National Youth Day fires off in Cebu City

CEBU CITY — The week-long celebration of the 2019 National Youth Day (NYD) begins Tuesday with at least 12,000 pilgrims coming from various place in the country joining in various religious activities.

Officials of the Archbishop of Cebu and various law enforcement agencies declared yesterday that everything was set for the event, which will be held from April 23 to April 27.

“Cebu is ready for NYD. We prepared for this since last year and we are looking forward to a peaceful, joyful, memorable and fruitful celebration,” said Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma in a press conference yesterday at the Archbishop's Palace.

Police in Cebu will be on red alert status starting Tuesday until the final day of the celebration.

Tight security measures will be implemented especially after the series of deadly bombings in Sri Lanka, said Police Brig. Gen. Debold Sinas, chief of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO 7).

“We will do our best to protect the pilgrims. We are upping our security and intelligence monitoring. We coordinated with other police regional offices as well as with the National Intelligence Monitoring Agency for threat assessment, and so far, there is no immediate threat to Cebu,” said Sinas.

The recent bombings in Sri Lanka were considered in mapping out the security plans, Sinas admitted.

“What happened in Sri Lanka can actually happen anywhere that's why we are strengthening our security,” added Sinas.

Palma said the recent bombings in Sri Lanka should not discourage the pilgrims and devotees from participating.

“We should not be paralyzed by fear. We trust our men and women in uniform and we should also do our part. Each

one of us has a role to play to contribute to the success of the NYD. If there are suspicious individuals or activities, they should be immediately reported to the authorities. We long for peace in our home and in our activities in other places,” Palma said.

This year's NYD celebration will have nine festival sites, two plenary sites, 52 host parishes, at least 12,000 pilgrims and 3,000 youth volunteers.

The festival sites are in Naga City, Mandaue City, Consolacion town, Liloan town and Talisay City.

At least 25 bishops from different places will also join the celebration.

Sinas assured that there will be enough police personnel and force multipliers to secure the week-long activities.