By JJ Landingin
LA TRINIDAD – The municipal government of La Trinidad has decided to scrap this year's staging of the La Trinidad Strawberry Festival.
Eco-friendly floats from different barangays were featured during the celebration of 38th Strawberry Festival on Saturday in La Trinidad, Benguet. (ZALDY COMANDA / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
Voting eight to four in a regular session Tuesday afternoon, the Municipal Council decided to cancel the festival altogether without postponing it to a later date.
The Strawberry Festival is held during the La Trinidad foundation day. With biggest strawberry shortcake, street dancing competition and float parade. The decision was arrived at after Mayor Romeo Salda, Vice Mayor Roderick Awingan and the municipal councilors in an executive session discussed the possible postponement of the festival due to the threats posed by the 2019 novel Coronavirus (nCoV).
As such, some councilors averred that it would be more prudent for the town to heed the advice of the Department of Health (DOH), and avoid the staging of mass gatherings to arrest the spread of nCoV.