An administration lawmaker on Tuesday, August 3 called on government to relax restrictions on public transport and the installation of checkpoints within Metro Manila and its neighboring localities in Rizal, Bulacan, Cavite and Laguna during the implementation of the enhanced community quarantine starting August 6.
Rizal 2nd District Rep. Fidel Nograles said lessons in past implementation of the ECQ indicate that the ban on public transportation and the setting up of strict security checkpoints have only resulted in adverse effects to the public.
“We have to rationalize the ban as we are still allowing some essential industries to operate. Essential workers especially those in health, food, and drugs, will be left with no ride if there is an outright ban,” Nograles pointed out.
He added: “Worse, while law-abiding transport operators will obey the ban, abusive colorum vehicles, that will charge exorbitant fares, will be the option of our commuters aside from walking miles from their homes to their places of work.”
The neophyte lawmaker underscored that we need to learn from the two ECQs the government have implemented in the past.
“I can still remember the stories of our pandemic heroes walking long distances just to serve the people battered by COVID-19. We should not add to their already heavy burden,” he added.
He also assailed the installation of “too many” and “too strict” checkpoints within the NCR Plus area.
“We understand that the checkpoints are well-meaning to discourage movement of people. However, as many of our countrymen are still required to report for work, we need to think of ways how to prevent these chokepoints in becoming superspreader events as they turn out to look like mass gatherings of people who are just trying to make ends meet or help us in our pandemic response,” Nograles said.
“Take note that some of the people we allowed to go out are those who will avail the new vaccine allocations provided by the government in ECQ and GCQ areas,” the Rizal solon said.
He added: “What we are dealing with here is the Delta variant, not the Delta force. We can go easy on the use of overly-strict military checkpoints.”