SENATORS yesterday said Malacañang should slow down and carefully consider proposals to drop the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) alert level system and ease mobility restrictions amid the continued spread of the virus in all regions of the country.
Senators Sherwin Gatchalian, Panfilo Lacson and Juan Edgardo Angara backed the proposal of presidential adviser on entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion to scrap the COVID-19 alert scheme but urged policy makers to enhance the current response programs of the government.
Gatchalian favors the gradual scrapping of the alert level system “maybe (by the) second half of the year.”
“In order to boost our economy and lower down unemployment, (we need) to gradually go back to our normal lives by learning to live with the virus,” he said.
He also said government should further boost its vaccination program since “we have learned from this Omicron surge that the vaccines are effective as it prevented our hospitals from being overwhelmed.”
“Government should continue to push (for) booster shots in urban areas, vaccination of 5 to 11-year-olds, and increase vaccination rates in rural areas. Vaccination is our only way to exit this pandemic,” Gatchalian said.
Lacson acknowledged that the economy has “(taken a) beating from lockdowns and imposed alert levels over the past two years.”
“It is time to give (the country) the needed break to recover. (But) in doing so, we should act faster than we used to do in our data gathering with due consideration to science which can be provided by our health experts in consultation with their foreign counterparts,” he said.
He stressed that “in situations like this, the key is a sense of urgency.”
Lacson also said pandemic handlers should come up with ready control strategies in the instance that cases surge anew, citing the experience of European countries which suffered from new waves of COVID infections after they prematurely eased restrictions.
Angara said it is time that the government adjusts its response to the pandemic since the coronavirus is mutating.
“The virus is mutating, changing. That’s why it is okay that our response policies should also be changing. This is already being done in some countries. This can help those badly affected so they can recover),” Angara said.
Sen. Nancy Binay rejected the proposal and said the country is not ready to lift restrictions on movements as we have yet to reach an endemic state of public health.
“If we totally eliminate alert levels, then it’s like letting everyone walk through a dark tunnel nang walang guide lights — bahala ka na kung matisod o mabangga ka, o mahulog sa bangin dahil walang anumang ilaw, abiso o signage na magbibigay ng warning sayo. If that’s the government’s exit plan, then mukhang wala pa rin tayong lagusang lalabasan laban sa COVID (If we totally eliminate alert levels, then it’s like letting everyone walk through a dark tunnel with no guiding lights. You are on your own if you trip, hit a wall, or fall into a ravine because there are no lights, warnings, or signages which will warn the people. If that’s the government’s exit plan, then it seems there is still no way out of this pandemic),” Binay said.
While it is “ideal” that Filipinos learn to live with the virus, Binay said authorities should “put in place health safeguards.”
Binay’s position was similar to the position of Secretary Karl Chua, National Economic Development Authority head, who has said that the alert level system should still be implemented since the country is not yet fully out of the pandemic.
BE RESPONSIBLE
Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chairman Benhur Abalos Jr. and vaccine expert panel member Dr. Rontgene Solante yesterday urged the public to be responsible and continue following health protocols amid the downgrade of Metro Manila and seven other provinces to Alert Level 2.
In separate interviews, Abalos and Solante said COVID-19 is still a threat despite the easing of restrictions in the National Capital Region and the provinces of Batanes, Bulacan, Cavite, Rizal, Biliran, Southern Leyte, and Basilan.
Abalos said individuals, especially those living in the NCR, should just stay in their homes if they do not have any essential errand to do.
“I call on our countrymen to take care, exercise responsible thinking, maintain an attitude of being responsible,” Abalos said.
Abalos said the Metro Manila Council (MMC) did not make any recommendations for the February alert levels and will instead just observe COVID-19 indicators that are used as basis for the declaration of alert levels.
These indicators include the growth, average daily attack, and hospital use rates.
Abalos said that when Metro Manila reverted to Alert 2, policies limiting the movement of unvaccinated and partially vaccinated individuals in the region were automatically lifted in Las Piñas, Makati, Malabon, Mandaluyong, Manila, Marikina, Muntinlupa, Navotas, Pasig, San Juan, Taguig and Valenzuela.
However, he said the cities of Parañaque and Pasay and the municipality of Pateros have yet to issue an ordinance or order suspending the restrictions.
Abalos said local government units have the right to issue their own ordinances or decide what policies would best apply to their cities and constituents, such as imposing curfews or limiting the mobility of the unvaccinated.
Abalos said the MMDA will coordinate with the Department of Education about the implementation of face-to-face classes after its pilot implementation in NCR was disrupted when the alert level in NCR was raised to Alert Level 3.
In Quezon City, the local government issued guidelines for business establishments and its residents to follow while the NCR is under Alert 2 until February 15.
Mayor Joy Belmonte said curfew hours for minors are now in effect from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.
The holding of gatherings for no specific purpose and gatherings in residences with individuals not belonging to the same household have also been prohibited by the city government.
Restaurants and other food establishments, as well as personal service establishments like salons and barbershops, are allowed up to 70 percent capacity indoors for fully vaccinated adults.
“They can also accommodate up to 90 percent capacity outdoors regardless of age or vaccination status,” Belmonte said, but stressed that employees of such establishments must be fully vaccinated.
Religious gatherings are also allowed for fully vaccinated adults up to 70 percent capacity indoors, and 90 percent capacity outdoors for all persons regardless of age or vaccination status.
The PNP yesterday said 132,212 individuals were accosted by the police during the implementation of the Alert Level 3 of quarantine in Metro Manila from January 3 to 31.
The PNP said 4,336 individuals were accosted on Monday, the last day of the Alert 3, for violation of the minimum public health standards (MPHS).
Of the total 132,212 violators accosted from January 3 to 31, the PNP said 132,052 were for violation of MPHS, and 160 for violating curfew hours.
It said 91,538 of the violators were merely warned, 24,764 were fined and 15,910 were brought to police stations for filing of charges.
Nationwide, 755,152 violators were accosted during the same period – 658,995 for MPHS violation; 80,388 for curfew violation; and 15,769 non-authorized persons outside residence.
The PNP said 640,491 of the violators caught throughout the country were merely warned; 65,524 were fined; and 49,137 were charged.
Meanwhile, the number of areas under granular lockdown throughout the country went to down to 884 as of Monday, from 1,036 last Saturday. — With Jocelyn Montemayor, Noel Talacay, Victor Reyes, Gerard Naval and Reuters
