NAGA CITY, Sept. 8 (PIA) – Despite the cancellation of all the activities for the Peñafrancia Fiesta due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the local government here, convened members of the Peñafrancia Festival Multi-Agency Coordinating Group (MAC Group), Joint Operations Center (JOC) and Incident Management Team (IMT) for the annual assemblage and commitment signing, Friday, Sept. 4 at the PSO Training Hall.
In a Joint Press Conference sometime in June 2020, the Archdiocese of Caceres and the Naga City Government agreed to cancel the holding of processions and other activities to celebrate this year’s Peñafrancia Fiesta due to the current public health emergency, especially that there is a rising number of COVID-19 cases in the City.
Mayor Nelson Legacion said that with the declaration of the church and the local government, this year’s celebration will be very different, unlike the usual Peñafrancia Fiesta celebration.
“We are going through a very rough and difficult time in our history, and our faith is being tested. First time in the history of the celebration of the Peñafrancia that we will be wearing face mask and face shield, and we do not know when this is going to end, Legacion said.
“The church had said that there will be no Traslacion Procession, no Fluvial Procession and other religious activities. Likewise, the local government will have no civic parade, no regional military parade, no Voyadores Festival, no Ms. Bicolandia, no trade fairs and other activities,” he added.
The advice is to conduct the celebration from the respective parishes.
However, despite the aforesaid cancellation, there may still be devotees, pilgrims, guests and visitors that will endeavor to visit the City and pay homage to Our Lady of Peñafrancia.
Hence, there is a need for the reactivation of the MAC Group because of the risk involved in the influx of visitors and pilgrims, particularly those coming from areas with higher incidence of COVID-19, to ensure the effective and efficient command, control, coordination, collaboration and communication during the entire period of September 2020.
This is also the reason why the City’s Health Emergency Response Task Force (HERTF) passed Resolution No. 2020-001 – a Resolution Earnestly Requesting for the Re-imposition of Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ) in the City from September 8 to 24, 2020, for approval by the National Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF).
Legacion is not so optimistic though, that this request will be granted by the IATF based on past requests, such as; the suspension of locally stranded individuals (LSIs) and the request for border control, which were not officially granted to the city government.
“Nonethless, what is important is that we have tried, and whatever will be the decision or action on the part of the national government, we, here in the City Government of Naga, we have to do our part. Hence, we convene the Joint Operations Center,” Legacion concluded.
Legacion led the commitment signing activating the said group, consisting of agency administrators or executives of the different agencies from the City Government, Archdiocese of Caceres, National and Regional Government Agencies, and cooperating agencies, such as PIA-Camarines Sur, pursuant to Executive Order No. 2020-031. (JRM-PIAV/Camarines Sur)
Source: Philippines Information Agency (pia.gov.ph)
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