Alcala postpones fiesta

ANGELES CITY — No partying for now.

Citing "health reasons," officials of the Pangasinan town of Alcala, which recently hogged the headlines because the country’s first confirmed SARS case came from one of its barangays, decided to postpone their three-day fiesta celebration initially slated to start tomorrow.

But Alcala Mayor Juanito Collado told The STAR that they are determined to push through with the festivities two weeks from now.

"We are still going to have the beauty contests, barangay and gay nights, and other activities," he said in a phone interview.

Nursing assistant Adela Catalon, of Barangay Vacante, died of SARS last April 14, days after arriving from Toronto, Canada. Her cancer-stricken father, Mauricio, died three days later after exhibiting SARS symptoms.

Due to the Catalons’ deaths, health authorities placed three sitios of Barangay Vacante under quarantine for 14 days but lifted it last Sunday.

Collado said town officials decided to postpone the feast of the Holy Cross since four more households in Vacante remain under quarantine.

Besides, he said Alcala residents have been suffering from discrimination following the deaths of the Catalons. "No invited dignitary might attend our fiesta if we push through with it as initially scheduled," he said.

The four Vacante households still under quarantine until this Friday are those of barangay captain Ricardo Catalon, Adela’s brother-in-law and two of her nieces.

All four, who had had direct contact with Adela, are still confined at the Research Institute of Tropical Medicine in Alabang, Muntinlupa.

"Those who have passed quarantine in Vacante are relieved that they can go out of their houses now, but other people still hesitate to visit their places," Collado said.