ANGELES CITY-— After six days of silent protests, 10 Catholic parish churches in this city are reopening their doors to parishioners and resuming Sunday (July 19) Masses with a mix of strict and relaxed rules. Mayor Carmelo Lazatin Jr. allowed only 15 percent of seats inside the churches to be occupied and required senior citizens to first present quarantine passes before attending Mass. Francis Dizon, parish priest of the Our Lady of Immaculate Conception Parish here, said the clergy and Lazatin had reached a compromise after discussing on Tuesday the guidelines for the moderate general community quarantine. OppositionParishioners opposed the ban by wearing buttons or shirts printed with messages calling for the reopening of the churches here. Although churches were closed, the faithful attended Mass by standing outside and listening from a distance of at least 5 meters.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer July 18, 2020 06:11 UTC