MORE than 700 policemen have been deployed to man quarantine hotels to strictly enforce quarantine requirements on arrival on returning overseas Filipino (ROFs), Interior Secretary Eduardo Año report to President Duterte during the Talk to the People forum on Monday night.
Año said two cops were assigned to each quarantine hotel accredited by the Department of Health (DOH), Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ) and Department of Tourism (DOT).
The deployment of police officers to government-accredited quarantine hotels were ordered by the President after ROF Gwyneth Chua skipped quarantine at the Berjaya Makati Hotel last December 22 after her arrival from the USA and attended a dinner at a restaurant and partied at a bar in Makati City.
Chua later tested positive for COVID-19 and infected seven close contacts and a secondary contact. Police on Tuesday last week filed charges against her, her father, her mother, her boyfriend and five Berjaya Hotel staff for violating the mandatory quarantine period of at least seven days.
“Sa inyo pong utos na mag-deploy ng ating kapulisan sa mga quarantine hotels na accredited ng DOH, BOQ, at DOT, ang Philippine National Police ay nakapag-deploy ng 748 personnel at nakapag-establish tayo ng 247 help desks sa 270 hotels dito po sa Metro Manila (In compliance with your order to deploy policemen to quarantine hotels accredited by the DOH, BOQ, and DOT, the Philippine National Police deployed 748 police and established 247 help desks in 270 hotels here in Mero Manila),” said Año.
As of January 9, records showed that 18,562 ROFs are under quarantine in various quarantine facilities.
Año also told the President that 63 areas throughout the country are under granular lockdown, also as of Sunday. These areas are in 50 barangays within eight cities and municipalities. He said 115 affected households composed of 326 individuals are affected by the stay-home restriction.
Año said 53 of the locked down areas are in Metro Manila.
The PNP, however, reported yesterday said there are 116 areas nationwide are under granular lockdown as of last Monday — 76 in Metro Manila, 33 in Cagayan Valley, five in Mimaropa, and one each in the Ilocos region and the Cordillera Administrative Region.
The PNP said 222 households composed of 446 individuals are affected by the granular lockdowns, which are manned by 191 policemen and 225 force multipliers or local government personnel.
Año said 81 control points have been setup throughout the country, seven of them in Metro Manila. The control points, said the DILG chief, are meant to ensure the unhampered flow of goods and cargos during the fight against COVID-19.
He also reported that from January 3 until 8, some 45,234 individuals from all over the country were apprehended for not wearing a face mask while outside of their homes; 19,423 were accosted for not observing physical distancing, and 108 apprehended for participating in mass gatherings, which is not allowed under the current heightened alert level of the various provinces.
UNVACCINATED
Año said the DILG has directed local government units to monitor unvaccinated individuals and make sure that they do not leave their homes. A memorandum circular has likewise been issued directing local police units to assist LGUs, particularly barangay units, in accosting unvaccinated persons who go out of their homes for unauthorized trips.
“Ang mga lumalabas po na hindi bakunado ay ating pinauuwi sa bahay at kapag po ito ay hindi sumunod, saka lamang po tayo mapipilitang arestuhin ang ating kababayan na ayaw sumunod (We’re sending home those unvaccinated who are going out and if they refuse to follow, that’s the time time we will be forced to arrest our countrymen who are not following),” said Año.
“Sa ngayon naman po ay nakikita namin ang pagsunod ng ating mga kababayan. (As of now, we’re seeing that our countrymen are cooperating),” added Año.
Año said the DILG has also instructed LGUs to disseminate the hotline numbers and other contact information of public hospitals in their jurisdictions for telemedicine and teleconsultation services.
“Dahil po hindi naman masyadong malala ang sintomas ng ating mga dinadapuan ng kaso sa ngayon ay mas maganda po na mag-home care treatment na lamang po para hindi na mapuno ang ating mga ospital (Since the symptoms of those getting infected now are not severe, its better if they will resort to home care treatment so that our hospitals will not be full of patients),” he said.
In Mandaluyong City, Mayor Carmelita Abalos has signed Ordinance No. 869 series of 2022, otherwise known as the Mobility Ordinance for the Unvaccinated, to regulate the movements of unvaccinated residents.
Under the ordinance, residents or non-residents who are unvaccinated are prohibited from leaving their homes unless for essential errands and for outdoor exercise.
Unvaccinated workers who will physically report for work are required to present their negative RT PCR tests every two weeks.
Violators shall pay a fine between P3,000 to P5,000 and imprisonment for three (3) months, or both.
TEMPORARILY CLOSED
The Office of the Ombudsman yesterday announced that its central office on Agham Road, Quezon City will be closed for nine days until January 19, citing a sharp uptick of COVID-19 cases among agency personnel.
In a memorandum, Ombudsman Samuel R. Martires cited a report of the Safety and Health Committee showing a “disturbing increase” in the number of COVID-19 infected employees assigned to the central office.
He said it is necessary to strictly implement isolation and quarantine protocols to arrest the transmission of infection.
Because of the suspension of operations, filing of pleadings, motions, affidavits, and other documents will not be entertained until work resumes on January 20, 2022.
Still, only a skeleton workforce is required to report to run the operations of the Public Assistance Bureau, the Central Records Division, Case Records Evaluation, Monitoring and Enforcement Bureau (CREMEB) -Luzon, CREMEB-Military and Other Law Enforcement Offices (MOLEO), Office of the Special Prosecutor – Records Office, Finance and Management Information Office, General Administrative Office, Management Information System Service, and Human Resource and Management Division.
“The heads of these offices shall ensure that the reporting employees have no Covid-19 symptoms, have negative RT-PCR or antigen testing results, and were not exposed to a Covid-19 infected person within ten (10) days prior to reporting to office,” the Ombudsman said.
Shortened work hours would likewise be implemented starting from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. to allow time for cleanup and disinfection after each workday.
Employees not required to work onsite would continue to render services through work from home arrangement.
Agency personnel and their eligible family members were also urged to avail of free boosted vaccine shots today and tomorrow (January 12 and 13, 2022).
The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) will also temporarily shut down its offices this week amid the rise in COVID-19 cases among its personnel.
“In the interest of public health and safety and due to the increasing number of employees found to be positive with COVID-19 virus and in order to avoid the further spread of the said virus, office operations are temporarily suspended from January 11 to 14, 2022,” said the POEA in an announcement.
In particular, the POEA said that the Sea-based Center, Land-based Center, Direct-Hire Assistance Division, Labor Market Development Branch, Office of the Deputy Administrator for Employment and Welfare, and Office of the Director for Pre-employment Services Office (PSO) are suspending their operations.
With this, the agency said those with appointments with the identified offices will have to be rescheduled next week.
“Clients, who have previous appointment or schedule on the said dates, shall be accommodated when the POEA resumes its services on January 17, 2022,” said the POEA.
The spike in COVID-19 cases has also forced nearly half of the churches in the Archdiocese of Manila to temporarily shut down.
In a report, the Archdiocese of Manila said 45 percent of the parishes under its jurisdiction are temporarily closed.
“Out of 93 parishes, shrines, chapels, basilica, personal parish, and santuario in the Archdiocese of Manila, 42 (45.2 percent) are temporarily closed,” said the Manila Archdiocese.
Among the churches that are temporarily closed are St. John Bosco Parish – Makati, Our Lady of Fatima Parish – Pasay, St Andrew the Apostle Parish, National Shrine of the Sacred Heart, San Roque de Sampaloc Parish, Our Lady of Peñafrancia Parish, Santuario de San Antonio Parish – Makati, San Isidro Labrador Parish – Pasay, Santisimo Rosario Parish – UST, National Shrine of our Lady of Abandoned, National Shrine of San Lorenzo Ruiz, Archdiocesan Shrine of Sto. Niño de Tondo, National Shrine of St Jude Thaddeus, Our Lady of Remedies Parish – Malate, National Shrine of our Lady of Guadalupe, St John the Baptist Parish, Mary the Queen Parish – San Juan, and San Roque Parish – Pasay.
On the other hand, the remaining 51 (54.8 percent) parishes remain open to the public.
It said the temporary closures were due to priests and church personnel testing positive for COVID-19.
It also said that others were closed as part of the preventive measure against the rapid spread of the Omicron variant.
The Archdiocese also said there are churches that closed for general disinfection and sanitation.
It said there are also those that closed to allow the clergy, personnel, and support staff to receive their booster shots.
The Manila Archdiocese said some also closed to allow routine swab testing among the clergy, personnel, and support staff. — With Christian Oineza, Peter Tabingo and Gerard Naval
