There are now reports of discrimination against Barangay Kamuning residents, which Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte attributed to the immediate reporting of the first United Kingdom (UK) variant of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) without properly informing the public first.
After the Department of Health (DOH) on Wednesday night disclosed that a Barangay Kamuning in Quezon City resident tested positive for the new virus variant after returning from Dubai, Belmonte said some of her constituents are already prohibited from reporting for work due to fear of their employers.
"Tumawag na sa akin kanina ang kapitana ng Barangay Kamuning at sinabi nya na napakarami sa kaniyang mga mamayan, takot na takot na... at marami din sa kanila ay hindi na pinayagan pumasok sa iba't iba nilang mga tanggapan bilang mga empleyado (The captain of Barangay Kamuning talked to me and told that many of her constituents are already afraid. Some of them are even asked not to report for work anymore)," Belmonte told reporters Thursday in a press conference.
"And that is very very sad because this is because of lack of information and lack of communication and lack of awareness that could have been avoided having been given opportunity to inform the public properly," she said.
Aside from that, vendors at the Kamuning Market also said their sales for the day supposedly went down after the news.
Belmonte said, the local government and the DOH already talked about how they would deliver the news to the public, but apparently, it did not go as planned.
"Napagusapan naman namin kung paano namin ibabalita sa taumbayan para hindi po ma-alarma ang mga mamayan natin. Kaya lang syempre hindi natin inaasahan na mababalita ito agad agad ng ating pong mahal na kalihim ng kalusugan (We already talked about how we would deliver the news so it would not alarm the public. But we did not expect that it would already be disclosed by the secretary of the Department of Health)," Belmonte said.
"Ito nga ang ating kinaklaro ngayon (This is what we're trying to clarify now)," she added, referring to the press conference which highlighted that the patient was properly isolated and did not go home nor interact with his neighbors.
Belmonte called on the public, particularly the employers, not to discriminate against Barangay Kamuning residents just because of the news. She even warned them that the city government would pursue charges should they violate the city's existing ordinance against discrimination.
"Nauunawan ko po na kayo po ay nangagamaba (I understand your worries)," Belmonte told employers, "pero dito sa lungsod Quezon meron po tayong anti-discrimination ordinance. This is something we are ready to purse kung patuloy pa ring dinidiscriminate ang mga mamayaan ng Barangay Kamuning dahil sa kasong ito na wala namang batayang sila ay madsicriminate (But here in the city, we have the anti-discrimination ordinance, which we are ready to pursue if discrimination against residents without any basis continues)."