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  • February 11, 2025
Soon-Ruiz is against a complete halt to City’s Christmas activities

Soon-Ruiz is against a complete halt to City’s Christmas activities

MANDAUE Vice Mayor Nerissa Soon-Ruiz has expressed her opposition to the complete cancellation of the citywide Christmas and New Year celebrations in 2024, stressing that while she supports the expansion of assistance to the victims of the recent typhoons in Luzon, there is no need to allocate the entire budget for the festivities solely for donation purposes.

Ruiz said a small-scale event can still reflect solidarity with typhoon victims while maintaining a festive atmosphere.

“It is probably not necessary for the entire budget for Christmas 2024 to be reserved for the end-of-year celebrations. We can still have a party, but the extravagant party can be toned down,” Ruiz told reporters on Wednesday, December 4, 2024.

Ruiz added that the executive branch has yet to determine exactly what amount should be donated or reallocated for relief efforts.

She said the allocated budget for the city-wide Christmas and end-of-year celebrations this year is approximately 7 million euros.

Rather than canceling the celebration entirely, Ruiz suggested adapting the program to allow for both charity and festivities. For example, she suggested lowering lottery prizes.

“If they can’t provide the Christmas party, maybe we can just cut it short. For example, if we planned to give out a prize of €50,000, we can make it €20,000 instead, and the raffles can still go ahead. The spirit of Christmas will still be there,” she added.

Ruiz also pointed out that residents and city employees look forward to the annual celebration, which typically includes raffles and prizes, a Christmas party for all City Hall employees and end-of-year celebrations such as Mandaue Department of Education Nights. According to Ruiz, completely canceling could lead to disappointments.

“Hopefully it can be reduced and not completely taken away because people are expecting a Christmas party,” she added.

The citywide Christmas celebration was canceled by Mandaue Mayor Glenn Bercede on orders from Malacañang to discourage extravagant holiday celebrations among local government units.

Bercede announced on November 28 that the allocated budget for the event would be used to support communities affected by the typhoons that hit Northern Luzon earlier this November.

While Mayor Bercede acknowledged the need for budget cuts, he clarified that individual departments could hold their own Christmas parties, provided costs were shared among employees.

“I’m okay with them throwing parties because that’s their own effort; they pooled their resources just to enjoy the Christmas spirit,” Bercede said.

The cancellation of the event came amid a controversy surrounding the purchase of Christmas decorations worth P3.8 million, which came to light on November 27.

While the amount to be donated for the relief effort has not yet been finalized, Bercede assured the public that the city is working with the appropriations committee and the city budget office to identify available funds. / CAV