GOV’T MAY CARRY OUT STRICTER MEASURES IF PEOPLE KEEP DISREGARDING HEALTH PROTOCOLS PRESIDENT DUTERTE WARNS

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte presides over the meeting with the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATFEID) core members prior to his talk to the people at the Kingdom of Jesus Christ Compound in Davao City on June 7, 2021. Gov’t may carry out stricter JOEY DALUMPINES/ PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO measures if people keep disregarding health protocols, President Duterte warns

The government may carry out stricter measures against people disregarding government-mandated health protocols and quarantine restrictions aimed at containing the spread of COVID-19, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte warned on Monday.

In his weekly public address, President 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.

He said that for as long as Filipinos do not honor the protocols prescribed by the government, many people will continue to get infected with COVID-19.

The government put 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 cases.

Despite the decrease in the number of cases, the country continues to record new infections of 6,000 to 7,000, with health officials attributing the spike to the higher cases logged in the Visayas and Mindanao.

Meanwhile, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) reported filing cases against six barangay officials who failed to prevent super spreader events in their jurisdictions.

In his report to the President, Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año said those facing charges were village chiefs from Caloocan City, Navotas City, Tondo, Manila, Norzagaray, Bulacan, Malay, Aklan, and Cebu City.

The President has previously ordered the arrest of barangay captains in case mass gatherings happened in their jurisdictions, saying it is dereliction of duty. PND