The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) reiterated today that senior citizens are allowed to go to public places under essential circumstances.
DILG Undersecretary and spokesperson Jonathan Malaya said that under the provisions of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID) omnibus guidelines, “it is clear that senior citizens may go out of their residences and enter commercial establishments for purposes of obtaining essential goods and services and for work in permitted industries including those in the informal setting in all areas under the community quarantine.’’
However, the government strongly encouraged senior citizens to stay home during the global pandemic if they have no essential purpose to do so.
Malaya noted DILG Memorandum Circular (MC) No. 2020-110, otherwise known as the “Rule of Mobility of Older Persons in Quarantine Situation,’’ issued on Aug. 16 by Secretary Eduardo M. Año.
As prescribed by the IATF-MEID, the memorandum says that “all LGUs, down to the barangay level, implementing modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ), general community quarantine (GCQ), and modified GCQ pursuant to the IATF-EID Omnibus Guidelines, shall not implement 24/7 lockdown on older persons in their homes.”
“It is clear that senior citizens may go out of their residences provided that their purpose is to access essential services or go to work in permitted industries. Thus, they may be exempted from the 8 p.m.-5 a.m. curfew in Metro Manila if they are returning home from work or if they left home to buy medicine. They would just need to show proof of their purpose to our law enforcers,” said Malaya.