Mayors want longer business hours, travel time
BY JOCELYN MONTEMAYOR and NOEL TALACAY
CURFEW hours in Metro Manila will be shortened to four hours from 12 midnight to 4 a.m. starting today, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chairman Benhur Abalos announced yesterday.
Abalos, who is also the spokesman of the Metro Manila Council, said Metro mayors approved the uniform curfew hours last Sunday as they cited the need to give longer travel time to the public and expanded operating hours for malls, restaurants and other business establishments to spur faster economic recovery from the impacts of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
The new curfew hours are shorter by two hours from the previous 10 p.m. to 4 a.m.
Abalos said the decision was based on the improved daily attack rate, two-week growth rate, and the hospital bed utilization rate in the National capital Region (NCR).
Data from the Department of Health (DOH) shows that the two-week growth rate in Metro Manila is now at 16.5 percent, the daily attack rate at 6.76 percent attack rate, hospital occupancy rate at 36 percent.
The announcement on the shorter curfew hours was made hours ahead of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) meeting that will discuss the new quarantine classification in the NCR Plus as well as the other provinces which are under various community lockdown levels.
The NCR Plus, which is composed of Metro Manila and the provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal, are under general community quarantine (GCQ) with restrictions until today, June 15.
On the other hand, the City of Santiago and Cagayan in the Cagayan Region (Region 2); Apayao, Benguet, and Ifugao in the Cordillera Administrative Region; Puerto Princesa in Mimaropa (Region 4-B); Iloilo City in Western Visayas (Region 6); Zamboanga City, Zamboanga Sibugay, Zamboanga del Sur and Zamboanga del Norte in the Zamboanga Peninsula (Region 9); Cagayan de Oro City in Northern Mindanao (Region 10), and Butuan City and Agusan del Sur in Caraga (Region XIII) are under the stricter modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) classification also until June 15.
President Duterte is expected to announce on Monday night the new classifications for the various provinces in the country.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said several local government units (LGUs) have appealed to be placed under MECQ or the strictest enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) to control the rising number of COVID-19 cases in their areas.
In NCR Plus, Roque said it is unlikely to be downgraded to a modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) but just to the regular GCQ.
He said while there has been a drop in the number of cases, an improved daily attack rate and average two-week attack rate as well as lower hospital bed use, the number of COVID cases remain higher than the figures before new cases caused by the different COVID-19 variants were first recorded.
“We have not returned to the level before the new variants came in. Before the new variants happened, we were at 1,000 cases a day in Metro Manila and we are not even under MGCQ then. So, I can see that an ordinary GCQ is likely, I think an MGCQ is unlikely,” Roque said.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said there is still no clear-cut downward trend in Metro Manila as its neighboring provinces are still seeing surge in cases.
“Even though cases are already declining in the NCR, cases. In neighboring areas are still on an incline,” said Vergeire, adding: “The situation is very fragile. Anytime, we can return to that type of surge in cases if we are not careful.”
She said this is the reason why the DOH is strongly pushing for a gradual easing of quarantine restrictions in Metro Manila despite the decline in cases in the region. “We need to be very gradual. We need to do these things slowly,” she said even as she acknowledged that “we need to balance the economy with health. This is why we are still studying what would be best for the NCR.”
Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez, in a briefing with Roque, said the government would ensure that all protocols would be followed in case the quarantine classification level is downgraded in the NCR Plus to prevent another surge in cases.
He acknowledged that the increased mobility of people especially in connection with the opening of more industries and allowing more activities could contribute to the spread of the virus.
President Duterte has directed Cebu province to follow the IATF’s testing and quarantine protocols for arriving passengers in the country, Roque said.
Cebu has been mandating the conduct of a swab test upon the arrival of returning Filipinos at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport, which is contrary to the IATF guidelines that it should be done on the seventh day of arrival and isolation.
The province also allows incoming passengers to proceed to their destination if they tested negative, also contrary to the IATF protocol that all incoming passengers must undergo a mandatory 14-day quarantine upon arrival. The first 10 days shall be observed in an accredited quarantine facility, while the last four days will be completed under home quarantine and after undergoing polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test on the seventh day of their quarantine.
Asked what would happen if Cebu insisted on implementing its own testing protocols, Roque said it would be up to the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) to act on the matter.
Prior to the Palace order, the President talked to Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia and asked the Department of Health (DOH) to comment on the Cebu guidelines.
Malacañang has also ordered the diversion of all international flights bound for Cebu to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) from May 29 to June 12 due to the shortage of quarantine hotels in Cebu.
Roque said the diversion of flight was in preparation for the implementation of the IATF protocols for incoming passengers in Cebu.
Lopez said that the issuance of safety seals to establishments that passed safety and sanitary inspections could help inform the people on safe places to visit.
Lopez said he is asking the IATF to allow establishments with pending safety seal applications such as gyms and indoor venues to initially open up to 20 percent of their capacity, and subsequently increase this to 30 percent once their safety seal is issued. He said this will help boost the economy.
He said LGUs are usually quick to act on the application of establishments and in implementing the safety protocols.
He said in Mandaluyong alone, it has already inspected and issued 2,400 safety seals in the past week.
Roque, meanwhile, assured senior citizens that there is no discrimination against elders who have yet to be vaccinated after the IATF allowed those living in areas under GCQ and MGCQ who are fully vaccinated or have completed their two doses more freedom to go out provided that they bring their vaccination cards.
“Under the equal protection clause, there is a genuine basis for distinction between those vaccinated and those that are not inoculated. Those vaccinated are protected against a serious sickness or death due to COVID-19,” he said, stressing that elders who have yet to be vaccinated are more vulnerable to COVID-19.
As of June 12, 1.726 million senior citizens have received their first jab while 471,425 elders have completed their two shots of COVID-19 vaccine. In total, the country has administered 5.01 million first jabs while 1.855 million are now fully vaccinated. — With Gerard Naval
