ILOILO City – The Iloilo Bike Festival 2021 this April 9 may be derailed if cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) continue to rise.
Mayor Jerry Treñas said the city’s COVID-19 situation was being assessed and a final decision may be had this week.
From nine cases per day in February, the average daily cases this month swelled to 15.
The annual Iloilo Bike Festival is one of the biggest biking events in the country. If it pushes through this year, health safety protocols would be strictly observed.
Treñas also wants the event to be more inclusive.
“We have invited and will be joined by local chief executives of Metro Iloilo and Guimaras and the governor of Iloilo to better harmonize biking initiatives and bikers’ welfare in the new normal,” he said.
The yearly event promotes healthy living, and takes on a special meaning in this time of pandemic.
“As we carefully pedal to the new and better normal, we should not forget our humanity, that we have to protect our environment and each other,” said Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions (Mice) Center executive director Salvador Sarabia Jr.
Festival activities include Bike Fun Ride, City Tour on Bike, Bike Art, Family Bike Fun Ride, Food Fair and Bicycle Industrial Expo and Exhibition, symposium on bike industry and its sustainability, and Barkada Team Race./PN
