BAGUIO CITY – The Philippine Military Academy Alumni Association (PMAAA) Board agreed to reschedule the major activities of its annual alumni homecoming scheduled next week to a later date as a gesture of respect to the earlier decision of the city government to postpone the conduct of major crowd drawing events at the height of the 2019 Novel Corona virus (nCoV) scare in the country.
Mayor Benjamin B. Magalong expressed his gratitude to the members of the PMAAA Board for understanding the prevailing situation in the city that prompted the city government to come out with the difficult decision of suspending some of the major crowd-drawing events scheduled in the city in the next 3 weeks.
The city chief executive attended the PMAAA board meeting Wednesday afternoon where he presented to the members the factors that guided him in deciding to temporarily suspend the various crowd-drawing events organized by the government while leaving the matter to the discretion of the private organizers for events booked and scheduled by private event organizers.
Earlier, the PMAAA scheduled its annual alumni homecoming this year on February 14-16, 2020, which is also part of the traditional events that form part of the calendar of activities for the 25th edition of the Panagbenga, popularly known as the Baguio flower festival.
The city mayor admitted that thousands of military and police officers, including the members of their families, are expected to flock to the city during the scheduled alumni homecoming that is why the board opted to reset the main events while the different classes will still be allowed to push through with their class activities considering that the number of people who will be attending the same will be manageable.
Previously, the city government left to the discretion of the PMAAA board the decision on whether or not to push through with its scheduled alumni homecoming activities next week considering that it is a privately organized event.
Initially, the agreed date for the PMA alumni homecoming was February 22, 2020 but the same remains tentative while experts are still assessing the prevailing situation in the country on the developments on the nCoV scare.
PMA is described as the best military school in the Asia Pacific region, having produced thousands of top caliber police and military officers who served the country’s armed forces for a good number of years.
The annual alumni homecoming serves as a venue for members of the different classes from the Academy to have their own reunions as classmates of the premier military school and for them to go back to the Academy and treasure their stay in the said military institution.
The decision of the PMAAA board on the final date of their alumni homecoming will still depend on the assessment to be issued by health authorities on the state of the nCoV scare in the country which is now taking its toll on the lucrative tourism industry of the nation over the past several weeks since the said issue cropped up.
Currently, there are 4 persons under investigation in the Cordillera on the nCoV although health authorities have ruled that the patient is now doing well.
By Dexter A. See
