Bong Go defies Duterte, gathers 2,000 people

By Erwin M. Mascariñas
Correspondent

BUTUAN City – Senator Christopher Lawrence Go defied the order of President Rodrigo Duterte to avoid mass gatherings when he, along with two celebrities, gathered more than 2,000 people here over the weekend. 

Go distributed aid to more than 2,000 fire victims in a crowded evacuation center in Butuan City on Saturday.

As the event was broadcasted live on radio and live-streamed on Facebook, the crowd spilled outside the covered court as people try to get near the actors Robin Padilla and Philip Salvador, who came in with Go.

Agusan Del Norte Rep. Lawrence Fortun expressed his concerns on social media saying the event demonstrated the exact opposite of what the President said when he read the Inter-Agency Task Force resolution on national TV on the evening of March 12.

“Was he not right beside the President when the latter read the IATF Resolution and tried to expound on each item on national television in the evening of March 12,” he rhetorically asked on his Facebook post. 

Last Friday, this city-issued guidelines for individuals who have been to the National Capital Region with confirmed cases of Covid-19 for the past two weeks and are not showing any symptoms, should undergo a self-quarantine at home. 

Part of this 14-day self-quarantine guideline is to keep a distance from others of about one meter, stay at home and avoid large crowds and gatherings. 

Also last Friday, an event organized that would have featured Bo Sanchez was canceled after concerns were brought up to the organizers as to the health protocols of the expected 3,000 attendants.

City council member Lawyer Rema Erigbuagas Burdeos, questioned why Go and his team from Manila were allowed entry into the evacuation centers. 

“Earlier this morning, local donors were not even allowed entry as per protocol. Nobody complained because it was all for everyone’s protection. Then them,” said Burdeos. 

Sangguniang Kabataan President Cynth Zephanee Nietes who had been at the forefront of the youth involvement on the relief efforts said she received an invitation to be in the event but opted not to go because she did not want to go against the city’s memo on Covid-19.

“We appreciate the efforts, we are not supposed to have a mass gathering. It’s clear from the executive order, We have been volunteers in the relief effort since the dawn of March 10 and we were not even exempted when the executive order was issued on March 12. All the relief that we have gathered we turned it over the City Social Welfare Development,” said Nietes.