President Rodrigo Duterte has urged the religious groups, particularly the Catholics, to forego all festivities to prevent mass gatherings amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Duterte, in his pre-taped "Talk to the People" aired on Thursday night, noted that that fiestas usually take place during May.

"But I think I'll be more direct of fiestas because we're predominantly Catholic country. So, what I'm asking is that you only not tone down but forego because there's a law," he said.

"Forego to congregate, to crowd and to hold. There's no problem, God knows that we love him, but the problem - the necessary consequence of it all. So be mindful of that because we are still in the pandemic and there is no way of knowing how long this would last in this planet," Duterte stressed.

Duterte said he would not allow the violations of the guidelines of the Inter-Agenccy Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.

He warned the local officials down to barangay level that they would be held responsible if there would be violations of the health protocols.

"I will hold the local governments down to the last barangay level and, therefore, it could only be the barangay captains, I will hold you responsible for any violation of the laws...it's really law. So you have to enforcce it because if you want this country to recover from the onslaught of COVID-19, you have to be mindful of what is going on and how to prevent it," he said.

"So I'm requesting and I said there are a lot of fiestas, which you would like to hold. The problem is there is also the consequence, which you must be mindful," Duterte added. Celerina Monte/DMS