Church protests new site of Dinagyang judging area
Sta. Teresita Church
Iloilo City -- The Sta. Teresita Parish in Quezon Street, Iloilo City does not want a Dinagyang judging area to be put up along the church vicinity in Quezon-De Leon Streets.
Fr. Antonio Anino, parish priest of Sta. Teresita Church said the Parish Pastoral Council and Parish Finance Council approved a resolution declaring their objection to the plans of the Iloilo Dinagyang Foundation Inc. (IDFI).
IDFI recently decided to transfer fourth judging area to Quezon-De Leon instead of the usual site in Quezon-Ledesma. The changing of the fourth judging area is one of the changes effected by the foundation for this year's ati festival. The complaint posed by the Sta. Teresita Parish is the first grievance which came out relative to the changing of the judging areas.
Fr. Anino said the presence of the stage will disrupt the conduct of the masses and at the same time time affect the flow of traffic along the area. He said the noise and the heavy traffic will interrupt the solemnity of the mass. St. Teresita Church holds seven masses on Sundays.
The priest said they will furnish Mayor Jerry Treņas and IDFI Executive Director Ben Jimena their resolutions to inform them of their objections to construct the fourth judging area near the church. Fr. Anino hopes the matter would be resolved before the celebration on the last week of the month.
Meanwhile, Jimena said they have yet to get hold of the copy of the church resolution containing their objections. He, however, said they would take a look on the objections of the parish.
Jimena added that they have asked San Jose Placer Parish priest Fr. Roy Margallo, OSA to coordinate to the parish priest of Sta. Teresita over their decision to place the fourth judging area along Quezon-De Leon streets. Fr. Margallo heads the liturgical committee.
Jimena explained that the transfer of the fourth judging area to Quezon-De Leon from the previous site in Quezon-Ledesma aims to decongest the traffic along the Plazoleta Gay area. The area would be used as site for the food festival, he said.
The executive director also said he will discuss the objection of the parish to the members of the Dinagyang Executive Committee and come up with a win-win solution.