Manila bans street activities during Santo Niño Feast

HOLY CHARM Miniature Santo Niños are sold in Manila. — MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

There will be no street parties, stage shows, parades, parlor games and other outdoor activities during the celebration of the Feast of the Santo Niño de Tondo and Pandacan in Manila on Jan. 16 and 17.

Ordinance No. 02 signed by Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso on Tuesday said these activities, “if not regulated, [could] be surely an easy medium of COVID-19 spread and transmission thereby endangering the health, well-being and safety not only of residents in the said area but also their guests and visitors who [would] join them in the celebration.”

He added that the measures were necessary to prevent the spread of COVID-19 “in order not to put in vain all initiatives the city had undertaken the entire duration of this pandemic.”

Domagoso said curfew between midnight and 3 a.m would be strictly implemented on the feast days.

The city government has been coordinating with the Department of Tourism, Culture and Arts of Manila, Manila Police District and other church and government officials for the celebrations.

The ban was announced days after the police estimated that around half a million devotees attended the Masses in different Manila churches for the Feast of the Black Nazarene on Jan. 9.

Meanwhile, in a report by CBCP.net, the official site of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño de Cebu announced the cancellation of all Masses starting on Tuesday until the Feast of the Child Jesus on Jan. 17 for the “common good and benefit of all.”

Instead, Fr. Pacifico Nohara Jr., prior and rector of the basilica, invited devotees to follow the remaining Masses through the church’s Facebook page and YouTube channel. INQ