in Barangay Basak San Nicolas. Its total number of documented coronavirus patients stood around 130 as of June 28, 2020. / dbs