Picture this: It’s your birthday and your closest friends and loved ones are there to celebrate it with you, passing drinks, eating good food, and lighting candles on a cake. It was possible before the pandemic, but with the highly contagious COVID-19 threatening to spread, physical parties have become a thing of the past.
Parties are considered a mass gathering, which is not allowed during community quarantine. At most, you could hold a virtual one with your pals checking in via video call. Some officials, though, have proceeded with surprise birthday celebrations during quarantine and met harsh criticism online.
For Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto, who turns 31 today, parties during the health crisis are a no-no. One, he’s says he doesn’t really like parties, and two, gatherings are prohibited, as COVID-19 is very much alive.
And if you’re planning something for his birthday—a surprise, a celebration, a party, anything—he asks that you stop.
But if you want to give him a gift anyway, he says to buy foodpacks and give it to those in need. You can drop it off at his office.