BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – The first outdoor theme park in the Visayas located in Silay City, Negros Occidental was closed for seven days as preventive measures to avert the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
The management of Magikland earlier announced that the park was closed from Dec. 11 to 13 after one of its ride attendants contracted SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
On Dec. 14, Magikland was closed anew and will resume operations on Dec. 18. The theme park will open daily afterwards until Jan. 3.
Magikland reopened its doors some eight months after community quarantine measures were imposed due to the ongoing pandemic.
Situated on a five-hectare tourism enterprise zone, its theme was derived from the Filipino legend of “Bakunawa”, a moon-eating dragon, which was turned into a friendly and happy creature to become the main mascot of the theme park.
Bakunawa is joined by four child warriors, whose names pay homage to the local landscape – Boy Bakunawa, Mara Marapara, Pat Patag, and Kit Kanlaon.
Considered as the country’s first Filipino-inspired theme park, it gave life to the movie “Magikland”, one of the entries in the 2020 Metro Manila Film Festival.
Reynaldo Bantug, president of Magikland, Aton Land Leisure Inc., said the health and safety of the staff and visitors are of utmost importance, hoping that the park would already be safe for enjoyment once it reopens this coming weekend.
He added that the swab tests of the key employees involved in the contract tracing efforts came out negative. (With a report from PNA/PN)
