Filipinos have mixed reactions to ECQ
Published Apr 22, 2020 12:00 am
By Chito Chavez
As Filipinos await the President’s decision on the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), citizens from various sectors affected by the ECQ gave conflicting opinions on whether the lockdown should be lifted or extended beyond its April 30 deadline.
A soldier checks the temperature of a motorist at a checkpoint before entering Manila on March 16, 2020, as part of measures to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo by Maria TAN / AFP / MANILA BULLETIN)
Urban poor groups are not in favor of the government’s strict implementation of the ECQ and called the confinement to their houses as a violation of the people’s rights.
Rochelle Bar, who lives in the depressed area of Barangay Tatalon in Quezon City, said that extending the ECQ will be a "death sentence" for them.
“Mabuti sana kung sapat ang ayuda ng gobyerno eh bukod sa kulang huli pa,’’ Bar said. (It is good if the assistance given to us is enough. Aside from being insufficient, it is also given late).
In Bocaue, Bulacan, a small eatery owner admitted that the ECQ has left her family bankrupt.
A Bulacan lass who used to work as a cashier in one of the town’s nightspots admitted being forced to give in to the indecent proposal of a rabid rich businessman suitor from a neighboring town due to ‘’financial hardship.’’
“I am an IT (information technology) graduate but life became even harder with this ECQ. Sacrifices have to be made in order for us to live,’’ she said.
She is the eldest among 12 children. Her father’s meager income as a carpenter is not enough to support them while her mother stays at home to tend to her younger siblings.
In contrast, most middle class and rich families favor the extension of the ECQ, saying that health is far more important than wealth.
Businessman Jake Santos, also from Bulacan, owns some 30 apartment units in the various towns of the province. He admitted being bored and frustrated but believes that the extension of the quarantine period is the right move.
“Things would have gotten worse if there was no lockdown. Look what happened in Italy and in the United States. There are people dying left and right because of COVID-19 (novel coronavirus disease- 2019),’’ Santos said.
Tricycle driver Renier Manta disagreed with Santos and said that the ECQ is only good for the rich and well-off.
Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Año said that without the lockdown, the COVID-19 positive cases could have surged to 80,000 with 5,000 deaths.
In an earlier meeting with members of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF), Año said that health experts lauded the ECQ imposed by the President as it gained “a lot of good success."
He added that the task force wants to increase the testing capacity of the country to up to 50 percent which is equivalent to 28,000 to 30,000 tests a day.
Año stressed that the quarantine should not be lifted unless the testing capacity is increased with appropriate measures enforced.
A soldier checks the temperature of a motorist at a checkpoint before entering Manila on March 16, 2020, as part of measures to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo by Maria TAN / AFP / MANILA BULLETIN)
Urban poor groups are not in favor of the government’s strict implementation of the ECQ and called the confinement to their houses as a violation of the people’s rights.
Rochelle Bar, who lives in the depressed area of Barangay Tatalon in Quezon City, said that extending the ECQ will be a "death sentence" for them.
“Mabuti sana kung sapat ang ayuda ng gobyerno eh bukod sa kulang huli pa,’’ Bar said. (It is good if the assistance given to us is enough. Aside from being insufficient, it is also given late).
In Bocaue, Bulacan, a small eatery owner admitted that the ECQ has left her family bankrupt.
A Bulacan lass who used to work as a cashier in one of the town’s nightspots admitted being forced to give in to the indecent proposal of a rabid rich businessman suitor from a neighboring town due to ‘’financial hardship.’’
“I am an IT (information technology) graduate but life became even harder with this ECQ. Sacrifices have to be made in order for us to live,’’ she said.
She is the eldest among 12 children. Her father’s meager income as a carpenter is not enough to support them while her mother stays at home to tend to her younger siblings.
In contrast, most middle class and rich families favor the extension of the ECQ, saying that health is far more important than wealth.
Businessman Jake Santos, also from Bulacan, owns some 30 apartment units in the various towns of the province. He admitted being bored and frustrated but believes that the extension of the quarantine period is the right move.
“Things would have gotten worse if there was no lockdown. Look what happened in Italy and in the United States. There are people dying left and right because of COVID-19 (novel coronavirus disease- 2019),’’ Santos said.
Tricycle driver Renier Manta disagreed with Santos and said that the ECQ is only good for the rich and well-off.
Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Año said that without the lockdown, the COVID-19 positive cases could have surged to 80,000 with 5,000 deaths.
In an earlier meeting with members of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF), Año said that health experts lauded the ECQ imposed by the President as it gained “a lot of good success."
He added that the task force wants to increase the testing capacity of the country to up to 50 percent which is equivalent to 28,000 to 30,000 tests a day.
Año stressed that the quarantine should not be lifted unless the testing capacity is increased with appropriate measures enforced.