The annual Philippine Independence Day celebration for migrant workers in Taiwan is to return for the first time in three years tomorrow, with up to 3,000 people expected to attend, after a two-year hiatus because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Manila Economic and Cultural Office said.
The “2022 Fun Run Joint Philippine Independence and Migrant Workers’ Day Celebration” is to feature about 2,000 people running in 3km or 1km races, speeches from officials, a hip-hop dance contest, performances by local Philippine bands and rappers, and 46 stalls selling products, services and food, Philippine Labor Attache in Taiwan Cesar Chavez Jr said on Thursday.
The venue, at New Taipei Metropolitan Park, can host up to 5,000 people, but only 2,000 to 3,000 are expected to attend because of the pandemic, Chavez said.
However, many migrant caregivers might not attend the event because a significant proportion of the elderly people they look after are not up to date with their COVID-19 vaccinations and have prior underlying health conditions, he said.
Only those who have received a minimum of two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, with the exception of the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, are allowed entry to the event, he said.
Children and elderly people with prior underlying medical conditions are also discouraged from attending for their own protection against COVID-19, he added.
For everyone else, if they are not displaying any COVID-19 symptoms, lunch coupons would be given to the first 3,000 people, Chavez said.
Unlike in previous years, such as 2018 and 2019, when big names such as Bela Padilla and Arnell Ignacio took to the stage, Philippine celebrities will not be performing this year.
“The plan was to bring in artists from Manila, but because of the quarantine requirements in Taiwan, and we are not able to get an exception, the artists will have to be quarantined for seven days plus seven days of self-health management. So, all the artists we were negotiating with backed out because of the quarantine,” Chavez said.
The Philippine community in Taiwan consists mainly of a large migrant worker population of 141,328 employed in the manufacturing and caregiving sectors, Ministry of Labor data as of the end of April showed.
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