KALIBO, Aklan – The municipal government here has scrapped the Ati-Atihan Bazaar (Jan. 8 and 22) and Ati-Atihan Food Festival (Jan. 10 to 16) due to the threat of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
The Regional Inter-Agency Task Force (RIATF) is discouraging 2022 Kalibo Ati-Atihan Festival activities that could likely draw crowds, even in open areas.
In a letter to Mayor Emerson Lachica dated Jan. 7, 2022, RIATF chairperson Juan Jovian Ingeneiro suggested scaling down festival activities such as holding them through virtual platforms.
Ati-Atihan Festival is known for merrymakers and Santo Niño devotees converging on the streets for the sadsad and procession.
It was announced a few weeks ago that there would be no sadsad this year due to COVID-19.
The active COVID-19 cases here jumped to 67 on Jan. 9 from less than six cases on Dec. 31, 2021.
According to Ingeniero, surging infections should not be downplayed, especially because the more transmissible variant of the COVID-19 virus called Omicron has already been detected in Western Visayas (one in Iloilo City and one in Bacolod City).
“We are one with Kalibo and its residents in expressing our reverence to the Santo Niño,” stressed Ingeniero, but added that people should act to minimize the impact of coronavirus in the long run.
The Feast of Santo Nino de Kalibo will culminate on Jan. 16, 2022.
Ingeniero also pressed for the ramping up of COVID-19 vaccination./PN
