ONE of the biggest events in Iloilo City this February that is expected to gather around 20,000 people was canceled due to the threat of coronavirus disease (Covid-19).
The event, "Run for Jesus," which was scheduled on Thursday, February 27, at La Paz Public plaza, was canceled after Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas, through Executive Order (EO) 38, suspended all major gatherings in the city.
Trenas signed the EO Tuesday, February 25, 2020.
Senator Manny Pacquiao was supposedly one of the guests expected during the event.
"The EO that I signed yesterday (February 25, 2020) is for huge events because there are pastors who will visit for Run for Jesus event and will come from Daegu in South Korea where there came a lot of cases of coronavirus," Treñas said.
In an inter-agency meeting last Tuesday, Treñas said it canceled the permit issued to the organizer of Run for Jesus.
He said the cancellation was made considering that guests expected were from South Korea, where there is a rising number of Covid-19 cases.
As of Wednesday, February 26, South Korea reported 1,261 confirmed infections of the virus and 11 fatalities from the Covid-19 illness it causes.
Meanwhile, Office of Civil Defense-Western Visayas Director Jose Roberto Nuñez wrote a letter to Aklan Governor Florencio Miraflores on February 25 regarding the arrival of Korean nationals through the Kalibo International Airport for the Run for Jesus event.
Nuñez said these Koreans came from Daegu City, South Korea where most confirmed cases of Covid-19 have been reported.
Nuñez recommended that the arriving Koreans be temporarily placed in a facility, such as the Aklan Training Center, where they will be monitored to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus in Western Visayas. (SunStar Philippines)