As the coronavirus pandemic continues to affect the country's tourism industry, local government units were encouraged to adopt new and innovative platforms in celebrating their festivals.
"We have to adjust to the new situation. Clearly, the pandemic has compelled us to take a look at how we celebrate fiestas and festivals," Department of Tourism Undersecretary Benito Bengzon said.
(DOT / MANILA BULLETIN)
According to Bengzon, Filipinos continue to celebrate festivals despite the continuing threats of the health crisis as the need to preserve the country's cultural heritage through fiestas has been a collective responsibility among Filipinos.
Aside from being part of the Filipino tradition, Bengzon added that "celebrating fiestas and festivals is a way for us to showcase our appreciation of our culture."
While the country's pandemic task force has prohibited large gatherings like festivals, Bengzon said that there is no need for celebrations, especially for famed festivals, to be canceled.
"There are many ways of celebrating these on virtual platforms. It is quite encouraging to listen to Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas and Cebu City Vice Mayor Michael Rama talk about the innovative approaches to make sure that the cultural heritage is still there and the opportunity for the people to celebrate although in a distant manner," he added.
While physical feast celebrations in many areas have been postponed due to restrictions in social gatherings, several famed festivals have been observed virtually such as Iloilo's Dinagyang Festival, Kalibo's Ati-atihan Festival, and Cebu's Sinulog Festival.
Prominent festivals in the Philippines usually gather thousands to millions of people every year before the pandemic.
"It is an opportunity for us to show our love during celebrations to appreciate our arts and culture and cuisine in various ways. We hope the Filipinos adopt these new platforms that are being used now to celebrate fiestas," Bengzon said.
He said the DOT is now working on "tourism circuits" in areas that have already opened to promote cultural tourism.
"The idea here is to showcase our cuisine, our arts, our handicrafts in different destinations. Aside from providing travel opportunities to us Filipinos who have been quarantined for quite some time, it also provides the opportunity to restart tourism in different business enterprises particularly at the community level," Bengzon said.
"This is really the goal of the DOT -- to be able to bring businesses back by helping enterprises and also by helping displaced workers," he added.