DAVAO City will put off most of its extravagant Christmas activities and celebration this year in light of the Covid-19 pandemic, Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio said.
Duterte-Carpio said on Monday, October 19, that the majority of the events lined up for this year's "Pasko Fiesta" will not push due to the continuing threat of Covid-19.
"Pasko Fiesta" is the City Government's annual month-long Christmas festival.
The annual Christmas event is one of the affected city events with the implementation of Executive Order (EO) 25, released early April this year, declaring April 17 to December 31, 2020, a period of mourning and vigilance as the global deaths due to the highly infectious Covid-19 continue to rise.
The EO states that private parties to mark personal or family milestones should be kept low key and modest, meaning a celebration in a public place should be held with no more than 25 guests, while those who want to pursue big celebrations can do so next year.
Duterte-Carpio had previously discouraged the public, including private sectors, from conducting parties and other gatherings this Christmas while the city is still under mourning and vigilance for the Covid-19 pandemic.
"Parties are not really appropriate sa pagkakaron (right now). Plus, mass gathering is prohibited kay mao na ang mass spreader sa sakit (since it would cause a massive widespread of the virus)," she said in a previous radio interview via 87.5 FM Davao City Disaster Radio, calling these events "super spreader" to the Covid-19 infection.
With this, the mayor also barred City Government agencies from staging Christmas parties
But she said the city would still push through with its traditional gift-giving activity for employees of the City Government, and other sectors such as children, senior citizens, barangay workers, and members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT).
"Bisan pa man niadto, gihunong naman nato ang parties when I came in [as mayor] during 2016, nagsulti nako daan nga walay parties during December para mapadako nato atong budgets for gifts sa tanan (I had ordered, since I came back as city mayor, that there would be no parties during December so we can have a bigger budget allocation for the gifts intended for everybody)," Duterte-Carpio said.
The mayor said the only major party that the city had staged is the LGBT Ball, an official activity of the Pasko Fiesta that is also cancelled this year.
Despite the pandemic, she said the City Government would still be preparing for its traditional gift-giving activity every Christmas eve at the ancestral house of President Duterte in Bangkal.
She said the City will be preparing grocery packs to around 10,000 individuals who will be expected to go to the Duterte residence.
The mayor, however, said the city would still decorate public spaces with Christmas decorations to keep the Christmas mood alive in the city.