Cebu City Rep. Rodrigo Abellanosa. (File photo)
MANILA – A lawmaker on Monday called for a staggered lifting of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) through the implementation of localized quarantines instead.
Cebu City Representative Rodrigo Abellanosa made the appeal to the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) saying the ongoing ECQ has brought “clashing issues” on controlling the spread of the coronavirus disease, as well as unemployment, and public health and nutrition consequences.
“This proposal humbly offers a partial win-win solution. Instead of bugging ourselves with the issue on whether to lift or not to lift the ECQ, may I propose a staggered lifting of ECQ by concurrently transforming it into localized lockdowns or local quarantines - by barangays or clusters of puroks or sitios; and by employment communities such as construction, food production, food processing, manufacturing, call centers, building maintenance, and the like,” Abellanosa said.
He also proposed that food deliveries and public transportation be allowed to operate but only within the local quarantines.
He said proper authorities must persuade supermarkets, big grocery stores, and food wholesalers to hire out-of-work drivers, cashiers, and baggers and to lease standby jeepneys, trucks, and buses to set up mobile stores in local quarantines.
“This will minimize the confusion and problems arising from the issuance of quarantine passes for people to access stores outside of the local quarantines,” he added.
He further noted that police and law enforcers must actively discourage residents from going out of their local quarantines in order to effectively contain and isolate the local quarantines from each other, except for health and medical reasons and the delivery of government aids.
“We understand the public health and safety is the foremost concern of the government. But we need to come up with more creative solutions to containing this disease while ensuring that our people continue to have access to and afford basic necessities,” Abellanosa said.
On Sunday, Malacañang said President Rodrigo Duterte will decide whether he will approve of a possible two-week extension of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) “in due time”.
Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo acknowledged the “emerging consensus” from medical experts, businessmen, government officials, and others that the extension is necessary since lifting it could be “premature”.
Citing these experts, he said the President recognizes that lifting the quarantine as scheduled on April 12 “might wipe out the gains we have so far achieved in containing the virus”.
Panelo’s statement came after Peace Adviser and National Task Force (NTF) Covid-19 chief implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said the government is currently studying whether to extend the quarantine for another 15 to 20 days after its scheduled end on April 12.
Galvez, in an interview over DZBB, said it would be difficult to “rush into normalcy” only to revert to another lockdown if it turns out that the disease's infection rate continues to surge. (PNA)
