A student paper adviser at the 2020 National Schools Press Conference on Monday gets his body temperature checked before entering the Cagayan Coliseum for the event kickoff in Tuguegarao City. Photo: Charles Magallanes/Be An Inquirer
TUGUEGARAO CITY, Philippines — Heightened precautionary measures were implemented as the Department of Education (DepEd) kicked off on Monday the opening ceremonies of the 2020 National Schools Press Conference (NSPC) here amid the threat of the coronavirus disease or COVID-19.
The best and the brightest campus journalists together with their school paper advisers, DepEd personnel, and local government officials took center stage as they were welcomed by students of the Cagayan National High School with a local festival dance performance.
Delegates from the country’s 17 regions were directed to the Cagayan Coliseum in the city’s downtown after the DepEd canceled the traditional parade due to the COVID-19 scare.
At the venue, volunteers of the COVID-19 task force checked the body temperatures of all NSPC participants and handed rubbing alcohol and hand sanitizers at the entrance.
Cagayan Valley region delegates sit one seat apart inside the Cagayan Coliseum during the opening ceremonies of the 2020 National Schools Press Conference in Tuguegarao City on Monday. Photo: Carlo Jacob Molina/INQUIRER.net
Delegates were also asked to sit one seat apart at the venue following the guidelines set on how to prevent the spread of the virus.
Rosario Villaflor, Chief Assistant to Cagayan Governor Manuel Mamba, assured the safety of the conduct of the annual activity, telling delegates not to be scared but be cautious of the virus.
“I think we should revel in the heat here in Tuguegarao and in Cagayan because according to scientists, the virus cannot survive sa maiinit na lugar,” Villaflor said.
In his welcoming remarks, Tuguegarao City Mayor Jefferson Soriano, meanwhile, said the warmth of the city, which is known as the hottest place in the country, reflects the “warmth of our hearts in receiving our visitors.”
Soriano also vowed his continuous support in all the DepEd’s programs as he underscored the importance of being literate and well-informed.
“Ano po iyong priority po natin dapat? Education or Health? Parehas po na importante ito sa atin but I say again, education po ang prioritry natin because the logic that if we are well-informed and we are literate and we know a lot of things, everthing follows,” the mayor said.
The NSPC, dubbed as the “Olympics of campus journalism, is held each year by DepEd in pursuant to Republic Act no. 7079 or the Campus Journalism Act of 1991.
Anchored on the theme “Empowering communities through campus journalism”, this year’s NSPC runs from March 9-13 and is hosted by the Cagayan Valley region and by the Tuguegarao City division.