No visitors allowed in Tagbiliran anew on feast of St. Joseph the Worker

People wait for their turn to enter the St. Joseph the Worker Cathedral in Tagbilaran City on Saturday, May 1. (Leo Udtohan/Inquirer Visayas)

TAGBILARAN CITY–For the second consecutive year, no visitors were allowed in this city to celebrate the feast of St. Joseph the Worker on Saturday.

The day, which usually kicked off the month-long merrymaking in Bohol province where a fiesta is held every day in its different towns down to the last barangay, was silent.

Police were deployed on the streets to monitor people and to conduct checkpoints on strategic areas in the city. Only residents, front-liners, workers, and those with emergency cases were allowed to enter the city.

The restrictions were intended to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

Candle vendor Mara Valmoria, 25, said Saturday’s fiesta was a sad day for her.

“Only a few are coming to church to attend Masses,” said Valmoria who earned money by selling candles at the St. Joseph the Worker Cathedral in Tagbilaran City.

Policemen were deployed on the streets to monitor people and to conduct checkpoints on strategic areas in the city.(Leo Udtohan/Inquirer Visayas)

Tagbilaran resident Fiel Angeli Araoarao-Gabin, 51, found no reason to celebrate the feast because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I missed those times that friends come to the house for dinner. Everything is sad now,” said Gabin, a government employee.

Tagbilaran City currently has a total of 257 active COVID-19 cases. The locality that has the most number of cases in the province.

Gabin said her house used to be open to her friends, relatives and even strangers during fiestas.

Now, the ambiance is different.

“I just prepared a small feast for the family as a thanksgiving to St. Joseph the Worker,” Gabin said.

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