Naga City (14 Sept) -- The highest political power in the land has declared during the Peñafrancia Novena Week Naga City and the province of Camarines Sur as 'pilgrimage capitals' of the Bikol region.
In his Executive Order (EO) #33 dated September 10, President Benigno Aquino III, took cognizance of the annual celebration of the Feast of Our Lady of Peñafrancia as an "epic historical event that [had] become part of our cultural heritage," and that Naga City "where the 300-year old image is enshrined, has long been recognized and considered as the pilgrimage capital of the Bikol region."
The President's EO stated that programs and activities held as part of the Peñafrancia Fiesta "must be assisted and maintained by the government, and that the solemnity and sensitivity to the nature and character of the festivities must be preserved."
Moreover, the EO stipulated that government must ensure that aside from respecting the essential activities of the feast, "commercial exploitation during the pilgrimage period such as street parties that may become rambunctious, drinking sprees in plazas, street vending that obstruct passages towards the pilgrimage sites, and other similar activities, shall be discouraged."
