Malacañang believes that it is possible to not have a spike in COVID-19 cases while the country moves to ease restrictions on public transportation because Filipinos already know what to do during the pandemic.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque made the statement after the University of the Philippines (UP) OCTA Research Group warned against the easing of restrictions in public transportation, saying this will trigger an increase in new COVID-19 cases in the National Capital Region (NCR) in the next two weeks.
According to Roque, the Palace disagrees with the UP OCTA Research Group, saying Filipinos already know that they should follow President Duterte's advice to wear a mask, wash their hands, and practice physical distancing so they can go to work.
"We disagree with the research group. Tingin ko po gagawin ng Pilipino ang lahat ng dapat gawin dahil importante sa kanila na makapaghanapbuhay na muli (I think Filipinos will do everything because it is important to them to be able to work again)," he said.
Roque said respected doctors and former Health Secretaries like Esperanza Cabral and Manuel Dayrit said that reducing physical distancing measures inside public transportation is possible without causing a spike in the number of COVID-19 cases.
"Itong mga doctor pong ito ay respetado. Hindi ko po alam kung sino iyong doctor ng OCTA Group (These doctors are highly respected. I don't know who's the doctor of the OCTA Group)," he said.
"Ang sabi po nila, hindi naman dapat tumaas maski bawasan ang spacing sa public transportation basta susunod po sa seven commandments (They said that there can be no increase in the number of daily cases even if we reduce the spacing inside public transportation as long as the public follows the seven commandments)," he added.
"Ito naman po ay base rin sa siyensiya na diniscuss po sa IATF ni (This is based on science and was discussed by) Dr. Dayrit, and I’m sorry, I believe them po," he said.
The seven commandments in public transportation Roque was referring to are:
1. Wearing face masks
2. Wearing face shields
3. No talking and eating
4. Adequate ventilation
5. Frequent and proper disinfection
6. No asymptomatic passengers allowed
7. Passengers seating one seat apart
The government is currently moving to reopen the economy as part of the third phase of the National Action Plan on COVID-19. To allow more passengers to get to work, the Inter-agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases has allowed the extension of the pilot study on motorcycle taxis.
To date, the Philippines has recorded a total of 373,144 COVID-19 cases, 7,053 deaths, and 328,602 recovered. (Argyll Cyrus B. Geducos)