The city government has placed the city under a period of mourning and vigilance for the remainder of 2020.
On Friday, Mayor Sara Duterte issued Executive Order (EO) No. 25, providing policies on what can and cannot be done during the period.
The EO said that the city will not hold festivities for the duration of the period as this will be devoted to commemorating the severe and distressing impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.
Under the EO, Duterte said the period is also to be used in sympathizing with those whose lives were lost to the disease and their families, particularly those of frontliners who died while serving the community.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has taken the lives of 143,000 individuals around the world and there are hundreds of deaths reported daily,” she said in the executive order.
“In the Philippines, many healthcare workers have either died or have been infected with the virus. There is a need to emphasize the value of sympathy for the families of frontliners who died and who will die because of Covid-19,” she added.
She also said that the quarantine protocols have taken a toll on the people, including the businesses and that she is even expecting hunger in the coming months especially among the economically-depressed sectors.
“There is a need to impress upon everyone the value of empathy who are suffering and who will continue to suffer the after effects of the pandemic,” the EO reads.
This is also to impose vigilance among the people in the city and recognize the sacrifices of the frontline workers.
With this, the city government has come up guidelines for the mourning and vigilance that include:
all city and national government celebrations, parties, anniversaries, and festivities shall be cancelled;
Commemoration of important dates and legal holidays should be kept short;
all barangays shall refrain from extravagant celebration of their fiesta. All founding anniversaries/Araw ng Barangay celebrations shall be cancelled;
private parties should be lowkey with no more than 25 guests. Big celebrations are advised to be postponed until 2021;
private sector should consider food distribution, feeding program, or financial assistance to their employees;
The city government will file actions in cases of thoughtless extravagance in expenses for pleasure or display.
