DILG Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya. (File photo)
MANILA – The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) called on Metro Manila’s mayors to adopt uniform curfew hours across the 16 cities and one municipality of the region.
In a news release on Wednesday, DILG spokesperson Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya said adopting uniform curfew hours would make it easier for the public to comply because people tend to live and work in different local government units (LGUs).
“Mahirap po sa ating mga kababayan kung paiba-iba ang curfew hours dahil malilito po sila sa pagsunod nito (It would be difficult for our kababayans to follow different curfew hours because this will create confusion). It would also be easier for the National Capital Region Police Office to implement the curfew if the hours are uniform across Metro Manila,” Malaya said.
DILG officer in charge Bernardo Florece Jr. earlier directed all LGUs and the Philippine National Police to crack down on quarantine violators, impose a curfew, and intensify the enforcement of minimum public health standards in all barangays as new coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases have reached more than 3,000 cases per day for the past three days.
Malaya said different LGUs in Metro Manila impose different curfew hours – 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. in Muntinlupa and Caloocan; 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. in Malabon, Navotas, Quezon City, and Marikina; 12 midnight to 3 a.m. in Pateros and San Juan; 12 midnight to 4 a.m. in Valenzuela, Pasay, Parañaque, Taguig, Las Piñas, Makati City, Mandaluyong City; and 12 midnight to 5 a.m. in Manila and Pasig.
He said the DILG would leave it to the mayors on what hours to impose but suggested that the curfew should start at 10 p.m.
“Violators should be fined or otherwise penalized for violating all health protocols, especially the curfew,” he added.
Malaya said wearing of face masks and face shields and physical distancing should be strictly imposed and violators should be fined based on the prevailing ordinances.
He said temperature checks and filling out contact tracing forms manually or through the StaySafe.PH app should also be a must in all establishments and workplaces.
The DILG also ordered the deployment of additional contact tracers in areas with rising cases to aid the local contact tracing teams in identifying close contacts and having them tested.
Malaya said LGUs could reverse the rising trend of coronavirus cases by ensuring no lag time from symptom onset, testing, contact tracing, and isolation, and strictly implementing the 10-day isolation and 14-day quarantine for those positive and with symptoms.
"LGUs should also see to it that there is good ventilation in workspaces and other settings to prevent the transmission of the virus," he said, adding that LGUs could implement localized lockdown within a sitio, street, or block without the need to request approval from the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases. (PR)
