BY ADRIAN P. NEMES III
Curfew hours in Bacolod City will be shortened again, from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m., starting December 16 until New Year’s Eve
This is in response to the request of Bacolod Bishop Patricio Buzon in line with the holding of Christmas midnight masses or simbang gabi, Councilor Archie Baribar said yesterday.
In a letter he sent to Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia last week, Buzon had suggested that the curfew hours be shortened from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m.
The present curfew hours in Bacolod is from 11 p.m. to 4 a.m. when the city was placed under modified general community quarantine status, starting Dec. 1 until the end of this year.
The Bishop said this will give the diocese an opportunity to offer more early morning masses that could accommodate churchgoers and prevent overcrowding.
If curfew is shortened, Buzon said, they can schedule masses from 3:30 a.m. until 5 a.m.
He said that in these difficult times, the people need, more than ever, the Christmas spirit and the Yuletide cheer.
The new curfew hours in Bacolod was approved unanimously Wednesday, the same day that the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines issued a schedule of midnight masses across the country from December 16 to 24.
The CBCP has recommended that midnight masses may start as early as 6 p.m. for the anticipated mass, while the morning mass can be held at 6 a.m.
The CBCP also suggested that the Vigil Mass of Christmas on Dec. 24 may be held 6 p.m. and the dawn Mass of Christmas may be celebrated early morning of Dec. 25. Baribar, who authored the curfew ordinance of Bacolod, said the curfew hours will change once the quarantine status of the city will also change after New Year’s Eve.*
