THE Mandaue City government plans to reactivate its “mobile market” during this year’s Holy Week which starts on Palm Sunday, March 28, 2021, to Easter Sunday, April 4.
Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes said he wants the city’s mobile market deployed as a way to prevent mass gatherings at the city’s public market during the Holy Week.
Cortes said he is avoiding what happened last year when a mass gathering occurred at the Mandaue City Public Market just to buy ingredients for “binignit” or the traditional sweet stew often served during the Lenten season.
A similar situation also occurred at the Carbon Public Market in Cebu City last year.
Cortes said he won’t stop his constituents from buying ingredients for “binignit,” but he urged the public to also consider that the city’s Covid-19 situation is not improving.
As of Friday, March 12, Mandaue City had 1,014 active cases with 185 deaths.
Of the 4,637 total confirmed Covid-19 cases in Mandaue, around 3,428 have recovered.
With that, Cortes said he will propose to Mandaue City Market Authority head Edgar Seno to reactivate the scheduled mobile market at the barangays.
The last time the city’s mobile market was activated was when Mandaue City was placed under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ). The city is currently under the least restrictive modified general community quarantine.
The mobile market was activated to provide essential goods to the city’s residents without their need to go to the public market.
Cortes said he plans to place the mobile market in barangay gyms for a period of time.
Cortes said they still have to discuss with Seno other precautions to avoid crowding at the public market and satellite markets during the Holy Week.
Additional police personnel will also be deployed at the city’s public market to prevent any mass gatherings, said Police Maj. Zosimo Jabas Jr. of the Mandaue City Police Office.
Meanwhile, Cortes said he will meet with Mandaue City’s church officials and the city’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) to discuss preparations in relation to the religious activities during the Holy Week. (KFD)