IFFI disowns crowded Dinagyang food expo

The food expo at Iloilo Business Park’s (IBP) Festive Walk Parade was not included in the official list of Dinagyang 2022 activities, the Iloilo Festivals Foundation, Inc. (IFFI) clarified on Monday, Jan. 24.

The ‘Dinagyang Food Expo,’ which drew a crowd on Sunday night, Jan. 23, earned flak from netizens. Iloilo City is currently under Alert Level 3 where mass gathering is not allowed.

In a statement, IFFI, organizer of the Dinagyang Festival, said that the activity was not included in their official list of events published in its social media platforms and that they did not hold any of its activity in IBP.

According to the foundation, based on their meeting with the different side event organizers including different mall management, together with the representative of the Iloilo City government, there will be restrictions for the on-ground events, however, regular mall activities which include operations of food businesses are still allowed, provided that the protocols indicated in the executive order will still be followed.

The different malls in the city were also asked to submit their security plans for their activities to the city government and secure their security team which will oversee the implementation of the protocols and crowd control, in which they did.

“However, last night (Jan. 23) due to the influx of people, the Iloilo City Government and the Foundation requested the management to immediately close the area and they immediately complied. We wish to clarify that all our published activities for Iloilo Dinagyang 2022 were the only events allowed to us,” IFFI statement issued

Iloilo City Team COVID spokesperson Jeck Conlu, meanwhile, said they are still investigating the incident.