MMC suspends all activities for Holy Week

MB – Published March 19, 2021, 5:23 PM

Parañaque City Mayor Edwin Olivarez announced that the Metro Manila Council (MMC), composed of 17 Metro Manila mayors, agreed that Holy Week activities will be suspended due to the surge of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in Metro Manila.

Olivarez, who also heads the MMC, said that procession and the “Salubong” will not be allowed during the celebration of Holy Week to prevent mass gatherings.

He said that Metro mayors are now coordinating with churches that they will only be allowed to accept religious goers up to 50 percent seating capacity.

The MMC head said they will also not allow standing of devotees at churches’ surroundings even with big spaces to accommodate more churchgoers.

Olivarez said the MMC will follow the guidelines given by the Inter-Agency Task Force during the celebration of Holy Week to avoid transmission of COVID-19.

On placing Metro Manila under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) or modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ), Olivarez said the Metro Manila mayors will only implement isolated lockdown in barangays, sitios, establishments, and houses.

“Hindi natin pwede isakripisyo ang buong siyudad. Pwede naman na isailalim sa isolated or granular lockdown ang isang barangay lang dahil kailangan natin na maka-recover sa ating ekonomiya (We cannot sacrifice the whole city. We can implement isolated or granular lockdown in one barangay only because we need to recover our economy), Olivarez said.

The mayor said the city has recorded 93 new cases on March 18 and a total of 725 active cases.

Olivarez said five border checkpoints are placed around the city to control the surge of COVID-19 cases especially in Barangay Baclaran with 95 cases.

SOURCE: https://mb.com.ph/2021/03/19/mmc-suspends-all-activities-for-holy-week/