Rain or shine, the Jam Step activity will push through at 7:30 a.m. tomorrow at the old Bacolod Airport despite a request for its deferment by the Parent-Teacher Association Federation of Bacolod City.

PTAFBC president Pastor Arsenio Maglasang had asked for the deferment of the activity as he expressed concern over the safety of the students who will participate, following an earthquake that hit Bacolod City Monday.

Bacolod Rep. Anthony Golez Jr. yesterday said the aerobic exercise will push through because after the Jam Step 21212 tomorrow, there is going to be a Jam Step Philippines in July.

Golez said they hope to break the record at the Quirino Grandstand where 110,000 people joined the healthy and active lifestyle program of the Department of Health in 2003, which he had organized.

They hope to gather about 40,000 participants for the Jam Step in Bacolod tomorrow, he said, adding that this is a different category since it involves children.

Golez said “An earthquake will not kill you if you are in an open space. It will only kill you if you are inside a structure and it collapses during an earthquake.”

He claimed that Health Secretary Enrique Ona said they will make the Jam Step a major program nationwide to prevent non-communicable diseases and promote a healthy lifestyle and want the President to lead the activity.

“We are advocating that children in Bacolod will dance to save lives because they want to construct the Bacolod City Disaster Relief and Preparedness Center, the first ever in the country,” Golez said.

They did not invite the PTA and the parents formally since the children are great endorsers who will be the ones to invite their parents to join the Jam Step, he said.

Golez said the DepEd has decided to only allow pupils from Grade 4 and above to join the activity and he will take responsibility for them.

He said they have mobilized thousands of police volunteers and since they have no support from the city, so they imported medical practitioners from the region. There will be vehicles that will pick up the children and take them home, he added.

Golez said he is not aware of any waiver parents are being made to sign for the children who will be participating in the Jam Step.

Public Information Officer Rodel Parcon said Golez had sent a letter to the city. However, before the city could act on it, the Jam Step was finalized by its proponents, he said.

The city noted a reservation of parents and teachers to the value of the event considering that physical education is embedded in the DepEd curricula.

Councilor Homer Bais, chairman of the Sanggunian Committee on Education, said Education Secretary Armin Luistro did not endorse the program when Golez approached him about it.

Bais recently met with Luistro in Manila during the signing of a memorandum of agreement for the construction of a school building on the city property at the Reclamation Area.

“We are not saying that we are against it only that someone has to take responsibility for the children,” Bais said.*CGS

back to top