If he had his way, a Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) official would require people to wear their coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccination cards in public like a regular company or school identification card (ID).
In a "Laging Handa" press briefing Wednesday, Sept. 22, DILG Undersecretary for Barangay Affairs Martin Diño stressed that the move will allow police and barangay authorities to easily identify vaccinated individuals who go outdoors or those who are unvaccinated.
"Laging nakasabit ang aking face mask at nakasabit na ang aking ID at vaccination card. Dapat ngayon irerequest ko sa Inter-Agency Task Force para maiutos sa lahat ng mga barangay na ito na sana ang maging sakripisyo ng bawat Pilipinong nabakunahan (My face mask, ID, and vaccination card are always displayed. I am supposed to request the Inter-Agency Task Force to compel all the barangays to do this as a form of sacrifice of every vaccinated Filipino)," Dino said.
"Kung ikaw ay bakunado na, paglabas mo ng bahay isuot mo na yung vaccination card (If you are already vaccinated, wear your vaccination card whenever you go out of your house)," he added.
Similarly, Diño noted that restaurant personnel can easily pinpoint the vaccination status of their dine-in and al-freaco customers if the vaccination cards are worn in public.
Currently, restaurants in Metro Manila which is under Alert Level 4 from Sept. 16 to 30 are allowed 10 percent capacity for dine-in of fully vaccinated customers.
Under the same alert level, al fresco or outdoor dining in Metro Manila restaurants is permitted with a maximum of 30 percent capacity regardless of vaccination status.
Meamwhile, Diño said that the Alert Level System with granular lockdowns should have long been implemented as this has effectively slowed down the COVID-19 transmission in the National Capital Region (NCR).
The DILG official noted that people tend to get "edgy" when positive COVID-19 cases reach around 17,000 in Metro Manila
With 1,710 barangays in Metro Manila, Diño explained that this would only translate to 10 cases per barangay in NCR.
Under these circumstances, Diño said that the government can concentrate in these granular lockdown areas where restrictions can be imposed in one or two houses, one street or a floor of one 10 storey building with COVID-19 positive individuals.
“Dito nga sa nangyari ngayon, gumagalaw ang ekonomiya. Sabi nga ni (DILG) Secretary Año kung ang kamay ko ang tinamaan kaliwa (COVID19 virus) dito lang tayo maglalakdown (granular) at kokonsentrate lang natin ang lahat ng resources ng gobyerno (Under the current situation, the economy is moving. Like what Secretary Año said, if my left hand gets infected this is where we will impose the lockdown and we will concentrate all the government’s resources),’’ Diño said.