By Nel Andrade TAYTAY, Rizal - The feast of Saint John the Baptist is traditionally celebrated with the splashing of water by revelers imitating the act of baptism. But on Wednesday, June 24, the streets here were dry and deserted as residents stayed home on the supposed merriest day in town. The Taytay Municipal Government, in a post on Facebook announced that the much anticipated merrymaking every June 24 would not happen this year. The office of Mayor George Ricardo Gacula said in the same post that the threat of the pandemic has prompted the local government to forego the annual activity, locally known as ‘SABATA Festival or the Santong Basaan ng Taytay Festival. Instead, the local government urged residents to celebrate the birth of Saint John the Baptist, the patron saint of this town in thanksgiving and prayer for deliverance from any harm and that the town would fast recover from the health and economic crisis. Prior to the pandemic, people would happily dance on the streets and douse each other with water to celebrate the feast of Saint John the Baptist while those in their homes would use garden hose to drench the participants of the street parade. This year because of health protocols to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the streets were dry and quiet with only a handful of people walking with face masks on Wednesday morning. This town recorded no new COVID-19 case as of Tuesday night, while 51 persons recovered. There are 87 confirmed cases here with 26 active cases.