LAPU-LAPU CITY, Cebu–The Lapu-Lapu City Government might cancel some of its activities for the upcoming fiesta celebration in honor of its patron, Our Lady of the Rule (Virgen dela Regla), on November 20-21, 2020.
Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Junard “Ahong” Chan said he is considering this to avoid mass gatherings and prevent the spread of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).
“In terms of kining mga activities sa fiesta, like kanang mga night activities, nights and benefits (events), murag ato seguro nang i-kansela,” Chan, who is a COVID survivor, said.
(In terms of these activities for the fiesta, like the night activities, nights and benefit events, we might will cancel them.)
But Chan said religious activities will still push through.
“Possible, initially lang ha, nga atoang i-focus sa religious aspect. Focus ta sa simbahan” Chan said.
(It’s a possibility, just initially, that we focus on the religious aspect. Just focus on the Church.)
But Chan said there will be no hourly mass schedule this year at the Virgen Dela Regla National Shrine and that masses and novenas will be limited.
The mayor also said that they plan to pursue the fluvial procession this year, but with strict compliance with health and safety protocols set by the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.
“Kana maoy gitun-an nato nga mahitabo siya, pero limited ra ang mosakay in every pumpboat or boats para ma-maintain nato ang social distancing,” he said.
(That’s what we’re planning, that it will push through. But the people on board the boats should be limited to be able to maintain social distancing.)
It can be recalled that the Lapu-Lapu City Sports Commission, with the support of the Lapu-Lapu City government, is organizing a series of sporting events that will be dubbed 2020 Lapu-Lapu Fiesta League.
Read: Several sporting events lined up for Lapu fiesta
The mayor, though, didn’t mention if they plan to also cancel any of these events lined up for sports.
As of October 22, 2020, statistics from the Health Department show that Lapu-Lapu, which is under Modified General Community Quarantine, has 138 active cases remaining.
/bmjo