President Rodrigo Duterte is set to announce today the new quarantine measures to be implemented starting July 16.
Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Aῆo shared that the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) will meet with President Duterte tonight to present its recommendation for the quarantine classification, including that of the NCR.
“Base doon sa meeting namin sa mga NCR mayors ay gusto nila na maging mahigpit pa rin, pero mabuksan na ang ekonomiya (Based on our meeting with the NCR mayors, they still want it to be strict, but the economy must be opened),” Aῆo disclosed.
Meanwhile, under Oplan Kalinga, a household is only allowed to do home quarantine if it has a separate room where the patient can be confined, furnished with a comfort room for his/her exclusive use, and the patient is not living with people who are vulnerable to COVID-19 such as senior citizens and immunocompromised individuals, among others.
Aῆo clarified that the program is not a form of militarization since the PNP will only serve as support and is meant to assist.
“Hindi police o PNP ang pupunta sa mga bahay, sapagka’t hindi naman sila trained dito. Ang pupunta diyan ‘yung ating mga CESU, health workers, health officers, at naka-PPE yang mga yan (The PNP will not do the house calls since they are not trained for this. It is the CESU, health workers and officers in PPE who will do so).”
“Ngayon ayon sa batas, dapat ilabas natin sila, kung hindi ilalagay mo sa panganib ‘yung mga kasama ninyo sa bahay o mga kapitbahay. At sa batas, may kaukulang parusa iyon pag hindi ka sumunod (Based on the law, they must be taken out because other people in their homes might be at risk. There are sanctions for those who will not abide by the law),” Aῆo added.
The Department of Health (DOH) expressed support for the new measure.
However, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque “find(s) it unfortunate that critics and detractors of the Duterte Administration are using the important strategy of contract tracing to vilify the current government.”
– Report from Mela Lesmoras
