Baguio cancels today’s Panagbenga opening parade

2019 flowerfest

BAGUIO CITY—The city’s annual crowd-drawing activities, including the opening parade of the 25th Panagbenga Flower Festival, in the first three weeks of February have been canceled as a precaution against the spread of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV).

But the city is not closing its doors to visitors who frequent the summer capital at this time when the temperature normally drops to its lowest.

Mayor Benjamin Magalong said the health of residents must take precedence as the government set up measures to prevent nCoV infections.

On Friday, grade school pupils were busy rehearsing for the opening parade of the flower festival scheduled today when city officials decided to shelve the event and the coming regional sports meet.

Whether to hold the grand street dancing and floral float parades—the highlights of the monthlong festival—on the last weekend of February would depend on the health situation, the officials said.

As of Jan. 30, the Department of Health (DOH) had confirmed that a Chinese visitor was the country’s first nCoV patient. Twenty-nine other patients were under observation.

Regional sports meet

The DOH, the Department of Education and the Office of Civil Defense pushed for the cancellation of the opening parade and the rescheduling of the Cordillera Administrative Region Athletic Association meet to be hosted by the city.

The sports meet opening on Feb. 6 would have drawn close to 7,000 student athletes from the provinces of Benguet, Mountain Province, Ifugao, Kalinga, Apayao, Abra and Baguio City.

PMA homecoming

The Philippine Military Academy (PMA) has reached out to its alumni to decide on the holding of their annual homecoming here from Feb. 13 to 15.

In a news briefing on Friday, a member of PMA Sandigan Class of 1982 said they would recommend the suspension of the reunion, which was expected to be attended by at least 1,000 alumni.

Fort Del Pilar would be temporarily closed to visitors as a “proactive measure to safeguard the health of cadets and the general public,” said Maj. Reynan Afan, deputy inspector general and acting public information officer.

However, parents and relatives may still visit the cadets but would be guided by rules set up by PMA medical officers, he said.

Health protocolsBaguio’s peak tourist season picks up in February and lasts until summer, so Baguio hotels are given strict protocols regarding guests who exhibit the nCoV symptoms, according to Rowena Galpo, city health officer.

This was not the first time Baguio had to deal with a major disease. In 2005, the city was struck by an outbreak of a strain of meningococcemia but that year’s Panagbenga Flower Festival was not canceled. Despite these precautions, the city is still expecting a high influx of visitors.

The scenic Kennon Road, the shortest route to the city, has been opened to motorists to ease congestion at Marcos Highway and Naguilian Road, the other access routes.