What started as a sincere announcement on the existence of “tiny bubbles” within Metro Manila ended with a deluge of jokes and memes on social media—mostly in reference to a popular song and dance of the same title in the late 1960s.
But Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar sees no problem on how his announcement became object of jokes and funny social memes.
“This works to our advantage because people would easily remember this concept,” said Eleazar when asked about his reaction in an interview over CNN Philippines.
He explained that the concept of tiny bubbles during the August 6-20 implementation of the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) in Metro Manila was based on the NCR-Plus Bubble which was implemented in March this year during the sudden upsurge of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases.
Under the ‘tiny bubbles” concept, each of the 17 Local Government Units in Metro Manila secures its own borders from outsiders in a bid to contain the spread of the Delta variant of the COVID-19.
The border security in each of the 16 cities and the town of Pateros in NCR is on top of the bigger border control points in the entry points of Metro Manila.
“With the implementation of the ECQ, these 17 LGUs in Metro Manila became tiny bubbles within the large bubble of Metro Manila,” explained Eleazar.
“So maganda naman na napag-uusapan yan dahil matatandaan nila na in a bubble hindi ka puwedeng basta lumasbas unless you are a Worker-APOR (Authorized Person Outside Residence) (It’s good that this is being talked about because people would easily remember that they could not go out of this bubble unless you are a Worker-APOR),” said Eleazar.
And these tiny bubbles would be in effect until August 20 when the ECQ is expected to be lifted—unless the stricter quarantine rules is extended.