By Jhon Aldrin Casinas  Pasig City has taken “drastic measures” to prevent the further spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the community. Mayor Vico Sotto announced Monday that the local government will expand its implementation of “barangay coding” to all establishments in the city starting Thursday, setting a limit to residents heading out to buy food and other essential items. Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto
(KEVIN TRISTAN ESPIRITU / FILE PHOTO /  MANILA BULLETIN) The city government has initially implemented the coding system at Pasig Mega Market to decongest the market and effectively implement social distancing among market goers. “At dahil naging successful yung barangay coding, gusto po natin ipakilala siya hindi lang sa market kundi sa lahat ng establisyemento sa Pasig (Becuase of the success of the barangay coding, we want to introduce this not only in the market but to all the establishments in Pasig),” he said in a Facebook live broadcast. “Simula sa Huwebes, magsisimula na po tayo ng Pasig-wide barangay coding (Starting Thursday, we will start with our Pasig-wide barangay coding),” he added. Under the coding system, Sotto explained that residents are only allowed to leave their homes twice a week to purchase essential goods and other necessary items. According to him, the coding system also sets a limit to residents going out to run essential errands to only 10 barangays per day—clustered based on their population. The mayor added those going out for medical reasons and emergencies will still be allowed, as well as those essential personnel reporting for duty. For the implementation of the coding system, Sotto said a “permit to leave premises” will be issued to each household in the city. He said the Pasig City police will lead the distribution of the permits to avoid accusations of patronage among barangay officials. (Bibigyan po ang bawat household ng isang permit at magagamit yun dun sa twice a week na pwede tayong lumabas ng ating mga tahanan para bumili ng pagkain, para sa mga kailangan nating gagawin sa labas ng bahay na essential,” Sotto said. (Each household will be given a permit which they would twice a week so they can leave their homes to buy food, and for the essential things they need to do outside of their residence.) He noted that the permit will be distributed within the week, adding that residents will be required to present their permits starting Monday next week. “Sa Thursday, implementation na po. Sa Monday yan po yung 100 percent strict implementation na kailangan dala na rin po yung permit (This Thursday, will be the implementation. On Monday, will be the 100 percent strict implementation where permits will be required),” Sotto said. Pasig City is among the local government units that took innovative and “out-of-the-box” to promote social distancing within places of convergence, particularly in public markets, amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The city government has previously rolled out “mobile markets” selling fresh produce, meat products, and other essential food items to residents forced to stay home during the quarantine period. Sotto said the project seeks to decongest the Pasig Mega Market, which he considers as Pasig’s “center of local economy,” and to bring much-needed basic commodities much closer to Pasigeños. Meanwhile, the mayor noted that the implementation of the barangay coding is not a form of lockdown and asked for the cooperation and patience of his constituents in this time of health crisis. “Hindi po ito lockdown (This is not a lockdown),” Sotto stressed, noting that the national government does not recommend a lockdown. “Ito gagawin natin para sa mga establisyimento ng Pasig para mabawasan yung pagdagsa ng mga tao dito, mabawasan yung congestion ng tao (This is what we are going to do to establishments in Pasig to reduce the influx of people and reduce the congestion of people),” he explained.