A food delivery rider was prohibited Tuesday morning from delivering "lugaw" or rice porridge to a customer in a barangay in Bulacan province.
Through a 30-minute Facebook Live video, rider Marvin Ignacio showed how a female personnel from the city of San Jose Del Monte barred him from entering Barangay Muzon to deliver an order around 1:30 a.m. supposedly due to the ongoing implementation of the enhanced community quarantine.
The personnel told Ignacio that he could not be allowed to deliver the order because lugaw was not part of essential goods.
"Essential po ba si lugaw? Hindi… Kasi mabubuhay ang tao nang walang lugaw (Is rice porridge essential? No. Because people can live without it)," the personnel explained, "Hindi po essential si lugaw, mabubuhay po tayong walang lugaw maghapon (It is not essential because we can live a day without it)."
"Edi sana lahat ng pagkain bukas (If that's the case then all food businesses should be open even during curfew hours)," the personnel added when Ignacio argued that lugaw delivery should be allowed because it was food.
The personnel also maintained that there was a 6 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew hours being enforced in NCR+ bubble, which included Metro Manila, Bulacan, Rizal, Laguna, and Cavite. She even scolded him and asked why delivery services were still available.
"Bakit may Grab pa kasi? Bawal na ho tambay. Kasi hanggang bukas kayo, may taong lalabas, may magde-deliver. Non-sense, Sir. Video mo pa ako… Hindi nyo ba naiintindihan? (Why is Grab still operating? People are no longer allowed outside. And while you still operate, people will still go outside to avail of delivery services. It's really non-sense even if you take a video of me… Can't you understand?)"
The personnel also talked to the customer to explain that food delivery was no longer allowed in the area and even threatened that the lugaw stall might be shut down following the incident.
Under the March 28, 2021 quarantine guidelines from the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, "food preparation establishments such as commissaries, restaurants and eateries" are still allowed to operate although only "limited to take-out and delivery."
Based on Executive Order No.10 issued by Gov. Daniel Fernando, authorized persons outside their residences or APORs, which included delivery riders as they are employees of permitted industries, "shall not be restricted" by the curfew hours.