Manila bans all public Chinese NY festivities

MANILA – The city government of Manila has canceled all public celebrations of the Chinese New Year, which falls on February 1.

Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso signed Executive Order (EO) No. 11 on Tuesday, canceling all activities and festivities, which mostly happen in the Binondo District, from January 31 to February 1.

“Nakikisuyo tayo sa ating mga kababayang Filipino-Chinese na wala tayong mga dragon dance, wala tayong mga paputok o firecracker, pinagbabawal din ang inuman o pagbebenta ng alak simula (We appeal to our Filipino-Chinese community not to hold any dragon dance. We also prohibit firecrackers and the selling of liquor from) January 31 to February 1,” Domagoso said in a press conference aired online.

He called on officials of the 20 affected villages in the city’s Chinatown to strictly implement the EO and minimum health standards against Covid-19.

Domagoso clarified that families can privately celebrate the event and hold their traditions at home.

“Ang wala lang ‘yung mga activities sa public kasi alam natin isa sa tourist attraction ng Maynila is the celebration of the Chinese New Year kasi talagang dumadagsa yung ating mga kababayan kasi napakasaya talaga ng activities ng (What is prohibited are public activities because we know that the celebration of the Chinese New Year has become a tourist attraction in Manila and that people normally flock to the city to celebrate) Chinese New Year,” he said.

Just like other crowd-drawing festivities and religious celebrations, it marked the second year that the city canceled public Chinese New Year celebrations because of the prevailing Covid-19 pandemic.

Cases in the city are declining but the threat is still around, according to Domagoso.

As of Monday, Manila has 1,513 active Covid-19 cases.

Active infections reached as high as 4,102 on January 14, dropped to more than 3,000 in the succeeding days, and below 2,000 on January 22 at 1,928