PRESIDENT DUTERTE has ordered all barangay officials to restrict the movement of unvaccinated people in their respective areas following the spike in Covid-19 cases in many parts of the country.
Duterte invoked his authority as Chief Executive amid a national emergency to order the mobility restriction on the unvaccinated. “As I have earlier directed, barangay officials were enforced a strict adherence to the quarantine protocols, including restraining unvaccinated persons from leaving their houses and they will do this legally. As I have said, we have every right to restrain the (unvaccinated people), we cannot wait for cong(ress to pass) a law,” he said.
“There is no denying that the Covid-19 situation in the country is becoming more alarming every day. Madaling sabi, may problema tayo. Nandito na ‘yung Covid-19, pati ‘yung variants, what makes it difficult to maybe treat on time, halos pareho lang siguro, I hope that’s the same banana that is applicable to all ‘yung mga gamot natin,” Duterte added.
The president also cited reports by medical experts saying new cases of Covid-19 continue to rise daily from more than 21,000 early this month to over 33,000 in a day and he noted a steady spike in the number of infections in the same period from around 77,000 to more than 157,000 now.
Duterte said he is alarmed by the Covid-19 data because of the reproduction rate of the viral transmission also shot up at more than 5% at the National Capital Region alone.
“Experts noted a high Covid-19 reproduction rate in NCR in more than five, meaning there is one Covid positive person that can be able or can infect more than five persons. Ang taas naman nito, Our positivity rate as of January 10 was about 46 percent - meaning that at least four out of ten persons tested for Covid-19 will turn out to be positive,” he said.
The Department of the Interior and Local Government said barangay officials must follow Duterte’s order and within the bounds of the law.
“The President is merely exercising his authority as chief executive under the public health emergency. He was very clear in his directive that an arrest will only be a last resort. Pakiusapan muna na pumirmi sa bahay. Barangay officials may only arrest the unvaccinated individual who refuse to cooperate and who are leaving the homes for non-essential purposes,” said DILG Secretary Eduardo Año.
Año said that barangay officials are persons in authority and are duty bound to implement the President’s directive as well as the ordinances passed by their respective local governments. He advised the public to bring their vaccination cards at all times and show it to barangay officials and police officers as proof of vaccination.
DILG spokesman Jonathan Malaya said unvaccinated individuals going to work must present a negative RT-PCR test result every 2 weeks otherwise they will not be allowed to leave their homes, although they can go out to procure basic essentials or medicines. “We are doing this to protect the unvaccinated themselves because they are prone to critical illness and hospitalization and we need to protect our health care system from being overwhelmed with the exponential rise of coronavirus cases because of the Omicron variant,” he said.
And due to the increasing number of Covid-cases, the National Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Infectious Diseases also placed the following provinces and cities to Alert Level 3 until end of January - Benguet, Kalinga and Abra in the Cordillera Administrative Region; La Union, Ilocos Norte and Pangasinan in Region 1; Nueva Vizcaya, Isabela and Quirino in Region 2; Nueva Ecija and Tarlac in Region 3; Quezon Province in Region 4-A; Occidental Mindoro and Oriental Mindoro in Region 4-B; and Camarines Sur and Albay in Region 5 in Luzon.
In the Visayas under Alert Level 3 are: Bacolod City, Aklan, Capiz and Antique in Region 6; Cebu City and Mandaue City in Region 7; and Tacloban City in Region 8.
In Mindanao, also under Alert Level 3 are the following: Cagayan de Oro City in Region 10; Davao City in Region 11; Butuan City and Agusan del Sur in CARAGA; and Cotabato City in BARMM.
All other provinces and cities not mentioned shall remain under their current alert level classification. (Mark Navales and Malou Cablinda)
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