Cinemas in Marikina CIty will remain closed even if the national government already approved their re-opening in areas under the General Community Quarantine (GCQ) starting March 5.
Marikina Mayor Marcelino “Marcy” Teodoro said his executive order prohibiting the reopening of cinemas issued in February will still be in place by March 5.
Teodoro said keeping cinemas closed in the city is one of the local government's measures to prevent the further transmission of the virus in the city since Marikina’s COVID cases are rising.
“According to the OCTA Research, Marikina is an LGU (local government unit) of concern. We’re able to manage the number of cases in the past but we’re seeing a surge at this point in time, meaning the positivity rate of cases in Marikina has been increasing,” he told ANC in an interview.
“This is a cause of alarm for us and we deem it necessary to implement stricter measures in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19,” he added.
Teodoro said the city’s cinema operators are also not inclined to resume operations since it is not “economically viable.”
“They expect that the number of patrons that will go to the cinema would be very minimal,” he said.
Marikina is working on reopening other industries such as shoe manufacturing.
The city mayor said they are doing everything in their capacity to help shoe manufacturers reopen their businesses.
“We are encouraging them to do retail selling or offering some areas in the city for free for them where they could sell their commodities, of course, with strict health protocols and social distancing measure to be implemented,” he said.