WITH the Covid-19 still around, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio encouraged Dabawenyos to celebrate this year's Kadayawan Festival indoors.
This was Duterte-Carpio's message on Monday, August 17, during the special flag ceremony at the City Hall of Davao attended by the deputy mayors of the 11 tribes of the city.
The ceremony serves as the formal opening of the 35th Kadayawan Festival Week, which will be done online.
Duterte-Carpio urged the public to support the virtual activities of Kadayawan through various social media platforms.
The mayor said the move was made amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
"Tanan atong activities in digital form. Online lang tanan [ang activities], and everyone can participate. Mas dako atong audience since naa ta sa internet (All our activities will be in digital form and will be streamed via social media so everyone can participate. We can expect a huge online presence since it is all on the internet)," Duterte-Carpio said.
While the city is currently under modified general community quarantine (MGCQ), which allows some to go to establishments, the mayor still reminded the public to stay indoors for the meantime.
As of August 16, Davao City has a total of 1,137 total confirmed Covid-19 cases. Currently, 216 are still recovering, while 874 have already recovered, and 47 deaths.
The mayor also encouraged parents at home to explain to their children the reason for celebrating Kadayawan Festival -- that is to be thankful for the blessing of good harvest, and to deepen their understanding on the culture of the city's 11 tribes.
"I-celebrate nato ang Kadayawan sulod sa atong panimalay. Atong i-explain sa atong mga household members ngano gina-celebrate nato ang Kadayawan (Let us celebrate Kadayawan this year, within our respective houses. Let us also explain to our household members why we are celebrating it in the first place)," Duterte-Carpio said.
Meanwhile, in a radio interview in the afternoon, Duterte-Carpio encouraged the public to patronize and support local products during the Kadayawan.
She also encouraged them to support establishments that are initiating their respective Kadayawan sale, provided that minimum health standards should be properly observed to prevent the virus from spreading.
The city will not be conducting actual major events this year, as it is placed under mourning and vigilance from April 17 to December 31, 2020, due to the impact of Covid-19 in the city.
Duterte-Carpio said the city will have to skip major events this year to further curb the spread of the virus.
The next major Kadayawan event will be celebrated on August 21 -- the Indigenous People's Day. This also falls on the same day as Ninoy Aquino Day, which is a Special Non-Working Holiday.
Meanwhile, MalacaƱang Palace declared August 24 as "Araw ng Pasasalamat."