Mass gatherings require the approval of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) whether at a public or private venue even if a local chief executive has endorsed it, a key Capitol official said Tuesday.
Negros Oriental public information officer Bimbo Miraflor, in an interview, said the gathering of a fraternity at the Perdices Memorial Coliseum here did not pass through the provincial IATF even though it had sought the endorsement of Gov. Roel Degamo.
Miraflor said the group wrote a letter to the governor asking permission to use the coliseum grounds for its anniversary last Aug. 8.
Degamo referred the letter to one of his staff, who in turn told the fraternity leaders to ask permission from the IATF, but apparently, they did not, Miraflor said.
Pictures and videos on Facebook showed a large crowd at the coliseum with some health protocols observed to have been violated, such as physical distancing.
City health marshals, headed by the executive consultant for security, Rey Lyndon Lawas, proceeded to the coliseum to verify reports from concerned citizens.
Lawas said he spoke to the organizers of the activity who presented him a copy of their letter to the governor, which had a note addressed to a certain Kent to “accommodate this request”.
The group voluntarily dispersed after being told that the mass gathering was prohibited under the current general community quarantine with heightened restrictions imposed in Negros Oriental, he said.
Miraflor said the governor made it clear that the IATF has the final say in activities such as this, even if a local chief executive has endorsed it.
Source: Philippines News Agency
