By Argyll Geducos

President Duterte Thursday night placed the entire Metro Manila under a 30-day community quarantine following the local transmission and the rapid increase of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in the country.

In his address to the public following his meeting with the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Disease, Duterte said domestic land, air, and sea travel to and from Metro Manila shall be suspended from March 15 to April 14.

Duterte likewise told Metro Manila residents not fear the word “lockdown” since it is only implemented to keep them safe from the disease.

“It’s just a matter of protecting and defending you from COVID-19. That’s about it. It has nothing to do with the power of the military or the police, nor my power or these guys beside me. It’s just an issue of protecting public interest,” he said.

The President added that the public should not just brush the issue of COVID-19 aside. He, however, appealed for their cooperation.

“It’s a serious one. It is true, ‘wag ninyong maliitin (do not belittle it). Do not minimize it. But as I said, do not kill yourself with worry because as I said, the government is doing everything to make it at least controllable,” he said.

Public places

He said mass gatherings, where the number of people attending could strain the planning and response resources of the community hosting the event, shall be prohibited during the community quarantine period.

Mass public transports such as the Light Rail Transits (LRT), Metro Rail Transit (MRT), and the Philippine National Railways (PNR) shall continue their operations. The Department of Transportation shall issue guidelines to ensure social distancing in public transports.

Class suspension

Meanwhile, classes in all levels in Metro Manila shall remain until April 12, 2020 but all students are still required to fulfill their educational requirements during the period.

Local government units, under the supervision of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), shall be responsible for implementing measures to ensure that students remain in their homes during the class suspension.

President Duterte said students should stay at home and study but doubts they will follow his advice since he knows schoolchildren will just play with their phones.

“Avoid trouble with the law, avoid trouble with anybody. Just follow. Better just stay home and study,” he said.

“Kung ayaw niyong sundin (If you don’t want to follow), you stick with your cellphone, ang ga-graduate niyan yung cellphone niyo, hindi ikaw (your phones will be the ones graduating, not you),” he added.

Localized community quarantines

Meanwhile, Duterte laid down the guidelines local government units in other areas should follow in imposing localized community quarantines:

A barangay-wide quarantine is advised when there are at least two positive COVID-19 cases belonging to different households in the same barangay;

A municipality/city-wide quarantine is advised when there are at least two positive COVID-19 cases belonging to different barangays; and

A province-wide quarantine is advised when there are at least two positive COVID-19 cases belonging to different municipalities, component cities or independent component cities.

Local government units that have imposed community quarantine in their respective jurisdiction, upon the declaration of a State of Calamity, shall be allowed to access their Quick Response Fund.

Duterte left to the discretion of LGUs outside Metro Manila to suspend classes but warned they should not do so over trivial reasons.

“It is only done because you have to protect them (students) from the COVID-19. ‘Yan lang talaga (That’s it). Do not do it just to please everybody,” he said.

Work arrangement

Work in the Executive Branch shall be suspended for the next 30 days without prejudice to the formation of skeletal workforces by government agencies to maintain the unimpeded delivery of services to the public.

However, health and emergency frontline services shall remain in full operation.

The private sector, on the other hand, is encouraged to implement flexible work arrangements following the guidelines that will be issued by the Departments of Labor and Employment (DOLE), and of Trade and Industry (DTI) for the welfare of workers.

Meanwhile, all manufacturing, retail, and service establishments are advised to remain in full operation during the period of the community quarantine. However, they should implement strict social distancing measures.

President Duterte said private company owners should make sure that their employees are taken care of if they would require them to come to work.

“See to it that they are taken care of, ‘yang mga management, ‘wag ninyong pabayaan ang mga trabahante ninyo (the management, do not forsake your employees),” he said.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the COVID-19 a pandemic, saying it was now a crisis that will touch every sector. The WHO pointed out that there were already 118,000 cases of the disease in over 110 countries Wednesday.

READ MORE: World Health Organization describes coronavirus outbreak as pandemic

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