COVID-19 trend to determine ECQ fate
Published Apr 20, 2020 12:00 am
By PNA and Aaron Recuenco
The number of new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in the remaining days of April will be the final factor in determining whether the ongoing enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in Luzon be will extended anew or not, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said late Sunday.
“The trend of COVID(-19) cases appearing every day will be the final determinant. That’s why these last 11 days of April are crucial in the decision-making process. We should see a tapering off or downward trend to warrant partial lifting or continue with the lockdown if the trend continues to go up,” Lorenzana said in a message to reporters late Sunday.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana (photo courtesy of the Office of the Secretary of National Defense) MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO
Lorenzana said this is also the reason the government is worried over some Filipinos’ continuous violation of the enhanced community quarantine protocols on social distancing and mass gatherings.
“That is why we are worried about these too many people out in groups in supermarkets, streets, and other places. These sights do not inspire confidence that we will achieve our objective by end of this month,” he added.
Lorenzana added that this is also why he has instructed Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff Gen. Felimon T. Santos Jr. to deploy more troops in Metro Manila and other areas with a high number of COVID19 cases.
On Monday, a video showing a police official berating residents of the Pacific Plaza Condominium at the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig City for not following ECQ protocols went viral.
Reacting the video post, Police Lt. Gen. Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar, commander of the Joint Task Force COVID Shield, warned administrators of condominiums and subdivisions against defying the guideline on home quarantine and social distancing for coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
Eleazar said residents of condominiums and subdivisions are not exempted from the implementation of the enhanced community quarantine guideline even if the violations are committed inside their premises.
“The last time we checked, there is no existing State or entity inside the Philippines that could craft and implement its own laws or guidelines especially pertaining to the COVID-19 safety measures,” said Eleazar in a statement on Monday.
“The ECQ Guideline is plain and simple: Stay at home and observe social distancing when going out of your house – anytime, anywhere, and regardless of your social status. Thus, that condo residential place and the people living there are not exempted,” he stressed.
But Presidential spokesman Harry Roque, a lawyer, said police cannot enter private properties as it stressed that the constitutional right of the people to security cannot be violated.
In his Monday press briefing, Roque said the incident was already being investigated. However, he said the Constitution was clear in such situations.
“The right of the public to be secured inside their houses, places, and persons shall be inviolable,” he said. “That cannot be violated unless there is a court order,” he added.
Roque said the police know that it cannot enter private properties unless there’s a crime committed in the said place, they were invited, or they have a search warrant.
Barangay-level quarantine
As officials try to figure out policies that will be taken after the ECQ ends on April 30, Senator Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara on Sunday said a selective quarantine in the barangay level is preferable, instead of extending it beyond April 30.
His stand supports the earlier suggestion of business groups, led by Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion, for a selective quarantine on the barangay level.
Angara, a COVID-19 survivor, said he hopes that the Inter-Agency Task Force for Emerging Infectious Disease (IATF-EID) would consider a barangay-based quarantine instead of enforcing the ECQ which is set to end on Thursday next week.
Under a barangay-based quarantine, village officials would be tasked to strictly implement quarantine procedures and more importantly, social distancing.
“Tapos very strict implementation on the ground. Kasi, kumbaga ang mga sundalo mo rito yung mga barangay officials, mga tanod (The implementation on the ground must be very strict. Because your soldiers here would be the barangay officials),” Angara said.
Angara warned that having a long-term ECQ would pose a huge problem for the whole country, especially the economy.
That is why, he said, he hopes Filipinos would strictly heed the call of the government to strictly stay indoors while the Luzon-wide ECQ is in place.
On the other hand, opposition Senator Francis N. Pangilinan said the enhanced community quarantine should be extended but certain essential services should be allowed to operate. (With reports from Hannah Torregoza and Mario Casayuran)
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana (photo courtesy of the Office of the Secretary of National Defense) MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO
Lorenzana said this is also the reason the government is worried over some Filipinos’ continuous violation of the enhanced community quarantine protocols on social distancing and mass gatherings.
“That is why we are worried about these too many people out in groups in supermarkets, streets, and other places. These sights do not inspire confidence that we will achieve our objective by end of this month,” he added.
Lorenzana added that this is also why he has instructed Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff Gen. Felimon T. Santos Jr. to deploy more troops in Metro Manila and other areas with a high number of COVID19 cases.
On Monday, a video showing a police official berating residents of the Pacific Plaza Condominium at the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig City for not following ECQ protocols went viral.
Reacting the video post, Police Lt. Gen. Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar, commander of the Joint Task Force COVID Shield, warned administrators of condominiums and subdivisions against defying the guideline on home quarantine and social distancing for coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
Eleazar said residents of condominiums and subdivisions are not exempted from the implementation of the enhanced community quarantine guideline even if the violations are committed inside their premises.
“The last time we checked, there is no existing State or entity inside the Philippines that could craft and implement its own laws or guidelines especially pertaining to the COVID-19 safety measures,” said Eleazar in a statement on Monday.
“The ECQ Guideline is plain and simple: Stay at home and observe social distancing when going out of your house – anytime, anywhere, and regardless of your social status. Thus, that condo residential place and the people living there are not exempted,” he stressed.
But Presidential spokesman Harry Roque, a lawyer, said police cannot enter private properties as it stressed that the constitutional right of the people to security cannot be violated.
In his Monday press briefing, Roque said the incident was already being investigated. However, he said the Constitution was clear in such situations.
“The right of the public to be secured inside their houses, places, and persons shall be inviolable,” he said. “That cannot be violated unless there is a court order,” he added.
Roque said the police know that it cannot enter private properties unless there’s a crime committed in the said place, they were invited, or they have a search warrant.
Barangay-level quarantine
As officials try to figure out policies that will be taken after the ECQ ends on April 30, Senator Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara on Sunday said a selective quarantine in the barangay level is preferable, instead of extending it beyond April 30.
His stand supports the earlier suggestion of business groups, led by Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion, for a selective quarantine on the barangay level.
Angara, a COVID-19 survivor, said he hopes that the Inter-Agency Task Force for Emerging Infectious Disease (IATF-EID) would consider a barangay-based quarantine instead of enforcing the ECQ which is set to end on Thursday next week.
Under a barangay-based quarantine, village officials would be tasked to strictly implement quarantine procedures and more importantly, social distancing.
“Tapos very strict implementation on the ground. Kasi, kumbaga ang mga sundalo mo rito yung mga barangay officials, mga tanod (The implementation on the ground must be very strict. Because your soldiers here would be the barangay officials),” Angara said.
Angara warned that having a long-term ECQ would pose a huge problem for the whole country, especially the economy.
That is why, he said, he hopes Filipinos would strictly heed the call of the government to strictly stay indoors while the Luzon-wide ECQ is in place.
On the other hand, opposition Senator Francis N. Pangilinan said the enhanced community quarantine should be extended but certain essential services should be allowed to operate. (With reports from Hannah Torregoza and Mario Casayuran)