Navotas City Mayor Toby Tiangco has expressed a stern warning against parents who are letting their children play on the streets amid threats of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) that he would not hesitate to impose a fine against them should they fail to “discipline” their children.
This came after Tiangco got appalled after seeing several children outside their houses. In his Twitter account, he posted a photo of at least seven children playing on the street and without social distancing, which are violations of general community quarantine (GCQ) guidelines that prohibit people without essential business and those below 21 years old to go outside their houses.
“Bumaba lang ang positivity rate, naging kampante na tayo agad. Balik pasaway na naman ang ilan (Just because our positivity rate decreased, some have already become confident and stubborn),” he said in his photo caption, "Kung di nyo po didisiplinahin ang inyong anak, magpasensyahan na lang po tayo kung pagmumultahin kayo ng P1,000 (If you can't discipline your children, pardon me but I will fine you P1,000)."
Tiangco reiterated that "it is the parents’ obligation to look for their children."
"Kayo po ang unang magtuturo sa kanila kung ano ang mabuti at hindi. Wag po silang hayaan na gumala dahil pag-uwi po nila, malaki ang tsansang may virus silang dala (You should be the first one to teach them what’s good and not. Don’t let them roam around the streets as they may already carry virus once they get home),” he added.
This is not the first time that the local government caught several residents without essential business outside their houses.
In July, more than a dozen individuals were seen playing basketball without face masks, which was one of the reasons why Tiangco got appalled and decided to place the city under two-week lockdown.
“Sa hirap ng buhay ngayon, ayaw naming patawan pa kayo ng multa pero kung kayo po mismo ay walang pakialam sa ating laban sa COVID-19 at nakadadagdag pa kayo sa problema, hindi rin po namin pwedeng balewalain ang aming tungkulin na ipatupad ang nararapat (We don’t like to fine you because life is hard now. But if you don’t care about our fight against COVID-19 and you add to the problem, we can’t also turn back on our obligation to serve what is right for you),” he added.
As of August 31, Navotas City has already reported 4,338 confirmed COVID-19 cases with 3,711 recoveries and 123 deaths