METRO Manila mayors have agreed to restrict the mobility of unvaccinated individuals in the National Capital Region while it is under Alert Level 3 beginning yesterday until January 15 amid the rising number of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in the metropolis.
In a press briefing, Behur Abalos, who is the chairman of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), said the Metro Manila Council (MMC) has issued MMDA Resolution No. 22-01 which approved a stay-at-home policy for those who are still unvaccinated or have yet to complete the full dose.
The MMC is the governing and policy-making body of the MMDA.
“Despite the availability of vaccines, there is a number of individuals who adamantly opt not to be vaccinated and thus, become more susceptible to severe cases of COVID-19 infection, which will in turn require hospital care thereby unduly burdening the health care system to the detriment of public health,” the resolution stated.
It also said: “Advances in public health and the economic gains that have been achieved in the recent months under Alert Level 2 must be sustained and pre-emptive measures must be adopted in order to forestall and immediately address the perceived adverse impact of COVID-19, particularly the highly-transmissible Omicron variant, upon the NCR under said Alert Level 3.”
Abalos said authorities would be stricter in demanding proof of vaccination.
He said vaccination cards and another identification card must be presented when in public places like restaurants, malls and other establishments that are allowed to operate.
The MMC directed the 17 Metro LGUs to enact their respective ordinances pursuant to the regulated mobility of unvaccinated persons in their jurisdiction.
The resolution stated that unvaccinated persons will only be allowed outside of their residences for the procurement of essential goods and services such as, but not limited to, food, water, medicine, medical devices, public utilities, and energy, work, and medical and dental necessities.
They will likewise be allowed to do outdoor exercises within the general area of their residence, such as within the barangay, purok, subdivision, or village subject to the guidelines of their respective local government units (LGUs).
They are prohibited in indoor and outdoor/al fresco dining in restaurants and other food establishments, leisure or social trips to malls, hotels, event venues, sports and country clubs, and similar facilities.
The mayors also said they are not allowed in domestic travel via public transportation by land, sea, and air except for the procurement of essential goods and services such as, but not limited to, food, water, medicine, medical devices, public utilities, and energy, work, and medical and dental necessities subject to the production of proof to support and justify such travel.
Unvaccinated persons will also be required to undergo a Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT PCR) test every two weeks at their personal expense and present a COVID-19 negative result prior to being admitted for work onsite consistent with the guidelines, rules, and regulations issued by the Inter Agency Task Force (IATF) and the Department of Labor and Employment.
When an RT PCR test or result is not immediately available, a rapid antigen test will be accepted.
“The same rules shall also cover individuals who reside outside of the NCR but who work and/or travel to the region,” the resolution stated.
Interior Secretary Eduardo Año backed the MMC move, saying that “eighty percent of those in the Intensive Care Unit are unvaccinated. It’s only proper and reasonable for the MMC to implement such a policy.”
Año said vaccination against COVID-19, coupled with the adherence to minimum public health standards like wearing of face mask and observance of physical distancing, is key to controlling the surge of Delta and Omicron variants.
“To ensure that NCR residents and workers are protected from community infections, it is but proper that only vaccinated individuals will be allowed unrestricted mobility,” the DILG secretary also said.
Abalos said: “These are just temporary measures while the NCR is under Level 3 for the protection of unvaccinated individuals amid the spiking number of COVID cases in the region.”
He added that once the alert level is reverted to lower alert level, the restrictions for the unvaccinated will be lifted.
According to the MMDA resolution, “any individual and/or establishment found to be in violation of these new COVID-19 protocols shall be prosecuted in accordance with the penal provision of the applicable ordinance to be issued pursuant to this Resolution and without prejudice to further prosecution under the provisions of Republic Act No. 11332, particularly Section 9 (d) and (e) on Prohibited Acts in relation to Section 10 on Penalties, i.e., a fine of not less than P20,000.00 but not more than P50,000.00 or imprisonment of not less than one month but not more than six months, or both such fine and imprisonment, at the discretion of the proper court.”
It is also said that “any individual or establishment who or which will falsify the COVID-19 vaccine card shall be prosecuted under Act No. 3815 or the Revised Penal Code, as amended, pursuant to Section 12 of Republic Act No. 11525 or the COVID-19 Vaccination Program Act of 2021.”
MANILA
Manila Mayo Isko Moreno said unvaccinated adults and minors will not be allowed entry to malls and public transport in Manila while the NCR is under Alert Level 3 to limit public mobility and control the transmission of the COVID-19 virus.
“Mall managers should follow this guidance for the safety of everyone,” Moreno said.
Moreno also said face-to-face classes from pre-school up to high school are also suspended, with schools reverting to the blended form of education through the use of modules and online learning.
As part of the preparation for the possible surge in COVID-19 cases, Moreno said the Ospital ng Maynila, Sta.Ana Hospital, Gat Andres Bonifacio Memorial Medical Center, Justice Jose Abad Santos General Hospital, Ospital ng Tondo and Ospital ng Sampaloc are under Code White alert to ensure the availability of emergency medicines and medical personnel in hospitals and health facilities to provide immediate health care services.
Moreno said 14 quarantine facilities with more than 700-bed capacity are on standby to accept mild and moderate COVID-19 patients.
Meanwhile, Moreno said the city has enough stockpile of COVID-19 medicines such as Remdesivir and Tocilizumab for now.
“We have 3,925 Remdesivir, 732 of Tocilizumab and 22,758 of Molnupiravir,” he said, adding that there is also enough supply of oxygen tanks. “We have 1,374 oxygen tanks available, equivalent to 60,700 liters of oxygen reserves,” he said.
RANDOM INSPECTION
Interior Secretary Eduardo Año ordered the PNP to closely monitor establishments in Metro Manila to ensure their compliance to regulations under Alert Level 3, especially their allowed customer capacity.
Año said he has directed the National Capital Region Police Office, under Maj. Gen. Vicente Danao, “to do random inspection of all business establishment to make sure that the operational limitations are followed.”
Under Alert Level 3, business establishments are only allowed 30 percent indoor customer capacity (from 50 percent under Alert Level 2) and 50 outdoor capacity (from 70 percent under Alert Level 2).
Año said the random inspections will also ensure that “only the vaccinated can access restaurants, leisure establishments, malls, public transportation, and similar establishments.”
Interior undersecretary and spokesman Jonathan Malaya said Año has “also issued a directive to the PNP to enforce strictly the granular lockdowns which is part of our alert level system.”
The IATF is set to meet today to finalize possible amendments to its current COVID-19-related protocols, such as travel and border policies, face-to-face classes and mobility of minors, and the operations of public transportation and establishments.
Cabinet Secretary and acting presidential spokesman Karlo Nograles, in an interview with ANC, said the IATF technical working group has started a review of the existing policies and the current situation especially the vaccination program in different parts of the country to determine its effectiveness.
Nograles said some of the COVID-19 protocols were approved at a time when the vaccination rate in the country was still low, and the inoculation program was not yet open to minors.
Nograles said the IATF placed Metro Manila under Alert Level 3 due to the rising active COVID-19 cases, and at the same time considering that “we are giving vaccination now to 12 to 18-year-olds and then many of our senior citizens have been vaccinated.”
Nograles said the IATF will coordinate with local government units in the NCR about the travel protocols, testing, and vaccination, and discuss the current operation of businesses and establishments as well as the conduct of RT-PCR tests and its prices.
MASS TESTING
Presidential adviser for COVID-19 response Secretary Vince Dizon, during the Laging Handa public briefing, said the government and its panel of experts are studying the possible use of personal or home COVID-19 kits to increase the current testing capacity and expedite process of identifying those who are infected.
Gabriela party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas said the government’s move to ban unvaccinated individuals in Metro Manila from going outside their homes is not enough to curb the latest COVID-19 surge if there will be no free mass testing.
“Vaccinated individuals can be carriers of the virus and can still test positive for COVID-19.
Kaya hindi sapat itong ‘No Vaxx, No Labas’ policy na ipapatupad sa NCR (That’s why this ‘No Vaxx, No going out’ policy is not enough),” she said.
Brosas, an assistant minority leader, noted the recent exponential COVID-19 surge in Metro Manila happened even when 102 percent of target NCR population is already vaccinated.
“That is why this latest (Metro Manila Council) MMC policy is blind to the actual situation on the ground,” she said.
The Gabriela party-list lawmaker said that without expanded and free mass testing, “we will remain blind to the viral transmission and infection among the vaccinated and the unvaccinated.”
“We’ve long been calling for free mass testing and until now, it still hasn’t been funded even under there 2022 national budget. The COVID-19 surge will just happened over and over again if we’re blind to this aspect,” Brosas said.
The militant lawmaker also urged the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to clarify if the final 2022 national budget has made allocations to the hiring of contact tracers, as the submitted expenditure plan has zero allocation for such.
“We should be focusing on free testing, expanded contact tracing and the boosting of our public health system. However, we are seeing a repeat of Duterte regime’s restrictions on mobility, which have been proven insufficient,” she said. — With Ashzel Hachero, Victor Reyes, Jocelyn Montemayor and Wendell Vigilia
