Mayor of quake-hit city cancels employees’ Christmas parties

KIDAPAWAN CITY– City Mayor Joseph Evangelista has ordered on Saturday the cancellation of all Christmas parties of the city and the different departments while Kidapawan is still recovering from the effects of earthquakes.

Evangelista issued Memorandum No. 3717 directing all department heads of the city government to forego all scheduled Christmas parties, celebrations and Christmas holiday events that would be uncalled for while the city was trying to rebuild houses and buildings damaged by the series of tremors that jolted the province last month.

By canceling Christmas party celebrations, the city government is showing empathy with the quake victims, including city civil servants, he said.

Instead, Evangelista urged city government employees to share their blessings to residents adversely affected by the calamity, especially those whose houses were shattered by the tremors.

Most city department offices have been moved out of the four-story Kidapawan City Hall due to possibility of collapse during aftershocks. City government employees still suffering from trauma from the series of quakes also expressed fear while reporting to the old city hall building.

City offices have been temporarily moved to the city gymnasium.

Evangelista also ordered a total ban on drinking liquor inside evacuation camps in the city “to prevent untoward and unnecessary incidents inside shelter areas.”

Kidapawan City continues to experience jolts that ranges from magnitude 1 to 4 with epicenters traced to Makilala or Tulunan, in Cotabato province.