CEBU – President Duterte warned Filipinos that the government may carry out stricter measures against those disregarding health protocols and quarantine restrictions aimed at containing the spread of the deadly Covid-19 disease.
Duterte did not
specify what measures might be tweaked, pointing out, however, of seeing people
not following government rules, especially in the Visayas and Mindanao.
“We might
calibrate our response to the intransigence that you will show. Depende sa ano
ninyo. Kung talagang ayaw ninyong sumunod, then we can go into marami, marami.
I could, ayaw ko lang sabihin but we have the power to control it actually kung
ginusto lang namin pahirapan ang tao,” he said.
For as long as
Filipinos do not honor the protocols prescribed by the government, many people
will continue to get infected with Covid-19, he said.
The national government
placed Metro Manila and its adjacent provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and
Rizal under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) and modified ECQ in March to
mid-May due to increasing number of Covid-19 cases. The restrictions were
eventually downgraded to a general community quarantine (GCQ) after National
Capital Region saw drop in Covid-19 cases.
Despite the
decrease in the number of cases, the country continues to record new infections
of up to 7,000, with health officials attributing the spike to the higher cases
logged in the Visayas and Mindanao.
The Department of
the Interior and Local Government reported filing cases against six village
officials who failed to prevent mass gatherings or “super spreader” events in
their jurisdictions.
Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said those facing charges were village chieftains from Cebu City, Caloocan City, Navotas City, Tondo, Manila, Norzagaray, Bulacan, Malay and Aklan.
He did not identify any of the officials, but Duterte previously ordered the arrest of village chieftains in case mass gatherings happened in their jurisdictions, saying it is dereliction of their duty. (With additional reporting from Malou Cablinda and Rhoderick Benez.)
Like Us on Facebook: The Mindanao Examiner
Like Us on Facebook: The Zamboanga Post
Follow Us on Twitter: Mindanao Examine
Mirror Site: Mindanao Examiner Blog
Digital Archives: Mindanao Examiner Digital
Media Rates: Advertising Rates
No comments:
Post a Comment