Metro Manila mayors open to shorter curfew for ‘Simbang Gabi’

MANILA, Philippines — The Metro Manila Council supports the national government’s order to ease the curfew in the metropolis to 12 midnight to 4 a.m., but the 17 mayors in the capital region say they are open to a further shortening of the regulated hours to 3 a.m. to give way to “Simbang Gabi” in December.

Simbang Gabi is the traditional novena of Masses that starts on Dec. 16 and ends on Dec. 24, and held in preparation for Christmas. The Masses are celebrated at 4 a.m.

Currently the curfew in Metro Manila is from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.

The metro council will meet to discuss the curfew rollback, Jose Arturo Garcia, general manager of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, told a press briefing on Monday.

Decision by Dec. 1

“We are hoping to resolve the recommendation by Dec. 1,” Garcia said. “Churches may [celebrate] their first [Mass] at 3 a.m. so that they may serve more churchgoers.”

There is only one Simbang Gabi Mass. The Mass that follows it at 5 a.m. is a regular one and is not part of the novena. But parishes are allowed to hold more than one Mass to accommodate all churchgoers.

During the council meeting on Sunday, Garcia said, the mayors also recommended raising church capacity from 10 percent to 30 percent.

Mass goers observe physical distancing inside the church. But people who hear Mass from outside the church due to lack of space inside almost crowd the yard, risking catching the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

Garcia said the mayors would leave the final decision on the curfew’s duration to the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, the temporary government body overseeing the government’s coronavirus response.

On Friday, Manila Bishop Broderick Pabillo appealed to the government to ease the curfew to allow the faithful to go to the dawn Masses, and to lift the curfew on Christmas Eve.

Church happy

On Monday, the Archdiocese of Manila and the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines said they were happy that the mayors were recommending abbre.viating the curfew to allow Simbang Gabi.

“I am happy with it. We can plan our Simbang Gabi schedules with proper physical distancing,” Pabillo said.

Fr. Jerome Secillano, spokesperson for the bishops conference, said church officials would ensure that churchgoers would wear masks and face shields and observe physical distancing during Masses.

—With a report from Jodee A. Agoncillo