ONE could laugh at organizers’ denial that Saturday’s “Arat na Cebu!” concert at Cebu City Sports Center was not a political event.
When politicians enter a venue during this campaign period, their actions and speeches always have political motives.
Even if the speeches of Mayor Michael Rama and his running mate, Councilor Raymond Alvin Garcia, did not last for hours, a portion of the event where they showed up had become political.
It was a campaign activity veiled as a concert as there could be potential voters among the crowd of millennials.
When organizers said that Arat na Cebu! was a celebration after rising from the coronavirus disease pandemic, one could laugh at it again. It’s a pure motherhood statement.
The pandemic is still here, and the World Health Organization has yet to declare that it is already over.
Dr. Mary Jean Loreche of the Department of Health in Central Visayas has expressed her worries that the concert could have been a superspreader event.
A superspreader, when applied to an event, refers to an occurrence when at least one person in attendance has the coronavirus disease and spreads it knowingly or unknowingly to other persons through risk behaviors that include not wearing a face mask and not keeping safe distance from other people.
Police and other Cebu City authorities could have had a hard time monitoring the crowd as there were about 100,000 people in and outside the Cebu City Sports Center, an open air venue. There were reports that over 20 people were hurt and had difficulty breathing during the event. The City Government and the police must review their security measures, including the implementation of health protocols, for big events.
Even though Covid-19 cases have been declining in Cebu, events that attract large crowds such as concerts, not just the Arat na Cebu! event, and political rallies could be the reasons for another surge in Covid-19 cases.
New Covid-19 cases have been declining, but this must not be the reason for everybody to be confident. Everybody must move forward with caution. Another surge of Covid-19 cases could eat up the “freedom” declared by Mayor Rama last month.